The term “supergroup” was first used by music writers in 1968 and comes from the title of the album Super Session
that resulted from the summit of Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills. Since then, it has been used for groups, the members of which are already famous or gain full recognition afterwards. So today I will present 10 of the most famous groups in this category, in chronological order. Sometime there may be a sequel...1. Cream
They acted between 1966 and 1968 and they comprised by Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds), Jack Bruce (Manfred Mann) and Ginger Baker (Graham Bond Organisation). They became the archetypal rock trio and especially influential and they released 4 albums, Fresh Cream (1966), Disraeli Gears (1967), Wheels Of Fire (1968) and Goodbye (1969).
2. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY)
American folk-rock group comprised by David Crosby (The Byrds), Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield), Graham Nash (The Hollies) and Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield). They set off in 1968, with Young being added the next year and... going in and out, they have released several albums characterized by perfect vocal harmonies and essentially connected to the Woodstock generation.
3. Blind Faith
Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, Cream), Ginger Baker (Graham Bond Organisation, Cream), Steve Winwood (Traffic, The Spencer Davis Group) and Ric Gretch (Family) had time to release just one album entitled after themselves, before they break up in 1969, having acted for less than one year.
4. Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP)
One of the most popular progressive rock bands. it comprised by Keith Emerson (The Nice), Greg Lake (King Crimson) and Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster). Their discography numbers 9 studio albums and even more live performances and compilations.
5. Bad Company
One of the very successful groups of the 1970s, the Bad Company comprised by Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke (πρώην μέλη των Free), Mick Ralphs (Mott The Hoople) and Boz Burrell (King Crimson). After their break-up in 1982, they returned with other performers instead of Rodgers but after his own return, they continue up until today.
6. Nick Cave And The Bad SeedsAfter the break-up of The Birthday Party, in 1983, Nick Cave and Mick Harvey moved on to the creation of The Bad Seeds, to which participated, among others,Blixa Bargeld (Einsturzende Neubauten), Barry Adamson (Magazine) and Hugo Race (The Wreckery). The band continues until today, having rich discography and concert activity.
7. The Highwaymen
Four giants of country, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, formed this group that acted from 1985 to 1995, recording the albums Highwayman (1985), Highwayman 2 (1990) and The Road Goes On Forever (1995).
8. Traveling Wilburys
Maybe the most... supergroup of all, the Traveling Wilburys were indeed a summit. George Harrison (The Beatles), Bob Dylan, Tom Petty (Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers), Jeff Lynne (The Electric Light Orchestra, The Move) and Roy Orbison united their powers in 1988 and recorded the album Traveling Wilburys Vol.1. After the death of Orbison, the rest released the... oddly entitled Traveling Wilburys Vol.3, dedicating it to his memory.
9. The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Damon Albarn (Blur), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Simon Tong (The Verve) and Tony Allen released the unique until today and exceptional album in 2007. It is not clear until now whether their co-operation will continue.
10. Them Crooked Vultures
John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age) form one of the most recent additions to the supergroup list, as they released their first album just a few months ago, while they are already in the middle of the recordings for the second one.
* Photos from http://www.miloco.co.uk/clients/recent_clients/nickcave.jpg, http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/crookedvultures452.jpg, www.wikipedia.org και www.rollingstone.com.
Relevant article