One Original Member Remaining in the Band...

[Zzzptm]

The experience I had in listening to 2023 albums from Uriah Heep and the so-called Guess Who was a fascinating one. Both are bands with one original member still in them. But the differences... Mick Box rebuilt Uriah Heep from the ground up when the band disintegrated and has made it something to be perennially proud of. Chaos and Colours is a strong album with some excellent musicianship. Props to them for that.

The Guess Who, on the other hand... it disbanded in the 70s and then the bass player, Jim Kale, registered the band name so he owned it and then got together with the drummer, Garry Peterson, to get a band together and tour under that name. That started in the 80s and the lawsuits have been going back and forth over band name ownership in spite of Kale and Peterson occasionally doing reunion tours with the creative forces behind the original band, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman. Kale eventually retired, so it's just Peterson doing tours and albums with four guys that we have no idea who they are... but one of them is writing all their new material that sounds nothing at all like the rest of the band's output. It's average stuff, at best. It's riding on the fumes of fans that unwittingly buy tickets thinking they're gonna hear American Woman done in a way they might recognize.

Thus we see the difference between the band that keeps going forward versus the one that got re-formed because the band members with zero songwriting royalties need to go on tour to pay their bills.

Of course, that "keep going forward" thing can easily turn into a "pay the bills" thing when a band's creative forces get diluted after key members depart. Witness the issues Iommi had on various Black Sabbath lineups... and given that much of Uriah Heep's "classic" sound was dominated by Ken Hensley, it's all the more remarkable for Box to have been able to find talented writers to flesh out the band's output.

(Disclaimer - I'm writing this as I listen to Chaos and Colours again... it REALLY bears checking out! Don't be sleeping on this one!)

Deep Purple's been lucky in getting good people to fill in where others depart. Judas Priest has a pretty good record there, as well. Thoughts? Comments?

[Charger]

There are quite a few bands with only one original member left... Megadeth (Dave), Iron Maiden (Steve Harris), Judas Priest (Ian Hill), Deep Purple (Paicey) just to name a few others...and they all have had pretty good careers after all other original members have left...although I guess Priest has been on the decline which ofcourse is because the biggest driving force of that band was KK/Glenn guitar duo which can not be ever matched.

I think it depends who the main song writer is...if it's the band leader and sole member left like in case of Steve and Dave nothing really changes eventhough the line ups do...

Purple also never really had any revolving doors of members which has helped over the years plus the main trio has been there on and off since 1969! And finding a guitarist and songwriter as talented as Steve Morse didn't hurt either ofcourse!

[Zzzptm]

I think it's also something to do with *which* bandmember is the one left. Like if Dave Mustaine retired (perish the thought!) and say Gar Samuelson got together with Chris Poland and started touring as Megadeth, we'd all cry BS on that move. Yes, they were *in* it at the start, but they were also not major creative forces in the band.

For Maiden, if Steve Harris retired from active touring and recording, the other five are "classic enough" to continue if they wanted. Songwriting would go over mostly to Smith and Dickinson, so I'd guess they'd become a Country act in that event.

And, yes, Purple's been able to get guys who can write and perform compellingly. Coverdale, Hughes, Bolin, all did well in the 70s. The 80s and early 90s, well, we won't mention Joe Lynn Turner, OK? But the rest of the band from the classic Mk2 lineup were there and doing well enough when Big Ian and Blackmore weren't trying to kill each other. Then came Morse and the band did flourish. Don Airey on keys has been good for the band and the new banjo player's not half bad, himself!

Looking at The Rolling Stones, it's Jagger and Richards that are the band, but they can't do it without Wood to keep things smooth. Their solution to keeping former bandmates from hijacking their band is to One, keep the band going, and; two, live longer than everyone else that's been in the band.

Slade on the other hand... poor lads Dave Hill and Don Powell had no writing credits, so they had to tour to make money. Meanwhile, Holder and Lea had royalties coming in from all the songs Slade did as well as the covers other bands did... and that Christmas song they did! So Holder and Lea are comfortable and want to step away from active touring, but Powell and Hill were desperate to keep going. They got the blessing to continue with the band name, but they're pretty much a Slade cover band with a very authentic-looking guitarist.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

The obvious band I'm familiar with down to just 1 original member is The Stranglers, just left JJ Burnel of the original line up, Hugh Cornwall left with musical differences around 1990, Jet Black retired around 2015 and died a year or so back (well into his 80s mind) and Dave Greenfield died from COVID in 2020.

More to follow...

[Zzzptm]

The obvious band I'm familiar with down to just 1 original member is The Stranglers, just left JJ Burnel of the original line up, Hugh Cornwall left with musical differences around 1990, Jet Black retired around 2015 and died a year or so back (well into his 80s mind) and Dave Greenfield died from COVID in 2020.

More to follow...

But The Stranglers' latest work was incredible stuff, so they're not milking a name to put food on the table or anything like that.

[Vyn]

Fleetwood Mac - Mick Fleetwood is the only original member, but their musical stylings experiences - significant - shifts over the years, finally settling on a soft rock sound that made them rich. And Mick simply had fuck all to do with their sound past the first album.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gary Rossington was all that was left, but they were a tribute band more than anything for the past 30-40 years. Now that he's gone, I don't think there's really any difference.

The Drifters - well, none are left, so...and again, tribute band on the nostalgia circuit.

Alabama - some country - Randy Owens is all that remains, but their sound hasn't changed since they were Wild Country, so...

Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship - In the end, Paul Kanter was the only original remaining, and of the bands I've listed, they actually attempted to put out new and evolving music. Suck music, but they tried lol. Although they still tour, none of them are from the original line-up. And like Fleetwood Mac, you cannot compare "Come Up The Years" with "We Built This City". At all.

Foreigner - Mick Jones, but more tribute band stuff.

It seems like the ones I brought up really stopped being hungry for new tunes after a certain point, and simply fell into wringing nickels out of the hands of the nostalgia-ridden.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

But The Stranglers' latest work was incredible stuff, so they're not milking a name to put food on the table or anything like that.

Indeed, and when Baz Warne replaced Hugh Cornwall, it seemed to kick some life into their career which had floundered for a few years. They are still touring, but I'm not sure they'll release any new material.

[Zzzptm]

Add Journey to the list. Neal Schon's all that's left of the original lineup and the band is right now having something of an identity crisis about making a new record or just cruising the oldies circuit.