Power trio
 |
The power trio is a rock and roll band format popularized in the 1960s. The traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard often featured in other rock music. In more recent years, the term has become generally applied to any sort of three-person band.
Overview
Power trios have at times been characterized as loud and bombastic, often embarking on long improvised jams that would highlight the virtuosity of the individual musicians. The American blues band, Hot Tuna, for example, when it chose to play electric, would often play six hour sets when performing in the mid 1970s. Power trio music often reflects a blues or jazz influence, since these two types of music invite improvisation. Typically, instrumental performance and overall impact are emphasized over vocals and lyrics. For instance, Beck, Bogert, and Appice would generally be considered a power trio, whereas the Jeff Beck Group, (a similar lineup with Rod Stewart on vocals) would not.
As power trios have one guitar, one bass and one drummer, this arrangement usually requires the guitarist to play both rhythm and lead parts. The emphasis on guitar solos and crashing rhythm sections in the power trio contributed to the development of heavy metal, although some power trios would prefer hard rock labels.
History
Origins
The rise of the power trio was made possible in part by developments in amplifier and electric guitar/bass guitar technology that permit the instruments to provide more sound than before. Particularly, the advent of electric bass guitar defined the bottom end and filled in the gaps. Since the bass could also now be louder, the rest of the band could also play at higher volumes without fear of being unable to hear the bass. This allowed a three-person band to have the same sonic impact as an 18-person 'big band,' but left far more room for improvisation and creativity, unencumbered by the need for detailed arrangements.
The first embryonic rock "power trio" may have been Buddy Holly and The Crickets, whose onstage sound relied on a driving rhythm section that underpinned Holly's guitar and voice. The power trio, at least in its blues-rock incarnation, is generally held to have developed out of Chicago-style blues bands such as Muddy Waters' trio.
The prototypical power trios were exemplified by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream, who popularized the format during the 1960s. These two groups laid down the framework for all other subsequent power trios: extended improvisation, hyperamplification, and the use of effects (such as delay, distortion, flangers, fuzz bass, wah pedals, etc.) to round out and modify the group sound. The idea of the power trio became so pervasive during the late 1960s that it became a virtual rite of passage for young musicians - even Bruce Springsteen was in one before his career became successful.
Experimentation in the 70s and 80s
During the late 1960s, many groups used power trio instrumentation while adding a vocalist. These include The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath. Although none of these were ever particularly identified as such, the music that they created is influenced by, and follows the same musical format as, many of the pioneering power trios. Likewise, Mountain is often erroneously referred to as a power trio, even though there were four instrumentalists (guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards) in the band. Many punk rock bands, for example the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, would follow the power trio plus vocalist model, which was also used by proto-punk band The Stooges.
Some power trios also experimented with keyboards and sequencers in the studio, most notably the Canadian trio Rush, whose bassist-frontman Geddy Lee has often demonstrated his multi-instrumental capabilities on diverse rock albums such as 1977's A Farewell to Kings and 1985's Power Windows. Modern digital technology has also enabled a power trio to duplicate their studio performances in concert, as evidenced by Rush's 1989 live album, A Show of Hands, where Lee simultaneously sings, plays bass, and plays keyboard with foot pedals. This technology, in combination with their style and production, have earned the band the nickname of "Canadian Power Trio".
Some 1970s British groups, such as Genesis and UK began with larger lineups, but eventually became keyboard-oriented trios in the mode of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. However, due to the absence of a lead guitarist, these progressive rock groups are not usually considered 'true' power trios.
Other well-known trios from the 1970s and 1980s include Budgie, Grand Funk Railroad, Triumph, Blue Cheer, Johnny Winter's Progressive Blues Experiment, Cactus, Glass Harp, Motörhead, The Minutemen, West, Bruce and Laing, The Jam, The Police, ZZ Top, The Outfield, and the Robin Trower Band.
1980s and 1990s
Although power trios fell out of fashion in mainstream rock during the 1980s, the rise of post-punk and indie rock in the 1980s and 1990s featured many trios. During this time the configuration experienced a renaissance of sorts with groups such as Meat Puppets, Violent Femmes, Primus, Hüsker Dü (and spin off bands Nova Mob and Sugar), the Minutemen and fIREHOSE, Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, The Clean, Melvins, Galaxie 500, Spacemen 3 (occasionally a 3-piece), DC3, Nomeansno, Hard-ons, King Kong, Low, Jawbreaker, Green Day, Bratmobile,Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Gov't Mule. After the disappearance of their guitarist Richey James Edwards, the Manic Street Preachers continued as a three-piece. The most successful indie rock power trio would be Nirvana, who would cross over to mainstream success.
Some trios would overdub multiple parts when recording but perform stripped-back versions of their songs live, while others (such as the Minutemen) recorded mostly live, performing "gigs in front of a mic", as Mike Watt put it.
In the post-alternative era, popular trios included Sublime, Green Day, Blink-182, and Gov't Mule. Also, the configuration remained popular in "prog rock", with groups such as Rush and King's X.
John Paul Jones uses a variant of the power trio idea in his solo tours, combining bass and keyboards with Stick player Nick Beggs and a drummer. The 1990s edition of King Crimson toured as an alleged "double power trio", (according to leader Robert Fripp) with two drummers, two bassists and two guitars.
2000s
The traditional power trio continues to be represented by newer groups such as Los Lonely Boys, Wolfmother, Muse, Rose Hill Drive, and the North Mississippi Allstars, among many others who have sprung out of the jam band scene. The Multi Genre group Boris only has three members, but compensates by using a double neck instrument with one neck being a guitar and one neck being a bass. They frequently use effects such as delay and echo, and fill in space with instrumental feedback.
The White Stripes and the Black Keys are of similar blues rock style to a traditional power trio, but omit a bass guitarist, so can be referred to as power duos.