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GYGAFO

Prog Related • United Kingdom


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Gygafo biography
This is one of those "miraculous" release album that have popped up in the late 80's and early 90's about a 70's lost album or "gem". This group got its name from a famous line from a record label executive not being impressed at these guys's live demonstration and told them: "Get Your Gear And F##k Off". . So these songs never got a release until 89, and come from 73 and the last two tracks from early 74 (all in mono), and they got released on the anecdotical label Background whose catalogue is full of extremely obscure (but rarely interesting) releases. Not much is known about the band's members past and future musical careers outside of this release.

: : : Hugues Chantraine, BELGIUM : : :

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3.03 | 17 ratings
Legend Of The Kingfisher
1973

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GYGAFO Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Legend Of The Kingfisher by GYGAFO album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.03 | 17 ratings

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Legend Of The Kingfisher
Gygafo Prog Related

Review by progshachar

4 stars It's not often that you can find a rare CD like that. One of the achievements we have today in the internet era is the ability to find such a band, buy it and now rate it :) I like this band - they were different, It's ver ydifficult to put a label on their music. On times it's a bit symphonic, at times folk and sometimes they have the blues. The first 6 songs are the original unpublished CD. It's excellent. "A room with a view " is a great prog song. Waiting for the sun is a long suite with 3 parts. At times tey remind me of another great rare band - Sindelfingen. Songs 7-9 are later songs from 1974, they are also great. All in all ,ore than 70 minutes of bizarre, unique music. Fun at times, interesting and worth listening.
 Legend Of The Kingfisher by GYGAFO album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.03 | 17 ratings

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Legend Of The Kingfisher
Gygafo Prog Related

Review by ClemofNazareth
Special Collaborator Prog Folk Researcher

2 stars First to dispense with the theme of the record: the kingfisher (really a guy) is a creature named Al Syan the Third who wakes up one morning fed up with society and the bustle of traffic and organized religion, and embarks on a journey of discovery. Not sure why that combination of things are what set the little guy off, but that’s the storyline. So off he goes and encounters some colorful folks and has some immutable truths revealed to him and finds the answer to his question and then embarks on another journey, this one whose purpose is to find fame, fortune and immortality. At this point is becomes sort of apparent the lyrics are referring to the band itself, and also apparent they were either really poor at putting thematic continuity into their writings, or they were stoned. Maybe both.

All that aside, this is a fun CD to listen to today. It was original recorded in 1973, and released to very limited distribution (only a hundred copies or so from what I’ve read). It was reissued as a rather plain- wrappered CD in 1992 as a Background Series recording, but even that is out-of-print today.

Musically these guys have a little of sixties psych left in them, especially on the first few tracks of the album. The trilogy “Waiting for the Rain” followed by “And a Time to Think” demonstrate this best. But at the same time they are clearly experimenting with some progressive arrangements, both on guitar and in some of the song constructions. The second half of the record is the more interesting in my opinion, especially the title track where keyboardist Eddie Stringer works his way through a number of organ transitions that evoke a feeling of traveling on a long journey filled with both adventure and tranquility (which I think is pretty much what they were going for).

This is a very minor recording from a forgotten band that didn’t seem to have a whole lot of talent or career ambition; in fact, I can’t find any information on anything the band or any of its members did following this release. As a curiosity the record may appeal to some avid prog music collectors, but overall it is an average production at best. One has a tendency to overrate these obscure recordings when they surface, but I’ll fight that temptation and mark this down for what it is, a collector piece only. Two stars, but recommended as a CD to add to your collection if you come across if you want to impress your friends with just how eclectic your musical tastes are.

peace

 Legend Of The Kingfisher by GYGAFO album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.03 | 17 ratings

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Legend Of The Kingfisher
Gygafo Prog Related

Review by Carl floyd fan
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Quite the story behind this band. Apparently a record label executive told them to : "Get Your Gear And F##k Off". GYGAFO. Sounds like the executive was a little harsh. And after hearing this record maybe not the most intelligent in his field as this is actually a pretty good album. It certianlly has its short comings as nothing new is really explored in the album. Even after considering psych in 1967, this is still pretty standard sounding, and barely prog for sure. Its a pretty low key album without to much fire behind it but The Legend Of The Kingfisher is a nice long jam as well as Waiting For The Rain. They remind me a little of Asgard with the folk influences here and there. 3 stars, barely.
Thanks to ProgLucky for the artist addition. and to easy livin for the last updates

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