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Thread: Top 5 British Keyboardists From The Old School Of Prog

  1. #51
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Kit is an American. He was in a band called Happy The Man before he was offered the chance to join Camel.
    And Kit played half of the solos in “Wait,” the rest were played by Jan Schelhaas. Is he British? His name suggests Dutch.

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    MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

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  2. #52
    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    And Kit played half of the solos in “Wait,” the rest were played by Jan Schelhaas. Is he British? His name suggests Dutch.
    According to Wikipedia, Jan was born in Liverpool.

  3. #53
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    Can't resist this one, huge keyboards fan here - I'll go with :
    1) Rick Wakeman - great power & subtlety, band, session & solo work all equally important
    2) Dave Sinclair - he absolutely makes the first few Caravan albums, marvellous sound
    3) Dave Greenslade - don't think he's been mentioned before, brings in a bluesy element
    4) Robert John Godfrey - can't separate his fantastic compositional skills from his playing
    5) Keith Emerson - for me, he started it all

  4. #54
    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    Oddly, given some of your other mentions like Stewart, Sinclair and Gowen; Mike Ratledge.
    Well, he's certainly technical, and those early softs albums (especially) are truly great - but he is a bit of a one-trick pony - imo.

  5. #55
    Quote Originally Posted by Bucka001 View Post
    2. He's technically talented with his fingers (definitely capable of Emerson-like flourishes when he needs to be) but is simultaneously doing crazy shit on the bass pedals. Mind-boggling. You almost have to see them live to appreciate it because on album it just sounds like a band with an organist and a bass player, no biggie.
    My favourite Banton solo, in Darkess, he holds the same note for several bars!!!! 8 or maybe more. So effective. Minimalist in the way Fripp is on guitar during the menacing middle-section of Starless.

    One of my favourite keyboard solos that one!

  6. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Kit is an American. He was in a band called Happy The Man before he was offered the chance to join Camel.
    Ok - then William D Drake makes the top 5!!!!

  7. #57
    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    And Kit played half of the solos in “Wait,” the rest were played by Jan Schelhaas. Is he British? His name suggests Dutch.
    Indeed - they trade solos:- his are the AMAZING bits.

  8. #58
    Quote Originally Posted by The Twickerman View Post
    My favourite Banton solo, in Darkess, he holds the same note for several bars!!!! 8 or maybe more. So effective. Minimalist in the way Fripp is on guitar during the menacing middle-section of Starless.

    One of my favourite keyboard solos that one!
    Yeah, it's pretty brilliant and the opposite of the "cram as many notes into a measure as possible" approach (although HB certainly had the chops to do that as well). Guy Evans told me that HB was never interested in being a mega-soloist, that he could do a solo and really give it something special, but he was more interested in being an architect of the music as a whole. You definitely can hear that. These days, though, with Jaxon gone... he's really doing so much because they're one member less and there's more responsiblitly; his playing is amazing in the new-ish trio format.

  9. #59
    Member Lopez's Avatar
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    I'll list here my top 6 through 10 as the top five have been mentioned repeatedly:

    6. Alan Park (of Beggar's Opera)
    7. Rod Argent (that is correct, sir, he was the first)
    8. Blue Weaver (of Strawbs, and as much as I couldn't stand disco, his work with the Bee Gees was brilliant)
    9. John Hawken (now a Jersey boy)
    10. Graham Bond (nutty guy, and not the greatest technician, but he was the first to use the Mellotron in a rock/jazz setting, and he was a decent composer)
    Last edited by Lopez; 06-28-2013 at 12:36 PM.
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  10. #60
    Quote Originally Posted by The Twickerman View Post
    Well, he's certainly technical, and those early softs albums (especially) are truly great - but he is a bit of a one-trick pony - imo.
    Not really. Because in addition to his soloing he also came up with a very distinct approach to harmonic textures. His chord progressions sounded like nobody in rock music until guys like Mont Campbell came along and wrote pieces that had Ratledge's harmonic feel as part of their influence. Ratledge continued to expand on this language and some of his changes underneath Elton Dean's solos are arguably the most beautiful moments in music, IMO.

    Anyway ... he's at least a "two trick Pony," but to have a guy like Dave Stewart on a list of top keyboardists and not Ratledge is a bit like having Stevie Ray Vaughan on a list of guitarists that didn't include Hendrix.

