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Tribute act

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A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act, often one which has disbanded or ceased touring. Probably the largest class of tributes acts are Elvis impersonators, individual performers who mimic the songs and style of Elvis Presley; however, most tribute acts are groups (tribute band or tribute group) and are tributes to a group. For example The Iron Maidens are an all female band that pays tribute to Iron Maiden. A tribute band rarely includes any members of the original band whose music is being honored, although guest appearances do occur. For example former Bruce Springsteen drummer Vini Lopez often plays sets with the Springsteen tribute band The E Street Shuffle and original Deep Purple Drummer Ian Paice often plays with Deep Purple tribute band Purpendicular on small European tours.

The main way in which a tribute band differs from a cover band that simply plays songs by other artists, is that it strives to capture every nuance of the imitated artist's actions and appearance for a perfect imitation. Some tribute bands imitate the appearance but re-interpret the original works in a particular genre or for comic effect. For example Dread Zeppelin plays Led Zeppelin songs in a reggae style with a lead singer who looks like Elvis Presley, while Gabba perform the songs of ABBA in the style of The Ramones. There are also individuals who are tributes of a group, and vice versa.

Tribute bands usually name themselves based on the original band's name, some song and even albums. For example, The Joshua Tree is a tribute band that plays U2 material.

History

The first tribute bands to emerge may have been Beatles tribute bands, such as The Buggs, who attempted to look and sound like The Beatles while playing their songs. However, one might argue that Elvis impersonators qualify as well.

Although initially created to honour the original bands, many tribute bands have grown to have their own fan base. Tribute band names are often a pun on the original name or the names of band members, or are derived from a famous track or record album released by the original band.

Those bands and artists that have inspired a cult following in their fans tend to have a significant tribute band presence as well, such as Black Sabbath, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Styx, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Kiss, Madonna, The Misfits, Queen, The Grateful Dead, Van Halen, ABBA, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Rammstein and Neil Diamond. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe the Japanese Beatles appeared, accompanied on a few songs by someone billed as the Japanese Eric Clapton. It made for an incongruous sight, since the former wore the familiar Beatle suits while their guest dressed in contemporary clothes.

One of the best-known members of a tribute band is Tim "Ripper" Owens, who went from singing in a Judas Priest tribute band to becoming the group's actual lead singer in 1996. This story was used as the basis for the 2001 movie Rock Star starring Mark Wahlberg, although neither Owens nor Judas Priest assisted in the film's production. Owens recorded two studio albums and a live album with Judas Priest before leaving in 2003 to make way for the band's reunion with former frontman Rob Halford. Owens would later become the singer for the band Iced Earth.

In 1998 two men who were in a Blues Brothers tribute band changed their names officially by deed poll to Joliet Jake Blues and Elwood Jake Blues. They also are the only men in the UK to have their sunglasses on their passports and driver's licences.[1]

In 1997 the British journalist Tony Barrell wrote a major feature for The Sunday Times about the UK tribute-band scene, which mentioned bands including Pink Fraud, the Pretend Pretenders and Clouded House. In the piece, Barrell asserted that "the main cradle of the tribute band... is Australia. Starved of big names, owing to their reluctance to put Oz on their tour itineraries, Australians were quite unembarrassed about creating home-grown versions. Then, like an airborne seed, one of these bands just happened to drift to Britain." The band in question was Björn Again, who staged a successful publicity stunt in the early 1990s, arriving at Heathrow airport in white one-piece outfits similar to the ones worn by ABBA on the cover of their 1976 album, Arrival. Other Tribute acts such as The Beatnix (Beatles), Zeppelin Live, and The Australian Pink Floyd Show have experienced continued popularity for over a decade.

In 2000, filmmakers Jeff Economy and Darren Hacker produced a documentary film ...An Incredible Simulation that examined the tribute band phenomenon. Produced separately and independently in 2001 was the documentary Tribute by directors Kris Curry and Rich Fox which also covered the movement. In 2007, producers Allison Grace and Michelle Metivier produced a four-part documentary series called "Tribute Bands" for Global TV which features tributes to The Police, Queen, Rush and The Tragically Hip.

Not all tribute acts use the impersonation style. An example is The Muffin Men, who play the music of Frank Zappa in their own style, do not look like, or attempt to look like original members, and often tour with former band members. Jimmy Carl Black is a regular in the band, and they have in the past played, recorded and toured with Ike Willis and Don Preston.

In 2002, the first biography of a tribute band was published by SAF in London. Entitled "Being John Lennon", the book is a humorous account of life on the road in The Beatles' tribute "Sgt. Pepper's Only Dart Board Band", written by the group's founder- Martin Dimery.

In 2005, tribute band Beatallica received attention when they were threatened with a lawsuit over their unique interpretation of Beatles songs done in a Metallica style. They won their legal battle, and still record and tour today.

Oasis tribute band No Way Sis took the notion of tribute bands a step further in 1997 by achieving a UK, top 20 hit single with their rendition of 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing'. In addition to this, the band were asked to step in for Oasis and play to a sell out audience in Paris after Oasis cancelled.

Original Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice has played with members of Deep Purple tribute band Purpendicular since 2002, 2004, 2007 and the whole band in December 2008 on European tours.

List of well-known tribute bands

Some well-known tribute bands include (alphabetically by covered band, and alphabetically for each):

Playing music by ABBA:

Playing music by AC/DC:

Playing music by Aerosmith:

Playing music by The Beatles:

Playing music by The Eagles:

Playing music by Johnny Cash:

Playing music by Genesis:

Playing music by Grateful Dead:

Playing music by Iron Maiden:

Playing music by Jethro Tull:

Playing music by KISS:

Playing music by Led Zeppelin:

Playing music by Madonna:

Playing music by Metallica:

Playing music by Ozzy Osbourne:

Playing music by the Pet Shop Boys:

Playing music by Pink Floyd:

→ See List of Pink Floyd tribute bands

Playing music by Queen:

Playing music by The Ramones

  • Gabba (performing songs of Abba in the style of The Ramones)
  • The Osaka Ramones (tribute act of Shonen Knife)
  • The Ramainz (formerly The Ramains, featured two Ramones members)

Playing music by The Shadows

Playing music by The Smiths

Playing Music by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Playing music by T. Rex:

See also

References

  1. ^ BBC News (Derbyshire). "Licence leaves band in the shade". Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  2. ^ "Canada's Premiere AC/DC Vocalist". www.acdc.com.
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