Practical MIDI

I heard an oldie on the radio the other day and from the little bit I heard I assumed it was Santana because of the Latin-Rock flavor of the tune. Turns out it was actually a song by a group called Malo and the song was “Suavecito.” I was partially right about who I thought was playing it since Malo featured Carlos Santana’s brother, Jorge. And that got me to thinking about all the other relatives, siblings, brothers, sisters and other family member in the music business.

With a minimum of research it became apparent that there were many more instances like this than I thought. Case in point: There’s a country singer called Dan Seals. He used to he part of the pop duo, England Dan and John Ford Coley. And he’s the younger brother of Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts fame. Also in the country vane is Crystal Gayle (Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue) who is the sister of Loretta Lynn. Although they never performed during the same eras, Hank Williams and Hank, Jr. each made the country charts. Same with Julian Lennon and his famous father.

I remember years ago seeing an interview with The Carpenters. The interviewer asked when and where they met, assuming they were married. They are actually brother and sister. If you want an example of a married performing couple you’d have to go with Daryl Dragon (Captain) and Toni (Tenille).

After Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane went down, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, Ronnie’s brother, Johnny took over the singing duties in the reformed Skynyrd band. Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson are the nucleus of the band Heart and have been performing together for more than thirty years. Speaking of Wilsons, Brian Wilson’s (Beach Boys) daughters, Carnie and Wendy hit the charts with John Phillip’s (Mamas and the Papas) daughter, Chynna to form Wilson-Phillips. Going back to the mid-60s we find that there was a group called Dino, Desi and Billy. Dino was the son of singer Dean Martin, while Desi was the son of Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz (the “I” in I Love Lucy). Billy was just the son of the realtor who sold the other two guys’ parents their homes. Billy ended up in The Beach Boys.

Mid-50s crooner Pat Boone made the charts but was totally eclipsed by daughter Debbie twenty years later with “You Light Up My Life.” I think I can safely say that no matter how many copies of “Achy-Breaky Heart” Billy Ray Cyrus sold, it didn’t come close to the revenue generated by daughter, Miley Cyrus, better known as Hannah Montana, who, by the way was NOT related to Tony Montana, of “Scarface” fame. Wouldn’t that be absolutely cool if Al Pacino came out on stage to introduce Hannah and told the audience, “Say hello to my little friend.”

Sibling rivalry wouldn’t even apply to Kenny Loggins, who had multiple hits, and his cousin Dave, who had one hit, “Please Come To Boston.” You could say the same about 60s rocker Mike McGear (who?) and his band, Scaffold. While he’s a forgettable contribution to the rock scene, his brother, Jim is not. His brother, by the way, is Sir James Paul McCartney.

©2008 Bill Bernico for CYBERMIDI.com
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