Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 42

Thread: SBB- 70's Polish prog

  1. #1

    SBB- 70's Polish prog

    Oh MAN! Accidentally discovered this track tonight. HOW did this song escape my radar?? Undoubtedly, this band was discussed here, I'm sure. Someone always knows the obscure stuff here. But geez, this is beautiful!

  2. #2


    Great show here, in good sound. These guys have a long history, and a ton of material that's stylistically diverse. I also like this more recent album, which sounds really great on a good stereo.


  3. #3
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    416
    Nice stuff. Looking them up on Synphonic, it looks like they have an extensive catalog. Where is a good place to start?

  4. #4
    Their 70s stuff is mostly great, check it out. All their newer stuff is pretty 'meh' though at least the ones I've heard.

  5. #5
    You'd want to start with their third album, Pamiec from 1976. Three long, meandering tracks of blissful beauty. Their music at this point somehow succeeded at merging looseness in tight environments, mostly stressing the melodic elements yet also highly rhythmically suggestive. Great writing and playing, and vocals out of this world on that one album. As with other bigs in Polish progressive rock of the day (Budka Suflera, Test some of Skaldowie's stuff and SBB's own compatriot, legendary singer-songwriter Czeslaw Niemen), there's a prominent soul influx to much of their material.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Soc Prof View Post
    Nice stuff. Looking them up on Synphonic, it looks like they have an extensive catalog. Where is a good place to start?
    Skip the debut (live album comprised of mostly bluesy jams). Their second through fourth albums are all excellent. Follow My Dream is pretty good, too, but repeats a big chunk of Pamiec (sorry, can’t do those Polish diacritics right now). Welcome has an excellent opening track and a disappointing rest of the album (including a return to their bluesy roots on “Last Train at the Station”). Memento... is something of a return to form, but somehow it never clicked with me.

    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Great writing and playing, and vocals out of this world on that one album. As with other bigs in Polish progressive rock of the day (Budka Suflera, Test some of Skaldowie's stuff and SBB's own compatriot, legendary singer-songwriter Czeslaw Niemen), there's a prominent soul influx to much of their material.
    I really like Jozef Skrzek’s voice, very emotive and supple. He reminds me of Marty Balin at times, yet without the sentimental tendencies.

    There are really only two Skaldowie albums of interest: the two with the side-long suites, Krywan Krywan and Stworzenia swiata czesc druga. My preference is for the latter, as it has stuff to recommend it other than just the suite.

    Niemen has lots of good stuff, some of it even has SBB as a backing band before they struck out on their own. All of the N.Æ. (Niemen/Ærolit, his post-SBB band) stuff is worth your while
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    There are really only two Skaldowie albums of interest: the two with the side-long suites, Krywan Krywan and Stworzenia swiata czesc druga. My preference is for the latter, as it has stuff to recommend it other than just the suite.
    Indeed. Although Krywan gets more mentions, I prefer Stworzenia for the sheer dated fun of it. Those choir choruses and saggy shuffles of electric piano and slav crooning may sound odd on first listen, but it grows its very own charm and appeal and the playing itself is excellent. A couple of good tracks to round off the album too.

    Ode to Venus remains the ideal starting point with Niemen, IMO. Accessible, yet quite original and plain "different" from most of what was going on in the West at the time. For Budka Suflera there are also two records of interest, namely Cien Wielkiej Gory and Przechodniem... (their second).

    For Polish 70s progressive there's also that very good album by Klan, Mrowisko, sounding like a meeting between The Nice and Procol Harum.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  8. #8
    They were among the very first artists that opened the road for a progressive dimension in polish rock. They started as Czeslaw Niemen's backing band and the blues rock and psych influences of that period are clearly displayed on their debut live album. By their second "Nowy Horyzont", they were a full blown progressive rock band, cleverly and creatively borrowing from sympho (read classical here), Pink Floydisms and fusion. "Pamieç" and "Ze Słowem Biegnę Do Ciebie" are their crowning achievements, where all the aforementioned elements came into perfect balance. Absolutely must own releases.

    Greek ex-pat Apostolis Antymos is one of the most accomplished guitarists of the genre. A pitty prog fans didn't give them the attention they deserved.
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    There are really only two Skaldowie albums of interest: the two with the side-long suites, Krywan Krywan and Stworzenia swiata czesc druga. My preference is for the latter, as it has stuff to recommend it other than just the suite.
    Agree.
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Ode to Venus remains the ideal starting point with Niemen, IMO.
    I would have chosen Enigmatic as the entry point and then proceed forward. An excellent proto-prog (as many would say) based on bluesy and jazz structures with an improvisational feel. There is also a Balkan ethnic flavor, enrichened by church chorals that create a dark atmosphere on the album that is exquisitely developed througout the recording. An album on the same level as many commonly raved UK classics of the period.
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by spacefreak View Post
    I would have chosen Enigmatic as the entry point and then proceed forward. An excellent proto-prog (as many would say) based on bluesy and jazz structures with an improvisational feel.
    This is the one where he sits at the organ donning candles in the dark on the cover, right? Yes, I certainly agree that if one accepts the Polish tongue and the somewhat lesser lucrative production values of the average Eastern European recording, then this is where to begin. The 'Angloamerican trilogy' (Strange Is This World, Ode to Venus and Mourner's Rhapsody) is probably easier to obtain, but his earlier *Polish* material is essential to the understanding of his coming-of-age as musician.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  12. #12
    Member Jay.Dee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Barcelona
    Posts
    402
    Let's throw some powerful live stuff into the mix:

