Actually, I shouldn’t have said that–I missed your reply that you weren’t sure whether to count Ashley Pomeroy’s comments as votes.
Of the poll; definitely Harrison and Lennon so we can finally have that Beatles reunion.
Hendrix, because he went way too early. 27 club be damned.
Cash because he was still pumping out quality stuff even towards the end.
Then a toss up for me between Ray Charles and Miles Davis.
Of those mentioned, probably switch Cash with Freddie and Ray/Miles with Frank Z.
In case Ashley Pomeroy indicates otherwise, I’ll “unfix” Zappa’s count, but I think it’s safe as is. His/her other names are the ones I was confused about.
I’m not sure what I should do with your comments/votes.
========================
If we should decide to have another SDMB poll on this issue, I would be prone to drop the ones with 0 votes from the original and to add those with at least 2 votes from the “write-in” votes.
Discussion?
I don’t know if you want to count my “votes” for Holly and Williams. I did vote for five people in the poll - Lennon, Hendrix, Marley, Harrison, and Cash.
My reasons:
Lennon - Obviously had a long and successful career. But I feel he was on the verge of another creative period. Plus he was relatively young at 40 when he died and he was murdered.
Hendrix - He was young (27) and I think he would have produced a lot more great work. Lost points for being self-destructive though.
Marley - Very influential in his genre. Died young (36) of cancer so he had a lot of life and music ahead of him.
Harrison - Borderline. He was 58 when he died of cancer and his best work was probably behind him. But still he was a Beatle and that’s bonus points that last a lifetime.
Cash - Lived a full life and died at 71. But he was still active and the time of his death and was putting out great new work.
Charles - Considered him but ended up comparing him to Cash. Also lived a full life (dying at 73) but he had not been doing anything major at the time of his death.
Cobain - Had a huge impact in his lifetime and died young at 27. But he lost a lot of points for committing suicide. Plus I question whether his impact would have endured. He might have already done his best work.
Zappa - He might have got one of my votes. But he wasn’t on the list and quite frankly he slipped my mind. Bonus points for the fact he was exploring new directions (classical music) at the time of his death.
Holly - Died young (22) and at a time when rock was just beginning. Could have had a huge impact if he had lived. On the other hand, compare him to Chuck Berry. Berry had a huge impact in the fifties but while he’s still alive, rock music passed him by and he’s had no significant impact since 1960. Holly might have been the same if he had lived.
Williams - Died young at 29. Like Hendrix, lost points for self-destructive behavior. But like Holly, he was a pioneer in his genre and might have had a major impact on country music if he had lived. And unlike rock, country didn’t have a Presley or a Beatles on the horizon. Williams had nobody waiting to replace him.
So if the options had been there, I would have voted Lennon, Hendrix, Zappa, Holly, and Williams.
I picked Lennon because his life was so tragically cut short by murder. Most of the rest lived a full life.
Excellent and clear comments, Little Nemo, and if the interest remains strong in continuing this idea, surely the next poll will include all those you mention.
And unless these 1-vote names get more support, I would expect to drop them (along with the 0-votes names in the original poll) to wind up with maybe 30-40 names for SDMB preferences.
Jerry Garcia (1)
Jim Croce (1)
Keith Relf (1)
Louis Armstrong (1)
Captain Beefheart (1)
John Coltrane (1)
Sandy Denny (1)
Laura Nyro (1)
Pete Farndon (1)
James Honeyman Scott (1)
Maurice Gibb (1)
Warren Zevon (1)
Harry Nilsson (1)
Cliff Edwards (1)
Judy Garland (1)
Jeff Buckley (1)
Eva Cassidy (1)
Duane Allman (1)
Robert Johnson (1)
Townes Van Zandt (1)
Luke Kelly (1)
Pete Steele (1)
Ian Curtis (1)
Mike Alexader (1)
I’m all for waiting until responses have tapered off before deciding, though. You just never know how things may change.
Add another one for Croce then. Died just as his career was taking off, and sorry Jim for the bad pun.
ETA, how about Phil Lynott? Though he was a bit self destructive as well.
Frank Zappa
Bola Sete
D. Boon
Sam Kinison
There are others no longer with us that I wish wouldn’t have left so early, but they were troubled people, and I wouldn’t want them back if they were going to continue being so fukt up. I’m talking about people like John Belushi, Kurt Cobain, etc.
Another vote for Warren Zevon.
I’ll vote for Hideto Matsumoto and Mozart.
Of the list in the poll, I chose John Lennon and George Harrison (I’d settle for just George, though)…for write-ins, Keith Moon and John Entwhistle.
Then as payment, I’d insist the Beatles and Who do a tour together.
None of them.
This is hella’ depressing!
I would bring back:
*Freddy Mercury–amazing voice, amazing performer, amazing songwriter
*Janis Joplin–See above
*Sam Cook
*Marvyn Gaye
===============================
Updating after Post #53
+++ Those with (1) have been alphabetized +++
Jim Morrison (5)
Buddy Holly (4)
Stevie Ray Vaughan (4)
Patsy Cline (4)
Keith Moon (4)
Freddie Mercury (4)
Frank Zappa (3)
John Entwistle (3)
Billie Holiday (2)
John Denver (2)
Hank Williams (2)
Jim Croce (2)
Warren Zevon (2)
Mike Alexader (1)
Duane Allman (1)
Louis Armstrong (1)
Captain Beefheart (1)
D. Boon (1)
Jeff Buckley (1)
Eva Cassidy (1)
John Coltrane (1)
Sam Cook (1)
Ian Curtis (1)
Sandy Denny (1)
Cliff Edwards (1)
Pete Farndon (1)
Jerry Garcia (1)
Judy Garland (1)
Marvyn Gaye (1)
Maurice Gibb (1)
Robert Johnson (1)
Luke Kelly (1)
Sam Kinison (1)
Phil Lynott (1)
Hideto Matsumoto (1)
Mozart (1)
Harry Nilsson (1)
Laura Nyro (1)
Keith Relf (1)
James Honeyman Scott (1)
Bola Sete (1)
Pete Steele (1)
Townes Van Zandt (1)
=============================
Here’s a sorted summary of our voting and a similar sort of the poll alluded to in Post #4:
View Poll Results: Who would you bring back to life (limit 5)?
This poll will close on 05-28-2012 at 08:28 AM
John Lennon 41 61.19%
Jimi Hendrix 33 49.25%
George Harrison 21 31.34%
Johnny Cash 18 26.87%
Janis Joplin 17 25.37%
Elvis Presley 13 19.40%
Bob Marley 12 17.91%
Ray Charles 11 16.42%
Kurt Cobain 10 14.93%
Michael Jackson 8 11.94%
Frank Sinatra 7 10.45%
Miles Davis 5 7.46%
Tupac Shakur 4 5.97%
Luther Vandross 3 4.48%
James Brown 2 2.99%
Isaac Hayes 2 2.99%
Biggie Smalls 2 2.99%
Tammy Wynette 1 1.49%
DJ AM 0 0%
Whitney Houston 0 0%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 67.
Compare with:
http://news.yahoo.com/music-fans-hanker-ray-charles-hologram-poll-215223531.html
I wouldn’t have voted for her, but wasn’t Amy Winehouse the poster girl for the “died too young” set?
Am I missing something about DJ AM? I didn’t know who he was until I read about the plane crash where he was injured, and then his death. Was he that famous/popular/influential in the music world?
I can’t help you there. But judging from his 0 votes in our poll, you’re not alone in asking the question. It’s conceivable that that ranking in the linked article had some people trying to be cute with write-ins. That sort of thing does happen! 
I’ve always thought it was a shame that modern antidepressants weren’t around yet when Nick Drake was alive (if nothing else, there’s far less risk of fatal overdose with the modern drugs than the older kind he was taking when he died).
I think these are really two different questions however. A Ray Charles hologram might perform in concert but it’s presumably not going to be creating any new work.
Compare that to John Lennon, who’s the top pick in this poll. I wouldn’t be bringing Lennon back to life so he could perform “Strawberry Fields Forever” or “Imagine”. I’d be bringing him back so he could write new songs.
That and messing with Greg Benford and Spider Robinson.