GRINGO

Actually I've never heard the name of this band before and indeed some websites describe them as an overlooked early British progressive act. Well, I won't deny this assessment, at least in the broad sense of proto-prog bands hailing from that era between late sixties and early seventies. I can only imagine that their Canterbury tag is coming from the fact that they were opening act on a CARAVAN UK tour. This band comprised of Simon Byrne, Annette Casey, Henry Marsh and John G. Perry, who joined Caravan for their Girls Who Grow Plump album and played later on with Quantum Jump, Curved Air and Aviator. Traces of other band members vanished in the haze of some pop bands like Sailor or Brotherhood of Man. The songs on this album here present some pleasant, but in terms of prog rather uninspiring material. I dare saying that this album is only interesting for the general collector of early 70's prog-related music and thus not deserving more than 2,5 stars on this site here. Nevertheless it's a very nice and well-done album, if one likes to listen to some more light-prog-ish stuff. Highlights are the two longest songs "Cry The Beloved Country" and "Patriotic Song"!

Starting out as Toast in 1967, the trio of Henry Marsh (guitar, vocals), John G. Perry (bass, vocals) and Simon Byrne (drums) stuck it out for three years but only managed to release a sole single titled "Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall" in 1970 which mixed those groovy 60s styles of sunshine pop and baroque pop however the band decided to change things up a bit and soon after changed its name to GRINGO (after a short stint as Utopia) and added the Irish born Casey Synge to sing lead to give the band some feminine charm. Casey offered the charisma to interact with audiences in a live setting and added the element that Toast had been missing.

GRINGO was a short-lived act that only existed for a couple years and these days is more famous for hosting future Caravan bassist John G. Perry who appeared on the "For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night" as well as the live release "Caravan & The New Symphonia." Despite being a relative forgotten act today in the 21st century, the band did have a moment of minor success which actually found the band headlining a tour with Barclay James Harvest. The band also toured with Caravan during the "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" album which is how Perry made the connection.

The band released one self-titled album on the MCA label in 1971. The music was a very melodic style of progressive pop that featured an occasional reference to prog but mostly GRINGO's sole offering reminds most of the sunshine pop of the Toast days with cheerful uplifting sugary melodies almost bordering on bubblegum at times. The music though was a bit more demanding delivered organ dominated psych rock. The band could be compared to Carol Grimes' Delivery or even bands or even the German Frumpy at times because of its strong pop hook dominance only with just the occasional references to anything remotely prog. Perry's bass playing is one of the stronger aspects of the album with beefy grooves that clearly qualified him for the role of a Caravan member.

While the majority of the album is mostly based on pop rock, the track "Moonstone" actually emphasizes more demanding workouts with heavy psych-tinged keyboard sweeps and clever use of brass and percussive workouts. Casey Synge delivers some strong vocal performances and the rest of the band offers excellent harmonies to support her. Despite the strong performances the album still sounds more like it should've been released in 1968. GRINGO was clearly not in touch with the modern prog world and how quickly it had developed. This is one of those puzzlers that i don't quite comprehend why this is even considered prog at all because the few moments that hint towards anything progressive are more akin to just plain melodic art rock.

This is an OK album to check out. The melodies are strong and the tracks are performed very well however it's not anything to get overly excited about for sure. Sometimes the harmonies remind me of The Mamas & Papas and the album definitely feels dated. While it's loosely affiliated with the Canterbury Scene there are no traces of jazz or the abstract whimsy that bands in that scene were known for and certainly none of the complexities. This is pretty much psychedelic pop rock with a few moments that hint at prog. Overall not a bad album but honestly not one that really warrants hunting down at all costs as it is a fairly average representation of what the era had to offer for bands that were behind the times a bit.