Isn’t the correct answer both members of Milli Vanilli?
“Speedy” Keen of Thunderclap Newman. Being Pete Townshend’s chauffeur does not guarantee that you’ll have any ability as a lead singer and/or drummer.
The people who claim Ringo was mediocre or replaceable are much the same to me as the people who look at Jackson Pollock and say “I could do that”. In other words, non-musicians who don’t understand how it works. I don’t think these people are necessarily dumb or ignorant or malicious when they say it, it’s just that they haven’t listened critically to the music, and most likely have never either played drums or played another instrument in a band to the beat of a drummer.
The drum kit is a pitched instrument like the rest of the band’s instruments. It can’t play every note that the others can, but it nonetheless consists of an array of drums that all have different pitches. Being able to know where and when to place the snare hit, the higher tom hit, the lower tom hit, within a flourish of percussion in the right order that tastefully fits the moment in the song where it is deployed, is no less musical than any other musical instrument. And there’s less of a margin for error, because you ARE the beat of the song, in most styles of song at any rate. The different cymbals also have pitches, and the tone also varies on where on the cymbal you strike it, and (with the hi-hats) how far apart the hats are (which you have to control with a subtle movement of your foot like the clutch of a car) - if someone KNOWS how all of this works, they will understand that Ringo is objectively a superb drummer and a superbly musical drummer. If they don’t, they won’t.
Glascock was a top-notch bassist, the best Tull ever had, famously praised by Ritchie Blackmore and others. Glascocks fiery and inventive playing is a key part in key albums such as Songs From The Wood. He was also a party animal, which the rest of the group did not approve of, but that has nothing to do with (lack of) talent or substance.
Blur’s bass player Alex James would be my candidate. He proudly exclaimed how he has the easiest job in the world, and really concentrated his efforts on snorting cocaine, later cheese making.
Bez all day every day.
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I couldn’t agree more !
There’s a big talent gulf between Brian Wilson and the rest of the Beach Boys. Mike Love is my least favorite, but Al Jardine may be the least talented/luckiest of the core group.
But was he the least talented/most lucky of ANY group?
No, that would be tambourine player Suzanne Crough of The Partridge Family.
I guess this raises the question if Milli Vanilli even counts as a band/group if both members were fake.
That’s a pretty insensitive question right after a Partridge Family post
Not sure if this counts, but there are a number of examples where a band feels one of their members is “holding them back” from making it big, and they’re replaced with a world-class musician. Examples include Pete Best (The Beatles) and John Rutsey (Rush).
I have one or a hundred nits to pick with this. He was the band’s second best instrumentalist when they formed. The only thing that recommended Dennis as a drummer was that he could do it and sing at the same time. Carl’s guitar style ranged from Chuck Berry to…Chuck Berry. Al was a utility player who could switch at the drop of a hat from rhythm guitar and low tenor to bass guitar and falsetto when Brian refused to play live. He also contributed a level of maturity and professionalism that the others sorely lacked. As for lucky, he wasn’t a Beach Boy through any kind of legacy. He quit the band after the first hit and only came back when the band asked him to.
Dime a dozen talent, more like.
Did Michelle kick your puppy once or what?
Let’s just say that the majority of the planet* thinks you are very badly mistaken on this point.
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- for a very loose definition of “everybody” and “planet.”
The best musicians in the Beach Boys were The Wrecking Crew. There weren’t even any Beach Boys in the studio during most of the recording of Pet Sounds.
IMO, the Beach Boys consisted of one very talented songwriter (Brian Wilson), some super-harmonizing vocalists, and a few mediocre musicians.
But, using session musicians is not unique to the Beach Boys—they are responsible for much of the best music we associate with the bands we love (especially from the 60s and 70s). Record companies are not going to risk sales on mediocre musicians.
I’m not complaining—without The Wrecking Crew, we wouldn’t have a lot of the virtuoso instrumental pieces we love, like Carol Kaye’s iconic Good Vibrations walking bass line.
Tell me how impressed you were by her singing in that clip posted above.
The worse player in any given pro sport is still a phenomenal athlete, they just pale by comparison.
I was a huge fan of the Byrds through all their ups and downs and have read a lot about them. While it’s true that Michael Clarke was not a professional drummer and was hired for his looks, he had some limited experience with the drums previously and by all reports he took the musical job he was hired to do very seriously, studied and practiced drumming with determination, and after a time was able to play with respectable proficiency. Unfortunately, his personal demons with alcohol brought his life to an untimely end at only 47 years old.