Halfway Gone
This page is dedicated to those bands and line-ups half of whom are still with us.
The most under-rated (yes, that's right, UNDER-rated) band of the twentieth century.
The best live band I ever saw, no competition.
The prodigious talent of Steve Winwood, plus three other - well, prodigious - talents
All right then, now and forever - blues rock from a great live band (Yes, that's Steve Winwood with them in the photograph)
Pioneers of the psychedelic San Francisco sound of the late 60s, with their roots in folk and blues. And still going today, in their Hot Tuna spin-off
Made for TV, but the members and the song-book are much better than "made for TV" implies. And anyone getting too sniffy about their members needs to recall that Stephen Stills was oh so close to being a Monkee.
If you drink eight pints of strong wine in one session, then write a song you call In The Garden of Eden, you can't be very surprised if the world thinks you're saying In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. So it was with Doug Ingle and Iron Butterfly. The album version took up a whole side, and is seen as a progenitor of heavy metal.
Late 60s supergroup, born of Steve Marriott's and Peter Frampton's joint desire to be taken more seriously as musicians. Like many similar bands, they were more successful in the US than the UK. The original line-up only lasted just short of three years, but a version, with no original members, is still working today.
Oldham's contribution to 70s prog rock, who ticked many boxes (toured with an orchestra, signed to EMI's trendy Harvest label etc). I nearly saw them live in 1974, when they were supposed to do a college gig - I was sent to guide the truck into the venue, but the band didn't like the look of the amateur-built stage and ceded top billing to the Average White Band (who were brilliant, but different).
Treading the well-worn path from skiffle to Merseybeat, The Searchers had a string of UK hits, including three #1s, between 1963 and 1966, and US hits as part of the "British Invasion". Although they didn't chart after 1966, the band toured till 2019. Founder John McNally was still with them at the end, after over 60 years.
They looked very uncomfortable in their flower-power finery to promote Pictures of Matchstick Men; they were much more at home later in double denim playing three-chord straight-ahead boogie, with great riffs. The natural choice to open Live Aid in 1985 ( 'cos we wanted to be Rockin' All Over The World), the band (with only Francis Rossi of the original Frantic Four remaining) is still touring.