Prog Rock Facts That Make You Want To Cry

[JJ88]

I think The Who still having Daltrey and Townshend lifts them way above recent Yes line-ups in the credibility stakes. Nevertheless, that televised 2015 Glastonbury performance definitely brought about an 'end is nigh' feeling in me. Not very good at all.

The really sad thing to me is that a new album wasn't put out in the late 90s/early 00s period when Entwistle was still alive- the 2000 Royal Albert Hall show on DVD is easily the best they'd sounded since the 70s, and I'd like to think that could have worked in the studio.

[Steve F.]

My guess is that when Townshend wrote the words he knew he wouldn't actually feel that way once he WAS old.

No one who is 20 is realistically thinking about how they will feel when they are 75. No one.

[JKL2000]

No one who is 20 is realistically thinking about how they will feel when they are 75. No one.

I just mean I doubt he actually WANTED to die young.

[Big Ears]

And Paul McCartney probably knew that if he made it, he wouldn't be fading away at sixty four (he's now seventy four).

[Jubal]

As one who grew up during the Classic era of Progressive Rock, there are several tears hence.
My first strong exposure was on my older brother Ronnie's 16th birthday. A friend had given him a copy of ELP's Trilogy.
He immediately opened it, and played Hoedown, imitating Keith Emerson on two air keyboards, arms spread-eagled.
Later that year, I bought my own copy, or perhaps it was a Christmas gift from an aunt. Regardless, shortly after that day, I had my bedside radio set to 88.5 FM, WRAS, the Stereo Oddysey Progressive station of Georgia State University. I spent many hours listening to the finest Hard Rock, Southern Rock, Progressive Rock, Art Rock, and numerous other types of music.
I thoroughly enjoyed that station up until about 1979, when their format was changed to AOR with the ID name Album 88. That was a sad time for me.
Even so, I was glad to know that this station continued being run by GSU students, up until two years ago, when it was taken over by PBS. Since, it has basically become another PBS station, something we really did not need in Atlanta.

For about 24 years after, I spent very little time listening to new music and not until about 2004 did I discover Progressive Rock radio stations on the internet. For about a year and a half, I was pleased to be able to host Jubal's Wardrobe, a 2-hour show on Progressive Soundcapes. Unfortunately, the greed of the music industry forced us off the air.
There were several stations that remained (and still do to this day), and I was pleased to be able to listen to Epic Prog with the Lurker (Michael Citro) on Friday nights for at least a few years. I still have a few show files from that time. I was very saddened (but understood) when he decided to call it quits after show # 500.

About 5 years ago, I had the pleasure to attend a Porcupine Tree concert (deadwing tour) with Lurker and rushfan (Michael Phillips). While it was a great show, I was saddened to learn that most Prog concerts were stand up only, with no seating. My feet were in a lot of pain following that show. That was the last major concert I have seen.
I will state that since that time, I have still listened to some shows (especially the Canvas Prog Hour) and kept up with some of the best current Prog.

The last two years have really been sad, with the deaths of several top names. The reality that those deaths will continue has sunk in. Still, I can be thankful that there are still some great younger musicians who are making great music and pressing on in spite of the fact that the music business is no longer a good way to make a living. If there is anything that is most sad to me, that fact does it most.

[miamiscot]

All my heroes are dying. That brings many tears to my eyes.

[DoubleDrummer]

"Yes" still insist on dragging their sorry carcasses around the world, thus further demeaning a brilliant legacy that should be untainted by such a tragic spectacle. Oh, and Dream Theater. Nothing makes me tear up quite like the sorry-arsed peddlars of bathetic, adolescent Broadway showtunes they have become. I can't quite decide whether it's out of disappointment or hilarity, however.

YES and DT have nothing to prove; they have made more money than you can count.

[dropforge]

There is no equivalent of Saxon's "Denim and Leather" in prog rock.

[Scrotum Scissor]

There is no equivalent of Saxon's "Denim and Leather" in prog rock.

WTF! Not only was Bilf Bryford on SO many progs, but that pic on 2112 has the Rusch mambas all clad in lipgloss and silkrobes!

[Scott Bails]

That people still care if an artist is "prog" or not.

[yamishogun]

Oh man up. A little Cat Scratch Fever never hurt anyone........

I recently read an article on the history of Damn Yankees and while Tommy Shaw seems to have gotten along with Ted Nugent, once joking about his vegetarianism and Nugent's bow hunting for food, I was surprised that Shaw and Blades and written the songs and then would have Nugent come into the studio to play his part and were surprised at first by how quickly he would improvise a great part.

