Family Reunion

I never thought there'd be a regrouping of any of the members of the British rock band Family under that name, in any configuration.  So it was quite a surprise to learn that such a regrouping is taking place in London, nearly forty years after the band split up.  They'll be playing two concerts there in February 2013, the lineup featuring lead singer Roger Chapman and drummer Rob Townsend, of course, and rounded out by guitarist/bassist Jim Cregan and multi-instrumentalist Poli Palmer - four-fifths of the Family lineup that toured America in 1972 as the warm-up act for Elton John and also played a few British dates earlier that year.  Ironically, this lineup never made a record; Cregan joined right after the Bandstand album was finished, and Poli Palmer left just before the group taped a new single.

Attentive Family fans will note the absence of Charlie Whitney, Family's lead guitarist and the only founding member of Family other than Chapman and Townsend to remain in the group to the very end.  As Whitney's whipsaw guitar riffs, his brooding demeanor, and even his double-necked Gibson guitar (currently up for sale to any collector who wants it) contributed heavily to the Family sound and style, a Family reunion without Whitney doesn't make much sense.

   (Family, 1972.  From left: Roger Chapman, Charlie Whitney, Jim Cregan, Rob Townsend, Poli Palmer.)

I've received invitations from Facebook friends in England to hop a flight over there and take in one of these first Family concerts in nearly four decades, but of course I can't afford the time or the money involved, and, also, I obviously have my doubts.  How can Family, or this lineup of it, recapture the magic of the early seventies? How can they take the stage as rock gods - older, past their peak - and perform "The Weaver's Answer" and "Drowned In Wine" with the same energy they had when Elton John took them along through the States?  Roger Chapman still has the magic touch; he remains a shouter with few peers (America's Bob Seger comes close).  It's possible, though, that Townsend might be a little off on the skins.  And Jim Cregan, as Rod Stewart's guitarist for eighteen years, played on so many mediocre records in the eighties, you have to allow that he's possibly rather bland now in comparison to when he replaced John Wetton on bass in Family.  And the bass was never his primary instrument anyway.  And, again - Chappo without Charlie? So, yes, I want to believe these two reunion concerts will turn out great.  This two-show reunion is likely to be a one-time thing, not a prelude to more shows, and so there's less opportunity for them to embarrass themselves, something no one wants to see.  But I have my doubts.

Oh, well, I guess I should be happy that these guys are still active and still going strong.  Because there's very little about popular music these days to be happy about.  Hip-hop has rendered rock music irrelevant, and newer rock bands aren't getting signed by major labels, a condition based on the belief that guitar groups really are on the way out this time.  There are fewer and fewer radio outlets for rock these days, and most of  those that remain are too conservative to offer much of anything new.  In a world where so many veteran rock performers like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and even Jon Bon Jovi are laughed at as preposterous dinosaurs even as Madonna is exalted as an ageless goddess, where a new band like the Arctic Monkeys can be heralded in 2006 as a band that can rescue rock and roll and then disappear by 2007, or where online compact disc purchases are causing record stores to go out of business to the point where you can no longer experience the thrill of walking into a store and picking up and buying a physical, tangible new-release record from a current band, even if you can find a current band to buy anything from - indeed, a world where digital Internet downloads are making records of any sort obsolete - well, in a world where so much of the music culture you know and love is gone, you're happy to make do with what's left.  And at least we have Family . . . once again, if only once.  Or twice, as the case may be.

Maybe these shows will get them enough buzz to remind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board that they're an important band in rock history, and that they haven't been inducted yet.

Bring it on. :-)

(The re-formed Family, 2012.  From left: Jim Cregan, Rob Townsend, Roger Chapman, Poli Palmer.)