anyone else think the TCB band was and is the greatest rythm section.

[memphis 77]

i was putting some of my zines a look through for a certain photo and came across an article in T.M.A.H.M.-this was an interview that DAVID BRIGGS did and he was asked various questions, he said that he thought the original tcb band were second rate musicians , and said they wern't that great at playing , that he awas a much better piano player than glen d, and that larrie loondon, was a better drummer. This just irritates me, i'm sure at the time of the interview he must have bin intoxicated[to which he stated that he was the only musician with elvis that was alowed to have booze on stage], i've always regarded the original tcb band as THE GREATEST BAND /collection of true musicians , any song E.P. blurted out they were pretty fast to pick up on, i still think as many that RONNIE TUTT is a GOD, never mind all the other musicians in their own right. These guys were are and always be the best road band [-band - for that matter[just my opinion].

[jak]

Elvis fans will always have a biased opinion in favor of the TCB band.They were great but I wouldnt think they would be even close to being the best road band ever.I have heard many quotes where they were described as "sloppy".
Jak

[jadedragon61]

The TCB band is certainly under-rated. Every one of those guys are top-rate - would EP take anything but? To call that band "sloppy" is just downright stupid. I've read a couple of slighting remarks about them here and there and always thought the writer was cracked or had an ax to grind.

[Raised on Rock]

To say they were the greatest road band ever its probably to much, but they were good, and in 1972 they were one of the greatest rock bands around, period. And a much more better band than Lennon's Elephants Memory Band for sure, or even The Wings, better than any of the bands that backed any of the '50 rockers at that time in any case.

Probably Glenn D. Hardin and John Wilkinson were nothing to boast about, yet, they were not bad at all,but that Brit Muhoberrac was as good as Nicky Hopkins, Runnie Tutt... well the fact that he wasn't very well known before Elvis means nothing, he did played some Drums, and most of all, he had a recognizable style, something not many drumers have, about Jerry Scheff, he was a solid Jazz musician and he was a well known on the L.A. '60 music scene, The Doors L.A. Woman for instance, and at last, James Burton, well even Jimi Hendrix praise him, read once that Hendrix unsuccesfuly tried to copy Burton style on his spare time at some recording sessions just for kicks, Pete Townshend idolised Burton, and Keith Richards said once: I didn´t bought Ricky Nelson records, I bought James Burton records, so...

James Burton a second rate musician? haha.. well David Briggs, who´s David Briggs? he played good piano but was he as important as Burton to rock and roll history? David made a good job producing Neil Young's second album but Neil could have made it perfectly without him.

Ask your self: the TCB Band with no James Burton? with no Ronnie Tutt? With no Jerry Scheff? well.. now ask your self this: the TCB Band with no David Briggs? who cares... Even to say: 70's Elvis Presley with no James Burton? is that a joke? hardly some one could have replaced him not even Scotty Moore, '70 ELvis with no David Briggs? who cares, he was no better keyboard player than Burton as a guitar man, no way.

[memphis 77]

To say they were the greatest road band ever its probably to much, but they were good, and in 1972 they were one of the greatest rock bands around, period. And a much more better band than Lennon's Elephants Memory Band for sure, or even The Wings, better than any of the bands that backed any of the '50 rockers at that time in any case.

Probably Glenn D. Hardin and John Wilkinson were nothing to boast about, yet, they were not bad at all,but that Brit Muhoberrac was as good as Nicky Hopkins, Runnie Tutt... well the fact that he wasn't very well known before Elvis means nothing, he did played some Drums, and most of all, he had a recognizable style, something not many drumers have, about Jerry Scheff, he was a solid Jazz musician and he was a well known on the L.A. '60 music scene, The Doors L.A. Woman for instance, and at last, James Burton, well even Jimi Hendrix praise him, read once that Hendrix unsuccesfuly tried to copy Burton style on his spare time at some recording sessions just for kicks, Pete Townshend idolised Burton, and Keith Richards said once: I didn?t bought Ricky Nelson records, I bought James Burton records, so...

James Burton a second rate musician? haha.. well David Briggs, who?s David Briggs? he played good piano but was he as important as Burton to rock and roll history? David made a good job producing Neil Young's second album but Neil could have made it perfectly without him.

Ask your self: the TCB Band with no James Burton? with no Ronnie Tutt? With no Jerry Scheff? well.. now ask your self this: the TCB Band with no David Briggs? who cares... Even to say: 70's Elvis Presley with no James Burton? is that a joke? hardly some one could have replaced him not even Scotty Moore, '70 ELvis with no David Briggs? who cares, he was no better keyboard player than Burton as a guitar man, no way.
i have to say that i never saw/heard a big deal in briggs playing, i hate the electric clavonet, especially on some soundboards when he is right up front[i know they used to tape these things for the musicians to hear their playing etc,,] just my opinion, i think some shows were sloppy, i'm reffering to some of james solos , and ontros of johnny b.. but i guess any good musicians would get sloppy playin the same tracks night after night.

