I was just listening to classic songs by Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Yardbirds and The Grassroots, all from the 1960's, when I remembered someone talking about Donna in the Grateful Dead in the 1970's, and saying, she's just a backing vocalist.
And I am listening to the incredible backing vocalist in The Yardbirds sing on Heart Full of Soul, and I am thinking, in a group like the Grateful Dead, it may be just a backing vocalist.
But in a group like the Mamas and the Papas, or The Beatles, it is different.
In a group like Strawbery Alarm Clock, the backing vocalists are so huge.
Being a backing vocalist in The Beach Boys or The Mamas and the Papas is like being a lead guitarist in The Yardbirds.
Legendary.
And being the main backing vocalist in The Yardbirds is like being the lead guitarist in The Beatles.
Still legendary, or should be, even if it is not the first thing that is legendary about the group.
And the same is true for being a backing vocalist in The Beatles.
Food for thought!
God loves you! God bless all the backing vocalists!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson