Zaikesman, thanks for you thoughtful reply. You make the distinction between band members and session players while I purposely glossed over the difference. I'm lumping everybody into a single group because I want to give credit to as wide a group of musicians as possible. Sure my naming of Charlie Watts is something of a strecth. He's a band member and he really isn't unheralded, but for better or worse Jagger & Richards are the frontmen. And if they are the frontmen, then I guess by definition everybody else are sidemen. It's just that in any particular song I find what Watts is doing on the drums more interesting than anything anybody else in the band is doing. I just want to give the man his props. Your pick of James Burton with Elvis is an excellent example of this phenomena. Could the Stones go on without Watts? I'll answer it with another question, could The Who go on without Keith Moon?
Unheralded Sideman
There's a story from the first US tour of the original Jeff Beck Group that after a performance in Central Park's Wollman Skating Ring a PR type from the record label ran up to the group's vocalist, Rod Stewart, and said, "Great show Jeff, and your band has a really good guitarist too!" So much for the intelligence of PR reps, but there are occasions where I think the sidemen musicians are at least as interesting, if not more interesting, than the star performers. Some of my favorite sidemen are:
James Jamerson - bass, Motown house band
Jack Ashford - tambourine, Motown house band
Charlie Watts - drums, Rolling Stones
Jack Cassady - bass, Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna
Bruce Thomas - bass, EC & the Attraction
Anybody eles have their favorite sidemen?
James Jamerson - bass, Motown house band
Jack Ashford - tambourine, Motown house band
Charlie Watts - drums, Rolling Stones
Jack Cassady - bass, Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna
Bruce Thomas - bass, EC & the Attraction
Anybody eles have their favorite sidemen?