Records on Which the 'Featured Artist' Doesn't Appear

[Wombat]

Apart from the obvious example of bands who used session musicians in place of some band members, can you think of any records which are not actually by the person or band billed? I can think of two. One is obvious: the Milli Vanilli singers who didn't sing on their hit record, although I'm not sure that other members of the band didn't substitute for them, thus making them just another band who didn't quite do it all themselves the way the fans imagined.

The only clear example I can think of is Gil Evans' Into the Hot. This bizarre release, originally on LP, had one side by the John Carisi Orchestra and the other by avant guard pianist Cecil Taylor's band. It would be evident to anybody who read the sleeve notes that Gil Evans is nowhere in sight. He never explained why he consented to this release, as far as I know. I can only imagine it was his way of bringing unknown talent to the attention of record buyers. Looking back, it's staggering that nobody sued.

Can anybody think of other examples?

[fyffer]

Most heinously obvious is of course, Jethro Tull, who, through no fault of his own, never appeared on any of the records bearing his name.

[djm]

I'll bet there'll be a lot of poop raised about that one ..... Oh! Well, maybe not.

Not a whole album, but on Liam O'Flynn's album Out to Another Side (in my opinion one of his worst) on a couple of tracks he just stands aside and lets those who were supposed to be his "guest" artists totally take over those tracks.

djm

[Jack]

Not quite the same, but the amazing vocalist Martha Wash's voice has been used on a lot of music she's never been given credit for (she is thought of as unmarketable because she's morbidly obese). She sang C+C Dance Factory's "Everybody Dance Now" song.

[daveboling]

Most heinously obvious is of course, Jethro Tull, who, through no fault of his own, never appeared on any of the records bearing his name.

And what of Mr. Floyd, whose earlier work showed promise, only to fade into a predictable formula in the end?

[gonzo914]

Whistling Jack Smith



The Archies


And depending on how you define it, maybe C.W.Mccall, whose back up band, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant Boys, was, of course, the boys from Mannheim Steamroller. McCall was a character created by Bill Fries for a radio station in Iowa, but Fries really did do the singing.

[Brian Lee]

And what of Mr. Floyd, whose earlier work showed promise, only to fade into a predictable formula in the end?

"...and by the way, which one's Pink?"

[chas]

I seem to remember that when Frank Zappa's cancer was advanced, he was unable to play the guitar, but was still writing. So he took a few young guitarists under his wing and had them play the parts that would have been his.

That'd be quite the shocker to put a Gil Evans record on and be greeted by the cacophonous sounds of Cecil Taylor!

[Wombat]

That'd be quite the shocker to put a Gil Evans record on and be greeted by the cacophonous sounds of Cecil Taylor!

I've owned the vinyl LP since the 60s and can't remember whether or not I knew when I bought it. I liked Taylor at the time so it wouldn't have been a major problem for me, just a surprise. Carisi is another matter; a bit like Gil Evans in style but much less distinctive and interesting. It's easy to imagine a lot of punters being really annoyed though. I mean, Evans style is so distinctive and well-known from his records with Miles Davis.

[djm]

Wombat, is it possible that you got one of those rare pressings where the A and B sides don't match? It was known to happen from time to time, and they are a bit of a collector's item. Or did the packaging and labelling all match up with the tunes on the record other than the performers?

djm

[Wombat]

Wombat, is it possible that you got one of those rare pressings where the A and B sides don't match? It was known to happen from time to time, and they are a bit of a collector's item. Or did the packaging and labelling all match up with the tunes on the record other than the performers?

djm

No, they actually admit to what is going on in the liner notes. I've not heard any other Carisi, before or since, but I know Cecil Taylor when I hear him and it's him for sure. It's doubly bizarre in that the liner notes present the situation as though it were perfectly normal for the listed artist not to appear on his own LP. I was just thinking yesterday how bizarre this was so I thought I'd start a thread to see if it ever happened before or since. None of the other cases are really like it; Evans is a real artist with loads of genuine CDs of his own, not a cartoon character nor a novelty act. It also appears to be a follow up to an earlier album genuinely by Evans called Out of the Cool with a lookalike cover so the potential for confusion is as great as it could be.

The Milli Vanilli scandal led to lots of litigation but it isn't half as strange as this. It says something about the jazz audience that nobody sued. I'm not quite sure exactly what it says about the jazz audience. (Perhaps some people did ask for their money back.)

Here's a link to what Allmusic have to say about it, with a photo of the cover.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... fuxqugld0e

Plenty weird.

[djm]

Well, its only jazz, after all.

djm

[Wombat]

Well, its only jazz, after all.

djm

Well if I were to get bitchy, I might say that Carisi's tracks don't really count as jazz.

Oh look; I just did.

[MTGuru]

Marnie Nixon, most egregiously on the soundtracks of The King and I, West Side Story, and My Fair Lady. It was years before I knew who the wonderful singer was who ghosted the female leads, and before she got the credit she deserved.

[JS]

Wombat --

My copy is out on loan, so I can't check it for you, but I wonder if there's anything about this in Ashley Kahn's history of Impulse Records, The House That Trane Built It's an enjoyable read, great photos, maybe not quite as tight or fascinating as his book on A Love Supreme ,