famous bands (or significant portions thereof) who backed up a solo artist or were absorbed into an existing band for a single album: the thread

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There's an Arthur Lee live album with Shack as the backing band.

Hideous Lump, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 21:45 (five years ago) link

Ian Hunter's LP "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" has the E-Street rhythm section (Garry Tallent- bass
Max Weinberg - drums & Roy Bittan- keyboards) with Mick Ronson producing and playing lead guitar. It even has John Cale playing on one track too. Good record.

earlnash, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 21:51 (five years ago) link

Faust's rhythm section plays on Slapp Happy's Acnalbasac Noom

― Ambient Police (sleeve)

Goddamn it, way to steal my answer ;_;

emil.y, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 21:52 (five years ago) link

How about Dolly Mixture backing Captain Sensible, then?

emil.y, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 21:54 (five years ago) link

There's an Arthur Lee live album with Shack as the backing band.

― Hideous Lump, Wednesday, June 5, 2019 10:45 PM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I saw 2 nights of that tour. London and Liverpool. Arthur Lee even paid me back after i'd had to pay in in Liverpool when he'd said he'd put me on the guestlist. Quite amazing.

Stevolende, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 21:58 (five years ago) link

xp emil.y I didn't know that one either!

Ambient Police (sleeve), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:03 (five years ago) link

Ian Hunter's LP "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" has the E-Street rhythm section (Garry Tallent- bass
Max Weinberg - drums & Roy Bittan- keyboards) with Mick Ronson producing and playing lead guitar. It even has John Cale playing on one track too. Good record.

Buncha E Street guys on Bat Out of Hell too.

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:09 (five years ago) link

The Hollies and some British session dudes (including Jimmy Page) provide most of the backing on Two Yanks In England by The Everly Bros.

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:15 (five years ago) link

The Weirdos backing Lydia Lunch on 13.13

Ambient Police (sleeve), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:15 (five years ago) link

Honeymoon in Red is her with the birthday party.
Some Velvet morning is her with the future These Immortal Souls
& the collaboration with Rowland S Howard as Shotgun Wedding is pretty great too

Stevolende, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:32 (five years ago) link

I believe all of Pere Ubu appeared on the Red Crayola's Soldier-Talk (...plus Lora Logic, as well!)

Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:42 (five years ago) link

good call! also on Kangaroo?

Ambient Police (sleeve), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:43 (five years ago) link

and the amazing 'Born In Flames' single

Ambient Police (sleeve), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:44 (five years ago) link

Those have different personnel -- Epic Soundtracks, Gina Birch, Lora Logic, Ben Annesley... plus Allen Ravenstine from Pere Ubu played on Kangaroo?, not sure about the amazing "Born in Flames" single

Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:55 (five years ago) link

(jammin' "Born in Flames" now; I don't hear Ravenstine's synth)

Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 22:57 (five years ago) link

oh yeah you're right, even Ravenstine isn't on the single, my bad

Ambient Police (sleeve), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:00 (five years ago) link

your *good*; got me listening to Red C.... :)

Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:05 (five years ago) link

Todd Rundgren & Utopia on Shaun Cassidy's Wasp.

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:08 (five years ago) link

Sunn O))) and Scott Walker

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:28 (five years ago) link

^^ thought of that one, too, but it seems more of a collaboration instead of one band acting as a backing band tbh

Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:33 (five years ago) link

The Dap-Kings on Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, at least quite a lot of it

Josefa, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:47 (five years ago) link

the olivia tremor control back up kahimi karie on her "once upon a time" ep

oh, how about cheap trick backing up john lennon on one song?

Flood-Resistant Mirror-Drilling Machine (rushomancy), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:49 (five years ago) link

also this is stretching the definition of "famous" but giles, giles, & fripp backed up al stewart on a bbc session for "my kind of folk" in late '68

i've heard the session, ggf sound fucking awful

Flood-Resistant Mirror-Drilling Machine (rushomancy), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 23:51 (five years ago) link

Liza Minnelli's Results: produced by Pet Shop Boys, 7 out of 10 songs written for the album by Tennant / Lowe (plus three covers), played on by both Boys and sung on by Neil, plus regular PSB guitarist J.J. Belle, and frequent collaborators Anne Dudley and Julian Mendelsohn. (with bonus Angelo Badalementi!)

Dunno how/if this would count, but the then-Who (Townshend, Entwistle, Kenney Jones) as backing band for Roger Daltrey on most of the McVicar soundtrack, billed as a Daltrey solo album.

Kinda similar to the Dead backing Bob Weir on his first solo alb?

Morrissey's third solo single features four members of The Smiths on both sides. (Craig Gannon, not Johnny Marr, on guitar.)


Sleater-Kinney backing the Go-Betweens on The Friends of Rachel Worth.

Only on one song ftr.


Bunch of Triffids on Bill Drummond's The Man LP

All the Triffids bar singer David McComb, plus Kid Chaos from Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction, and "Voices Of The Beehive" on backing vox iirc.


