If you could change the past so that a deceased rock star hadn't died, who would you choose to be

[raccoon]

alive now?

For me, I don't even have to think about it. John Lennon.

[redqueen]

1. Same as you. n/t

[liberaldemocrat7]

89. Noone mentioned the folk singer Phil Ochs.

Phil Ochs, Jim Morrison, Sam cooke, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, George Harrison, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Jimi Hendrix.




I also miss Lou Costello and Bud Abbott, 2 of the finest comedians I have ever seen on tv. Ok bring back Laurel and Hardy too.



Actually I would want to bring back just about everyone who has died execept Hitler, Genghis Khan, Mussolini and other dead dictators and Kings.

[flvegan]

2. Another vote for Lennon.

[HamdenRice]

3. Jimmy Hendrix

He was about to go to entirely new level, as hard to believe as that is. The world's greatest ever guitarist was set to play with Miles Davis in the wake of Davis' Hendrix inspired Bitches Brew, one of the most influential jazz albums ever.

If Jimmy had lived and gotten into the Jazz world, all music would have been revolutionized beyond anything we can even comprehend.

[Phillycat]

4. Hendrix, no question.

The man was the best guitar player who ever lived. Imagine what he could have created with more time.

[jus_the_facts]

8. Most definitely....

:headbang:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_daLX3joKn8



:hi:

[IndianaJones]

5. Dimebag. nt.

[raccoon]

6. ? nt

[Phillycat]

9. Dimebag Darrell, from Pantera

[LeftyMom]

7. Janis.

[Gormy Cuss]

48. She'd be on my short list.

Joplin, Hendrix, and Gram Parsons if I could pick three. Each of them had such extraordinary talent that had they lived they may have changed the course of rock.

[DS1]

10. Dave Mustaine

well, he's dead to me, anyway

[IndianaJones]

12. lol. nt.

[Jamastiene]

112. Couldn't agree more.

What a major disappointment he turned out to be. Dead to me too.

[Reciprocity]

11. John Denver

[hyphenate]

125. I'm with you eom

[leftofthedial]

138. I still remember John Denver's last hit

...the Pacific Ocean

[formerrepuke]

13. BUDDY HOLLY..........end of discussion

Janis & Jimi each flamed out early due to their own carelessness (not that I'm saying they deserved it).. but Buddy never even got a chance to do that.

[gmoney]

16. But, but, but...

wouldn't that mean the Big Bopper would have survived as well?

Just kidding. "Chantilly Lace" is a really wonderful song...

"Oh Baby you KNOOOW what I LIKE!"

[CGowen]

59. I wonder if fresh underwear had saved him

Holly was also upset that he had run out of clean undershirts, socks, and underwear, and Holly said he needed to do some laundry before the next performance, and the local laundromat in Clear Lake was closed for repairs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died

[Left Is Write]

111. I was torn between SRV and Buddy Holly, but ultimately chose Buddy also.

[MorningGlow]

14. Lennon. No question.

And George, because I love him so.

[ghostsofgiants]

15. Ian Curtis

[MrCoffee]

17. Stevie Ray Vaughn

i'm from texas, man.

[Blue_Roses]

27. love him...

:thumbsup:

[Omphaloskepsis]

18. GG Allin

[DS1]

20. Why?

He was a joke.

[JVS]

25. He fucking rocked

[DS1]

33. having shit flung at me does not mean I was rocked

it just means an idiot with a shit fetish was given a mic

[ghostsofgiants]

49. ...

[DS1]

55. Well played

:thumbsup:

[no name no slogan]

58. Dude, I wish you were my brother

that's some seriously funny shit. G.G. Allin. Sheeeesh.

[Bluebear]

99. Cass Elliott.

[tigereye]

101. ah

:rofl:

that's great, Primate.

Although in the early days, people seemed to love to be abused at shows. (I myself did not have an Allin experience) We just used to spray silly string everywhere. ;)

[Dukkha]

106. kind of makes "gobbing" pleasant by comparison

and it was the band that was on the receiving end of that.

[JVS]

65. If you would go to his concerts, it's your own damned fault. I still find the "idiot" entertaining

My G.G. Allin album was always able to put me in a better mood.

[JVS]

24. 2nded

[XemaSab]

19. Definitely Lennon

:(

[Book Lover]

21. Freddy Mercury

There is no other for me.

[LisaM]

22. Oh, you just beat me to it

I really wished he hadn't died - and his circumstances were more tragic, imo.

I also miss Joe Strummer.

[Critters2]

39. Another vote for Freddie nt

[RFKHumphreyObama]

41. Count me in for Freddie as well

A truly talented, eccentric genius. Queen is probably my all-time favorite band

[Ariana Celeste]

23. Shannon Hoon

[ohiosmith]

26. Brian Jones

[BOSSHOG]

28. Hank Williams SR

He influenced many in his short time on earth. And yes I'd call him a rock star.

[raccoon]

90. I love his music. nt

[Bennyboy]

29. Bob Marley...

He still had many things to say.

2nd Frank Zappa. I would love to hear his take on what is going on NOW.

[NightWatcher]

30. I wish that Jerry Garcia had cleaned up his act

I could always have used another two or three years of 'dead' shows.

The whole question of the OP goes against the 'live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse' idea of rock and roll.

Kurt Cobain and Shannon Hoon left before their time...

[LynneSin]

31. John Bonham - nuff said

:D

[ceile]

32. Jeff Buckley

Miss that voice.

[Rob H.]

46. Enthusiastically seconding that

:thumbsup:

I'd love to hear what he'd be doing today if he were still with us.

[MysticalChicken]

102. Thirded

although I only have Grace.

[regnaD kciN]

115. I'd mention his father Tim...

...although I'm not sure he would qualify as "rock star"...but "musical genius," definitely!

[Bridget Burke]

132. I saw Tim Buckley when he was touring behind "Greetings from LA"

--he was a Rock Star.

Too bad he didn't live long enough to gain the audience he deserved.

[abq e streeter]

116. And his dad too

[Tyler Durden]

34. Bon Scott.

EEAAAAGHHHH! ("Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap")

[CGowen]

35. I don't know, but Marc Bolan(T. Rex) had bizarre death

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/16/newsid_2519000/2519173.stm

Pop star Marc Bolan has been killed in a car crash in south-west London.

The 29-year-old former T-Rex singer was killed instantly when the car being driven by his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, left the road and hit a tree in Barnes.

Miss Jones - an American singer who had just returned from the US - broke her jaw and is suffering from shock.

....

His former manager, Tony Secunda, said the son of a Hackney porter whose real name was Mark Feld had always feared he would die in a car crash.

"He would never drive a car, he was always scared - Marc never had a driving licence, he refused to learn," he said.

[quiet.american]

36. Not sure "rock star" applies, but how I wish Eva Cassidy had lived to record another day. n/t

[jgraz]

68. Agree completely. And while we're mentioning jazz artists, how about Clifford Brown

and..

Charlie Parker
John Coltrane
Bill Evans

[quiet.american]

69. Yes, indeed! n/t

[Auggie]

37. John Lennon

[soleft]

38. Another one for Lennon

[Lindsey]

42. John Lennon....

I think about him everyday.

[Orsino]

40. Duane Allman, maybe...

...or Hendrix, if we're talking musicianship. But in the big picture, we could sure use Lennon.

[carly denise pt deux]

43. Dennis Wilson/Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, John Lennon, and the J trilogy...

Janis
Jimi
Jim Morrison

Carly

[Burma Jones]

44. John Lennon of course

we could sure use him now.......

[Rabrrrrrr]

45. Adolf Hitler.

No, wait, sorry, that's a typo. Had my fingers shifted over one place on the keyboard.

I meant to say Frank Zappa.

[Rising Phoenix]

47. Kurt Cobain

[aaronbees]

81. I agree!

Or Elliott Smith.

[ghostsofgiants]

82. Elliott Smith is a good choice.

[aaronbees]

84. Have you heard anything from "New Moon" yet?

"Angel in the Snow" is a gorgeous song, and "All My Rowdy Friends" is great fun. I miss him.

[ghostsofgiants]

85. I downloaded it but honestly forgot all about it, haha.

I should listen to that tonight.

[aaronbees]

114. Did you check it out?

:)

[Jamastiene]

113. Agreed. Hands down.

Couldn't agree more.

[FredScuttle]

50. No question - John Lennon

followed very closely by Otis Redding

[Blue-Jay]

51. None of 'em.

Untimely death really MAKES a legend, and it helps get out good music to people who wouldn't otherwise listen to their contributions to music/culture. Sad but true.

Then again, I do wish that Jimi had been around longer. I think he had more to contribute. He probably wouldn't have gotten bloated and died on a toilet.

[asthmaticeog]

52. D. Boon.

Fuck everyone else, all those stupid dead hippie icons, I don't care if they'd even ever lived. I want D. Boon back.

[Blue-Jay]

56. My best friend hipped me to the Minutemen years ago.

He pulled out some vinyl album that looked like it was designed by either a third-grader or an acid freak or both, and we got drunk and listened to it nonstop for about five hours. Good times.... Maybe I'll give Rick a call tonight.

I stand by my previous post, however. Most musical (well....rock) legends don't get better with age. Like visual art, death enhances careers that otherwise might not have gotten the deserved notice. +

disclaimer: There are exceptions obviously, so I hope that the various Captain Obvious folks don't waste their time pointing that out to me. Yes. I KNOW!

[asthmaticeog]

57. Oh, I think you're absolutely right.

Most of the people listed on this thread were spent, IMO, even a lot of the ones I *like.* A handful still had some strong work left in 'em, though.

[Blue-Jay]

61. D Boon probably had 2-3 good albums left in him.

Then, he have been headlining (or mainlining) in Vegas and just pissing people off.

[asthmaticeog]

62. You have to be kidding about Vegas.

Watt's still on the downlow circuit, jammin' econo like back in the day.

[Blue-Jay]

63. You know me. I'm the worst-case-scenario-guy.

And the worst case scenario (artistically) is headlining in Vegas.

That said, I still love me some Tony Bennett.

[asthmaticeog]

64. I find the idea of Hendrix doing Vegas hilarious.

:D

[ghostsofgiants]

83. I suddenly have a strong desire for a B-Movie director to make "Zombie Hendrix Does Vegas"

Or some similarly awful yet amazing rockstar zombie flick.

[ghostsofgiants]

79. Ooh, good answer!

[Mad_Dem_X]

53. LENNON. Absolutely no question about it.

He'd be marching in the streets against BushCo and writing songs about ending the war. How I wish he were here with us now.

[Initech]

54. Frank Zappa

The man was way ahead of his time, and a voice that we desperately need right now.

[orleans]

88. god, do i agree with you.

and very often i wonder: what would frank say about all this?

[m_welby]

136. Frank was the first name I thought of.

The greatest 20th century american composer

One of the greatest satirists of any century.

[no name no slogan]

60. Too many. But for starters: Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Gram Parsons, Elliott Smith, D. Boon,...

Adrian Borland, John Entwhistle, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Peter Laughner, Dave Alexander, Maurice Gibb (pre-disco BeeGees stuff is classic), and way too many others to even remember at this point in time...

[Zomby Woof]

66. Ronnie Van Zant

Followed closely by Frank Zappa.

And Steve Gaines.

[enigmatic]

67. Peter Laughner

I miss you, Peter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Laughner

[philosophie_en_rose]

70. Tupac!

He wrote this song in '94 --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC4371a1HBA

[ghostsofgiants]

80. 1) He said dead. Tupac isn't dead.

