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Of the four who do you think would have sold the most records had they stayed alive and kept their bands at time of death intact, and why? I'm going to say Jimi, his material was always solid and lead guitar excellence carried itself well into the 70's with Page and 80's with Van Halen.
I have to say The Doors, if they have stayed together. In fact if Jim was still alive, I think he would have embarked in a solo career while releasing Doors album every now and then, and even then, Jim’s solo career would have been incredibly successful, selling millions of records all the way through the 80’s.
Both Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison have sold more records as dead men then they have alive.
You have to really ask that question and poll from musicians who were on the verge of breaking out, not estabilished ones. Let's face it - Jim Morrison was in a state of decline regardless. I don't see how we could have seen him recover. He burned out. Lynrrd Skynnrd, in their original form, maybe, they had a few more classic albums left in them for sure. They still tour today, but the way, with a few original member still.
My better candidates:
Duane Allman - died really before the Allman's were at their height, before their most popular albums. Still a legendary guitarist.
Kurt Cobain - yes he was established, and I am not really a fan of Nirvana, but I think he had potential to develop into different styles.
Terry Kath - oh what the band Chicago could have been, based on his contributions to their first few albums, if he had lived. When he died, Chicago turned from hard-edged jazz fused rock - to syrupy pop top-40 garbage.
I could see Janis headlining Blues Festivals maybe working with Clapton or Taj. I'm not sure about Jimi, He seemed to have gotten a lot of pop success early on. At the time of his death he was moving away from popular music all together. Jimi liked the TV cameras a bit, he looked like a natural in front of it. I think he might have went the way of Elvis or Roy Clark like most showman type musicians do and became a TV personality.
That's a joke right? You then have to reword the post and from "artists who have died"...to "artists who had quit drug (or alcohol) addiction, cleaned up their act, and recovered", even before the death part.
That was why I have the issue with Jim Morrison. Same with some incredibly talented artists such as Brian Jones. They had issues before their death that would have prevented them from going further artistically, regardless of the "inconvienince" of death. In other words, they were already dead, they just happened to still be breathing.
I also agree with ThrifyLefty's conclusions about Jimi to a certain degree. He was heading into different directions other than pop and rock. He had a short attention span it seems. My guess is that if he would have lived he would not have the legendary status he has. He would have remained an exceptional guitarist - but he would be one of those obscure exceptional guitarits that are legendary and honored only in the guitar playing world, and not to the general population.
Of the 4 offered, I'll go with Hendrix. I admit I am biased in that I have a much more extensive bootleg collection of his. Many of the then (at the time of his death) "projects" he was working on, that most people have never heard or only heard the Alan Douglas "bastardized" versions, are truly outstanding. One legit posthumous album that (In my opinion) was done correctly (by Eddie Kramer) was First Rays of the New Rising Sun. While Hendrix isn't everyone's taste, in my opinion First Rays shows an artist still ascending at the time of his death.
One artist I would add to your list, with a huge upside, would have been Buddy Holly. Such a tremendous catalogue he established by the age of 22. Performer, songwriter, and studio recording innovator, I submit he might have become the king of Rock n Roll (with no disrespect to Elvis) if he had been alive during the Rock n Roll lull circa 1960 to the arrival (in US) of the Beatles in 1964.
One artist I would add to your list, with a huge upside, would have been Buddy Holly. Such a tremendous catalogue he established by the age of 22. Performer, songwriter, and studio recording innovator, I submit he might have become the king of Rock n Roll (with no disrespect to Elvis) if he had been alive during the Rock n Roll lull circa 1960 to the arrival (in US) of the Beatles in 1964.
Mentioning Buddy Holly makes me immediately think of Bobby Fuller who was( in my opinion) murdered at 23 years old in 1966. Holly was a big influence on Fuller, and many fell he was just a soundalike, but at the very end of his career, Fuller seemed to be starting to experiment, trying different sounds. One of his last recordings even had a tiny bit of psychedelic background ( Baby My Heart ). At the time of his death it looked as if he may have been ready to go solo and disband the Bobby Fuller 4. Even if his solo career didn't pan out, Fuller had quite a bit of production experience, and would have quite possibly had an impact behind the scenes.
Of the 4 offered, I'll go with Hendrix. I admit I am biased in that I have a much more extensive bootleg collection of his. Many of the then (at the time of his death) "projects" he was working on, that most people have never heard or only heard the Alan Douglas "bastardized" versions, are truly outstanding. One legit posthumous album that (In my opinion) was done correctly (by Eddie Kramer) was First Rays of the New Rising Sun. While Hendrix isn't everyone's taste, in my opinion First Rays shows an artist still ascending at the time of his death.
One artist I would add to your list, with a huge upside, would have been Buddy Holly. Such a tremendous catalogue he established by the age of 22. Performer, songwriter, and studio recording innovator, I submit he might have become the king of Rock n Roll (with no disrespect to Elvis) if he had been alive during the Rock n Roll lull circa 1960 to the arrival (in US) of the Beatles in 1964.
I've got some supposed bootleg stuff of his too. He really lays into it on Valleys of the Neptune, Machine Gun, and She's So Fine is just Noel w/o the Beatles type backing vocals. The Youtube and alblum released versions are very watered down.
Terry Kath - oh what the band Chicago could have been, based on his contributions to their first few albums, if he had lived. When he died, Chicago turned from hard-edged jazz fused rock - to syrupy pop top-40 garbage.
Terry Kath had quite the voice. Colour My World is one of my many favorites. Its ashame he died in 1978. Its a accident that could of been avoided. Another fav song of mine is from the 1975 lp Chicago VIII called "Oh thank you great spirit". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(band)
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