That Ellen Foley record with The Clash on it

Spirit Of St Louis - this is straight-up a fourth disc of Sandinista!, right down to the lineup including Mickey Gallagher on keyboards, Norman Watt-Roy on bass, and Tymon Dogg on violin. Half the songs are written by Strummer / Jones, Tymon Dogg wrote a few, Bill Price engineered and "My Boyfriend" produced (ie Mick).

Bonus points to Ian Hunter's Short Back & Sides, 8/10 of which is produced / sung on / guitared by Mick Jones & Mick Ronson, with Bill Price engineering, plus Topper on drums, Tymon on violin and Ellen singing.

quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:16 (five years ago) link

Sub Quasi for S-K on Rachel Worth then.

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:25 (five years ago) link

Spirit Of St Louis - this is straight-up a fourth disc of Sandinista!

OK I gotta hear this, always passed it over

Ambient Police (sleeve), Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:30 (five years ago) link

Sub Quasi for S-K on Rachel Worth then.

Been thinking I saw Quasi backing up Elliott Smith on tour, not sure if they recorded an album in that format and thinking that since they had already been in bands together it doesn’t really work.

TS The Students vs. The Regents (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:47 (five years ago) link

It’s not good! But it’s a curiosity.

quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:51 (five years ago) link

xpost

quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:51 (five years ago) link

jeez, way to kill my enthusiasm there :)

Ambient Police (sleeve), Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:51 (five years ago) link

I think a couple of PAVEMENT guys were on the first Silver Jews.

Jim O'Rourke and Sonic Youth.

nicky lo-fi, Thursday, 6 June 2019 00:56 (five years ago) link

Malk & Nasty were in the Joos before both were in Pavement

Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Thursday, 6 June 2019 01:09 (five years ago) link

jeez, way to kill my enthusiasm there :)

just didn't want to get your hopes unnecessarily raised! I'm totally down with all of Sandinista itself as a coherent listen, no make-a great-single-album fantasy games, but the songwriting well was getting dry by the time they got to Side H.

I had it on 2nd-hand LP in the early '00s, should give it another ear myself in case I'm being mean

quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 6 June 2019 01:18 (five years ago) link

ooh there's an "expanded edition" on Spotify, bring it on

Ambient Police (sleeve), Thursday, 6 June 2019 01:23 (five years ago) link

The Rolling Stones on John Phillips' Pay, Pack, and Follow/Pussycat.

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 6 June 2019 04:07 (five years ago) link

The Lilys were basically Kurt Heasley backed by The Beachwood Sparks circa 2001-2.

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 6 June 2019 04:12 (five years ago) link

Another Booker T & The MGs one: The Detroit-Memphis Experiment w/Mitch Ryder.

a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 6 June 2019 04:20 (five years ago) link

Dungen on Melody's Echo Chamber's Bon Voyage

I've listened to this album tons of times and never knew this. Makes total sense though.

Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 6 June 2019 04:30 (five years ago) link

Not a full album, but Earth Wind & Fire were the backing band for half of Ramsey Lewis's Sun Goddess.

Chic became the backing band

Tuomas, Thursday, 6 June 2019 07:07 (five years ago) link

Chic became the backing band for several already-established artists for an album or two, such as Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, and Debbie Harry.

Tuomas, Thursday, 6 June 2019 07:11 (five years ago) link

Ornette Coleman's group => Don Cherry, Ed Blackwell and Charlie Haden backing John Coltrane on The Avant Garde

Stevolende, Thursday, 6 June 2019 07:24 (five years ago) link

The Ruts were the backing band for the first half of Kevin Coyne's "Sanity Stomp" double album (Robert Wyatt et al on the second half).

John Harris is a Guardian columnist (Tom D.), Thursday, 6 June 2019 07:30 (five years ago) link

An early version of Earth Wind and Fire are the band on Melvin Van peebles Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song which includes vocals by him.

Don't think I've seen a listing for who the backing players on the 3 solo lps by him are but they're also pretty great. Don't think there are credits for them on the solo lps and definitely aren't on the Rated X By An All White Jury set I have them as.

Stevolende, Thursday, 6 June 2019 07:37 (five years ago) link

Eno backed by The Winkies for a Peel session and tour, if that qualifies?

MaresNest, Thursday, 6 June 2019 12:13 (five years ago) link

There’s a song on Kelis’s Wanderland where the three instrumentalists from No Doubt are her backing band.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Thursday, 6 June 2019 12:23 (five years ago) link

another Meters example, they all played on Dr. John's In the Right Place and Desitively Bonnaroo
albums.

mizzell, Thursday, 6 June 2019 12:27 (five years ago) link

Beak> produced and played on Anika's (now Exploded View) debut album.

ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Thursday, 6 June 2019 12:36 (five years ago) link

Ah shit, that's a good one that I should've thought of.

emil.y, Thursday, 6 June 2019 13:58 (five years ago) link

Devo backed Toni Basil on her debut album, Word Of Mouth

Br. Des Shadows (NickB), Thursday, 6 June 2019 14:30 (five years ago) link

!!!

Ambient Police (sleeve), Thursday, 6 June 2019 14:34 (five years ago) link


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