2) That is one of my favourite Chappelle sketches ever.

[philosophie_en_rose]

95. Tupac is dead. If you don't believe me, ask him.

He wrote his reply in '94.

[Tektonik]

71. Didn't care much for his music

But definitely Lennon. We sure could use him today.

[mcscajun]

72. Jerry Garcia.

No contest.

[LostInAnomie]

73. Dimebag Darrell

Without a doubt

[Gato Moteado]

74. how can you possibly choose??????

lennon
harrison
brian jones
hendrix
joplin
keith moon
zappa
marvin gaye
sam cooke
steve goodman
mingus
the list goes on and on

those aren't all rockers....but it seems musicians in general are so delicate in a way. we lose so many of them so young.

[Fire Walk With Me]

75. Zappa, Lennon, Hendrix, Joe Strummer, Pinker from SPK

Although Hendrix probably had the most music left in him at the time of his death.

[Fire Walk With Me]

77. Ian Curtis as well. Conny Plank, definitely.

Word on the net is that Joe Zawinul passed recently.

[DarkTirade]

76. I don't think I can choose just one.

[taught_me_patience]

78. Freddie Mercury

Second greatest front man of all time (behind Jagger). I also miss Eddie Hazel and his sweet funky licks!

[tkmorris]

86. Lowell George hasn't been mentioned

He should be.

[two gun sid]

119. Lowell George was one of the greatest songwriters, ever...

I'd also like to have Curtis Mayfield back.

"...but if you're givin' me
weed, whites and wine
and you show me a sign.
I'll be willin'
to be movin'."

[Jamastiene]

87. There are so many, but Kurt Cobain would be the best one

for me to pick. That's just my personal pick of them all, to be honest. He best represented what I feel was my thing and my beliefs and favorite music of all. He is one missed musician on my list.

Joey Ramone would be another top one on my list too. Sid Vicious, Dee Dee Ramone, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury, and Kristen Pfaff are the others that spring to mind, that I loved their contributions to music and wish hadn't died.

[Tikki]

121. Yeah, Joey and also, Jeffrey Lee Pierce...

Bobby Fuller and Otis Redding and I've always wondered where
Richie Valens would be today if he'd had a longer career.



Tikki

[Arkansas Granny]

91. Jim Croce, but I'm not sure how many considered him a rock star.

[mac56]

107. I was just about to suggest Jim Croce.

Yes, he was a rock star.

[riverdale]

92. Stevie Ray Vaughan

But at least I got to see him in concert once

[SoxFan]

93. Some obvious, some not

Ian Curtis (Joy Division)
Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
Stuart Adamson (Big Country)
Pete DeFreitas (Echo & the Bunnymen)
Pete Farndon (Pretenders)
James Honeyman-Scott (Pretenders)
Douglas Hopkins (Gin Blossoms)
Michael Hutchence (INXS)
Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)
Brian Jones (Rolling Stones)
Gram Parsons
Elvis Presley
Buddy Holly
Richie Valens
Otis Redding

[BlueIris]

94. Buddy Holly, ALL THE WAY.

[Arugula Latte]

96. Elliott Smith or Lennon. nt

[taterguy]

97. Ronnie Van Zandt / Stevie Gaines

They died at the same time so I'm counting them as one. I'm not gonna get all paranoid and say they were Wellstoned but they really were onto something. They were enormously popular and influential. Some of the great Skynyrd songs they wrote had a decidedly leftist bent and maybe, just maybe if they had lived through the 70s Carter could have gotten reelected and we would have been spared the nightmare of RayGun.

I have the utmost respect for a lot of others mentioned in this thread but I'm not sure how many of them were in a position where they could have changed history.

[likesmountains 52]

98. Townes Van Zandt...sigh

[Bzzzz]

100. Ditto...n/t

[av8rdave]

103. Stevie Ray Vaughan

OK, more blues than rock, but still...

greatest guitarist that ever lived.

[RetroLounge]

104. Eddie Wilson, Without a doubt

RL

[Bridget Burke]

134. Well, if you're going to mention Eddie & the Cruisers....

We might as well mourn Joe Dick.

Hard Core Logo will never tour again....

[Dukkha]

105. Not Lennon for a reason

I think his death, tragic as it was, was timely and allowed him to bow out as one of the greatest legends of pop culture. Had he survived we might of had to deal with a bad Beatles reunion in the late 80's or 90's which would've tarnished the iconic reverence the band has been endowed to this day. Lucky for him he didn't have to live to see his ideals destroyed in the Regan era and the rest of America's credibility destroyed during the past 6 1/2 years.

So that being said Hendrix. He and the Band of Gypsys has so much more to contribute artistically.

[Pushed To The Left]

108. Dimebag Darrell comes to mind

That was such a senseless, tragic murder.

[Kutjara]

109. Falco.

Just think if the Austrian genius who gave the world "Rock Me Amadeus" had lived. What might he have achieved? Not much, would be my guess.

[OzarkDem]

110. Pete Ham

Gifted guitarist, songwriter and one of the most beautiful voices in rock. Also a truly great human being.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYojrA3H_CI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UvqPC6wgR8

http://www.peteham.net/

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

117. Yes, John Lennon

Bullwinkle925 and I watched "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" while I was visiting her last month, and we cried for what our nation lost when he was killed.

[zonkers]

118. I'm gonna say Freddy Fender. He was a treasure.

[applegrove]

120. Yes Lennon.

[abq e streeter]

122. Will elaborate if I ever find the time, but

in no particular order----Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Joe Strummer and Jimi Hendrix----but not far behind : Lennon, Orbison, Stevie Ray,Joplin, Otis Redding, Morrison,Eddie Cochrane, Buddy Holly, King Curtis, Brian Jones,Richie Valens,Elvis, Sam Cooke, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Robert Johnson ( and yes I think of him as a rock star)-----can't narrow it down more than this...

[bluedigger]

123. I admire most of those already mentioned

(well, those I've actually heard of...GG Allin?)

but a big shout out for the excitable boy - Warren Zevon!

[QueenOfCalifornia]

129. Warren Zevon

... I cried when he died.

[mark414]

124. SAM COOKE

the best voice there was...

[Bridget Burke]

133. Otis Redding would have agreed with you.

Although the recent Stax history on PBS saddened many of us all over again that Mr Redding died at 26.

www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/stax/video.html

[TroubleMan]

126. Marvin Gaye or Bob Marley

Bob Marley could have been a political force for good, and Marvin Gaye just because he's a personal favorite.

[abq e streeter]

131. What's goin on

Marvin had become a force for good too; that's why I had him in the top tier with Marley. Loved, and still love, both of em

[QueenOfCalifornia]

127. Frank Zappa

and John Lennon

[QueenOfCalifornia]

128. Bob Marley

I love marley ----

[qdemn7]

130. Harry Chapin

No doubt what so ever.

[LanternWaste]

135. Cindy. From The Brady Kids!

Cindy. From The Brady Kids!

(Actually, it's Janis Joplin...)

[leftofthedial]

137. Stuart Sutcliffe

[Carrieyazel]

139. The drummer from Toto.

[Carrieyazel]

140. Little Timmy O Toole

[Zavulon]

141. Hendrix, without a doubt.

I was never a Beatles fan and didn't like Lennon's solo work, so I can't agree with you at all.

In fact, reading the responses only produced two names that really struck me: Jimi and SRV.

[Raffi Ella]

142. Hendrix for me too.

I think he was one of the brightest lights,one of the most gifted souls to have ever graced the planet.It is a crying shame he died so young.He had so much to offer the world.