There’s a glittering pond, somewhere beyond the grim onset of the 1980s, where floats many a progressive rock act of the 70s that have either gone on to be forgotten or never attained the recognition they might’ve hoped for in their time. Drifting on this shimmering pool of dancing light, if you look hard enough, you may well spot Khan and there 1972 oneshot Space Shanty.
Give Space Shanty a listen and it will fire itself free of the watery grave, blasting forth beyond the pull of the earth’s orbit and into the deepest and darkest reaches of the universe. A psychedelic blend of arty space-rock and progressive organ noodling provide the soundtrack.
The oddball and essentially lighthearted Supersister saw a change in the ranks for 1973’s Iskander, their fourth studio album, with 50% of the four man line-up departing due to creative differences. With a new drummer in the shape of Herman van Boeyen and a saxophonist and flautist named Charlie Mariano drafted in, Supersister went all serious and recorded a concept album based upon the life of Alexander the Great.
The result was a wedge of progressive rock in the classic sense of the term.
Inspired Dutch lunacy from Thijs van Leer. Jan Akkerman and the rest of Focus, with a 1973 live version of their barmier than a badger’s stag-do track, ‘Hocus Pocus’.
Progressive rock in the ’70s was traditionally recognised as being the realm of white (often middle-class, art-school educated), occasionally nerdy, hippy-types. However, challenging such notions was the all black Demon Fuzz, who signed to Pye’s prog label, Dawn, in 1970.
Afreaka!, released in the same year was there one and only album.
Five tracks (the Esoteric Recordings reissue bolts on the three track maxi-single ‘I Put a Spell On You’) pitch Demon Fuzz somewhere between prog rock and psychedelic soul-laced jazz excursions, with a threadwork of world music, tribal beats and the ever-trusty wah-wah pedal weaving its spell somewhere beneath.
Esoteric Recordings continue their sterling crusade of reissuing remastered psychedelic and progressive rock albums of the 60s and 70s.
So as the leaves brown, the air gets colder and the door slowly creaks shut on 2009, what’s crackling away in the Esoteric fireplace, lined up for a November release?
Man, the rock group that spilled forth from South Wales in the late sixties and released a raft of albums throughout the seventies, were never ones to accept the pigeonhole gracefully. After all, what were they? Could Man be called psychedelic rock, progressive rock, country-rock or good old-fashioned pub rock?
Well they took elements of all these disciplines and brewed their own concoction, which if a category must be applied, would fall somewhere within the progressive-country-blues bracket… probably. MAN, their eponymously titled third album from 1971 is a suitable example of this eclectic clash of styles, as it veers from one to the next over the course of five songs.
‘I’ve Got a Feeling’ this Christmas is going to be one made in heaven for the weathered Beatles fan, ‘Yes it Is’. Following on from a veritable ‘Helter Skelter’ of Beatles business to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their split – including the complete digital remastering of the Fab Four’s backcatalog, as well as the first official venture into the world of video gaming with The Beatles Rock Band – ‘Yesterday’ it came to the attention of Head Full of Snow that The Beatles Box of Vision is to be released in the UK in time for the festive period.
Whereas, generally, ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’ , true happiness can only be achieved by ‘Something’ such as this book/display case combo – the type which makes you want to scream in its general direction, “I’ve ‘Got to Get You into My Life’”…
… But crap punning aside, this really looks to be one for the collector, boasting three components that will leave a Beatles enthusiast foaming at the mouth.
To bring Head Full of Snow’s Procol Harum Week to a close, we list our five favourite tunes from the erudite songsmiths of psychedelic and progressive rock grandiose.
Actually, following a ruddy great trawl through what’s on offer, this may be retitled our “five favourite Procol Harum tunes available on YouTube.” They’re all absolute stonkers, nonetheless. ‘A Salty Dog‘, ‘Grand Hotel‘ and ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ are absent from this list as they were posted earlier this week.
So with no further nonsense, let’s get stuck in. Read more…
With packaging as lush as and three times more lickable than a Gary Brooker orchestral arrangement, Salvo release the Creme de Menthe of their Procol Harum 40th Anniversary reissues, the four disc compendium, All This and More.
All this and more, indeed. What we have here is three CDs spanning the lengthy career of Southend-on-Sea’s finest, a DVD brimming with live performances, and a 70-page booklet distended with photographs, song facts and the story so far regarding the perennial psychedelic/progressive/symphonic rock act.
