Thanks for sharing! I wanted to be there that night but I had a work thing in the city. I think the guy in the Moe shirt might have been my friend Kyle
Great subject. I lived in Bloomington, Indiana during the 80's and 90's. Lots of good jam bands and also "Secret Canadian" recording studio and the Bluebird night club helped create a fine vibe along with being a university town (IU). Of course, Bloomington is home to John Mellencamp, Hoagy Carmichael and The IU School of music so there is a long tradition of fine musicianship. There is an archive for the 80-90's jam band era under construction. Go to https://musicalfamilytree.com KB
I think the phenomenon of the solo artist has always been around since the beginning of recording history. The people with the money prefer to pay one person a lot and treat the backing musicians as interchangeable. From the Robert Johnson era all the way through Elvis. Think about the 50's - Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis. But then one band comes along and obliterates everything the money people want. THE BEATLES. And it's not a group where we only know about the whole group like The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Coasters. All those groups had members that came and went. But the Beatles - we knew everything about all 4 members. It was something totally different. And so the tide turned and the business turned and we had a long run of bands. From the Stones to Eagles to Motley Crue. And in the 80's, the money guys get their way again and start peeling stars out of bands & returning to solo performers with interchangeable backing bands. Ozzy Osbourne comes out of Black Sabbath, Don Henley comes out of Eagles, Sting comes out of the Police. And then grunge and jam bands say "Wait a minute, bands aren't dead yet", and keep the phenomenon going through the 1990's. But the late 1990's evolve into rap (solo artists!) and boy or girl bands. The industry runs the boy/girl bands and the backing musicians are truly, truly interchangeable again. We even pull the hit members out of the boy/girl bands - Justin Timberlake out of NSYNC, Nick Carter out of the Backstreet Boys, etc. So the money people bend the curve back to the way they want it - pay one person & everyone else is a commodity. So as money dries up in the label side of the industry, the business model of the solo artist works better for the money people.
True, as far as it goes, but hardly the full story. Bands are NOTORIOUSLY difficult to keep together: egos, drugs, the toll the road takes, etc. etc. The ONLY 90s era jam band still touring today, with the same lineup, is Phish -- and that band broke up twice, and Trey went away for a year or two to deal with his addictions, before the band re-formed and solidified. The business is an issue, but so is the general flakiness of artists.
For sure, that kills a label's investment outright. Jerry Wexler hated signing bands that had brothers/family in them because that was a proven recipe to break up the band.
Cannot wait to read this book!
Thanks for sharing! I wanted to be there that night but I had a work thing in the city. I think the guy in the Moe shirt might have been my friend Kyle
Glad you enjoyed. Tell Kyle hello.
Great subject. I lived in Bloomington, Indiana during the 80's and 90's. Lots of good jam bands and also "Secret Canadian" recording studio and the Bluebird night club helped create a fine vibe along with being a university town (IU). Of course, Bloomington is home to John Mellencamp, Hoagy Carmichael and The IU School of music so there is a long tradition of fine musicianship. There is an archive for the 80-90's jam band era under construction. Go to https://musicalfamilytree.com KB
I think the phenomenon of the solo artist has always been around since the beginning of recording history. The people with the money prefer to pay one person a lot and treat the backing musicians as interchangeable. From the Robert Johnson era all the way through Elvis. Think about the 50's - Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis. But then one band comes along and obliterates everything the money people want. THE BEATLES. And it's not a group where we only know about the whole group like The Drifters, The Shirelles, The Coasters. All those groups had members that came and went. But the Beatles - we knew everything about all 4 members. It was something totally different. And so the tide turned and the business turned and we had a long run of bands. From the Stones to Eagles to Motley Crue. And in the 80's, the money guys get their way again and start peeling stars out of bands & returning to solo performers with interchangeable backing bands. Ozzy Osbourne comes out of Black Sabbath, Don Henley comes out of Eagles, Sting comes out of the Police. And then grunge and jam bands say "Wait a minute, bands aren't dead yet", and keep the phenomenon going through the 1990's. But the late 1990's evolve into rap (solo artists!) and boy or girl bands. The industry runs the boy/girl bands and the backing musicians are truly, truly interchangeable again. We even pull the hit members out of the boy/girl bands - Justin Timberlake out of NSYNC, Nick Carter out of the Backstreet Boys, etc. So the money people bend the curve back to the way they want it - pay one person & everyone else is a commodity. So as money dries up in the label side of the industry, the business model of the solo artist works better for the money people.
True, as far as it goes, but hardly the full story. Bands are NOTORIOUSLY difficult to keep together: egos, drugs, the toll the road takes, etc. etc. The ONLY 90s era jam band still touring today, with the same lineup, is Phish -- and that band broke up twice, and Trey went away for a year or two to deal with his addictions, before the band re-formed and solidified. The business is an issue, but so is the general flakiness of artists.
For sure, that kills a label's investment outright. Jerry Wexler hated signing bands that had brothers/family in them because that was a proven recipe to break up the band.