Brothers Don't Shake . . . Brothers Fight

Tommy Boy had it wrong.  For once.

The War Between the States was known ignominiously as casting brother vs. brother in the field of battle.  It wasn't the only time such a stage was set. Fratres who share DNA and Greek affiliation alike don't always get along, and when they don't, it can be especially ugly.  

Especially in rock and roll.  A few notorious brother battles:

The Fogertys (John and Tom)

Creedence Clearwater Revival 

The Fogerty sons weren't so fortunate, as it turned out. Little brother John rose to prominence as the band's leader, and he both behaved despotically and also led them into one of the classic 60's/70's awful record deals. Tom couldn't stop John's reign, so he bolted, and it all blew up. Someday they would make amends... except Tom died 30 years ago, so someday never came.  John's solo act rolls on after four decades.

The Davies (Ray and Dave)

The Kinks

London scrappers Ray and Dave are well respected men with an illustrious career but have never, ever gotten along. They fought onstage and off, and they shitcanned The Kinks decades ago. When Dave had a stroke some years back, there was hope of a reconciliation, but better things between them have not materialized.  They each keep playing, just never together.

The Gallaghers (Noel and Liam)

Oasis

As chronicled a decade ago, these boys can be real douches.  Despite a rise to popularity, they spend their lives wallowing in look-back anger and vitriol for the world, especially each other.  Their bands are now Beady Eye and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. I'll let you guess whose is whose. I cannot vouch for either.

The Robinsons (Chris and Rich)

The Black Crowes

The early days of the Crowes were filled with drunken on-stage antics and stories of Chris being hard to handle.  They subsequently morphed into a great Southern rock band, but like the others on this list, there has been no remedy for the fraternal in-fighting. They now play in the Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Magpie Salute.  I've seen the former and heard good things about the latter. Maybe this is better for both of them.

There are other examples, but I draw your attention to one of the most inane.  I obviously can't comment on the behind-the-scenes drama that goes back a generation or two among siblings, but a band that used to have some street cred, then got popular, then cashed in and coasted but was at the very least a fun, lively, talented band to take in . . . well, they've imploded and now there are two separate bands that represent a hole far less great than the sum of its parts.

The Campbells (Ali and Robin)

UB40

This dispute bubbled over in 2008, with lead singer Ali leaving presumably for dollars-and-cents reasons. So now there is UB40 . . . and UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue (a couple of other original members).  Each singing their "own songs," the old stuff.  You all know how I feel about fragmented bands touring under their original names.  This is doubly dumb.

Lawsuits abound, and there is no end in sight. Brothers have disowned each other. There's a documentary about the split. Can't we all just get along?




Seriously. One of the acts (the one without parenthetical clarification) now has a song called "What happened to UB40."  Have a listen if you dare.



Lyrics:

What Happened to UB40

Say what happened to UB40 now
Some off them think dem bigger than Bob Marley WHOA!
Who's who in a the party now
Gould's lurking in the corner now

Some of dem flimsy some of dem
shallow, want dem money in a Wheelbarrow
Dem mind is weak dem mind it Narrow, Little after dat them get para
Three Yoko Ono's so craving, dem want new house new car and tings
Spangles and bangles and Diamond rings,
you can hear them coming dem a J'lingaling

Say what happened to UB40 now
Some off them think dem bigger than Bob Marley WHOA!
Who's who in a the party now
Gould's lurking in the corner now

One Man try fe go Solo, like the explorer Marco Polo
The attendance weak de attendance low
Him have fe stop cause him woulda bruk fe sure...
Your best friend could be your worst
enemy, him a backbiter tun spy tun thief
Him pride broke down say him a creep creep
Oh gosh me bredrin you done know we have fe weep...

Say what happened to UB40 now
Some off them think dem bigger than Bob Marley WHOA!
Who's who in a the party now
Gould's lurking in the corner now

That's . . . something. To all you who said Bob Marley and Yoko Ono would never be name dropped in the same song . . . there you go.

Look. I saw UB40 in 1988 at the Boathouse.  Tip. Top.  They were damn good musicians playing great reggae harmonies.  The decade or two that followed for UB40 featured an over-reliance on watered-down covers of old standards, but their more politically-minded material of the early 80's was good reggae. These guys should get it together -- literally -- and channel their angst into the more spitfire sound of their youth.

Anyway, do NOT go see either version of them until that happens, but in the meantime, be kind to your brothers (and sisters), and check out UB40 below, when they weren't a soft reggae-lite factory of dreck. My preferred tunes of theirs, in order...