Feakes 1973 The Golden Year Of Progressive Rock

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-78952-412-3
Verlag: Sonicbond Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 160 Seiten

Reihe: Year In ...

During a decade that defined progressive rock, 1973 was a pivotal year. Influential bands like Yes, Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jethro Tull, The Electric Light Orchestra and King Crimson released some of their best-selling albums and there was a plethora of releases from less well known but equally worthy acts. This book is a journey through this creative period; stopping off on route to explore symphonic rock, the Canterbury scene, Krautrock, fusion, progressive folk, art rock, space rock, album artwork and much more.
As well as the big names from the year when progressive rock was arguably at its commercial and artistic peak, the book also looks in depth at albums by Mahavishnu Orchestra, Greenslade, Rick Wakeman, Gong, Le Orme, Can, Kayak, Gentle Giant, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Renaissance, Caravan, Nektar, Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Magma.
But this book is much more than a nostalgic trip down memory lane. It's a comprehensive and knowledgeable guide to an era when music incorporated multiple sections, rich textures, intricate time signatures, inspired arrangements and diverse influences performed by skilled musicians. It was possible to take a dip in topographic oceans, encounter pot head pixies from a distant planet and still be home in time for larks' tongues in aspic.

Geoffrey Feakes is an author and music journalist. He has published three previous books, The Moody Blues On Track in 2019, The Who On Track in 2020 and Steve Hackett On Track in 2021. He has been a writer for the Dutch Progressive Rock Page since 2005 with hundreds of reviews and interviews to his credit. He lives in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK and when he's not writing, he spends a good deal of time listening to music including contemporary progressive rock.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Feakes, Geoffrey

Leseproben

Chapter 1

Symphony to Synths

Symphonic rock; it sounds like ‘strawberry bricks’, it doesn’t make any real sense.

Jon Anderson, 1972.

The Yes frontman’s scepticism is understandable. Artists do not like being pigeonholed and, as such, are wary of labels, however well-intended. Conventional wisdom has it that the terms ‘symphonic’ and ‘progressive’ are synonymous, although arguably, they are not interchangeable. If progressive rock is an all-encompassing genre, then symphonic is its most accessible strand and, unsurprisingly, in the early 1970s, the associated acts proved to be the most popular and enduring. By 1973, bands like Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator, Focus, Gentle Giant, Barclay James Harvest, Curved Air and Wishbone Ash were already familiar to genre fans while others such as Camel and Greenslade were just starting out. In this chapter, while not exhaustive, we will examine the rich diversity of symphonic album releases and band activities in 1973.

Although concept albums became commonplace and tracks grew longer, songs were not extended simply to fill the space available on a vinyl LP. The songwriters and musicians developed material with a dynamic range that required more than the average three to five minutes to be emotionally effective. Typically, symphonic songs consist of multiple sections and intricate time signatures and while the emphasis is usually on melody, aggressive playing is common to emphasise light and shade. These long-form song structures often reveal classical influences, particularly the Baroque period of composers like Bach, the Romantic era of Sibelius and Ralph Vaughan Williams and the early 20th-century neoclassicism of Stravinsky and Bartok. Side long – if not album-length – pieces soon became the norm. It’s a common myth, however, that the classical repertoire was regularly plundered in the 1970s. True, musicians like Keith Emerson covered classical pieces with ELP – as he had done with The Nice – and bands such as Renaissance occasionally incorporated uncredited classical themes into their songs, but this was the exception rather than the rule. Both ELP and Yes were pivotal in adopting the sonata form in their extended works from 1971 onwards.

1973 was a particularly prolific year for Yes, releasing an unprecedented five LP’s worth of music. Although poorly recorded, the triple live opus Yessongs (May) showcased Yes in their prime and was a top ten hit in many countries, while the double studio offering Tales from Topographic Oceans (December) took Yes to the top of the UK chart. Genesis also released live and studio albums, although Genesis Live (July) and Selling England by the Pound (October) were more modest affairs – in volume at least. ELP would attempt to outdo Yes the following year with their live triple Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends – Ladies and Gentlemen, but in the meantime, they settled for their fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery (November).

Wishbone Ash also pulled off the studio and live double punch in 1973 with Wishbone Four (May) and Live Dates (December). The former was a disappointment for many fans, while the latter includes songs from the pivotal Argus released the previous year, including a rousing version of the live favourite ‘Blowin’ Free’. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band released Messin’ (June) and Solar Fire (November), but just as significantly, they brought symphonic prog to the masses with their single ‘Joybringer’ based on ‘Jupiter’ from Holst’s Planets Suite. On the subject of hit singles, when The Moody Blues’ ‘I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)’ was released in January, it climbed to number twelve on the Billboard chart and a reissue of the seminal ‘Nights in White Satin’ was more successful in 1973 in many regions including the UK and USA than it had been in 1967. Otherwise, the Moodies were inconspicuous album wise in 1973, as was Van der Graaf Generator, Barclay James Harvest, Supertramp and Jade Warrior.

VdGG folded the previous year, but lead singer and principal songwriter Peter Hammill kept the flame burning with his second solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night (May). Musically, it maintains the spirit of VdGG and the band members are all present. They regrouped in 1975, but in the meantime, their excellent version of George Martin’s ‘Theme One’ appeared on the Charisma Records sampler One More Chance, released in 1973. BJH were dropped by EMI’s prog label Harvest Records due to poor record sales and spiralling costs – they often toured with an orchestra – so they were between labels in 1973. Jade Warrior were also without a record contract and temporarily disbanded while Supertramp spent a good deal of 1973 recruiting new members.

Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman released his debut album The Six Wives of Henry VIII (January), while the band’s refugees also had a busy year. One Live Badger featuring Wakeman’s predecessor Tony Kaye was recorded during a show opening for Yes at London’s Rainbow Theatre the previous year. It features some fine songs, including ‘Wind of Change’ sung by David Foster, who along with Jon Anderson, had been a member of 1960s pop group the Warriors. Badger released just one further album, the disappointing White Lady in 1974, before calling it a day. Out of Our Hands was the third and final album from Flash, the band formed by ex-Yes guitarist Peter Banks. Musically, Flash continued from where Yes’ second album Time and a Word left off and were a fine showcase for Banks’ underrated guitar talents. Unfortunately, the band folded following Banks’ abrupt departure in the midst of an American tour. His debut solo album Two Sides of Peter Banks followed in 1973, a jam-fest with an impressive line-up of guests including Jan Akkerman, Steve Hackett, John Wetton and Phil Collins. To round off a prolific year, Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Alan White guested on Johnny Harris’ All To Bring You Morning album, an incongruous combination of lush strings and jazz- rock, although the near fifteen-minute title track featuring the Yes men has an undeniable grandeur.

Another ex-Yes man, drummer Bill Bruford was recruited by Robert Fripp for a revamped King Crimson, resulting in the album Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (March). Fripp also collaborated with Brian Eno for No Pussyfooting (November), influenced by the minimalist style of composer Steve Reich. Meanwhile, ex-Crimson lyricist Pete Sinfield – who had been recently working with ELP and PFM – surprised everyone with the enigmatic Still album featuring a lead vocal from Greg Lake on the uplifting title song. Speaking of ELP, Keith Emerson was credited with Moog programming on Bump ‘n’ Grind, the fourth and final album from Jackson Heights, fronted by his ex-The Nice bandmate Lee Jackson. Later in 1973, Jackson formed Refugee – basically The Nice mark two – with drummer Brian Davison and Yes keyboardist in waiting, Patrick Moraz.

Jethro Tull’s sixth studio album A Passion Play (July) was popular with the band’s worldwide fan base, although it was shunned by critics, especially in Britain and America. For Gentle Giant’s fifth album In a Glass House (September), it was almost the opposite reaction. It’s regarded as one of their finest and, although they had a strong following in the USA, Canada and Italy, it failed to pique the interest of UK record buyers and was rejected outright by their American record company. They had an original sound with medieval folk and classical influences, although their choppy vocal and instrumental arrangements are not too removed from that of Jethro Tull.

Compared with folk, pop and mainstream rock in the 1970s, as well as the contemporary prog and symphonic metal scene, female-fronted prog bands were a rarity in 1973. The exceptions included the classically trained Annie Haslam, whose impressive five-octave vocal range featured on Ashes Are Burning (October), the fourth album by Renaissance. When Curved Air released their fourth album Air Cut (April), charismatic singer Sonja Kristina was the only remaining founding member, but it did feature the debut of seventeen-year-old violinist/keyboardist Eddie Jobson. Air Cut has its moments, but unlike the first three albums, it failed to chart in the UK and Jobson moved on to replace Brain Eno in Roxy Music. His Curved Air predecessor formed Darryl Way’s Wolf and released two albums in 1973, Canis Lupus and Saturation Point. Both feature impressive instrumental interplay with Way’s violin to the fore, alongside future Marillion drummer Ian Mosley. Curved Air disbanded in 1973 and reformed the following year with Way returning for a reunion tour. Although small in stature, American Jenny Haan of Babe Ruth had a fiery stage presence and a voice to match. Her English bandmates included talented guitarist – and later successful producer – Alan Shacklock, who gave the band their proggy edge, evident on the near ten-minute title track of the second album Amar Caballero.

While British prog bands were popular in America in 1973, especially in the northeastern States, homegrown acts were beginning to make waves of their own. Although they were not released until March the following...