Overshadowed by bandmates

Great post!

Completely agree with Mick Taylor when he was a Rolling Stones. Have you noticed that in interviews KR belittles Taylor?

Dave Mason was the overshadowed bandmate in Traffic. He was their George Harrison.

In the original Fleetwood Mac Danny Kirwan never got his props.

Neal Schon and Greg Rolie had to leave Santana and start Journey.

Ron Wood played second fiddle (actually he was the bassist) to Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart in an early Jeff Beck Group.

Jack Bruce wrote most of the songs, did most of the vocals and is arguably the better musician, but Cream is now viewed as an Eric Clapton band.

Levon Helm in The Band.

Both Curt Smith and John Oates kinda' got pushed to the backseat in their respective pop dous.

Boz Scaggs in the Steve Miller Band.

Artie Garfunkle.

Florence Ballard in the Supremes.

Pete Anderson -- Dwight Y. just doesn't sound the same.

Stevie Nieve. What would Elvis Costello sound like without him?

Dan Hartman in the Edgar Winter Group w/ Rick Derringer. Hartman was pop genius.

John Paul Jones. Do you think just anybody could have played bass with Page and Bonham?

And finally, my nominee for the ultimate overshadowed bandmate -- Johnny Johnson. When they went into the studio it was the Johnny Johnson Band, when they came out it was Chuck Berry.

U2 and Radiohead are major bands that I think are exceptions to bands requiring a stellar rhythm section. They are solid, but no better. You could also put Pink Floyd into that group.

Charlie Watts is tremendous. Don't underestimate the man.

My comments about less than stellar rhythm sections was in response to Shadrone's earlier post.

Drummers and bass players are most often overlooked - to me they form the foundation for much of modern music. IMHO, a good drummer and bass player can carry the whole band with a solid foundation of great grooves even if the antics of lead guitar and vocalist typically get all the spotlight attention.

I agree that Charlie Watts or Ringo Starr may not have been the most talented members of their respective bands. Or to put it another way, we would have heard of Lennon/McCartney Jagger/Richards even if there were no Watts or Starr. That said, the internal dynamics of bands are both mysterious and volatile. It's an unprovable point, but there is no guarantee that a Watt-less Rolling Stones would have achieved greatness. We just don't know. I believe it was McCartney who said that Ringo wasn't a better drummer than Pete Best, but he was a far better Beatle. Being a bandmate can trump the musicianship/talent thing.