When is a band a tribute band?

PhilKing

The sad news that I found out today is that Mick Jones doesn't play much any more due to health issues.  Even if he does come on stage to play, he probably won't stay there long.  I know it was billed as the Farewell tour, but it sounds like they really won't play without him.  They just can't predict when he will actually play with the band.

chromatuna

I have seen the ‘new’ Soft Machine and Gong several times each. I think it’s fair to say that both retain a goodly amount of the spirit of their ‘ancestors’ and are great bands to see in their own right. The former did evolve out of a lineup that was all Softs personnel from the 70s and in the latter everyone played in a late era Daevid Allen Gong lineup albeit quite briefly in two cases, Apparently Daevid (the absolute key to Gong for me) was keen for things to contine and trusted these guys. I think in these cases they are musicians making a living in an honourable way who would not be able to do so under less well known names, I also think that they are each ‘tribute’s in the original sense to the quite unique music that went before which lives and breathes in a live setting. It’s fine with me, they aren’t trying to fool anyone and it’s not a cash grab in the sense that either was a ‘hit’ band. Personally I miss Daevid too much to really like the ‘new’ Gong but as I say they are excellent in their own way.

p.s. related to this lot see also Hatfield and the Health if you are into that kind of thing

Funkfingers

chromatuna said:

Hatfield and the Health

What about National North?

Reverend

Napalm Death haven't had any original members since the first side of the first album

richardhomer

Probably the Eagles, if I’m honest.

That said, I saw them at Hyde Park last Summer and they were fantastic. 

ICBM

richardhomer said:

Probably the Eagles, if I’m honest.

That said, I saw them at Hyde Park last Summer and they were fantastic. 

Don Henley is still in the band, and Joe Walsh and Timothy Schmit count as well if you're talking about the 'classic era' even if they're not original members, so definitely still the Eagles.

That said, for me the *real* Eagles ended when they fired Don Felder...

scrumhalf

I remember Gene Simmonds saying he wanted Kiss to continue with different musicians in the band, that it was the band and not the people who were important.

Fair point, but would the band's reputation ne tarnished when four, none of whom are Gene or Paul, put out a crap album? 

EricTheWeary

scrumhalf said:

I remember Gene Simmonds saying he wanted Kiss to continue with different musicians in the band, that it was the band and not the people who were important.

Fair point, but would the band's reputation ne tarnished when four, none of whom are Gene or Paul, put out a crap album? 

I was listening to the Rick Beato interview with Bjorn Ulvaeus and they touched upon the avatars in the ABBA show in London.Even though I can’t remember what it’s actually called apparently it’s very good. Anyway, they were speculating on who else might do this and I thought Kiss. A virtual Kiss gig running in, let’s say, Las Vegas for eternity as a money spinner. 

Here we go…

https://youtu.be/iEikjzZO2N8

blobb

chromatuna said:

I have seen the ‘new’ Soft Machine and Gong several times each. I think it’s fair to say that both retain a goodly amount of the spirit of their ‘ancestors’ and are great bands to see in their own right. The former did evolve out of a lineup that was all Softs personnel from the 70s and in the latter everyone played in a late era Daevid Allen Gong lineup albeit quite briefly in two cases, Apparently Daevid (the absolute key to Gong for me) was keen for things to contine and trusted these guys. I think in these cases they are musicians making a living in an honourable way who would not be able to do so under less well known names, I also think that they are each ‘tribute’s in the original sense to the quite unique music that went before which lives and breathes in a live setting. It’s fine with me, they aren’t trying to fool anyone and it’s not a cash grab in the sense that either was a ‘hit’ band. Personally I miss Daevid too much to really like the ‘new’ Gong but as I say they are excellent in their own way.

p.s. related to this lot see also Hatfield and the Health if you are into that kind of thing

The Canterbury bands pretty much cross pollinated themselves. You can't really have a Canterbury tribute band, it would just take a slightly modified version of the original band name: Soft Machine, Soft Heap, Soft Head, SoftWorks, even National health were Hatfield without RS. The 'classic SM lineup isn't the original SM. Is PM's Gong still Gong?

Daevid was all about creating a family of groups. He was all about promoting a social movement to rally against big business bankers. e.g. Here & Now. So new Gong is just another version of this cross pollination idea. 

Maybe you could call Hatfield and the Health a tribute band, but then again National Health did it themselevs on DS al Coda, which was an Alan Gowan tribute band consisting of members of the original band!

Love Canterbury  scene. Full of inconsistencies, the biggest possibly being that Dave Stewart is from London. The Cow are from CAMBRIDGE and Camel are absolutley NOT Canterbury. You might disagree. Mmm, a Henry Cow triibute band, there's an idea - you don't see many of those do you? Wonder why......

hollywoodrox

About a year ago I was going to pop down and see  The Marmalade T a local venue but on looking up some info there were no original members 

Philly_Q

scrumhalf said:

I remember Gene Simmonds saying he wanted Kiss to continue with different musicians in the band, that it was the band and not the people who were important.

Fair point, but would the band's reputation ne tarnished when four, none of whom are Gene or Paul, put out a crap album? 

I don't think the idea would be to record any new material, it would just be a live act and an image, a concept...  an "experience".
Kiss have only released two albums in the 21st century, as it is.

Offset

Dr Feelgood, and have been for decades.

Philly_Q

Thinking back to the Southern Rock thing, Blackfoot currently have (not for the first time) no original members. 

Unlike most of these bands, who have rolling lineups featuring other old geezers who've done time in the Outlaws, or Molly Hatchet, or the Marshall Tucker Band, recent Blackfoot lineups have mostly been much younger guys who tour with Rickey Medlocke's "seal of approval".  They could go on forever.

Philly_Q

hollywoodrox said:

About a year ago I was going to pop down and see  The Marmalade T a local venue but on looking up some info there were no original members 

Not touring under their original name, either.

Marmalade (band) - Wikipedia

hollywoodrox

Philly_Q said:

hollywoodrox said:

About a year ago I was going to pop down and see  The Marmalade T a local venue but on looking up some info there were no original members 

Not touring under their original name, either.

Marmalade (band) - Wikipedia

The Gaylords named after a notorious Chicago street gang !   

mrkb

hollywoodrox said:

Philly_Q said:

hollywoodrox said:

About a year ago I was going to pop down and see  The Marmalade T a local venue but on looking up some info there were no original members 

Not touring under their original name, either.

Marmalade (band) - Wikipedia

The Gaylords named after a notorious Chicago street gang !   

There was a lad called Gaylord at our primary school in the 70s, as 7 years olds we didn’t make the connection to a notorious street gang…….

Litterick

blobb said:

chromatuna said:

I have seen the ‘new’ Soft Machine and Gong several times each. I think it’s fair to say that both retain a goodly amount of the spirit of their ‘ancestors’ and are great bands to see in their own right. The former did evolve out of a lineup that was all Softs personnel from the 70s and in the latter everyone played in a late era Daevid Allen Gong lineup albeit quite briefly in two cases, Apparently Daevid (the absolute key to Gong for me) was keen for things to contine and trusted these guys. I think in these cases they are musicians making a living in an honourable way who would not be able to do so under less well known names, I also think that they are each ‘tribute’s in the original sense to the quite unique music that went before which lives and breathes in a live setting. It’s fine with me, they aren’t trying to fool anyone and it’s not a cash grab in the sense that either was a ‘hit’ band. Personally I miss Daevid too much to really like the ‘new’ Gong but as I say they are excellent in their own way.

p.s. related to this lot see also Hatfield and the Health if you are into that kind of thing

The Canterbury bands pretty much cross pollinated themselves. You can't really have a Canterbury tribute band, it would just take a slightly modified version of the original band name: Soft Machine, Soft Heap, Soft Head, SoftWorks, even National health were Hatfield without RS. The 'classic SM lineup isn't the original SM. Is PM's Gong still Gong?

Daevid was all about creating a family of groups. He was all about promoting a social movement to rally against big business bankers. e.g. Here & Now. So new Gong is just another version of this cross pollination idea. 

Maybe you could call Hatfield and the Health a tribute band, but then again National Health did it themselevs on DS al Coda, which was an Alan Gowan tribute band consisting of members of the original band!

Love Canterbury  scene. Full of inconsistencies, the biggest possibly being that Dave Stewart is from London. The Cow are from CAMBRIDGE and Camel are absolutley NOT Canterbury. You might disagree. Mmm, a Henry Cow triibute band, there's an idea - you don't see many of those do you? Wonder why......

I am glad to see Soft Machine revived, and Gong continuing, particularly because both have made new music, which sets them apart from most of the bands discussed in this thread.

Speaking of which, Henry Now (Cutler, Frith, Greaves, Hodgkinson, with Annie Barbazza and Lino Capra Vaccina)  played the Teatro President in Piacenza in November last year. The set was mostly improvisation.  An album of the event is rumoured to be in the works.

freakboy1610

The Hollies are still touring with only the original guitarist and drummer. 

scrumhalf

freakboy1610 said:

The Hollies are still touring with only the original guitarist and drummer. 

Tony Hicks wasn't the original guitarist, that was Vic Steele. 

Philly_Q

scrumhalf said:

freakboy1610 said:

The Hollies are still touring with only the original guitarist and drummer. 

Tony Hicks wasn't the original guitarist, that was Vic Steele. 

Yeah, he's only put in sixty years, the bloody Johnny-come-lately.

To be fair I think I'd generally count whoever played on the first album (or first recordings) as "original" members.  Quite a lot of bands first got together in a distinctly amateur fashion, as a bunch of schoolmates or whatever, maybe even under a different name, then in a Ship of Theseus/Trigger's Broom kind of way they were a completely different band by the time they actually got signed.