Gosh, Cleveland.com really likes to give you multiple pop-up advertisements that you must cancel out before you can view a topic.
Reminds me when Elvis Presley's band did a tour back in the 80s. They had a limousine with blackout windows drive into the show palace while the announcer said Elvis was in the house. Then videos of Elvis singing specific songs played on the big screens while the band played the backing tracks in real time. When the concert finished, the limousine drove out of the show palace. Just about every show sold out.
I can't believe Palmer is doing this. With a net worth of $10 million and at 74 years of age, he clearly doesn't need the money. I found it interesting that the article made a point of mentioning that this project has the blessing of Keith Emerson and Greg Lake's estates.
Money doesn't necessarily drive everyone. Some are driven by the passion, the love of the music they play and the thrill of being on stage ; maybe Carl is one. Funny thing is, this very passion can keep one strong, vital and potent when others of the same chronological age (or younger) are crippled with disease and depression.
Rock on Carl, you guys were one of my favorite bands!
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
Hence the popularity of tribute bands and those endless "last tour before retirement" tours.......some of them tour that "last time" thing multiple times. All with extraordinarily expensive tickets. The "nose-bleed seats" are almost affordable and how does one justify the cost of those front row ticket prices?
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
some of them tour that "last time" thing multiple times.
I think The Who did 5 of them. With 2 dead members.
The Eagles? Vince Gill? Seriously? Tribute band to themselves. Same with Journey.
People are obviously free to do what they choose. I'll stop short of using the word "hate" to describe my feelings, but I will say they will never see my money. Not for "used to be" "bands" like a drummer playing along with videos. Drum Karaoke?
Emmy Lou Harris is coming to a local indoor concert theater venue later this year. My wife said something about it so I decided to look at the tickets. The better seats are several hundred dollars each and if you want the best seats in what they call the orchestra section, those are over a thousand each with the front rows going for close to $2k each.
I checked a Bob Seeger concert tickets show last year. The cheapest ones were $250 with crazy town prices for the best seats. I can listen to his old vinyl at home and be totally fine.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
A year or so ago, a friend of mine paid big money to see “The Kingston Trio”. I didn't have the heart to tell her that all 3 members of the Kingston Trio were long in the grave, and what she spent her money on was an official tribute band. She told me that she had a great time at the concert, and I'm glad I didn't spoil it for her.
When I was very young, there were a lot of my parents' generation bands doing the same thing. Glenn Miller, Dorsey Brothers, and others. Ghost bands, where the band went on, after the leader was gone and most of the players were way too young to be originals. I did get to see the Count Basie Orchestra before he died in the 1980s, and the Orchestra is still playing under that name today, led by Scotty Barnhart.
In the early 1980s, I was in a house band at a show club in Miami, Florida. On Saturday nights, 'has-been' acts came and did two sets. People like The Shirelles, Blue Notes (without Harold Melvin), Little Anthony (great singer) and The Ink Spots.
Like The Kingston Trio, there were no original members of the Ink Spots, as the record label owned the name. One of the singers said that his uncle was one of the original members of The Ink Spots, and that seemed to justify it to him.
When I was gigging for Motown, there were multiple Temptations, Four Tops, Miracles, Marvalettes, and other groups touring the country. The fans didn't know the difference, but that was way before MTV, so we didn't recognize the singers faces.
When I gigged on the cruise ships in the late 1980s, one of the headliners came on with a billing 'formerly with The Patters'. No, he wasn't Tony Williams, the lead singer on the records, but the lead singer in the “Herb Reed Platters”, one of four groups known as “The Platters” touring the country in the 60s and 70s.
Now have the official Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eagles, Kingston Trio, and other ghost bands.
When I was gigging for Motown, there were multiple Temptations, Four Tops, Miracles, Marvalettes, and other groups touring the country. The fans didn't know the difference, but that was way before MTV, so we didn't recognize the singers faces.
When I gigged on the cruise ships in the late 1980s, one of the headliners came on with a billing 'formerly with The Patters'. No, he wasn't Tony Williams, the lead singer on the records, but the lead singer in the “Herb Reed Platters”, one of four groups known as “The Platters” touring the country in the 60s and 70s.
Now have the official Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eagles, Kingston Trio, and other ghost bands.
So what's new?
I was going to mention the Platters and the Zombies. Motown.... absolutely. If there's a dollar to be made, someone's going to use the band name and hit the road. And..... practically every beach music band also fits this category. Very few have any of the original members. Some have one degree of separation but others? Who knows? One of my customers was the bass player for one of the big NC based beach music bands, the Embers. I never asked him much about the band but I don't think he was the original bass player.
When you look at the wikipedia member line up on many bands it's like a game of musical chairs switching out and replacing members.
Even ZZ Top is now touring with replacement members. What kind of travesty is THAT?
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
I recently saw Facebook posts for The Guess Who and...no Burton...no Randy! In fact only the drummer was original and when I looked them up he rarely plays but owns the band name
I guess a band name becomes a product. Just when do they become a tribute band? I guess that's hard to say.
Jay and the Americans lost the original Jay after some chart success.
Dave Black (Blatt) changed his name to Jay, and replaced him. They had quite a few hits with the faux Jay. Eventually, Jay (David) Black (Blatt) was the only one left touring as Jay And The Americans, and he was not an original member.
Dave went bankrupt, sold the name to an original member, recruited a coupe of other originals, hired a new Jay (John "Jay" Reincke) and started touring again.
. So which was the real Jay And The Americans?
Is Earth, Wind & Fire the same band without Maurice White? They sold out our local theater a few years ago.
Historically, look at The Clovers, The Coasters, The Drifters, and so many others, and they changed members continuously. The Clovers had 30 or so, The Coasters, over 20, The Temptations, close to 30, The Buckinghams about 20, and so on. And that doesn't count any touring groups traveling under the same name.
So is it fraud? Deceptive? Or just business as usual?
Is a never-changing unit, or a brand name? Is it any different from a symphony orchestra, most of which haven't had original members for a century or more?
So is it fraud? Deceptive? Or just business as usual?
Is a never-changing unit, or a brand name? Is it any different from a symphony orchestra, most of which haven't had original members for a century or more?
I can't say. Can you?
Yes, it is very different from a symphony orchestra which is more like session musicians playing someone else's music. When a band like the Guess Who does not have Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman they are obviously NOT the Guess Who.
] Yes, it is very different from a symphony orchestra which is more like session musicians playing someone else's music. ..........................
A symphony orchestra is a cover band with a very limited repertoire.
And sadly, anything new or not one of the old war horses isn't played.
It's different in Europe. I heard a few symphonies that never get played in the USA. When we planned a vacation in Prague, we checked the Czech Philharmonic's schedule and chose the dates so we could hear Josef Suk's "Asrael" symphony. I've never seen this one played in the USA. This is it and we were there -
♫♫♫
And I agree, the Guess Who without Burton Cummings and Randy Bach man are obviously NOT the Guess Who.
To me Earth Wind and Fire without Maurice White, Van Halen without David Lee Roth, Yes without Jon Anderson, and so many more are cover bands. I wouldn't pay to see them.
But I can't blame them, either. I was in a touring band, and we had some success, opening for major acts. We had a problem with our lead guitarist. He had grown too fond of alcohol, and became undependable. When it became clear the bottle was more important than the gig, we replaced him.
He was one of the lead singers, and the new guy played and sang well, but it was different. But we were still the same band with the same name.
I've played in some very good cover bands, and I'll go to a local bar to hear one, but I won't pay concert priced tickets to hear an 'official' cover band. But the world doesn't revolve about me. As long as they can still make money, they are going to do it.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
With your version 2026 for Windows Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
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FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
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