Battle of the Stars Part 1 – The Bands
Mar 9, 2010 by Aaron
Part one of a 3 part Series – 1st half of the Bands
When I was young, there was a show on Saturday afternoons called; Battle of the Stars. It normally aired about this time of year…in the late winter or early spring when there was little competition from the NFL or MLB. The show would take professional athletes from other sports and pit them against other top athletes in random challenges and courses. It was an entertaining show back in the day. I was thinking of that show the other day and it got me wondering…what if we had a Rock and Roll All Star Challenge. Who would be invitees to participate? What artist would compete on the same teams? I loved the idea. So I thought for this week, I would do a mock up of an All Star Battle of the Bands (based on the premise that each artist was in their prime and/or still alive).
The Red Team Super Group: (The Rhythm and Percussion Band)
On Drums: Keith Moon
Truly one of the greatest drummers on all time, Keith Moon, would be the Anchor of this squad. No one kept a back beat and perfect timing like Moon did. Keith’s hard driving double bass rampages, along with his symbol crashing are legendary. He played fast and furious and would make the engine hum on this team of Rock and Roll elites.
On Lead Guitar: Angus Young
Angus is not one of the top 10 guitarists of all time, but I would place him somewhere in the top 25. But what makes him so stellar in this line up is his ability to play lead, rhythmically. Let’s face it, when we hear ACDC it’s not the overpowering guitars that make this sound great, but moreover the band’s rhythm. Maybe no band in the history of music uses a steady constant meter as well as ACDC does. That, placed with Moon’s style, would be super nasty!
On Rhythm Guitar: Malcolm Young
Here’s the deal, you cannot have one with out the other. The two of them together is what makes the ACDC so great. Malcolm has the uncanny ability to use silence as a note. Think of all the ACDC stop-starts and that moment of silence between notes, it is a great tool utilized by Malcolm. Imagine that coupled with a Keith Moon drum fill…that would be tragically bad ass!
On Bass: Flea
Again, Flea is one of the greatest of all time in his respective genre. This band that I am compiling on the red team is a band based on percussion rhythm and beat. That is why Flea is a must for this band. This Super Group is really based on a soulful beat with a rock tempo and Flea exemplifies that better than any other bassist I can think of. His slapping style, energy, and drive with Moon’s double bass and the Young’s perfect drive makes this a nasty band to contend with.
On Lead Vocals: Janis Joplin
Janis is the perfect fit for this band. This band is based on drum patterns, rhythm, and a strong back beat, and would need a really bluesy-driving whisky voice that can sing the blues and keep perfect time. Who else would be better? Of any Rock and Roll singer, I think she may be the best at converting classic blues styling into a driving rock vocal, and that is what this band is. Janis fronting this cast of musicians, gives me chills just thinking about it.
The Blue Team (The Lead/Solo team)
On Drums: Neil Pert
This team is put together of some of the greatest soloists of all time. Neil Pert can run a drum solo better than anyone I have ever heard before, ever. Not only is he hands down the greatest drummer of all time, he is the greatest drum soloist of all time too. There are not many 5 minute drum solos I can listen too without losing a bit of interest, except one from Neil Pert. He is simply the best!
On Lead Guitar: Eddie Van Halen
Could you imagine Neil just crushing a drum solo and then handing it off to Eddie Van Halen! That would be so nasty I couldn’t even begin to imagine it. There are a lot of arguments about who is the greatest guitarist of all time, but there is little doubt about who has the nastiest-fastest fingers of all time, and that is Eddie. I would love to see Neil and Eddie on the same stage, that energy would be amazing, and your ears would pay the price with no complaints.
On Rhythm Guitar: Izzy Stradlin
Even though this is a band based on great solos and personal musical abilities, this band would need some internal glue. That is why it would need the greatest Rhythm guitarist of all time, and that my friends, is Izzy. GNR is one of the best bands of all time and don’t underestimate the important of Izzy’s playing; it really made the band what they were historically. Songs like Sweet Child and Paradise City where held together by Izzy’s driving rhythm of those songs. Sometimes that is over looked because you have Slash and Axl out front, but if you listen to GNR closely, you will know what made that sound so pure, and that was Izzy laying down his ground work of perfect rhythm and style.
On Bass: Les Claypool
If you want to hear some of the greatest bass solos ever recorded, listen to some Primus songs. Les Claypool is a master of many different bass stylings. From a funkadelic bass slapping, to flamenco styling, to mix-finger tapping, Claypool is a true master. I believe he and Neil Pert could do a “dueling banjo” type song or solo, going back and forth, that would be unbelievable and one for the ages.
On Lead Vocals: Freddy Mercury
As one of the greatest front men of all time, Freddy’s voice is an instrument all by itself. Imagine Freddy doing a scat-rift to Claypool’s bass solo or Pert’s drum solo. It would be in-fucking-credible. This group would be so nasty you may have to wipe the poop out off your pants after they left the stage. I feel each member would play off the other to make a performance for the ages. Because not only are these musicians great, they are musical genius’.
-Aaron
Posted in Aaron's Musings from the Outhouse