STEVE@ENGLAND
Member
Dilemma: You've made a pact with the Devil.
For one night (and one night only), he grants you your wish of forming the ultimate super-group
& getting them to perform on stage (at Lake Tahoe.)
The band can be as small (or as large) as you like - and can consist of ANY musician (dead or
alive) of your choosing.
The only rules that Ol' Nick insists upon, though, are that:
(i) Karen MUST be included ... Despite his many faults - he puts it down to a troubled childhood,
you see ("Domineering mother, and all that") - he knows talent when he hears it;
(ii) each band member must (in one way or another) be extraordinary; and,
(iii) the band must swing (in other words, have, roughly speaking, a jazz background. This rules
out J. S. Bach & Beethoven.)
Are you up for the challenge?
But what does 'Nicky Boy' want in return, I hear you say, for granting you your wish?
Money?
Diamonds?
Beer?
A public-relations makeover?
(No, no ... it's FAR worse than that.)
World domination?
(cue sinister music and a lot of cackling) ...
No ... he demands that you endure an entire evening of listening to Whitney
Houston butcher A Song for You (No, Nick, you can't ask for THAT! Cue
frothing at the mouth) and Nicki Minaj & Megan thee Stallion 'doin' their
thang' (Aaaggghhhhh!!! Lord, have mercy on me.)
But, more seriously, here goes ...
My super-group:
Frank Sinatra - (male) lead vocals & 'ringmaster' ... I'm torn between Sinatra, Bing Crosby
& Nat King Cole (Whose voice compliments Karen's the most?)
Karen Carpenter - (female) lead vocals & occasional drums ... The very definition of "irreplaceable";
Buddy Rich - drums ... Too flashy? Not subtle enough?
Jimi Hendrix - lead guitar & vocals ... "Warm" voice (Compliments
Karen's very well);
Glen Campbell - rhythm guitar & vocals ... ('Wichita Lineman'. Enough said!);
Stanley Clarke - bass guitar ... From the group Return to Forever
(Chick Corea, et al.) Torn between
Clarke & Jaco Pastorius (Weather
Report);
George Gershwin - keyboards ... Torn between Gershwin & Leonard Bernstein (composer of the music
for West Side Story.) Karen always
said that she wanted to appear in
musicals (Well, this is her chance
- AND to be in a band with Buddy
Rich) ...
... accompanied, of course, by the Nelson Riddle orchestra.
That's a helluva 'band', don't you think?
(Apart from Karen, my choices aren't set in stone.)
Feel free to comment (I won't be offended.)
Are my choices perverse?
Are there any glaring omissions?
Does the band need augmenting with, say, a violinist? (Stephane Grappelli?) or
a percussionist (Ruth Underwood - from Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention?)
*** Don't forget ... ONLY Karen's position in the band is non-negotiable (All
the others are, to some extent, up for grabs) ***.
Unfortunately, Richard Carpenter hasn't made the cut (but, then again, neither
have Bacharach, Lennon nor McCartney) - although I'd be more than happy
for Richard and Nelson Riddle/Billy May to co-arrange/orchestrate the
super-group's material.
If you like, you can include your ideal set-list for the Lake Tahoe concert -
but, don't forget, as it's a one-off, this is your only opportunity to hear
your 'ultimate band' perform.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas & Best Wishes for the New Year.
Steve.
For one night (and one night only), he grants you your wish of forming the ultimate super-group
& getting them to perform on stage (at Lake Tahoe.)
The band can be as small (or as large) as you like - and can consist of ANY musician (dead or
alive) of your choosing.
The only rules that Ol' Nick insists upon, though, are that:
(i) Karen MUST be included ... Despite his many faults - he puts it down to a troubled childhood,
you see ("Domineering mother, and all that") - he knows talent when he hears it;
(ii) each band member must (in one way or another) be extraordinary; and,
(iii) the band must swing (in other words, have, roughly speaking, a jazz background. This rules
out J. S. Bach & Beethoven.)
Are you up for the challenge?
But what does 'Nicky Boy' want in return, I hear you say, for granting you your wish?
Money?
Diamonds?
Beer?
A public-relations makeover?
(No, no ... it's FAR worse than that.)
World domination?
(cue sinister music and a lot of cackling) ...
No ... he demands that you endure an entire evening of listening to Whitney
Houston butcher A Song for You (No, Nick, you can't ask for THAT! Cue
frothing at the mouth) and Nicki Minaj & Megan thee Stallion 'doin' their
thang' (Aaaggghhhhh!!! Lord, have mercy on me.)
But, more seriously, here goes ...
My super-group:
Frank Sinatra - (male) lead vocals & 'ringmaster' ... I'm torn between Sinatra, Bing Crosby
& Nat King Cole (Whose voice compliments Karen's the most?)
Karen Carpenter - (female) lead vocals & occasional drums ... The very definition of "irreplaceable";
Buddy Rich - drums ... Too flashy? Not subtle enough?
Jimi Hendrix - lead guitar & vocals ... "Warm" voice (Compliments
Karen's very well);
Glen Campbell - rhythm guitar & vocals ... ('Wichita Lineman'. Enough said!);
Stanley Clarke - bass guitar ... From the group Return to Forever
(Chick Corea, et al.) Torn between
Clarke & Jaco Pastorius (Weather
Report);
George Gershwin - keyboards ... Torn between Gershwin & Leonard Bernstein (composer of the music
for West Side Story.) Karen always
said that she wanted to appear in
musicals (Well, this is her chance
- AND to be in a band with Buddy
Rich) ...
... accompanied, of course, by the Nelson Riddle orchestra.
That's a helluva 'band', don't you think?
(Apart from Karen, my choices aren't set in stone.)
Feel free to comment (I won't be offended.)
Are my choices perverse?
Are there any glaring omissions?
Does the band need augmenting with, say, a violinist? (Stephane Grappelli?) or
a percussionist (Ruth Underwood - from Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention?)
*** Don't forget ... ONLY Karen's position in the band is non-negotiable (All
the others are, to some extent, up for grabs) ***.
Unfortunately, Richard Carpenter hasn't made the cut (but, then again, neither
have Bacharach, Lennon nor McCartney) - although I'd be more than happy
for Richard and Nelson Riddle/Billy May to co-arrange/orchestrate the
super-group's material.
If you like, you can include your ideal set-list for the Lake Tahoe concert -
but, don't forget, as it's a one-off, this is your only opportunity to hear
your 'ultimate band' perform.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas & Best Wishes for the New Year.
Steve.