  11. #61
    Another astonishingly great but rather unheralded 70s keys player was Peter Scherer with Swiss band Island, whose Pictures from 1977 remains an underground classic of avant-garde "symph" merging VdGG, Egg, GGiant and even Magma. Scherer takes all roles of melodic foundation on that record, as there was no bass or guitar player, the other tonal contributions emannating from saxes, flute and vox. Scherer later resurfaced as a contemporary music composer in Brooklyn and issued a CD for John Zorn's Tzadik label, but I believe he has mainly worked for the stage and made TV jingles and songs for commercials etc.

    "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. #62
    In no particular order

    Wakeman
    Emerson
    Greenslade
    Bardens
    Minnear
    I live in an ephemeral eternity

  13. #63
    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    Steve Miller deserves mention.Whether playing on Caravan's "Waterloo Lily", or with Lol Coxhill,or his forays into free improv with Eddie Prevost et al,Miller played music of a very high order on acoustic/ electric keyboards.

    Alas, gone far too soon, far too young.
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  14. #64
    Member Musitron's Avatar
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    No Manfred Man? He's not a top 5 for sure but I enjoyed him in the album Solar Fire.
    “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

  15. #65
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    Quote Originally Posted by dgtlman View Post
    I'd take Jobson over Banks any day
    Absolutely, though Jobson was considered a "baby" back in the days of Old School Prog.

  16. #66
    Quote Originally Posted by Musitron View Post
    No Manfred Man? He's not a top 5 for sure but I enjoyed him in the album Solar Fire.
    He's not natural British, as far as I know.

  17. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Another astonishingly great but rather unheralded 70s keys player was Peter Scherer with Swiss band Island, whose Pictures from 1977 remains an underground classic of avant-garde "symph" merging VdGG, Egg, GGiant and even Magma. Scherer takes all roles of melodic foundation on that record, as there was no bass or guitar player, the other tonal contributions emannating from saxes, flute and vox. Scherer later resurfaced as a contemporary music composer in Brooklyn and issued a CD for John Zorn's Tzadik label, but I believe he has mainly worked for the stage and made TV jingles and songs for commercials etc.

    Underrated in every way, as the whole band and album. First class killer prog, and Scherer is clearly the main reason for it.

  18. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by Forester1 View Post
    Can't resist this one, huge keyboards fan here - I'll go with :
    1) Rick Wakeman - great power & subtlety, band, session & solo work all equally important
    2) Dave Sinclair - he absolutely makes the first few Caravan albums, marvellous sound
    3) Dave Greenslade - don't think he's been mentioned before, brings in a bluesy element
    4) Robert John Godfrey - can't separate his fantastic compositional skills from his playing
    5) Keith Emerson - for me, he started it all
    see post number 21 on page 1

  19. #69
    in no particular order

    Peter Robinson
    Vincent Crane
    Dave Stewart
    Alan Park
    Tony Kaye
    "and what music unites, man should not take apart"-Helmut Koellen

  20. #70
    Keith Emerson
    Mike Ratledge
    Dave Sinclair
    Peter Robinson
    Brian Auger

  21. #71
    Member Ten Thumbs's Avatar
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    Kerry Minnear

  22. #72
    Quote Originally Posted by gregory View Post
    He's not natural British, as far as I know.
    He’s not, he’s South African.

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  23. #73
    Member bill g's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    Not really. Because in addition to his soloing he also came up with a very distinct approach to harmonic textures. His chord progressions sounded like nobody in rock music until guys like Mont Campbell came along and wrote pieces that had Ratledge's harmonic feel as part of their influence. Ratledge continued to expand on this language and some of his changes underneath Elton Dean's solos are arguably the most beautiful moments in music, IMO.

    Anyway ... he's at least a "two trick Pony," but to have a guy like Dave Stewart on a list of top keyboardists and not Ratledge is a bit like having Stevie Ray Vaughan on a list of guitarists that didn't include Hendrix.
    Mmm. I see your point. As a keyboardist Ratledge is certainly excellent. I think I didn't include him in my list, and there are about 30 I could have included, but I, perhaps unfairly, based my choices on compositional skills as technically it is hard for me to choose between so many great players. And then it becomes a matter of taste when it comes to composition, where I personally find Stewart a bit better of a composer, though obviously Ratledge is no slouch either!

  24. #74
    Crimson King Tarkus's Avatar
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    Rick Wakeman
    Keith Emerson
    Tony Banks
    Jan Hammer
    Vangelis

  25. #75
    Beggars Opera - Alan Park
    Colosseum - Dave Greenslade

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