By The Landlord
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
"We don't make music – it makes us." – David Byrne
"I'd rather play jazz, I hate rock and roll." – Ginger Baker
At their best, they are a hot, heady recipe of successful, proven talent, their egos wrestling creatively as equals in a perfect new blend of balance and energy, playing competitively, but with clearly mutual respect, bringing out the very best in each other, raised to the top of their game to create something entirely new. Though, of course by its brilliant potency, the group may be fragile, volatile and temporary.
Then at their worst they might be a contrived marketing gimmick, a horrible, several-headed hydra designed to boost each others' sales. But for the purposes of this week's topic, this collaboration can't be a one-off performance at a gig or festival or a single recorded song. The supergroup, made of two or more established artists from other bands or solo artists, must have worked together to create an album or more of songs, and hopefully in doing so, became a band or duet making music in a distinct combination, ideally with a new, identifiable sound and name. And in doing so to let’s suggest tracks that show the best of their talents in combination.
The supergroup is an odd, often overused term. So, in chaotic scenes, when James Brown invited first Michael Jackson, and then a twitchily nervous but brilliant Prince, up on stage with him at the Beverly Theater in Hollywood on 20 August 1983, the Purple One kneeling on the floor, playing a crazy funk guitar riff then stripping off and letting off a primordial howl, this was something almost supernormal, but not a supergroup; or when the same artist joined Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Steve Winwood to perform a solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps; or when Roy Orbison was backed by a starstruck Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello to play his greatest hits at an anniversary concert; or when, in turn, Costello and Fiona Apple performed a passionately tearful I Want You; or when Band Aid made Do They Know It's Christmas?; or when David Bowie, recorded hit songs with Mick Jagger, Queen or indeed Bing Crosby, well, none of these count.
Magical, silly, brilliant or outrageously awful, as super or otherwise as these examples might be, they might mark some of music's most memorable moments, but they aren't supergroups as such. Think of many of those egos, and imagine them working together as equals. No chance! Rod Stewart once tried to form a band called Nose, Teeth & Hair, made up of himself, Freddie Mercury and Elton John. Sounds like the kind of taxidermy-formed nightmare of some monstrous Victorian monster.
Hair, Nose & Teeth. The supergroup that never was, fortunately
Thank goodness history denied us this hybrid. Also, actual music examples of strange, brief collaborations, and more have already come up in previous topic – side projects and unusual collaborations here at the Bar, and with these great final choices, separate overlapped one that echoed it, of unlikely collaborations. Those one-offs are a different chimeric animal. Instead the supergroup has to have become a new group, be an identifiable project that had an LP to established its new flavour.
There were more than likely supergroups prior to 1967, but that was that year Rolling Stone founding editor Jann Wenner coined the term after launching that revered magazine, when describing Cream, who had formed the year before. The richly successful trio was comprised of Eric Clapton, formerly of The Yardbirds and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker from the Graham Bond Organisation and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Brilliant but incendiary, especially with a big dash of spicy, difficult Ginger in the recipe, they lasted two years and recorded four sizzling albums.
The 60s were a hotbed of blues-rock supergroups clambering in and out of each others’ places, particulary via a small, incestuous London scene. Clapton and Baker then formed another supergroup, Blind Faith, adding Spencer Davis Group and Traffic singer Steve Winwood and Family bassist Ric Grech to record one classic album. And the long list goes on, as across the pond former members of The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies turned out the new combination of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and later added Young.
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. In another life, perhaps an eccentric law firm.
These are some the earliest examples, and supergroups have been the product of exciting musical bedswapping ever since. "I formed Humble Pie when I was only 18. We were one of the first 'supergroups,' with Steve Marriott of The Small Faces on guitar and Greg Ridley of Spooky Tooth on bass. With Humble Pie, I tasted American success for the first time," said Peter Frampton. The food and recipe metaphor seems to linger. Rock, pop, country and more in the 1970s to the present throws up many examples, from Bad Company (Free, Mott the Hoople, King Crimson) to the various excessive iterations that spring out and around Black Sabbath/Deep Purple/Dio/Rainbow etc), or Bad Company (Free, Mott the Hoople, King Crimson) to cultured old pros of The Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty) to Them Crooked Vultures (Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones) to The Raconteurs or The Dead Weather featuring Jack White and friends from The Greenhornes, Queens of the Stone Age and The Kills. And mixing Britpop, indie, jazz and pUnk The Good, The Bad and The Queen. If they created an album or two, and were successful in prior bands, then they're a supergroup and their songs count.
OK fellas, who’s on guitar?
While the supergroup is often characterised by instability, in-fighting (what bands aren't?) and being short-term, some very established long-term bands are, technically supergroups even though they aren't often referred as such. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, while dominated by one key figure, has comprised an extraordinary field made up of The Birthday Party, Crime and the City Solution, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Haut, Magazine, The Cramps, Gun Club, Gallon Drunk, The Triffids, Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes, Sonic Youth, The Dirty Three and The Saints.
Another strange phenomena of the music industry is how the supergroup, like many aspects of rock and pop, are dominated by men. Perhaps that’s something to do with taking control and record contract permissions. So perhaps this week female supergroups, comprised partially, or entirely of women, could get an airing. Here’s one, The Highwomen, a country singer supergroup of Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby.
The Highwomen: country stars Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby
Another characteristic of the supergroup is the oddity of their identity. Perhaps it comes from the idea trying to hide their previous guises. Damon Albarn's Gorillaz is a case in point, a band expressed as cartoon characters, reaching a peak of crazy membership for the album Plastic Beach, more of an amalgam of diverse eccentrics on different songs than a supergroup (Bobby Womack, Lou Reed, Shaun Ryder).
Gorillaz. Real-life cartoon characters
Supergroups are also often characterised by particularly strange contrived names, perhaps trying to amalgamate or comment on their other bands or just be plain daft as an attempted description of who they are. So perhaps you might like to consider Chickenfoot (Joe Satriani, Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers), Les Claypool's Bucket Of Bernie Brains (Primus, Buckethead, Parliament-Funkadelic), LSD (Labrinth, Diplo, and Sia), Oysterhead (Primus, Phish, the Police), Plastic Ono Band of course (The Beatles, Eric Clapton, The Who and of course Yoko Ono), Prophets Of Rage (Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill), Mike + The Mechanics (Genesis, Squeeze, Sad Café), Nevermen (Faith No More, TV on the Radio, cLOUDDEAD), Folkearth (Folkodia, Eluveitie, Forefather, Nae'blis, Yggdrasil, Broken Dagger, Tverd), Five Finger Death Punch (Motograter, U.P.O., WASP, Alice Cooper), the extraordinary bland The Firm (Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, Roy Harper, Uriah Heep) and, I hesitate almost to mention McBusted (McFly and Busted, though, perhaps I’m presuming too much, but good luck with getting any of their stuff into the Marconium).
However some supergroup names are ingenious. My favourite is FFS, that witty one-off album project between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks. Who would have thought such an unlikely, but naturally perfect combination could work?
FFS. Has there ever been a better supergroup name?
So then, for time’s sake, it's time to turn these variously strange and wonderful supergroup recipes songs to this week's musical head chef, that stirring person of perfect taste, Nilpferd. Suggest tracks from albums by supergroups in comment below by last orders at 11pm UK time Monday, for playlists published on Wednesday. No doubt it'll be a super, group effort.
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