[memphis 77]

The TCB band is certainly under-rated. Every one of those guys are top-rate - would EP take anything but? To call that band "sloppy" is just downright stupid. I've read a couple of slighting remarks about them here and there and always thought the writer was cracked or had an ax to grind.
i agree that calling them sloppy is ja tad harsh, but there were performances where E.P. had to wake them up, or they rushed things tempo and all, and he cut them down on stage, especially on the kast year and a half, he was constantly halting songs, and having them pick it up again, from the begining, for some reason feedback never bothered him before, and other things, just like in rapid city d`urring cc.. he complains of them missing a note[expression on ronnies face is priceless] i sure couldn't tell, i don't know maybe he was getting frustrated with all the technical mis haps[feltons handling of the sound out in the lobby-god that's hillarious],but i wouldn't dismiss them as sloppy.
just my opinion though.

[dennyelvis]

I agree that at times they could get sloppy, but i believe El himself is partly to blame for that as he didnt change his setlist enough [especially towards the end].But let me tell you, if after Elvis had died the Legendary Roy Orbison thought they were "good enough" for his tours [see B+W night]... then thats enough for me to believe that musically they were the creme de la creme ....

[jak]

Im guessing many fans here wouldnt know they were hearing Bardwell play bass instead of Scheff on a recording.My point being that if you are not a true audiophile or technically savy to these things you wouldnt notice poor playing by the band.You hear the music you like so it sounds great to your ears.His band was great but far from the best.
Jak

[iamhekev]

His best band was the one he used in HAWAII 1961.

Just a view.

[memphis 77]

I agree that at times they could get sloppy, but i believe El himself is partly to blame for that as he didnt change his setlist enough [especially towards the end].But let me tell you, if after Elvis had died the Legendary Roy Orbison thought they were "good enough" for his tours [see B+W night]... then thats enough for me to believe that musically they were the creme de la creme ....
yes i agree, they really shined on all of those songs and that special of roy's, they sure had some great ones like, uptown, comedian, mean woman blues[would have bin great had e.p. brang this chestnut out] dream you [ a song that definetly screams elvis], a good example of the o'l boys workin their magic.

[memphis 77]

Im guessing many fans here wouldnt know they were hearing Bardwell play bass instead of Scheff on a recording.My point being that if you are not a true audiophile or technically savy to these things you wouldnt notice poor playing by the band.You hear the music you like so it sounds great to your ears.His band was great but far from the best.
Jak you don't have to be a whiz to hear the differnce in the way bardwell played to sheff, especially in the fall of 74 , most notably sept 1/74 eve show[terrible all through each track] , but again the question/post was about the original members and not substitutions like bardwell, linde, emory gordy, larrie london etc..

[Raised on Rock]

Im guessing many fans here wouldnt know they were hearing Bardwell play bass instead of Scheff on a recording.My point being that if you are not a true audiophile or technically savy to these things you wouldnt notice poor playing by the band.You hear the music you like so it sounds great to your ears.His band was great but far from the best.
Jak

I can notice is Bardwell and not Jerry right away, Duke wasn?t never able to deliver that fat punch Scheff had, Duke sounds kind of stiff to me, he never hits Polk Salad Annie right, Jerry's Bass playing was something diferent from most of the bass rock players around, not the greatest, but he was great enough to have a distinctive sound, he had that and soul, and in someway thats what matters the most.

From '69 to '72 they were a powerful band, just like Elvis, but after '73 yes, they were poor sounding more than sometimes, but also was Elvis, so I dare to blame Elvis mostly for that, in the end, he was the leader of the band.

[elvis himselvis]

right
they were a good band and they were a good band for elvis.he needed them.
but to the end,things were getting sloppy and you can blame that for mostly to the long band introductions.
But that's Elvis fault.We know Elvis wasn't in good health those last tours so he needed those long intros to get rest.You can't blame the tcb band for that.
They were a good band and they still knew how too play,right to that final concert.

[jak]

you don't have to be a whiz to hear the differnce in the way bardwell played to sheff, especially in the fall of 74 , most notably sept 1/74 eve show[terrible all through each track] , but again the question/post was about the original members and not substitutions like bardwell, linde, emory gordy, larrie london etc..

