Prog Rock

[Ricardo]

Anyone else here raised on prog rock from the 70s?

Yes, Kansas, KC, Gentle Giant, Tull, ELP, etc. ?

Bruford, Ehart, Weathers, Bunker/Barlowe, Palmer........wow..........remember Michael Giles ?

Demand for songs in the bands I've been in never allowed me to play much of this good stuff (I can remember learning maybe two YES songs and one from Captain Beyond) but I've always loved the creativity involved in this genre.

These days I still listen to the occasional prog movements of Dream Theater and even full blown like IQ and Porky Tree out of England.

[jgziegler]

Was born in 80, my dad got me into classic rock (Jimi, LZ, ect) he was never a fan of Floyd or prog rock...to be honest, outside of Floyd (and really only their 3.5 classic albums really move me), I cant say im the biggest fan. Great musicians, but I always found the final product a bit lacking for me (and just to make even more friends here, I find Rush completely unlistenable).

But I also live in a country where I can't stand the music, and maybe if I grew up with it, I'd have a different opinion.

[kay-gee]

though I did like some select songs of the afore mentioned bands, I never really embraced prog rock as a whole. I'm more straight ahead I guess.

all the best...

[8beat]

I'm more straight ahead rock too, although I do enjoy listening to Rush.

[dangermoney]

Big fan here. Listened to a lot of it during the 70's and finally got to play it during the 80's and 90's. Ehart, Bruford, White, and Palmer were some of my biggest influences back in those days ...

[late8]

Boston, Kansas, Pink Floyd and Styx etc. are over-played in my radio market to a point I'll change the station the second I here the first four bars of the intro to those songs. ELP, King Crimson, etc. was a little too progressive for me. Hard rock/Heavy Metal is more my tastes.

[Markadiddle]

Boston, Kansas, Pink Floyd and Styx etc. are over-played in my radio market to a point I'll change the station the second I here the first four bars of the intro to those songs. ELP, King Crimson, etc. was a little too progressive for me. Hard rock/Heavy Metal is more my tastes.

You must be talking about the eagle. I could not agree with you more. Same songs, different day. I'm to the point now where I only listen to some talk radio(Armstrong and Getty) and then it's CDs the rest of the drive in to work.

[late8]

You must be talking about the eagle. I could not agree with you more. Same songs, different day. I'm to the point now where I only listen to some talk radio(Armstrong and Getty) and then it's CDs the rest of the drive in to work.

Yeah....the Eagle. News radio or CDs for the win!!

[joecut]

Anyone else here raised on prog rock from the 70s?

Yes, Kansas, KC, Gentle Giant, Tull, ELP, etc. ?

Bruford, Ehart, Weathers, Bunker/Barlowe, Palmer........wow..........remember Michael Giles ?

Demand for songs in the bands I've been in never allowed me to play much of this good stuff (I can remember learning maybe two YES songs and one from Captain Beyond) but I've always loved the creativity involved in this genre.

These days I still listen to the occasional prog movements of Dream Theater and even full blown like IQ and Porky Tree out of England.

Yeah, all that great stuff! Captain Beyond! There's a name you don't often see. Terrific drummer, Bobby Caldwell. Could prog it up with Cpt Beyond and Rock it up with Johnny Winter And...

And let's not forget Procol Harum, with the exquisite BJ Wilson behind the kit!

If you dig Michael Giles and early KC, check out the 21St Century Schizoid Band...all the cats from early King Crimson, except Fripp. Great!

[FlyByNight]

I live off prog rock. Huge fan of Floyd, Rush, King Crimson, kansas, dream theater, Yes to name a few. I've always loved the album covers of Kansas.

[slinglander]

"And let's not forget Procol Harum, with the exquisite BJ Wilson behind the kit!"
I thought I was the only member who listened to BJ!

There's always Tull and Colleseum(sp?) but they might be considered more fusion.

[N2Bluz]

My oldest brother, which I've played in bands with off & on for 25yrs, graduated high school in '74. I was still in grade school, but I hung around him & his friends all the time. As a result, I grew up listening to that music. All my friends in 3rd grade thought KISS was the greatest band ever, but I couldn't understand how they could ever rate KISS above Kansas, Jethro Tull or Cream. I mean, how could "Rock & Roll All Night" even begin to compare to "Locomotive Breath" or "Point of Know Return"?

