Unsung Heroes of Rock

The Cramps. American Punk/Indie/Neo-Rockabilly Band. 1986-2009.

Poison Ivy on lead guitar with her big orange Gretsch is just about as wicked as it gets, an amazing guitarist...Here they are in 2006, near the end of the band's tenure, playing the classic rockabilly-style hit, Mad Daddy. Truly one of the most under-rated bands in Rock history.

 

Marty McFly. HUGE inspiration on Chuck Berry.

 

Not sure if he's unsung or a hero, but I'd like to nominate

Robert Wyatt.

 

Unsung piano/organ players---
Leon Russell
Paul Shaffer & the World's Most Dangerous Band backed up tons of people

 

Ruth Underwood, the vibes player for Zappa.

 

The ones I was thinking about were already posted but I did come up with one, Billy Prestons contributions to the Beatles. Here is a link to his tribute to George doing a really bang up job on My Sweet Lord.
Its worth the listen

 

Cramps has been already mentioned. But wanted to add one side of them. They dug out all these crazy wonderful 50s and 60s songs that had been all forgotten. There is a series of CDs called 'the songs Cramps tought us' with the original versions. Lots of fun.

Sonics from Seattle, no doubt. 60s garage rock band, hugely influential. Psycho! Youtube has a video them playing in some record store in Seattle not so long ago. And these old guys rock like a runaway freight train. Amazing. Swedish band Nomads are like their grand children. Great band.

I gotta put up Hanoi Rocks as well. I'm not a fan but saw their first ever gig back in the day in Finland. Many have stated them as influence. Including Guns and Roses.

Smithereens comes to mind. Oh and Godfathers from the UK. They were amazing live band. The way the 2 guitarist played together was so much fun.

Johnny Thunders. Pirates and Dr Feelgood from the UK. Brought pub rock back at the hight of Punk.

There are so many more...

 

Thinking about Pete Best ... if you've ever heard any of those super early Beatles tracks, he was a pretty average drummer really. And it's not like he voluntarily "stepped aside". He got fired.

But everybody still knows him anyway.

If you look at it in a certain way, you might even say nobody ever got more famous for doing so little. The original "famous for almost being famous" story.

 

Stuart Adamson