I have often wondered how a band or music group gets created. Cadres of musically inclined friends gathering in someone’s garage or basement is probably the most common method. I am going to bet their chief motivation is to attract the attention of females. Some bands last a month; some last for decades, like my favorite ZZ Top. This boogie band from Texas is now down to just one original member… very sad. Makes me extremely grateful for that trip to Vegas a few years ago to see them live (for the fifth time) and up close… really close… sixth row close!
Groups organized for a common purpose are not exclusive to music. These groups are not permanent either, often ephemeral in durability. During my listening this past week, I was centered not on a band per se, but on what is known as a “supergroup.” By definition, a supergroup is a musical group made up of members who are already famous or successful as solo artists or members of other prominent bands. I am comfortable extrapolating this definition to politics and sports as well, but let's talk music first.
The supergroup I was listening to is called Arc Angels. They only released one album of the same name in 1992. A live version of the album was released in 2009. I recommend every song on the album, but a special shout-out goes to “Sent By Angels” and “Living in a Dream.” Please give that a listen. Assign your own meaning to their lyrics and enjoy.
They share their birthplace of Texas with ZZ Top. The most talented and famous Texas bluesman (in my opinion), Stevie Ray Vaughan, was the major influence on the four members of Arc Angels. You can hear that fact strongly in their compositions. I discovered the Arc Angels album back in West Virginia, listening to it on cassette and then a CD. It helped carry me through a very dark time of life. A friend of mine who is also a music addict tells me that the actual vinyl album is not available in the US any longer and is only sold in the UK at a very high price. Thank goodness for music apps providing me with affordability!
Other famous musical supergroups include Cream (Eric Clapton), Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, Beatle George Harrison, Tom Petty, among others), and another favorite of mine, Audioslave (led by the four-octave vocal specialist Chris Cornell). When All-Stars like these musicians get together, great things happen. Like I mentioned earlier, they often don’t last and are one-project happenings. That is too bad in many cases. As good as the Arc Angels album is, I can only imagine how good the subsequent works might have been. But then again, maybe they exhausted their creative juices in that one outstanding album? To explain their temporary status, my guess has always been that egos were taller than physical height and the recording studio didn’t have high enough ceilings. In the case of the Arc Angels, and many other musical geniuses that I worship, drug addiction got in the way.
Bringing together top-tier talent from different backgrounds can have its benefits. One is that I can enjoy these individuals’ specific talents in just one song or album instead of buying multiple selections. Supergroups give the artists an opportunity to expand their creativity. It allows them to experiment with different sounds, styles and even instrumentation that their other groups may not be interested in pursuing. Many bands burn out due to the sole responsibility of projects resting on the shoulders of just one or two members. In a supergroup, the experience they possess may help spread that leadership responsibility around more evenly and avoid the downside of touring, recording, etc. Sales of most supergroups’ concerts and albums are almost guaranteed due to the built-in fanbase of the individual members of the group.
However, the obvious con of a supergroup is what I mentioned above: Ego. Another name for this is ‘pride’. This same obstacle extends to the politics and sports genre of supergroups. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote of ego and its effect on us as humans. “Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called ‘Ego’.” In each of us, it battles with the Id and the Superego for control of our behavior. It can manipulate us into both good and evil. It can bite us on the ankle like the ‘dog’ it is, or it can give us the confidence to accomplish our goals.
In sports, any collection of All-Stars could be considered a supergroup. It is considered an honor to be named to these teams. But, in my opinion, the games they perform in can be a snooze fest of show-offs. In politics, my best example of a supergroup is the team of rivals assembled by Abraham Lincoln following his election in 1860. What a leader he was to bring the very men who opposed and ran against him in the four-way presidential campaign into his cabinet. By the end of Lincoln’s life, these men came to be his champions, his defenders and his friends.
My usual shout-out of JOB WELL DONE goes to Abe for his leadership lesson from history. To the members of the Arc Angels, JOB WELL DONE as well. Your music saved me once and still gives me a memory bank to draw from when life gives me unexpected turns for which I am otherwise unprepared.