You dont have to be a whiz but 95% or more of Elvis fans cant tell the difference.They dont care either.The trouble is that we fans who consider ourselves collector's ,sometime assume everyone has takes as much interest in details as we do.The fans that pay attention to these things are but a grain of sand on the beach.I originally pointed this out to highlight a fact.You will get people who say the band was the best,yet they cant tell when someone else is substituting for an original member.Therefore how could those people justify there are the greatest when they cant even tell the difference?Saying they are the greatest is just devotion.
Jak

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

I like the 69-72 period the best, the sound changed after that, everyone got to complacent including Elvis :'( yes there were good shows after 72 but the raw edgyness was gone, more like going through the motions, unless they were challenged. For me Ronnie was the better drummer (y)

[memphis 77]

after 72, most of the songs were toned down at a slower pace, even sheff commented about this , when he returned and was playing a gig and ELVIS looked at him in a bad way-he was commenting about the spring 75 tour though , not prior. I aree with all, the problem lied with ELVIS no one else, but these guys were paid to perform period, but evrybody makes mistakes. and yes your right jak it's my devotion to the whole E.P. thing, but i still believe they were a hell of a band when all were with it.

[jak]

The TCB band was outstanding.No arguement here.They just face some stiff competition when you start talking about the best ever.
Jak

[Raised on Rock]

You dont have to be a whiz but 95% or more of Elvis fans cant tell the difference.They dont care either.The trouble is that we fans who consider ourselves collector's ,sometime assume everyone has takes as much interest in details as we do.The fans that pay attention to these things are but a grain of sand on the beach.I originally pointed this out to highlight a fact.You will get people who say the band was the best,yet they cant tell when someone else is substituting for an original member.Therefore how could those people justify there are the greatest when they cant even tell the difference?Saying they are the greatest is just devotion.
Jak

You?re right on this one, I hate when most fans are more into Elvis love life, how cute he was or any current gossip, but they are not music lovers at all, in fact they give a dam about the songs Elvis did, and they couldn't care less about the musicians delivering an specific sound. And thats to bad, cause you can blame Col. Parker, you can blame RCA, but it was mostly Elvis devoted fans the ones to blame any time Elvis tried something diferent on stage during the 70's, and they basically where like we don?t care, we don?t even get it, give us the Jailhouse Rock and Love me Tender.

Im sure Elvis loved his fans, but he needed to chalenge not so much himself but his own audience and he didn?t.

[Brian Quinn]

In my opinion, The TCB Band were the BEST EVER BACKING BAND. That was their forte. They had to be capable of playing in so many different styles from Gospel to Rock 'n' Roll to Big Ballads.


Brian

[jak]

[QUOTE=Raised on Rock;97333]You?re right on this one, I hate when most fans are more into Elvis love life, how cute he was or any current gossip, but they are not music lovers at all, in fact they give a dam about the songs Elvis did, and they couldn't care less about the musicians delivering an specific sound. And thats to bad, cause you can blame Col. Parker, you can blame RCA, but it was mostly Elvis devoted fans the ones to blame any time Elvis tried something diferent on stage during the 70's, and they basically where like we don?t care, we don?t even get it, give us the Jailhouse Rock and Love me Tender.

Im sure Elvis loved his fans, but he needed to chalenge not so much himself but his own audience and he didn?t.[/QUOT

Your observation of the fans is right on(y) Blind devotion played a major part in Elvis' demise, whether some fans will admit it or not.
Jak

[T_J]

The guys were great, but I think the American Sound guys were more accomplished and the June 1970 studio band more edgy.

[nashville cat]

You only have to look at my avatar to see where my allegiance lies! Still, I will try and make a few points as unbiased as possible.

David Briggs and Larrie Londin were great session players. Londin was possibly the greatest session drummer ever. He played on countless hits before meeting an untimely demise. David is great too, and even though he may have made a pretty stupid comment, that doesn't change the fact he was a great player.

The TCB band created an entirely unique sound onstage. It was a particular blend of funky, white soul, country, rock, etc. Their sound together was influential, and when those guys were on it was pretty magical.

Putting Tutt down is just stupid. I recall a special Musician magazine from 10 or 12 years ago that spotlighted the players that played with Elvis. A certain musician was qouted as saying Ronnie rushed on stage, but that was what Elvis wanted, but you would have never heard him rush like that in the studio. I believe that to be very true. If you have ever heard Ronnie's playing on records from other artists, like the Carpenters or Gram Parsons, for instance, you will hear he had rock solid timing. Elvis pushed those guys a lot onstage, and that is the reason you often hear tempos waver. Often times Elvis had them play the songs too fast.

It's also true that maybe the band got a little more complacent as EP became more complacent. A routine was established and they got caught in a rut. This is a very common temptation. Equal blame has to go around. It's easy just to blame the musicians, but that is not exactly fair. I'm sure it was very hard for them as Elvis began his decline.

No one should ever have to defend James Burton. The man is brilliant and that's all there is too it. An absolute legend in his time.

Glen D. was a great asset too. He may not have had the credentials the others did, but Tony Brown always paled in comparison as far as I'm concerned.

Dismissing these guys as "sloppy" is really ignorant. In their prime they were as tight a band as there has ever been.

[srj1967]

No one should ever have to defend James Burton. The man is brilliant and that's all there is too it. An absolute legend in his time.



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