Progressive rock is a jazz/classical/pop subgenre of rock that rose to prominence in the mid to late 1960's and included the employment of full orchestras (at times), the Hammond organ and the mellotron. The sub genre was led by classically trained musicians and quickly migrated from England to Europe, North America and the rest of the world. Progressive rock was mainly an album oriented medium (as opposed to singles) and came to represent a wide swath of mainstream music by the mid 1970's. A small part of that swath is represented on tonight's show.
| Procol Harum's employment of the Hammond organ and borrowing of J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major brought baroque structures into the pop mainstream (early on this was called symphonic rock). Rare Bird enjoyed early success but soon ran out of inspiration and sales numbers. Van Der Graaf Generator was a U.K. band led by Peter Hammil that gained a foothold in Italy before gaining appreciation in the greater European continent . Family was an art rock band with progressive leanings. Gentle Giant were hard to pigeon-hole (and therefore to market) but featured incredible musicianship and Curved Air featured classically trained violinist Daryl Way. |
| A Whiter Shade of Pale Procol Harum - Procul Harum(1967) |
| Sympathy Rare Bird - As Your Mind Flies(1970) |
| Afterwards Van Der Graaf Generator - The Aerosol Grey Machine(1969) |
| How-Hi-The-Li Family - Family Entertainment(1969) |
| Three Friends Gentle Giant - Three Friends(1972) |
| Back Street Luv Curved Air - Second Album(1971) |
| Keyboardist Keith Emerson jazz/classical cover (one might say destruction) of Leonard Bernstein's "America" is considered a very important influence (especially on youthful U.K. pianists) in the development of progressive rock music. King Crimson guitarist/ vocalist Greg Lake joined Emerson and drummer Carl Palmer (ex Atomic Rooster) to form super group E.L.P. Yes eventually set the standard (along with E.L.P) for commercial British prog-rock in the 70's. U.K. was another super group that included ex Yes drummer Bill Bruford, ex King Crimson bassist/vocalist John Wetton and Curved Air's Eddie Jobson (on keys and violin). |
| America(instrumental) The Nice - The Thoughts of Emenrest Davjack(1967/1998) |
| I Talk To The Wind King Crimson - In The Court of The Crimson King(1969) |
| Benny The Bouncer Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery(1973) |
| Time And A Word Yes - Time And A Word(1970) |
| Rendezvous 6:02 U.K. - Danger Money(1979) |
| Pink Floyd transformed their focus from late 60's psychedelic sound experiments to early space rock (and later superstardom). Studio engineer Alan Parsons became the face (one might say a faceless face) of late 70's mainstream prog-rock. Manfred Mann released a series of excellent progressive l.p.'s in the jazz and rock genres from the late 60's into the mid 70's(before riding in on Bruce Springsteen's coat tails, or was that Dylan's coat tails) and from humble r.' n' b. beginnings did Genesis get there start (as did most of the bands in tonight's show). |
| Fearless Pink Floyd - Meddle(1972) |
| A Dream Within A Dream/The Raven The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination(1976) |
| Buddah Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Messin'(1973) |
| Where The Sour Turns To Sweet Genesis - From Genesis To Revelation(1969) |
| Last set features some international progressive rock. Aphrodite's Child were led by keyboardist Vangelis and hailed from Greece. Triumvirat were a German trio that released a series of excellent classically influenced l.p.'s in the 70's and were heavily influenced by E.L.P. Gong was a very influential French band that was part of England's Canterbury Scene (and included English musicians at times. including the talented Steve Hillage) and Kraftwerk was one of the few German bands heard in North America in the 70's. |
| It's Five O'Clock Aphrodite's Child - The Best of Aphrodite's Child(1972) |
| The Four Horsemen Aphrodite's Child - 666(1972) |
| Wingful of Eyes Gong - Shamal(1975) |
| Illusions/Dimple City Triumvirat - Illusions On A Double Dimple(1973) |
| Autobahn Kraftwerk - Autobahn(1974) |
| Thank you for listening. Next show broadcasts August 17. |
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I love this concept... new book on the subject by David Weigel is worth checking out.
9:27 PM, July 25th, 2017