Procol Harum were already into their fifth line-up when, in 1973, they released their sixth studio album, Grand Hotel.
With guitarist Robin Trower and his replacement for Live in Concert with the Edmonton Orchestra, Dave Ball, both gone, Mick Grabham, ex of Ladbroke Grove country rockers Cochise, joined the fold and along with Alan Cartwright on bass, Procol Harum were back to being a five-piece. Grand Hotel also saw a triumphant return to the symphonic sound they had been drifting away from on the previous studio albums, Homeand Broken Barricades.
The opener to the album Grand Hotel, and one of Procol harum’s finest.
Released in 1973, ‘Grand Hotel’ cements Procol Harum’s place as one the finest progressive/symphonic rock bands the genre had to offer. I don’t think anything else needs saying.
For their sixth album, Procol Harum departed the studio and took to the stage of the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Canada, with a full symphony orchestra as their backing band and a 24-voice choir providing vocal support.
Released in 1972, Procol Harum Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (to give it its full, roll off the tongue title) was the result and it finds the band in their natural live habitat, their most ambitious songs up until that time heard in all their symphonic rock glory.
As reviewed yesterday as part of Procol Harum Week, here’s the barnstorming opener from 1971’s Broken Barricades album, entitled ‘Simple Sister’.
Well most of it anyway, as this video seems to be a sawn-off version, running at two minutes shy of the album original. Nevertheless, it gives a good feel for the harder rock edge that was heard on the Broken Barricades album.
‘A Salty Dog’ is widely regarded as one of Procol Harum’s finest songs, and you wouldn’t get any arguments from Head Full of Snow on that count.
Taken from the 1969 album of the same name, it marked vocalist and songwriter Gary Brooker’s first attempt at an orchestral score, and the lavish result places ‘A Salty Dog’ in the bracket of all-time great progressive rock compositions. It can also be regarded as quite a feat, considering Brooker had no classical training whatsoever.
In 1971, when Procol Harum’s Broken Barricades was first released, the band that has been through a massive 23 different line-ups was only on their third, the same quartet responsible for the previous album Home.
There was Chris Copping doubling up on bass and organ, alongside BJ Wilson and Robin Trower from the classic era, on drums and guitar respectively. Then, of course, there was the one constant factor in Procol Harum’s lifespan: Gary Brooker, singer, pianist and songwriting partner to the band’s lyricist, the ever-present Keith Reid.
Home had seen the psychedelia of A Whiter Shade of Pale, and the earlier albums, shown the door in favour of a harder rock sound that kept the progressive edge and cemented Procol Harum’s reputation as one of the most innovative acts doing the rounds.
Broken Barrricades saw them continue along this road, paring back the symphonics that had really come to the fore on A Salty Dogand Home’s ‘Whaling Stories’, to produce an album that’s still chock full of ideas, despite seeing them in their rawest form.
Head Full of Snow’s 100th post coincides with the launch of Procol Harum Week. It’s almost as though I planned it that way. And where else would one kick off a Procol Harum Week than at the moment in time where it all began? The debut single that has gone on to be named the UK’s “most played record ever”.
Whether you love or hate it, there’s no denying that if at some point over the last 42 years you’ve heard a bit of music, there’s more chance of it being ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ than anything else.
Though not their best song, it managed to capture a moment in the summer of 1967 when, if you were fortunate enough not to have to work for a living and bought into the whole flower power freedom movement, anything seemed possible. The fact it caught on with the mainstream too, quickly elevated AWSoP to the legendary stature it enjoys today.
Just a quick announcement from the editorial staff here at HFoS towers that next week is officially declared Procol Harum Week.
Kicking off tomorrow, Head Full of Snow is dedicating itself to the innovative progressive rock act that will, unfairly or otherwise, forever be associated with one song, ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’.
I seem to have jumped the gun when I made the rather bold statement that The Duckworth Lewis Method had released the best new album you would hear this year – back in August. Since then I have gone on to discover the sublime Circulus, who released their third album in June (reviews soon, promise) and now this cheeky little combo, The Witch and the Robot.
Set to be released on October 5th (2009), On Safari is their debut album.
Hailing from Ambleside in the Lake District, the band’s press release promises a blend of dark psychedelia, folk, shanties and spoken word – “proving that the darkest music often comes from the prettiest places” – and I’m happy to say they don’t disappoint. In fact any album actively promoting shanties, has to be a must-listen in my book.
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