What I would like to see was a longer life of what could have been to the one's that left us too early. All those timeless melodies and standards unwritten. To that end I would include Mozart, Chopin and Gershwin as a few good examples.
So far as rock artists are concerned I can think of no better candidate than Buddy Holly, song writer, producer, and performer that by the time of his death at 22 was really just warming up to his unlimited potential, a pretty good example of "if only".
So far as Bach is concerned how much more could he have packed in his 65 years? Father of 22, composer of upward of 500 cantatas mostly lost, accomplished organist/keyboardist and composer of some of the revered music ever written, a musician's musician at the top of the heap. Imagine what he accomplished relative to today's artists to get a sense of his greatness. Not only that but that family musical legacy continued after his death. Bach lived the fulfilled life in the truest sense. I can think of few other historical figures that accomplished so much. A keyboardist with a progressive rock group? That's funny but it might be fun too! Imagine what he might have contributed to rock, Yes's "Roundabout" for instance?
Oh yeah, I sure would have loved to hear the young Louis Armstrong sitting on the Mississippi riverbank as that horn carries over the still darkness of that mighty river, the inspiration of another one that died too young, Bix Beiderbecke. Or maybe the Duke or Count Basie "One more time"!
