Anyone a fan of this 70's band?
I only just became aware of them through doing a bit of research on Dave Greenslade.
Anyone a fan of this 70's band?
I only just became aware of them through doing a bit of research on Dave Greenslade.
They were a solid UK jazz-rock band. Very much of their time, but still good. Not Just Another Bunch of Pretty Faces is a fine starting place.
"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
First four LPs, particularly the first two.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Disagree. They were drifting into third-tier Brit Rock at that point. I much prefer their first two. Things peter out dramatically after that. Their best tune is the opener on IF2 - Fibonaci's Number.Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor
Think of a book as a vase, and a movie as the stained-glass window that the filmmaker has made out of the pieces after he’s smashed it with a hammer.
-- Russell Banks (paraphrased)
I've owned their first and third albums. I thought the third was better. Oddly, drummer Dennis Elliott went on to Foreigner.
I'd stretch it to the third.... after that: meh!!!
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
looks like they where respected by the musical press of the day so maybe SS's evaluation is not far off base? Just confused, where they Prog or Jazz rock ?
If was a progressive rock band formed in Britain in 1969. Referred to by Billboard as "unquestionably the best of the so-called jazz-rock bands",[1] in the period spanning 1970-75, they produced eight studio-recorded albums and did some 17 tours of Europe, the US and Canada.
^Brass-rock. That is, more Chicago/Blood Sweat and Tears or, in the UK, Keef Hartley Band, than Mahavishnu/Weather Report/RTF etc.
I have to say it's not a style that seems to me to have endured in terms of longevity or influence (IMHO), it seems there were a load of these type of bands in the late 60s/very early 70s....and then there wasn't, and it never really made a comeback. But the music has a lot of merit nevertheless (well, some of BST's more overweening tendencies haven't aged well IMHO).
I actually particularly like the If instrumentals like 'What Did I Say About The Box Jack' etc.
Thanks, would you make comparison's with 'Mogul Thrash' who's one sole album I really like?
Indeed, brass rock wasn't always very jazzy... bands like BS&T and Lighthouse (Canada) could stray faraway from the JR/F and well into soppy slop
Mogul Thrash I find is very much like Colosseum's debut album, and not only because of Litherland's voice and guitar
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Arghhh! I meant to say that Your City is Falling is their best tune, not Fibonacci's Number. (Elliott's drumming is great on it.)
Age-related mistake!!
Think of a book as a vase, and a movie as the stained-glass window that the filmmaker has made out of the pieces after he’s smashed it with a hammer.
-- Russell Banks (paraphrased)
Lots of great brass rock bands in that era, and, for me, If was among the best. Other British ones: Greatest Show on Earth, Heaven, Alan Bown, Walrus, Satisfaction, Warm Dust, Galliard, etc. And there were also a lot of German bands from that era, including Emergency and Creative Rock. Great genre... and, yes, its a mystery why it died so completely after that era.
The only German band with which I am familiar that plays in the same vein is Eiliff. Their first album was great.
Think of a book as a vase, and a movie as the stained-glass window that the filmmaker has made out of the pieces after he’s smashed it with a hammer.
-- Russell Banks (paraphrased)
the quote says it all...
Jazz Rock *is* progressive Rock music
all music with Rock elements back in the early 70s was "progressive Rock music"
the weenified 4-letter term "prog" (as a euphemism for Brit Symph) did not exist
If were an excellent Prog (as short for "progressive Rock music") band back in the day
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Bands seeking "progressiveness" went toward synthesizers - a Mini-Moog was more economical, more stylistically versatile, and could get far more sounds than two or three or four extra band members. And the commercial side of brass-rock turned into straight-up soul music - which it had always been close to - or disco. Think of Tower of Power or EW&F for examples of what it became: both had jazz touches, but were primarily R&B bands.
Actually, one of my favorite features of If was their vocalist, John W. Hodkinson. He was really damned good! Later turned up in (Darryl Way’s) Wolf, singing on their Night Music LP.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
In the US you had also Chase, Sons of Champlin, expanded editions of Butterfield Blues Band, Frank Zappa's Petit Wazoo as well as already mentioned Electic Flag. In the UK I'd add Galliard, the expanded edition of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, John Mayall's horn bands, even Manfred Mann's Chapter 3. In Europe there were lots of them including (the expanded) Out of Focus or Fläsket Brinner.
Not exactly true. The soul/funk branch of the "genre" launched by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, War and Tower of Power was (sort of) continued by the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire, Ohio Players, Commodores and Average White Band for the whole decade of the 70s. And in the meantime (the notion of) rock got separated from blues, soul and jazz, so anything created in the similar vein in the following decades would simply get classified by the latter monikers.
Last edited by Jay.Dee; 12-06-2016 at 01:39 PM.
I only have their live album and I love it. I'm so accustomed to those live cuts that I'm worried hearing the studio cuts might be a jarring experience for me. That being said, I might end up tracking down the vinyl.
IF 2 is a must. If you dig it, then proceed to the rest of the first four LPs.
Well you said it yourself. Different type of bands.
Different but with a lot of common ground.
And how about the African branch, e.g. Osibisa or Ginger Baker's horn bands?
Another Afro band of that ilk was Mandrill. I had the LP back in the day.
Think of a book as a vase, and a movie as the stained-glass window that the filmmaker has made out of the pieces after he’s smashed it with a hammer.
-- Russell Banks (paraphrased)
Horn players (and sections) have always been a part of Prog music since the late 60s
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Zzebra. There was some line-up overlap between them and If. Their main man was a South African multi-instrumentalist known as Lasisi “Loughty” Amao. I quite like their Panic LP.And how about the African branch, e.g. Osibisa or Ginger Baker's horn bands?
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
This one off the 1st album was the apex for me... Terry Smith is a smoker. Hungry Horse from one of the Zzebra albums was a good one for him too.
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