Only A Bar Band?

I have friends who will disparage bands they aren’t fond of by saying, “They’re only a bar band.”  Curiously, this includes people who are in the same bar band as me.

To which I say:  Only a bar band?!?  Think about some of the massive albums that were recorded by bands who were still playing in clubs at time.

The Beatles were still gigging at places like the Cavern Club in Liverpool and the Star Club in Hamburg while they recorded Please Please Me.

The Who were performing in clubs when they recorded My Generation.

Eric Clapton achieved his notorious divinity not on the concert stage but in the nightclubs of London, while he knocked off both the John Mayall “Beano” and Fresh Cream albums.

The next year, Eric, The Beatles, The Stones and their pals caught Hendrix at the Bag O’ Nails while he was recording Are You Experienced.

Even Page, Plant &co. played a few club dates before Led Zeppelin I launched them on their path to world domination.

Only a bar band?  I guess if you can have a left-handed compliment, you can also have a left-handed insult.

Don’t Fade On Me

“The soundtrack to your life” may be a cliché, but to the extent that we all have one, mine seemed to be slipping away in 2017.  Check out Rolling Stone’s People We Lost This Year.

Chuck Berry, Tom Petty, Malcolm Young, Gord Downie, Greg Allman, Walter Becker, Fats Domino, J. Geils …  sheesh!  That’s a partial list of cultural icons relegated to our memories.

Back up your hard drives, people.  We need to keep this stuff alive.