    SBB - "Karlstad Live, 1975" (still pre-fusion period which I like more)

    http://www.discogs.com/SBB-Karlstad-...elease/2963989



    Niemen - "Jazz Jamboree 1972 & 1975" (folk-avant-fusion-whatever)

    http://www.discogs.com/Czes%C5%82aw-...elease/1682970


  13. #13
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,529
    Metal Memory put out three great boxed sets: one is all of their studio albums and official live albums (up to the point the set came out); 24 CDs!
    Then they put out two 12-disk sets which are excellent collections of all live Polish radio broadcasts. All sets have booklets with detailed liner notes in both Polish and English. They're detailed histories like he Musea booklets.

    If these are still available, I highly recommend them for those who want to be SBB completists.

    There's also a boxed set of all of Nieman's albums, but I remember Greg Walker steering me away from that at one NEARfest, saying it really wasn't prog. Maybe it's just more jazz, I was never sure if he was right - maybe he wasn't.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    There's also a boxed set of all of Nieman's albums, but I remember Greg Walker steering me away from that at one NEARfest, saying it really wasn't prog. Maybe it's just more jazz, I was never sure if he was right - maybe he wasn't.
    Jed, he both was and wasn't, 'cause it's not only both jazz and prog and prog and jazz, it's progressive jazz-prog as in rocked-up proggy jazz.

    Plus a tad samba too.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  15. #15
    I believe Paul Wertico played drums at some point for SBB. He did a lot of jazz and fusion since I think he played with Pat Metheny and I most recently caught him with Larry Coryell. We did talk some but I can't remember what about. Probably something silly like music.
    NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    You'd want to start with their third album, Pamiec from 1976. Three long, meandering tracks of blissful beauty.
    Yes! I listened to Pamiec last night. Really good stuff! Awesome sonics, and some wonderful keyboard playing, vocals, and drum work.

    There are some good live recordings from the mid 70s as well. Greg Walker carries a lot of their titles.

  17. #17
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    1,902
    Great band. I need to go listen to them NOW!!!
    The Prog Corner

  18. #18
    Member helicase's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    242
    I'd also recommend the relatively recent live albums Tryptyk Petersburski and Koncert Żywiołów by Józef Skrzek's East Wind, with a nice mix of SBB and solo material.
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Metal Memory put out three great boxed sets: one is all of their studio albums and official live albums (up to the point the set came out); 24 CDs!
    Then they put out two 12-disk sets which are excellent collections of all live Polish radio broadcasts. All sets have booklets with detailed liner notes in both Polish and English. They're detailed histories like he Musea booklets.

    If these are still available, I highly recommend them for those who want to be SBB completists.

    There's also a boxed set of all of Nieman's albums, but I remember Greg Walker steering me away from that at one NEARfest, saying it really wasn't prog. Maybe it's just more jazz, I was never sure if he was right - maybe he wasn't.
    Most of the SBB albums are sadly OOP at the moment. As for the Niemen box: there are two, actually. The first one contains four of his sixties beat albums (not terribly interesting) plus the two excellent blues/prog albums Enigmatic and Człowiek Jam Niewdzięczny (aka Red Niemen). The second box is definitely the one to get (if you can still find it): it contains the albums from Marionetki (aka Niemen Vol.1&2) to Postscriptum. All prog/electronic/avantgarde masterpieces in my book. According to the booklet in one of these boxes Niemen was working on a third box that was to contain his foreign language albums (there's the three English ones, a Russian one and possibly others I don't know of) when he died in 2004. Nothing has been heard of this since.

    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    This is the one where he sits at the organ donning candles in the dark on the cover, right?
    There's a few more candles in the video of the track Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod:

  19. #19
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    416
    Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'll check these out on Youtube.

  20. #20
    Can anyone tell me something about the following albums:
    Four Decades
    Rock
    Iron Curtain
    Odlot - Live 2004
    Nastroje
    Blue Trance
    Jerzyk

    These are at least available through the store, I tend to use and they are not expensive.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    This is the one where he sits at the organ donning candles in the dark on the cover, right?
    Exactly.

    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  22. #22


    Last edited by Bruno Sampaio Barbosa; 12-16-2016 at 11:21 AM. Reason: update links

  23. #23
    Member Hour Candle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Progressive Sweden
    Posts
    512
    Oh man, I just love this!! I wasn't aware of this band at all, but checked out these links above by sheer curiousity and am I glad I did..?! What a band and what a sound!! Thanks alot PE for expanding my musical universe

  24. #24
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Planet Lovetron
    Posts
    13,021
    Pretty sure this band was slated to play at Farfest.

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Rarebird View Post
    Can anyone tell me something about the following albums:
    Four Decades
    Rock
    Iron Curtain
    Odlot - Live 2004
    Nastroje
    Blue Trance
    Jerzyk

    These are at least available through the store, I tend to use and they are not expensive.
    Jerzyk is the only 70s vintage release here and it’s an odd one, originally released only on cassette! I guess it wasn’t an “official” release, but it’s been reissued on CD a couple of times. Most of these (The Rock, Iron Curtain, Nastroje and Blue Trance) are reformation albums, Odlot is a live album and I guess Four Decades is a compilation of some kind.

    EDIT: Four Decades is another live album by the reformed band.
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •