A Triumph Of Humility: Life Lessons From Rock

Today's post is from our friend HIM. It's very flattering and no, I didn't ask him to write this! I am so thankful people pop by this site to share their opinions on music... because sometimes all you really want to do is grab some friends and pop on a favorite record and forget the struggles of daily life. 

Times are tough for fans of metal, glam, and classic hard rock. Finding news about the bands you love can be daunting. Gone are the days of the magazines that catered to our interests (gone, too, the days when we were lean and mean and itching to be catered to!).

 

Somewhat luckily, the interwebs exist for everyone. You can pick a scab and look at the underbelly on some sites. Post (well, really, troll and flame) at others. Or find yet others that are sliced and diced and re-branded across infinite platforms, serving you the same bait at which to click. Or you can just Google it and hope for the best.

 

That’s why BBG! is such a novelty. A new story every day. Some original. Some with due attribution to other sites doing the heavy lifting. Some thoroughly Glam. Others not so much. Allyson, day in and day out, shares a little corner of the wide world of music with us. And we, her fans, welcome it by responding—by and large—with respect . . . and perhaps a touch of snark. But we treat each other well here. The same can’t be said at other places. So this place is a gift. [Sidebar: I say none of this for any reason other than to say the truth. Yes, I post original and semi-original content here. But I am not paid. What I do, when I write content, is for fun. Further, it is a form of respect for what Allyson has created, for her to post or not post as she see fits. I actually feel lucky to have this outlet for which to create content and at which I comment on the same.]

 

Which leads me to this post. I was reading another site (Classic Rock Revisited, run by Jeb Wright), one which I frequent. I generally go there for the interviews. They can be a bit slavish. But they are almost always enjoyable. In a very recent interview, Wright talked to Gil Moore, the drummer/vocalist from the “other” trio from the Cold North: Triumph. I’ve always loved Triumph. In fact, they give me more of a rush than most bands I have listened to from Canada . . . with apologies to Kick Axe, Helix, and April Wine.

 

But what struck me in this interview was the following exchange:

 

Jeb [Wright]: "I’ve talked to you so many times and we never got this in-depth regarding the creative process. I think we’re close enough where I don’t have to sugar coat it, so… I’ll tell you this: a lot of people kind of thought, well Rik [Emmett] is “the talent” and the band is “the band”. Does that make sense?

Gil [Moore]: I think so from the outside, yeah probably. Let’s put it this way, I think Rik was the most talented musician in the group, but we all came from other bands and all of our bands failed. We used to joke about our earlier bands… you know I had a band called Mondo Plus Four, so you know they teased me endlessly about that band because of the name. Rik had a band called Captain Mud, which we called General Mud. He used to joke back and say it’s not Captain Mud, it’s General Mud… I said, “…whatever, you guys were mud.”

Jeb: Ha ha, that’s right.

Gil: So when you really look at it, if any one of us was really super talented, maybe we wouldn’t have needed the other two, so I think at the end of the day we collaborated pretty well. Mike [Levine]  was a skilled record producer. You can ask, “How much did Mike’s producing have to do with the overall success of the band?” versus, let’s say, Rik being a fantastic guitar player… it’s a subtle thing, because Mike would make all of these artistic judgments in the studio, even when we had other producers, like co-producers… you know Mike was always sitting in the chair for all the difficult decisions. I think those two guys were both more important really in their contributions than I was. But on the business side, the sound and the lighting, I loved the technology… so I was able to, I think, add something to the stage show of it. In the stage show, if they didn’t have such a great show, how successful would the band be? We never got into trying to weigh who’s more important than whom; we never had any problems with stuff like that. We all realized that everyone was contributing. Back to your original question, yeah, sure I think Rik is probably the strongest musician of the three of us."

 

That, to me, is a life lesson in very few lines. And, if I understand the tumultuous story of Triumph correctly, it is a hard fought one.

 

Sure, they never reached the peaks that some bands have reached. But I don’t see them, or Gil, eagerly awaiting their introduction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as if it were forgone (they did make it into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2008). I don’t see Gil stabbing at his bandmates. Nor do I see him scooping up undue credit for an incredible career. What I see is a musician, at peace, telling it like it is. Honestly. With humility. Without concern for his position in a band that, as a band, created some great music on the strengths of all members.

 

BBG! is a special place. It shares news of the music we love. It also engenders respect and promotes positivity. I think it is quite appropriate to share this news—from another site—because it is in keeping with what Allyson has created. Amazing interview, Jeb. Insightful answers, Gil.

 

If we could all learn sooner to give credit where it is due, even if the path to that recognition is a difficult one, we might stand in better stead with those around us and with ourselves.

Read the Full Classic Rock Revisted interview. 

Comments

[Him]

Thanks for posting that, Allyson. And my edit to myself: the last "Rik" should be "Gil." My mistake, not Allyson's. My apologies to all of you.

[peter]

Could not agree Moore your bbg site is one of the best, as well as a number of other good rock sites & there are a few your site is great reading, as i am also a bit of a classic rock, glam, blues
metal fan, i'll give you a couple of my faves Hendrix Rush Deep Purple Yes Jethro Tull Doors
Led Zeppelin Styx Bad Company SRV KWS, Kansas Black Sabbath, don't mind a bit of doom too,
Type O Negative Paradise Lost Cathedral My Dying Bride although they were not as huge as Rush, their Canadian "Counterparts"but gee they had some great music Triumph. As i am in Australia i have never ever seen them live as it's rare or non existent to see these bands tour Australia, but was i gobsmacked when i bought their US Festival concert on dvd it was amazing & yet another Canadian legend who rarely is "sighted" the legendary Frank Marino!

[Gary]

AWESOME post Him. Nothing to add from the sarcastic corner of the peanut gallery. You get it, as do pretty much all of the posters here. When there are flame ups here, they're almost always reasonably civil, which is quite a rarity on any site that allows comments that I frequent, be it music,sports,or general news/ politics. Kudo's Ally, as your "baby" here has grown into quite a fine young site...8-)

[oper8n]

Thank you for putting into words what many of us feel. This is one of the most civil sites where people are free to disagree with each other in an almost Canadian (pleasant) manner.
Thank you, Ms. Allyson, for keeping it going.

[Allyson B. Crawford]

I should have caught that little typo - it's all fixed up now! - Allyson

[Kixchix]

All hail BBG and its creator!

Thanks for the venue Ally. Many more years we hope are in the works.

Thank you

[TheCheapSeats]

I've always been a Triumph fan. And I've always been a little bit off center as well. The first album I bought with my own money was Allied Forces.

Mostly, but not always, the Rik songs have done it for me more than the Gil songs. Lay It On The Line being a huge exception.

Saw Triumph back around '88 or '89. Topically enough, Saxon was the opener. Due to driving in from out of town and a flat tire, I only arrived in time to a song and a half of Saxon.

Triumph was fantastic live. As far as the power trio thing, not so much. While that was the case creatively and in the studio, they had another guy on stage (kudos for not hiding him) playing keys and occasional guitar.

I know they are not for everyone, but personally, I think Triumph is way underrated.

Thanks for the reminder.

[TheCheapSeats]

Correction, Lay It On The Line is a Rik song also.

[Dj]

Great post! BBG is one of the very few sites I come to for music that I love because even after years of reading articles here it's still new, fresh, and original, unlike a lot of other nameless "copy/paste" sites that have headlines to stir things up, and have nothing to do with the story. Another thing I love is that all of us do not agree on everything and have different opinions and taste, but seem to get along with mutual respect and love for a lot of common bands and glam/rock n roll. So thank you Allyson for keeping this running, and even allowing myself to publish reviews on here as well.