[rickthedrummer]

The Guess Who, Jefferson Starship (Airplane), Moody Blues, James Gang, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Drifters, Steve Miller Band, Meatloaf, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Grass Roots, .38 Special, Fleetwood Mac, Nazareth, Bob Seger (Hollywood Nights. If you could rock that. the people would dance to it for 20 minutes), The Stones (obviously).

Oddly enough, we were never asked to do a beatles song, unless someone else in the band was asked and didn't tell me because they knew I wouldn't play any of them.

When we added a girl singer, we jumped right into Heart, Bangles, The Go Go's. She could sing Laura Branigan's Gloria and Ann Wilson's Magic Man, we knew we struck gold.

Our set list changed often so if you saw us on Friday and came back on Saturday, odds were good you wouldn't hear a 1 song we played on Friday (unless requested).

The only constant was "On Broadway". That was our kick-off song.

Being as I left the service in late '69, my 1st band was in mid '70, so we were doing all '60's songs. So it was The Stones, Animals, hell, I even remember playing "Little Girl" by the Syndicate of Sound.

I've left out so many, but whatcha gonna do. Those were good days.

[Ricardo]

Yeah, all that great stuff! Captain Beyond! There's a name you don't often see. Terrific drummer, Bobby Caldwell. And let's not forget Procol Harum, with the exquisite BJ Wilson behind the kit!

We used to play DANCING MADLY BACKWARDS in my Dallas band...........as you may know, that song is written in 5/8...........we would announce that the next song would be a dance contest and the winner would receive a free pitcher of beer from the band.............we laughed our butts off watching people trying to dance to a 5 count.............funny !
Procol Harum..................Broken Barricades...........still love it.

"And let's not forget Procol Harum, with the exquisite BJ Wilson behind the kit!"
I thought I was the only member who listened to BJ!

There's always Tull and Colleseum(sp?) but they might be considered more fusion.

We all loved AQUALUNG, but my favs were Living in the Past and Thick as a Brick..............great writing.

All my friends in 3rd grade thought KISS was the greatest band ever, but I couldn't understand how they could ever rate KISS above Kansas, Jethro Tull or Cream. I mean, how could "Rock & Roll All Night" even begin to compare to "Locomotive Breath" or "Point of Know Return"?

Aren't you glad you were educated and saved from that pointless crap ?

[gdmoore28]

Anyone else here raised on prog rock from the 70s?

Yes, Kansas, KC, Gentle Giant, Tull, ELP, etc. ?

Bruford, Ehart, Weathers, Bunker/Barlowe, Palmer........wow..........remember Michael Giles ?

Yes, yes, yes! I was absolutely immersed in progressive rock, especially Yes, followed by Kansas. The only group in that genre that I never warmed to was Rush. I used to send my friends into a rage by kidding them that Yes was what Rush aspired to be if they ever developed any songwriting talent!

GeeDeeEmm

[pgm554]

Yes, yes, yes! I was absolutely immersed in progressive rock, especially Yes, followed by Kansas. The only group in that genre that I never warmed to was Rush. I used to send my friends into a rage by kidding them that Yes was what Rush aspired to be if they ever developed any songwriting talent!

GeeDeeEmm

Always
Got into prog by accident.
My sister was given a Close to the Edge album by a friend and I played it as a lark.
WTF?
I was hooked.

One of my prog stories was I was auditioning for a band in Concord ,CA at a storage locker place.
During a break ,I heard strangely familiar music from my younger days ,it was Starcastle.
They were just another garage band rehearsing like us.

[longgun]

ELP, King Crimson, etc. was a little too progressive for me. Hard rock/Heavy Metal is more my tastes.

+1

I mean, how could "Rock & Roll All Night" even begin to compare to "Locomotive Breath" or "Point of Know Return"?

Aren't you glad you were educated and saved from that pointless crap ?

Man, I loved KISS......................still turn it up loud whenever I hear it. Granted, it takes nowhere near the musical talent to play...............but man, was it some fun music.


Back in the eighties, I was playing in a cover band..........we decided to cover "Tom Sawyer" from Rush..............it took us two weeks to get it down solid.

We played it at our next show..............the crowd clapped politely, but nobody really got into it.

The next song we played was "You really got me" by Van Halen..............people were dancing on the tables.

That's when I realized that the crowd doesn't care how difficult a song is, they just wanted to have fun.

IMO, Rock and Roll is "Meat and Potatoes"...........not "Champagne and Caviar"..............that being said, I still love listening to more progressive stuff, but I love just basic Rock and Roll.

[gdmoore28]

Back in the eighties, I was playing in a cover band..........we decided to cover "Tom Sawyer" from Rush..............it took us two weeks to get it down solid.

We played it at our next show..............the crowd clapped politely, but nobody really got into it.

The next song we played was "You really got me" by Van Halen..............people were dancing on the tables.

That's when I realized that the crowd doesn't care how difficult a song is, they just wanted to have fun.

IMO, Rock and Roll is "Meat and Potatoes"...........not "Champagne and Caviar"..............that being said, I still love listening to more progressive stuff, but I love just basic Rock and Roll.

Oh, that story is classic, isn't it? The only Progressive Rock song that my band ever had any success with was "Carry On." That's one PR song that everybody loves, and the audiences, once they gave up trying to dance to it, always finished it out by singing along with us. That song always got a great response. But none of the other's we tried worked. Back to doing "Gloria."

GeeDeeEmm

[N2Bluz]

Aren't you glad you were educated and saved from that pointless crap ?

Well, as a 3rd grader hanging around a bunch of college kids in the early '70s....I was educated on a lot of things.

[EddieV]

My two older brothers were guitar players and the one (who was an amazing guitar player) was very much into PROG rock.

He used to listen to this band a lot inthe 70's. Most people I know never heard of them. But I liked them.

He still loves them.

[joecut]

I thought I was the only member who listened to BJ!

People who don't know BJ Wilson don't know what they're missing. Some of the tastiest drumming ever. RIP.

[pgm554]

+1






Man, I loved KISS......................still turn it up loud whenever I hear it. Granted, it takes nowhere near the musical talent to play...............but man, was it some fun music.


Back in the eighties, I was playing in a cover band..........we decided to cover "Tom Sawyer" from Rush..............it took us two weeks to get it down solid.

We played it at our next show..............the crowd clapped politely, but nobody really got into it.

The next song we played was "You really got me" by Van Halen..............people were dancing on the tables.

That's when I realized that the crowd doesn't care how difficult a song is, they just wanted to have fun.

IMO, Rock and Roll is "Meat and Potatoes"...........not "Champagne and Caviar"..............that being said, I still love listening to more progressive stuff, but I love just basic Rock and Roll.

>That's when I realized that the crowd doesn't care how difficult a song is, they just wanted to have fun.


That's when you break out Free Bird.

[inthpktplayer]

My two older brothers were guitar players and the one (who was an amazing guitar player) was very much into PROG rock.

He used to listen to this band a lot inthe 70's. Most people I know never heard of them. But I liked them.

He still loves them.

Didn't know anyone else outside of me and my college roommate knew this band existed.

[kay-gee]

I recall it was the artsy fartsy nose in the air types that were into the prog rock. For me it was like... gimme some Grand Funk!!

all the best...

[Johnny G]

I recall it was the artsy fartsy nose in the air types that were into the prog rock. For me it was like... gimme some Grand Funk!!

all the best...

Not gonna lie. I'm finding that comment a little insulting.
I love love love prog rock and find the intricacies of the arrangements and imagination in the lyrics (not just sex, drugs and R&R) compelling and timeless. When it comes to growing as a rock musician, no better teachers than the prog rock gods of the 70's.
Yes, it does take a different listening approach to learn the stuff. You might have to actually practice some of the parts instead of the instant gratification of learning the average top 40/classic rock fodder. You might even find some of the material forever out of reach of your own abilities, but dangling like a peach on a tree. Frustrating and humbling, which is not for everyone.
Deciphering the puzzle of shifting time signatures is one of my favorite pastimes. Driving along and trying to count out Limelight (or any Dream Theater, for that matter) will really test your concentration! Again, not for everyone, but an essential skill to have as a drummer, IMHO.

All this being said, I also love Grand Funk! I love James Taylor, Maroon Five, Seal, Justin Timberlake, Van Halen, Ozzy, the Doobies, Michael Hedges, on and on.

I don't turn my nose up at anything or anyone, thank you very much. I am a very simple, down-to-earth man, who makes his living as a nurse in a busy hospital. An occupation that teaches non-judgement at every turn.

I also happen to have a passion for prog rock! I am actually taking a cruise this fall with about ten prog rock bands, including Yes, Marillion and Spock's Beard on board, with daily and nightly concerts, and, organized jams after hours among the passengers, too. I am playing drums on Limelight (Rush), One More Red Nightmare (King Crimson), and Time Again (Asia). So excited I can hardly stand it!!!

PS Prog is still huge in Europe and Japan. Guys, girls alike show up for prog shows. South America, too, to an extent. It is the American listener who has the least patience for intricate music. Not an opinion. That's a statistic.