OMG!!! Clouds!

[noni]

Clouds from UK, Scotland.....Pop/Prog........ 1966/1971

Which was the first band to influence Prog bands?

Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman were heavily influenced by the band , was formally Known as 1-2 -3 ......now changed their name as Clouds....

It seems ELP, Yes, King Crimson were heavily influenced by Clouds and supported their bands back in the late 60s. It's worth noting that that drummer Harry Hughes gave lessons to Carl Palmer and Bill Buford

Crossed between Prog and Popular music, this band should be noted in our history books and often forgotten.

[moecurlythanu]

Probably a difficult keyword to search, but there have been several threads here with good info. If you can bring them up, they're probably worth reading.

[Man In The Mountain]

Right, we've talked about Clouds. OMG, I bought their CD set. Meh.

[noni]

Probably a difficult keyword to search, but there have been several threads here with good info. If you can bring them up, they're probably worth reading.

Right, we've talked about Clouds. OMG, I bought their CD set. Meh.

I also tried to do a search before I posted... Can you or the mods find any links links here from this band!...

[noni]

[noni]

[Scrotum Scissor]

I like them well enough; both Scrapbook and Watercolour Days have some wonderful tunes and period vibes on them. But they weren't "the first" and they didn't influence everyone everywhere. And they weren't "[...] cross between prog and popular music" either, as progressive rock was already a subset of pop music. Of course, if any one member of Clouds had ever gone on to Genesis, Yes, ELP or some other sanctioned unit, many participants in here would be all over them; they admittedly were a better band than Quiet World or Flaming Youth.

Here are a small handful of threads in which Clouds have received some level of leverage:

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...=billy+ritchie
http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...rapbook+clouds
http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...=billy+ritchie

It's all so exciting, this! Could/Cloud they have possibly have made an impression on Wakeman or Emerson? Because if that's the case then all of a sudden Clouds' music needs another ear.

[calyx]

Well, in an earlier incarnation in 1968 they were the first to perform an extended prog cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s America, and Jon is supposed to have seen them perform it and even acknowledged it as influencing Yes’s own cover.

[malgeo]

Well, in an earlier incarnation in 1968 they were the first to perform an extended prog cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s America, and Jon is supposed to have seen them perform it and even acknowledged it as influencing Yes’s own cover.

When you listen to Clouds' cover of "America" (performed before Yes even formed), you might be inclined to assume that Yes stole it from them lock, stock, and barrel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKE3tlij77k

[Mister Triscuits]

The book in the new Jethro Tull This Was reissue devotes 12 pages to reminiscences from Billy Ritchie of Clouds, which is strange because their connection to Tull is fairly tenuous.

[Scrotum Scissor]

When you listen to Clouds' cover of "America" (performed before Yes even formed), you might be inclined to assume that Yes stole it from them lock, stock, and barrel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKE3tlij77k

OMG!! Isn't that even the same added crowd-noise that Yes (or whatever) featured on their latest live album offering?

[noni]

..

[lovecraft]

As I expected, just knew, they turn out to be one of those highly touted bands that do little for me. File with Cressida, Jonesy, CMU etc

[Scrotum Scissor]

File with Cressida, Jonesy, CMU etc

But unlike those bands, Clouds weren't "trying [so hard] to be prog" - at least not on their first album, Scrapbook. They were rather an early art-rock/pop group exploring numerous different formulas of song; r&r, mod, soul, croony ballads, orchestral pop, even some vaudeville etc. Like it or not, but that album sits perfectly well next to something as cheerfully burlesque as the Giles, Giles & Fripp-release, though luckily missing the cheesy 'humour'.

[noni]

I like them well enough; both Scrapbook and Watercolour Days have some wonderful tunes and period vibes on them. But they weren't "the first" and they didn't influence everyone everywhere. And they weren't "[...] cross between prog and popular music" either, as progressive rock was already a subset of pop music. Of course, if any one member of Clouds had ever gone on to Genesis, Yes, ELP or some other sanctioned unit, many participants in here would be all over them; they admittedly were a better band than Quiet World or Flaming Youth.

Here are a small handful of threads in which Clouds have received some level of leverage:

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...=billy+ritchie
http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...rapbook+clouds
http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...=billy+ritchie

It's all so exciting, this! Could/Cloud they have possibly have made an impression on Wakeman or Emerson? Because if that's the case then all of a sudden Clouds' music needs another ear.

Thank you with all these links

[noni]

Sing, sing Sing for me, is probably their best track