Supergroup (music)

A supergroup is a musical performing group whose members have successful solo careers, are members of other groups, or are well known in other musical professions. The term can sometimes also be applied to a group that has no specific preferred genre. The term is usually used in the context of rock and pop music, but it has occasionally been applied to other musical genres. For example, The Three Tenors—composed of opera superstars José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti—have been called a supergroup.[1]

The band Cream is sometimes credited as the first supergroup.

A supergroup sometimes forms as a side project, with no intention that the group will remain together. In other instances, the group may become the primary project of the members' careers. It became popular in the late 1960s rock music for members of already successful groups to record albums together, after which they normally split up.[2] Charity supergroups, in which prominent musicians perform or record together in support of a particular cause, have been common since the 1980s.

History

Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner credited Cream, which came together in 1966, as the first supergroup.[3] Eric Clapton, formerly of The Yardbirds and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers; Jack Bruce, formerly of the Graham Bond Organization and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers; and Ginger Baker, formerly of the Graham Bond Organization, formed the band in 1966, recorded four albums, and split up in 1968.[4][5] Guitarist Clapton and drummer Baker went on to form Blind Faith, another blues rock supergroup which recruited former Spencer Davis Group and Traffic singer, keyboardist, and guitarist Steve Winwood and Family bassist Ric Grech. The group recorded one studio album before dissipating less than a year after formation.[6] Also in 1968 Jack Bruce joined Tony Williams Lifetime, composed of bassist and vocalist Bruce, and three famous Miles Davis alumni: drummer Tony Williams, guitarist John McLaughlin, and keyboardist Khalid Yasin (née Larry Young).

The term may have come from the 1968 album Super Session with Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, and Stephen Stills.[7] The coalition of Crosby, Stills & Nash (later Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) in 1969 is another early example, given the success of their prior bands (The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Hollies respectively).

Criticism

In 1974, a Time magazine article titled "Return of a Supergroup" quipped that the supergroup was a "potent but short-lived rock phenomenon" which was an "amalgam formed by the talented malcontents of other bands." The article acknowledged that groups such as Cream and Blind Faith "played enormous arenas and made megabucks, and sometimes megamusic", with the performances "fueled by dueling egos." However, while this "musical infighting built up the excitement ... it also made breakups inevitable."[8]

See also

References
  1. McDannald, Alexander Hopkins, ed. (2000). The Americana Annual 2000. Grolier. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-7172-0231-7.
  2. Rosenberg, Stuart (2009). Rock and Roll and the American Landscape. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-4401-6458-3.
  3. "Show 53 – String Man. : UNT Digital Library". Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. 1969. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  4. "Cream Bio". Rollingstone.com.
  5. "Strange Brew," John McDermott, Guitar World Magazine, November 1997
  6. Thompson, Dave (2005). Cream: The World's First Supergroup. Virgin. ISBN 1-85227-286-4.
  7. Ward, Ed (2016). Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613733318.
  8. "Music: Return of a Supergroup". Time. 1974-08-05. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
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