Recently, I ran across a parlor game in which participants selected an all-time band (kind of like selecting an all-time sports lineup by position across the eras). The musicians selected could be living or dead, but no band should be represented more than once. So here’s my all-time fantasy band:
On bass, there’s no choice for me but Bootsy Collins. He jumped into the business as a youngster during the absolute peak of James Brown, playing the most important instrument on Sex Machine and Super Bad shortly after joining the band. After a year or two with the original J.B.s, he helped revolutionize the sound of Parliament/Funkadelic and started an excellent solo project (Bootsy’s Rubber Band) as well.
Picking a drummer is tough. Emotionally, my favorites are punk titans Jerry Nolan (New York Dolls, Heartbreakers) and Topper Headon (Clash). There are several ‘60s candidates as well: Muscle Shoals’ studio ace Roger Hawkins who did so much for the sound of Aretha and Wilson Pickett for starters, followed by Ringo, Charlie, and the Motown guys like Benny Benjamin. From more recent generations, Lynn Perko-Truell of Imperial Teen and Stanley Demeski of Feelies/Luna also make the shortlist. I would have leaned Headon or Nolan until I heard Janet Weiss’s transcendent work on the Go-Betweens reunion album. Weiss had repeatedly proven her badass bonafides with Sleater-Kinney and other projects, but her subtle brilliance with the Go-Betweens demonstrated she could excel at anything.
Rhythm Guitar: With all apologies to runner-up David Hidalgo, an otherworldly singer who can also play hot leads, I need a New York Doll in my all-time band. And even though I love the great Johnny Thunders and the unique sound he brought to the band, I’m going with Sylvain Sylvain. Syl was the most unifying factor in the sound of the Dolls, and I have no doubt he could add texture, edge, and fun to whatever this group would throw his way.
Lead guitar: A little obvious, sure, but to me no one’s surpassed Jimi. He’s got vastly superior range than his contemporaries, and immensely greater warmth than the numerous technically gifted players who have followed him. And he’s a fine singer to boot.
Keyboard: Aretha would be first team, but she won’t want to sit down the whole time. My favorite rock ‘n’ roller of all time is Chuck Berry, but he doesn’t work and play well with others enough for a project like this. Fortunately, his piano player, Johnnie Johnson, does. His simple solos and terrific turnaround fills in You Never Can Tell are still my favorite piano playing in rock.
Backing vocals: Emmylou Harris, mostly on the strength of her marvelous support of Gram Parsons on GP and Grievous Angel. For me, no one’s come close to it before or since.
Female lead vocals: Aretha Franklin. No contest here. Second choice is the tragically obscure Shirley Owens of the Shirelles, who leads third-place Etta James by even more than she trails the Queen of Soul.
Male lead vocals: Otis Redding. Another no-brainer, as he’s even farther ahead of my runners-up (Sam Cooke, Van Morrison, John Lennon) than Aretha is to hers.