Phantom Musicians

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:00 pm

Recently I found out that Dennis Wilson did not actually do the drumming on The Beach Boys' records. Similarly, we all know that the Monkees did not play the instruments on their early records.

What are some other examples of studio musicians quietly standing in for the high profile group member?

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:44 pm

Well, Bob Kulick played some of the leads attributed to Ace Frehley on the Destroyer album while Ace was drinking and playing poker for a few nights in a row and AWOL...actually KISS did this a lot, Anton Fig from the David Letterman band played drums on Dynasty when it was attibuted to Peter Criss.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:19 pm

Joe Osborn played on half of the hits of the 60's, bass. Oh and I was right Dennis Wilson and the rest did play on their first few albums.
That Hal Blaine thing is amazing though, and to top it off he's very humble (like most drummers are), haha! Tommy Tedesco also played on a million 60's hits, guitar.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:45 am

I heard Gene Simmons say he's never played on a Kiss record, period.
I'm surprised when I hear somebody DID play on their record from the (west coast) '60's. Well, except for the obvious bands like Love, Doors, etc.
Anybody recall the Glen Campbell show when he got up and showed off his new Ovation 12 string ("this here is a 12 string geetar") then proceeded to play the intro to Mr. Tamborine Man for a minute and a half while the audience politely applauded? For the longest time I was under the impression he was on the record (til I found this forum), and that's probably the reason. BTW, I'm a fan of Glen Campbell, I think he was an official endorser of Ovation back then.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:06 am

I recall him as being their FIRST paid endorser...Am I correct?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:11 am

Several stones records had some studio musicians ...

desertgoldenboy · Post by **desertgoldenboy** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 9:23 am

Here's a guy you heard a lot:

Louie Shelton's name may be unknown to most listeners, but his guitar work has been heard over and over by even casual popular music listeners since the mid-'60s. His career as a session musician began with the Monkees, playing the memorable riffs on several of their recordings. (Remember the cool, rapid-fire, reverb-drenched solo in "Valerie"?) He went on to play on "I Want You Back," "ABC" and "I'll Be There" for the Jackson 5, Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown," and "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl" with Seals & Crofts. He played the guitar solos on pop smashes like Lionel Richie's "Hello" and Neil Diamond's "Play Me," and recorded with artists ranging from Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston, to the Partridge Family, Art Garfunkel and Mama Cass Elliott. He produced a number of albums as well, most notably for Seals & Crofts.
~ Jim Newsom, All Music Guide

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:57 am

Wasn't Kiss's Unmasked album Eric Carr? Creatures of the Night had Ace's face on it but it was Vinnie Vincent. Gene never played on a kiss album? I knew he never played bass on his solo album (slap bass in there) he played guitar but I thought he played on the Kiss albums. Wow, more respect lost for the man.

rob · Post by **rob** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:09 pm

Milli Vanilli comes to mind......

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:12 pm

If Gene Simmons didn't play on any of their records whoever did, did a real good job of sounding like a hack bass player, on most of their songs anyway.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:14 pm

LOL! So true. Gene is impressive live though. The way he sing and plays completely opposite rhythms is amazing to me. "Shout It Out Loud" Opposite stuff.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:22 pm

I always like "Christine" Great drumming and bass (whoever they were)

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:25 pm

Lol... who played the piano?

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:29 pm

Oh yeah.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 5:32 pm

I think it was Elton John.

Actually, there was a lot of that in Kiss. Yes, Nate, Ace's face was on Creatures and it was Vinnie playing the parts, however, Ace was in the video for I Love it Loud. They were just so afraid of having too many lineup changes so fast.
They might have tried writing better songs.
Eric Carr did play on Unmasked, possibly the worst piece of **** they ever put out, and he debuted on stage on that tour. He was a great drummer!
Believe it or not, I was at the first show of the "Farewell Tour" in 1996. They're still here! GO AWAY already!! The minute other dudes wear their makeup and pretend they are Ace and Peter is when I check out.