Gracious! Video! 1970 Isle of Wight

[Mr.Krautman]

Pandora's Box first appeared on A Procol Harum LP in 1975 but there are demo versions of it that go back to '68 or '69. So no time machine needed... Of course, it still could be that PH lifted it from Gracious, but I would bet on the direction being PH ==> Gracious.

Mmmmm.... you presume that Gracious! had access to some early obscure unreleased P.H demo tapes to "lift" material from ? Highly unlikely, I.M.O
Probably just another case of (musical) coïncidence.

[calyx]

Mmmmm.... you presume that Gracious! had access to some early obscure unreleased P.H demo tapes to "lift" material from ? Highly unlikely, I.M.O
Probably just another case of (musical) coïncidence.

Well, maybe Procol Harum were performing "Pandora's Box" ca. 1967-68 although they didn't release the song until 1975. It's perfectly possible that Martin Kitcat (the band's keyboard player and main composer) would have seen Procol perform and would have been inspired by remembering the riff if he'd heard them perform it.

However, I think to call that a lift is somewhat exaggerated. Only the first two of the four chords in the riff resemble those in "Pandora's Box". It's true, though, that the rhythmic structure is strangely similar.

[Progmatic]

the lifted melody structure is very simple...so it is conceivable that they are two "independent" tunes...but there is also possibility that both of the bands were inspired by someone else...it was very common practice, for late 60s bands, to get inspired by "older" genres of music...

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

Well, maybe Procol Harum were performing "Pandora's Box" ca. 1967-68 although they didn't release the song until 1975. It's perfectly possible that Martin Kitcat (the band's keyboard player and main composer) would have seen Procol perform and would have been inspired by remembering the riff if he'd heard them perform it.

However, I think to call that a lift is somewhat exaggerated. Only the first two of the four chords in the riff resemble those in "Pandora's Box". It's true, though, that the rhythmic structure is strangely similar.

I agree, highly unlikely, since Procol were not at all popular in the U.K. during the period Gracious existed(1968-72)and spent much of their time touring in the U.S. where they were very well received.

[arturs]

This seems likely, that some obscure blues record had a similar riff/vocal melody and that both Gracious and Procol Harum adapted it. I checked PH's website (great resource btw) and they actually list quite a few of the shows they did from 67-69 and even a handful of setlists. They did indeed mostly play in the USA and Scandinavia during this period and no set lists include PB.

One thing I learned from the website is that PH also played the Isle of Wight in '70. That would be some pretty great footage if it exists!

[Robert Lipson]

Hi All
My name is Robert Lipson, and I'm the drummer with gracious.
You are all completely correct. The Mellotron is out of tune as well as the guitar.
Its a long story!!
The power supply was fluctuating so the Mellotron went in and out of tune. Seemed ok on Windy Day, which I have put up on You Tube recently in its entirety - no video only audio.
We must have been mad - it was the first time we had ever performed Super Nova in public - not even recorded at this stage.
We were also lent monitor speakers by the Who, so it was the first time we had ever heard ourselves properly.
We finally got the film from Murray Lerner - the man who owns - a couple of years ago, only to find we had 40% of our performance.
We were unable to separate the guitar enough to put it in tune (while we were editing and syncing the film) as the mics had picked up the guitar too!!
We certainly did not copy Procol Harem - we hadn't heard Pandora's Box then.
Any other questions I would be happy to answer.

[adap2it]

Hi Robert,

You owe no one an explanation...It's good to see that you are still around and following the prog scene. I loved Gracious and will be forever grateful for the immense pleasure I experienced listening to your music back in the early days.

[Supersonic Scientist]

Hi Robert,
I too am a big fan. Welcome to PE. Thanks for the back-story regarding Isle of Wight.