Bands Known By Initials

In rock 'n' roll history there have been manyYoung.
bands whose moniker and names were shortenedHard-rocking Bachman-Turner Overdrive, or
and universally recognized by abbreviated letteredsimply BTO consisted of Randy Bachman
names. Let's explore some popular initial(formally of the Guess Who), fellow Guess Who
nicknames of bands.alum Chad Allen, C.F. "Fred" Turner and Randy's
Creedence Clearwater Revival (also known asbrother drummer Robbie. Capitalizing on the arena
CCR) began churning out classic rock 'n' roll singlesrock/pop rock era of the mid 70's, BTO had a
shortly after the John Fogerty led band formed inshort but successful career with chart singles such
1967. With their "swamp-rock" sound and style,as "Takin' Care Of Business," "Let It Ride" and the
the group amassed seventeen top 40 hits likenumber one single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," a
"Bad Moon Rising," "Green River," and the weddingsong which was intended for an audience of one-
band staple "Proud Mary." The group disbanded inRandy's brother Gary Bachman who had a
1972 and any hopes of a CCR reunion werespeech impediment-stuttering. They recorded the
quashed with the death of band member Tomsong for fun but needing another song to
Fogerty in 1990.complete the lp "Not fragile," Randy Bachman was
Another 60's band that had huge commercialpressured to include the joking stuttering lyrics
success was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, alsoand the song spent twelve weeks on the Billboard
known as CSN &Y. Band members Davidcharts in 1974.
Crosby (formally of the Byrds), Graham Nash (ofThere are many other rock 'n' roll bands that
Hollies fame), Stephen Stills and Neil Young (bothwere known by initials as well as their "given"
with Buffalo Springfield), blended their flawlessname and I will include a couple more that I know
harmonies into a long and successful career. Withof. The Electric Light Orchestra (also known as
hits such as the Nash led "Teach Your Children,"ELO) led by guitarist Jeff Lynne, scored twenty
Neil Young's antiwar protest song "Ohio" and a Jonitop ten hits with songs like "Telephone Line and
Mitchell composition "Woodstock" about the"Don't Bring Me Down." A similar sounding name
legendary rock festival, CSN &Y blendedELP was a supergroup consisting of keyboard
their unique acoustic-folk and progressive hardgenius Keith Emerson, bassist Greg lake (of the
rock sound to be a classic example of the 1960'sband Nice) and drummer Carl Palmer (a former
psychedelic era. Additionally, after Young left themember of The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown).
group, Crosby, Stills and Nash (also known asThey instilled their keyboard dominated,
CSN) continued to release melodic pop/rock songsprogressive rock throughout the 70's, creating a
with 1977's "Just A Song Before I Go" andFM radio phenomenon with songs like "Lucky
"Wasted On The Way," which was released inMan," "Still You Turn Me On" and "From The
1982. The group still tours, occasionally joined byBeginning.