# Your favorite obscure musician who sings/plays for a well-known band **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757 "2011-12-01T22:30:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/21 "2011-12-02T21:43:51Z")
> [@phungi](#): > > [Johnny Marr](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Marr) has played with a few “smaller” bands (e.g., Modest Mouse), but the Cribs are pretty obscure They certainly are, but **The Smiths** are not, and the Smiths are famously Morrissey and Marr. So I don’t think we can include him here. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/22 "2011-12-02T22:28:05Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > Nicky Hopkins, who also played piano with the Stones (on “We Love You,” “Sympathy for the Devil” “Gimme Shelter,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Fool to Cry,” “Waiting on a Friend”), as well as with The Kinks (all their mid-60s records) , The Who (“The Song Is Over,” “Getting In Tune”), the single version of The Beatles’ “Revolution,” Donovans’ “Barabajagal,” John Lennon’s Imagine record, Jefferson Airplane, Jeff Beck, and many others. A great piano player. Incredible piano player, you got that right! I didn’t include him because I think about five or six times shooting pool in a bar topic of playing music came up and the drunk guy who was still beating me slurred something about “Nick” Hopkins. I figure if his name filtered down that far the ladder he must be pretty well-known. Who can say, though? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/23 "2011-12-02T22:40:08Z")
Here’s a brain teaser: who’s the only man that’s been on EVERY Judas Priest album from the beginning until this very day? The one member of the band NOBODY ever remembers: Bassist (naturally!) Ian Hill. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/24 "2011-12-02T23:23:01Z")
[Mick Taylor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Taylor)Member of the Stones for a while, played guitar on what I consider the Stone’s finest effort Exile On Main Street. Great guitarist, can play circles around Richards and Wood IMHO. [David Grissom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Grissom). Not sure how well known the bands he played in are but a stellar guitarist. Has guested on many other artist’s albums as well. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/25 "2011-12-03T02:38:00Z")
Steve Morse. He is in Deep Purple. Played with Kansas. And guested on a crap load of other artist, from Pavoratti (sp) to Lynryd Skynryd. Tons of solo work plus his band The Dregs/Dixie Dregs. The man is amazing. No one outside of guitarists/guitar geeks knows who he is. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/26 "2011-12-03T03:01:29Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Steve Morse. [snip] > The man is amazing. No one outside of guitarists/guitar geeks knows who he is. > > Slee See, this is _so_ subjective. In my Weltanschauung, Steve Morse is pretty much a household name, whereas Richard Tee isn’t. Something about there being so many guitar freaks (said affectionately – besides Hammond and piano, it’s my favorite instrument, maybe neck and neck with a proper drum kit with quality Turkish on it). And, earlier, Entwhistle??? Seriously? I’m not even a huge the Who fan, but he just _was_ that sound for so many cuts. He’s the reason I play “Summertime Blues” the way I do in the dead of winter. But in well-known bands, here’s somebody nobody except a Floydiac knows – Rick Wright RIP. His Hammond work is so subtle and brilliant that, if you listen to “Animals” without knowing it’s there, you might both miss it and not miss it, if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/27 "2011-12-03T03:09:09Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > And Chuck Berry’s piano player [Johnnie Johnson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Johnson_(musician)), too, for that matter. I’ll give big ups for Johnson, but everyone knows who he is, to quote from intro to Dr. John from _Last Waltz_. It’s my feeling he actually invented all those licks Berry put over to guitar – just so natural on piano. One more obscure-ish session player who was a major figure in his own right, but probably not well-known for his contributions to the recordings of others: Huey “Piano” Smith. Played on a bunch of Little Richard cuts, for reasons of tracking bleed-through and some other stuff I only vaguely know about. I got the ultimate one-hit wonder, though (kidding, Bob!) – “Bobby” Brookmeyer on valve trombone for the obligato on Ray Charles’s “Come Rain Or Come Shine” (c’mon, you all saw “King Of Comedy,” right?) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/28 "2011-12-03T03:13:57Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Steve Morse. He is in Deep Purple. Played with Kansas. And guested on a crap load of other artist, from Pavoratti (sp) to Lynryd Skynryd. Tons of solo work plus his band The Dregs/Dixie Dregs. > > The man is amazing. No one outside of guitarists/guitar geeks knows who he is. I’m a Morse fan too. Nice call. I’ll throw Deep Purple’s Tommy Bolin out there. Come Taste the Band but Don’t let your mind Post Toastee. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/29 "2011-12-03T04:09:05Z")
Hey, **Astorian**! Nick Mason has a Formula One Ferrari in his gameroom. And he’s a drummer. He is exactly the first person I think of when you mention _The Pink Floyd_. I would say Marc Perlman (bass), but \*The Jayhawks \*aren’t that well-know. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/30 "2011-12-03T04:17:50Z")
Boom Gaspar, organ player for Pearl Jam. Has a writing credit on one of my all time favorite songs, Love Boat Captain. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/31 "2011-12-04T21:58:25Z")
[Prairie Prince](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_Prince). He’s best known as the drummer for _The Tubes_, but ever since he met Todd RUndgren when he produced their album _Remote Control_ he’s become Todd’s go-to drummer. I once saw him play three different concert with three different groups in as many days: An all-star tribute to _The Beatles_ performing _Sgt. Pepper’s_ one night, performing Todd Rundgren’s album _Arena_ the next and a show with _The Tubes_ the next. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/32 "2011-12-04T23:09:16Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Here’s a brain teaser: who’s the only man that’s been on EVERY Judas Priest album from the beginning until this very day? > The one member of the band NOBODY ever remembers: Bassist (naturally!) Ian Hill. He’s the only founder member left, but Glenn Tipton and KK Downing played on all the albums. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/33 "2011-12-04T23:26:26Z")
Another bassist: Scott Schoenbeck. Recorded with The Promise Ring and Dashboard Confessional, both pretty famous within modern rock circles. He’s not that great in Dashboard, since the style he plays in – either semi-sloppy low-fi punk, or loud but smooth moody insistence, does not mesh very well with Dashboard’s requirements for just a straight-on rhythm backer. But I noticed something distinctive about his playing before I even knew it was him that Chris had chosen to play bass with him. And he absolutely was the star of the second best rock song in the world, _Best Looking Boys_. (In first place are all of the songs off of the first three-fourths of _The Wall_.) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757/34 "2011-12-05T05:25:31Z")
Dave Nachmanoff. Incredibly talented guitarist. Apparently, he’s been around for a while, but I never heard of him until I saw him [working with Al Stewart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_eCZJM5js). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-musician-who-sings-plays-for-a-well-known-band/604757.md?page=1)