[Enid]

It makes me want to cry and frustrating that Keith Emerson punched a hole through a wall over some sort of unfair disagreement with record company staff. That seems to be the start of his hand problem and his surgery....And his consulting with a specialist etc. Just after the release of Black Moon I suppose. He did it to himself and that's hard to take. His suicide seemed to revolve around inner depression triggered by two fatal forces. The music business and health problems. Someone as talented as Keith Emerson develops health issues which deprive them of who they are in life is shocking and mentally abusive to their mind. This a dimensional and very deep depression that gets inside your mind and you become blessed with the confidence to go through with it. I feel angered and disappointed that Keith Emerson took that path. I imagine fans would to a small degree.


Well .....Vangelis should have joined Yes . Actually before Topographic Oceans because Vangelis had amazing ideas. I strongly believe he would have added a ingredient to Topographic making it sound more inspired. He additionally had a dark approach in composition and the sounds he produced and for that reason he would have been perfect for Relayer. Moraz and Wakeman are fine players no doubt. I believe Vangelis would have brought more inspiration to the aforementioned.

[Big Ears]

There is no equivalent of Saxon's "Denim and Leather" in prog rock.

Except Rick Wakeman's King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

[lak611]

It makes me want to cry and frustrating that Keith Emerson punched a hole through a wall over some sort of unfair disagreement with record company staff. That seems to be the start of his hand problem and his surgery....And his consulting with a specialist etc. Just after the release of Black Moon I suppose. He did it to himself and that's hard to take. His suicide seemed to revolve around inner depression triggered by two fatal forces. The music business and health problems. Someone as talented as Keith Emerson develops health issues which deprive them of who they are in life is shocking and mentally abusive to their mind. This a dimensional and very deep depression that gets inside your mind and you become blessed with the confidence to go through with it. I feel angered and disappointed that Keith Emerson took that path. I imagine fans would to a small degree.


Well .....Vangelis should have joined Yes . Actually before Topographic Oceans because Vangelis had amazing ideas. I strongly believe he would have added a ingredient to Topographic making it sound more inspired. He additionally had a dark approach in composition and the sounds he produced and for that reason he would have been perfect for Relayer. Moraz and Wakeman are fine players no doubt. I believe Vangelis would have brought more inspiration to the aforementioned.

I believe the motorcycle accident in 1987 was the beginning Emerson's hand problems. http://ladiesofthelake.com/cabinet/cancel.html

Lake said Emerson had been depressed since the 70s. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.exp...th-Emerson/amp

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

[rminsk]

Legendary guitarist Larry Coryell died on Sunday, February 19 in New York City. Coryell, 73, passed away in his sleep at his hotel from natural causes. He’d performed his last two shows on Friday and Saturday, February 17 and 18, at the Iridium in New York City.

As one of the pioneers of jazz-rock -- perhaps the pioneer in the ears of some (he’s known to many as the Godfather of Fusion) -- Larry Coryell deserves a special place in the history books. He brought what amounted to a nearly alien sensibility to jazz electric guitar playing in the 1960s, a hard-edged, cutting tone, phrasing and note-bending that owed as much to blues, rock and even country as it did to earlier, smoother bop influences.

Yet as a true eclectic, armed with a brilliant technique, he was comfortable in almost every style, covering almost every base from the most decibel-heavy, distortion-laden electric work to the most delicate, soothing, intricate lines on acoustic guitar.

Born in Galveston, Texas on April 2, 1943 Coryell grew up in the Seattle, Washington area where his mother introduced him to the piano at the age of 4. He switched to guitar and played rock music while in his teens. He didn't consider himself good enough to pursue a music career and studied journalism at The University of Washington while simultaneously taking private guitar lessons.

By 1965 he had relocated to New York City and began taking classical guitar lessons which would figure prominently in the later stages of his career. Although citing Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry as early influences he also took cues from jazzmen such as John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery. He was also inspired by the popular music of the day by The Beatles, The Byrds and Bob Dylan and worked diligently to meld both rock and jazz stylings into his technique. This was reflected on his debut recording performance on drummer Chico Hamilton's album The Dealer where he sounded like Chuck Berry at times with his almost distorted "fat" tone.

In 1966 he formed a psychedelic band called The Free Spirits on which he also sang vocals, played the sitar and did most of the composing. Although conceptually the band's music conformed to the psychedelic formula with titles like "Bad News Cat" and" I'm Gonna Be Free" it foreshadowed jazz-rock fusion with more complex soloing by Coryell and sax/flute player Jim Pepper.
However, it wasn't until three years later after apprenticing on albums by vibraphonist Gary Burton and flutist Herbie Mann and gigging with the likes of Jack Bruce and others that Coryell established his multifarious musical voice, releasing two solo albums (Lady Coryell and Coryell) which mixed jazz, classical and rock ingredients.

