Musician's hats

[Mike in Seattle]

I don't think musicians, as a whole, wear hats more than any other occupation. I think perhaps certain of them are more often seen or remembered in hats. But I don't recall anyone in the Beatles performing in a fedora, nor Julio Inglesias, nor Nirvana, nor Victor Borge, nor Arthur Fielder. For those you could name as fedora wearers, at least 10 or 15 non-wearer could be named as the offset. Tom Cruise doesn't wear fedoras while Johnny Depp does. JFK didn't wear one while Harry Truman did. The list goes on...

 

[Wolfwood]

Well, one comment I heard about my hat (Indy style fedora) - and that one of my friends has found hilarious ever since - was that it made me look like a "pelimanni", which translates into something like a "folk musician" (the kind that you'd expect to see playing at rural barn dances etc.). I tried to point out the differences in hat styles, but - to some - a hat is a hat is a hat. :eusa_doh:

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I don't think musicians, as a whole, wear hats more than any other occupation. I think perhaps certain of them are more often seen or remembered in hats. But I don't recall anyone in the Beatles performing in a fedora, nor Julio Inglesias, nor Nirvana, nor Victor Borge, nor Arthur Fielder. For those you could name as fedora wearers, at least 10 or 15 non-wearer could be named as the offset. Tom Cruise doesn't wear fedoras while Johnny Depp does. JFK didn't wear one while Harry Truman did. The list goes on...

All you need is Love

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I don't think musicians, as a whole, wear hats more than any other occupation. I think perhaps certain of them are more often seen or remembered in hats. But I don't recall anyone in the Beatles performing in a fedora, nor Julio Inglesias, nor Nirvana, nor Victor Borge, nor Arthur Fielder. For those you could name as fedora wearers, at least 10 or 15 non-wearer could be named as the offset. Tom Cruise doesn't wear fedoras while Johnny Depp does. JFK didn't wear one while Harry Truman did. The list goes on...

[huh]

 

[RBH]

Leon Redbone

 

[RBH]

Donnie Van Zant
[who wears a custom from Texas Hatters]

 

[RBH]

I ran across a couple of photos of Willie from 2009.

 

[frussell]

Another Texas Legend

The late great Stevie Ray Vaughan - rarely on stage without his trademark pimp/vaquero hat, usually with an outrageous plume. When I met him not long before he died, he was wearing a purple version of this hat, with a big red feather, and managed not to look silly at all. Tiny little guy, too, but sure played like he was 11 feet tall.

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[Big_e]

This is a great thread.

I can't believe I forgot one of my most favorite bands, The Decemberists. I've seen these folks live six times, and there's always at least two band members in hats on stage, not to mention their press photographs:

Wow! Good group! I never heard of them before. I just sat and YouTubed them for the last 30 minutes.
Ernest

 

[Big_e]

A few more musicians and their choice of headwear.

I've seen this pic posted here before. Any guesses as to what kind of hat and maybe what color? Silverbelly maybe?[huh] I'm looking for a light colored hat to wear on warm days and the hat in this pic always caught my eye.
Ernest

 

[Dixon Cannon]

This one was iconic in the mid '60's. Notice the rope & anchor badge.

-dixon 'Beatle' cannon

 

[theinterchange]

Andrew Bird

Ryan Adams [ironic hat, yes, but I couldn't pass up a photo of one of my favorite artists in a hat. He rarely wears one.]

Justin Townes Earle [Steve Earle's son]

I've got more I'll add later.

::EDIT:: [it's later! haha]

Ricky Nelson [as Colorado in Rio Bravo of course]

Ferraby Lionheart

Ryan Bingham [and the dead horses]

At least one member of Interpol is wearing a hat. [there's another shot of them all wearing hats I can't seem to find]

Ben Kweller

And what discussion/photo share of musicians and headwear would be complete without this being mentioned??

Mike Nesmith of The Monkees! I've always loved his choice in headwear... even if it's not technically a hat.

 

[theinterchange]

Wow! Good group! I never heard of them before. I just sat and YouTubed them for the last 30 minutes.
Ernest

The Decemberists are incredibly good. What cracks me up though is Colin Meloy's [lead vocals] fake accent, I sometimes can't listen to them without thinking about it.

Randy

 

[jlee562]

Carlos Santana wears a Stetson Temple...or so I was told by the guys at Hat Guys in Oakland where he supposedly bought it.

 

[donnc]

I don't think musicians, as a whole, wear hats more than any other occupation.

"Musicians as a whole" is a pretty broad category. Bagpiper? Symphony violinist? Lounge pianist? Kora player in Senegal? Still, they might wear hats more, just because as performers they would be apt to wear costumes, and a hat is an easy costume element.

If we're talking about popular music in the US and Europe, I wonder if it could have something to do with the origin of the modern popular music phenomenon in the hat decades - I mean, the first half of the 20th century when musicians would sometimes be wearing a fedora style hat because everyone did. That's when the recording industry created a posterity for musicians, so those guys set styles for us.

 

[VitaminG]

The late great Stevie Ray Vaughan - rarely on stage without his trademark pimp/vaquero hat, usually with an outrageous plume. When I met him not long before he died, he was wearing a purple version of this hat, with a big red feather, and managed not to look silly at all. Tiny little guy, too, but sure played like he was 11 feet tall.

if SRV had a trademark hat, it was only because of the cover of Texas Flood. The guy wore a huge array of headwear on stage. I've even seen late 70s pictures of him styling a suit & light grey fedora with matching ribbon.

Check google images, for example. He's as often in a cowboy hat as the hat in your pics (and then, that was one of a number of that style he was to be seen in). He also favoured soft caps (newsboys? not sure of the name/style) and the occasional feathered headdress

I've often wondered if he owned all those hats, particularly given how little money he had to his name

 

[hatophile]

Dr. John of New Orleans

The Band

 

[hatophile]

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy- modern swing band.

 

[frussell]

Stevie Ray

Vitamin - I'm sure you're right, and I myself saw SRV wear many different hats, but in general, that hat style became his go-to onstage style in the mid 80s up until his death. I can say that with some certainty, because although he took a lot of photos in different styles, I personally went and saw him play several dozen times and spoke to him on several occasions, and he was wearing that flat vaquero hat style every single time. I guess we can quibble about SRV details, but I lived in Austin during the 80s, and Stevie Ray was around pretty much all the time, just like his brother and the Thunderbirds. Thanks, Frank

 

[hatophile]

Bill Monroe, Daddy of Bluegrass