I think he took the bass player and someone else too though. Got away from Jeff Beck.
Are solo efforts ever better?
I’m sure someone will think of something, but IMO, I can’t think of any artist that went solo and produced a significant amount of material that was “better” musically than what they did with their bands. Paul Simon did some decent stuff, but I don’t think it ever reached the artistic levels of what S&G did together. Sting, Fogarty, Bruce… I guess Diana Ross and Beyoncé were far more successful solo, but I think the Supremes and Destiny were more of window dressing for the star and less of a collective effort. Again, IMO. What do you think?
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@bdp24 - I think it’s another case of my not writing clearly enough in my OP. Obviously, there were many artists that broke away from bands and made it big. Hendrix was a backup guitarist for the Isley Bros as I recall. What I was thinking of were people who fronted monster bands already, that went solo. As I mentioned, Sting, Bruce, John Fogarty come to mind. Not really talking about sidemen that broke out like Frampton. But MJ killed it, of course. Speaking of Frampton, he has a solo acoustic double album out which is very good. Does the old hits, but just acoustic guitar and voice. Sometimes a bass in there as well. |
I'm not sure I understand your breakdown of solo artists, it doesn't follow @chayro 's original post. Are you saying Debbie Harry was better solo than when she fronted Blondie? And Clapton, you don't mention Cream. Was his solo career better? Rockpile is a complicated one. Dave Edmonds is a great talent and is intertwined with Nick Lowe and Rockpile. IMO, solo Edmonds would be greater than the one-off Rockpile. I was lucky enough to see Rockpile live as headliners circa 1980. |
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