In late 1969 he recorded Spaces, the album for which he is most noted. It was a guitar blow-out which also included John McLaughlin who was also sitting on the fence between rock and jazz at the time and the cogitative result formed what many aficionados consider to be the embryo from which the fusion jazz movement of the 1970s emerged. It contained insane tempos and fiery guitar exchanges which were often beyond category not to mention some innovating acoustic bass work by Miroslav Vitous and power drumming by Billy Cobham, both of whom were to make contributions to jazz-rock throughout the 70s.

His career as a significant guitar force in the era of late 60s and early 70s music continued to take flight in a time when guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana and many other iconic names also blossomed. His varied musical expression took him on a diverse journey, and though he did not receive the level of commercial fame some of his guitarist contemporaries enjoyed, he was still able to make his timeless mark in music through his highly acclaimed solo work (he released well over 60 solo albums), his performances with powerhouse fusion band The Eleventh House and numerous collaborations with a host of jazz greats including of Miles Davis, Gary Burton, Alphonse Mouzon, Ron Carter, Chet Baker and many other noteworthy artists of all styles.

Larry still toured the world right up until his passing and had planned an extensive 2017 summer tour with a reformed The Eleventh House.
His most recent releases are Barefoot Man: Sanpaku, released on October 14, 2016 on Cleopatra Records and an upcoming Eleventh House release, entitled Seven Secrets, which will be released on the Savoy Jazz label on June 2.

His final original works included operas based on Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, Anna Karenina and James Joyce's Ulysses.

He is survived by his wife, Tracey, his daughter Annie, his sons Murali and Julian, and his daughter Allegra, as well as six grandchildren.

A memorial service is being planned Friday February 24th at the S.G.I-USA Buddhist center at 7 east 15th St. at 7 p.m.

[Tom]

4. Death is life.

Erm, no.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

The fact that depresses me the most (but doesn't make me cry), is that the same dull musical hierarchy consumes 90% of the people who consider themselves "prog fans"....and don't have a clue that they're listening to a bunch of recycled clichés....and will never know the joy of finding a band that NO ONE on the planet likes (except for you, the discoverer).

Makes me cry? The passing of Roye Albrighton, my lifesaver and hero.

[rickawakeman]

Me either - and my old Junior High music teacher recorded Popcorn.

Your Junior high school music teacher was the esteemed Moog pioneer Gershon Kingsley?

[kid_runningfox]

And that Steve Hackett turned down the offer to join after Holdsworth left.

Henry

That's interesting, as I'd never heard that before. My understanding was that Wetton/Jobson actually offered the UK gig to none other than Eric Johnson (who was a complete unknown at the time), but that his manager nixed it. I could see Johnson fitting into UK much better than Hackett, funnily enough.

[revporl]

That the ELP reunion didn;t happen a bit earlier when it would have been really good, or that ELPowell didn't carry on longer.

I'd waited for years and then there was Black Moon with Emo's crappy hands and Gregs crappy voice!

[Scott Bails]

My understanding was that Wetton/Jobson actually offered the UK gig to none other than Eric Johnson (who was a complete unknown at the time), but that his manager nixed it. I could see Johnson fitting into UK much better than Hackett, funnily enough.

That would have been pretty cool.

[Plasmatopia]

Me either - and my old Junior High music teacher recorded Popcorn.

If that was small "p" popcorn that might have been truly progressive.

[GuitarGeek]

That's interesting, as I'd never heard that before. My understanding was that Wetton/Jobson actually offered the UK gig to none other than Eric Johnson (who was a complete unknown at the time), but that his manager nixed it. I could see Johnson fitting into UK much better than Hackett, funnily enough.

I can't remember if I've ever heard Eric's name mentioned in that context or not. I know he said in his first Guitar Player cover story, back in 1986, that he was offered a few interesting gigs at the time, which he turned down because "I thought Seven Worlds was going to be coming out..." (Seven Worlds was his first solo album, which he recorded in 1978, but it didn't come out until 20 years later, because "People other than me were holding out for more money"). But I can't remember exactly remember what offers were made to me. I think he mentioned Stanley Clarke, but I'm not sure. That's one of those articles I literally haven't read in 30 years.

As far as how he would have fit into UK, I think it could have been interesting. I think his penchant of doing pop songs on his own records might have worked in his favor vis-a-viz the direction Wetton was going in after that first UK album, not just with Danger Money, but also where he went with Asia and his subsequent projects.