Talk:Power trio

Mountain was a trio only during their reunion decades after the classic era; during 1970-1974 they had either a keyboardist (Steve Knight or Bob Mann) or a second guitarist (David Perry). &mdash; A.M. 09:00, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)

is ZZ Top a worthy addition to this? &mdash;  F REAK OF N URxTURE  ( TALK )  05:25, Jun 5, 2005 (UTC)
 * Sure. But Hawkwind? - Two Halves, who won't let logging in interfere with his desire to gab...

POWER Trio
In my opinion, the Power in the title "Power trio" is there for a reason. This reason is that the combination of a single guitar, single bass and single drummer is raw and powerful. Though bands like the Ben Folds Five and CSN are a trio, they do not have a bass, guitar and drum. Therefore, they are not a power trio. Also, should we make a seperate section for bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Black Sabbath who have a single guitar, bass and drums though they have a non-instrumentalist vocalist which makes them not a trio? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.69.79.130 (talk • contribs).

I killed the inane paragraph explaining that CSN and The Beatles were not a power trio, and I'm not sorry I did it, either. I would love to know how The Mods, whoever they are, pioneered some sort of "power trio comeback" when the power trio never went away in the first place! If any groups pioneered a "power trio comeback" it would certainly be Gov't Mule or the North Mississippi Allstars, who were in existence well before The Mods. -- Happydog

I killed the stuff about "The Mods." I thought the claim that they had "invented the power trio comeback" (or whatever it was) was totally ridiculous. I did some research, and these yahoos don't even have an album out; they're a jam band from New York, and they have FOUR members, not three.

I don't think the paragraph explaining why certain bands weren't power trios was inane. Maybe it could have been incorporated in a better way, but in my opinon, a band with three members is a trio, and a band with one gutiar, one bass and one drummer is a power trio. The only exception can be if there's a singer who does not play an instrument, such as Led Zeppelin or the Who.

Since the list is growing and growing and on the verge of becoming useless, since a lot of bands are added that completely differ to the bands that originally coined the term "power trio", I would propose to remove the list from the article. Let's move it here and then decide, how the list could be improved (narrow down on the bands that inspired the term, or group them by year, etc.). If it is deemed necessary, we could remove the list altogether. The article should be able to be insightful on his own. -- Johnny w  talk  19:38, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Gov't Mule
Shouldn't we take Gov't Mule out of the examples? They have 4 members, not 3, which make up a power trio.

power trios husker du
when you think about power trios, please dont you forget the best ever - Husker Du nor The Groundhogs (from the 70´s) f.leote

Remove your favorites
Let's purge this list. Here's my first:


 * Violent Femmes, a trio, sure, but not a power trio (laughable, actually), more like Camper Van Beethoven than West, Bruce, & Laing. Ortolan88 20:43, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Stray Cats, novelty rockabilly with three guys, removed for lack of power trioness
 * Dinosaur Junior, one of my favorite bands of all time, but no power trio Ortolan88 20:46, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Maybe I missed it, but can't find reference to the origin of the term. Timescale-wise. Would Status Quo be a p-trio? I seem to remeber that at some stage they would have been. T-rex? 83.180.181.115 16:42, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Not only are The Police mentioned, they are pictured, as if they somehow exemplify the form. Which of course is ridiculous: Classic guitar bass drums power trios like Cream, Cactus, West Bruce & Laing emphasized the loud and the bombastic, the blues-based. They were all about wah-wah and flangers and whammy bars. The Police, on the other hand, are minimalists, concerned more about opening up space than filling it. Their big effect was the echoplex. And the sax and keyboards they so often used are not at all indicative of the power trio sound. Removing The Police here is a major rewrite, so I'm not going to do it, but it should be done.

Also what is it about Dinosaur, Jr. that *doesn't* fit within the power trio template? They are perhaps the best dynamic example of the form over the last 25 years. 70.147.5.172 (talk) 14:50, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Preliminary Cleanup
I performed a bit of a cleanup on the article, but some more work needs to be done. Specifically, individual sections need to be edited. I think the list at the end could stand to be removed entirely. Compare jazz and rock and roll. If people are adamant, perhaps the list can be moved to a more appropriate location. I'll come back to do some more editing later in the day. Let me know what you think of the draft. -- Exitmoose 04:20, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

At second glance, there's already a trios category and a rock trios category. A power trios category seems redundant. Moreover, the more prominent of the "prominent power trios" are already mentioned in the article itself. The list seems unnecessary and just clutters the article, thus I'm cutting the whole thing out. -- Exitmoose 05:28, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Needs more encyclopedic style and npov in History paragraph. definitely. Awesimo 04:11, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Los Lonely Boys
Added Los Lonely Boys to the list of current examples. Most certainly a power trio. I just saw them, and they were awesome!

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BetacommandBot (talk) 21:49, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Here's my definition
WOW. I NEVER thought anybody would disagree that a Power trio WAS anything but guitar, bass, and drums. I didn't see this page with the Violent Femmes or whomever, and glad I didn't. I am unsure about a power trio even being one with keyboards, though I suppose I'll accept it, in another section, given the mastery of Keith Emerson, for example, in Emerson, Lake & Palmer. However, seeing Nirvana listed as a Power trio nearly knocked me off my chair. (I keep visualizing that Unplugged MTV video, with Nirvana plus extra guitarist); anybody remember, there were four of them after the first couple of records?-- and candles and all, with Kurt Cobain singing a cover tune! I'll certainly accept Green Day as a power trio, however, what about Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughn, or, more recently, the John Mayer Trio qualifies! What about the Jeff Beck trios? I would certainly say the article really needs revamping.

'''I don't think the phrase POWER TRIO was coined until the emergence of bands like (and during the time of) the Jimi Hendrix Experience. I also think they should be memorable, highly successful bands that at least have names that are familiar to the majority of rockers.''' Not something that someone just went to see last week, and they were cool, and there were three of them. To me, it doesn't count. It should be something powerful like Cream, a band that mere mortal musicians wouldn't easily challenge, as Hendrix did, to the amazement of Eric Clapton, (and yes, I have a reference for that!) I agree that there should be a section for bands like Led Zeppelin and The Who --particularly now... with The Who; bassist Pino Palladino easily fits into both The Who and the John Mayer Trio which, unlike Mayer's pop music really has a groove to it, covering Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix and Cream are really the first two, perhaps the originators of not power trios, but the concept of them, in my opinion. I feel that a POWER Trio is one certainly in the Rock or Electric genres, somehow. Blues, Blues rock, Rock, Funk, Punk rock, it's gotta rock somehow. Jazz fusion... maybe. Just my thoughts. Please feel free to leave me a note on my talk page.--leahtwosaints (talk) 21:51, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Just linked to this page while editing Rory Gallagher's discography page. I agree that the definition of power trio here is way too general. I have never thought of the Police as a Power Trio and think at a minimum a different band should be the first picture you see on the page, something like Hendrix or Cream. I think this article needs a lot of editing and pruning. Its all just original research (much of which I don't agree with or have never heard before) right now with no real references. For example, calling Lennon's line up for his first solo album a power trio seems a real stretch. Mdebellis (talk) 05:20, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Other formats
A few power trios have the format saxophone, bass, drums, like Painkiller. Would this be worth adding? --The Laxative (talk) 19:15, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Looking for good references on Rock Power Trios
I'm planning to update this page. The current page has only one reference and lots of original research. If anyone has any good ideas for where to look, either online or books please reply here or on my talk page. The latest draft of my revised version is in my Sandbox but as of this comment I know it needs more work before I update the page. Mdebellis (talk) 23:13, 31 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I just published my new version. I cut out a lot of text because it was not supported by references and contained significant original research. I tried to stick to the standard definition but then at the end I added a line to acknowledge that (like most terms in pop music) the term gets stretched to fit all kinds of groups in practice. Mdebellis (talk) 02:24, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

Please don't add your favorite power trio without a reference
One thing that happens a lot on articles like this is every other reader wants to add their favorite power trio to the article. It detracts from the article to see a bunch of groups listed that aren't well known. Most of the groups currently in the article are specifically mentioned in one or more of the referenced articles. If you want to add the name of a new power trio group please make sure that it's either in one of those articles or add a new reference to a GOOD SOURCE (i.e., not your personal blog page that says you like the group). I'm about to remove Triumph because they were added and they are not referenced in any of the articles and I will remove any additional group added without a reference. --MadScientistX11 (talk) 12:35, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

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Check out a band called 50 Foot Wave
If not a power trio, not sure what is :) McSalsa65 (talk) 16:42, 28 March 2021 (UTC)