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Direct Link To This Post Topic: The Strawberry Bricks Guide To Progressive Rock
    Posted: January 22 2018 at 04:37

Fairly few books merit the name of a "brick", but this one does: not only because of its name, but also its format that comes close to a real clay brick, though the book's cover is neither strawberry or clay colour like. Despite its foundational reference book nature, it is a brick which you shouldn't place at the bottom of your library's foundation, because you will probably pull it out repeatedly to verify some info on an album's place in progressive rock's history.

Though a lot of encyclopedian music books follow some kind of chronology, Charles Snider has a different concept than most music books, who either go through the history of a musical movement either year by year, group by group. In the present case, he goes one further by respecting a more strict chronology, going through the year's releases month by month, which is as far as I know the first time this has been done. Aymeric Leroy has done this to some extent on his Canterbury School recent book, but if that other (thicker) brick does review somewhat the albums released, it is not its main goal.

Indeed, this monthly release notion is relatively important in understanding as to whom influenced whom and eventually on on which album. Most other books will present a given year's output on the same pedestal with no chronological order, unless a band/artiste has put out more than one album that year.

This monthly release notion is not only an important one, but a sometimes complicated task, as the information is not necessarily easily available/ Most records will give the recording date, but never the actual release date, though one can extrapolate that it would normally be marketed roughly six to 15 weeks after the recording sessions, though there is no rule at all. In some case, the author did not manage to find a more precise date, so he will give "Autumn 71" (which is still fine) or "Sometime in 73" (which means that the author's search for additional info failed)  

Of course the book doesn't fully manage to translate  Snider's excellent website of the same name, as the actual timeline is simply unformattable (read practically impossible) onto paper, unless using the foldable leporello format, but even then I doubt the result will be very practical. Though still focusing on the late-60's until the late 70's, this 2.0 version of Strawberry Brick book sees the timeline extended to the early 80's, and he gives us a rapid overview of decades to come as an epilogue. As another "bonus", a series of lengthy and fascinating interviews of some of the key actors - no superstars, but some essential artistes – are very welcome.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 21 2017 at 12:44
This is my 4th attempt at posting here. I AM NOT A ROBOT, I AM NOT A ROBOT,I AM NOT A ROBOT, perhaps it will go away if I close my eyes and wish hard enough.
 
It's a good book and a must for every coffee table. My only grumble.................................More pages pleaseThumbs Up
Been around and collecting the progressive underground of the late 60's early 70's for years and this book has been a real eye opener. Thank you for a marvellous reference book. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2017 at 06:55
If you are referring to what I said I didn't dismiss it based on what one reviewer said. In fact I didn't dismiss the book at all. I'm sure it's a great book for those who want to explore prog further and don't know where to start. For me personally I have all the information I need to buy prog music for the next several years. 

Also, being that these days it seems that mostly newer prog is what is on the radar of most prog fans it's good to expose at least some of them to the older bands and albums they might not otherwise know about so kudos for doing that.


Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 17 2017 at 06:59
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2017 at 06:45
I have a copy of the 2007 printing, I page through it no less than 3-4 times per week as I spin my way through my prog vinyl collection.

Is there a newer edition available?  The copy I have has a different cover than the "Minstrels" vinyl groove cover. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2017 at 15:11
Is it also absurd that you would dismiss an entire book on the basis of one sentence in a review, even when the reviewer (who read the book) found it "Fascinating, and persuasively explained in the context of his premise."

Here is no substitute for heavy lifting, my friend!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 16 2017 at 09:02
I would say that not just men born between 1944 and 1950 created it or listened to it especially not these days. That's pretty absurd if you ask me. Maybe for a while that was the case but certainly not now. Plus some of them like Steve Hackett and the guys from Rush were all born a little later anyway. 

I know about your book. The thing is I know most of what's in it so it would be of no real value to me. If I see it in the library I'll check it out though. Or if you ever do a version of more recent prog. Anyway, good luck with it though.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 15 2017 at 18:58
Here's a few encapsulations from very recent reviews of The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock, Revised and Expanded Edition (2017):

“In this updated edition of his 2007 book, an idea of the kind of depth Charles Snider goes into can be gleaned from the revised artwork, an electron-microscope image of the grooves of Minstrel In The Gallery. It’s a heck of a project, and his dedication and breadth of choice is to be applauded. Snider’s summaries are intensely fact-packed but academic – this is still an enthusiast’s mothership.”
--Jo Kendall, Prog Magazine

“[H]is time-centric genre definition cite[s] supportive data from various sources and suggest[s] that progressive rock is/was music created by a generation of men born roughly between 1944 and 1950 (median birth year 1947): Fascinating, and persuasively explained in the context of his premise.
Where “guide” books of this ilk sink or swim lies in how convincingly the author makes his/her case for inherently subjective viewpoints and conclusions. Snider deserves credit for tackling this head-on. The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is an informative, enlightening read that’ll keep you occupied for hours and certainly get you thinking. Snider supports his [opinions] with considerable research/study. This book offers valuable perspective on where “prog” came from historically, in one handy (hefty) volume.”
--John Collinge, Progression Magazine

“I don't often use the word massive, but this book is, in fact, massive. At over 600 pages, The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is a sort of bedside reader for prog fans of all stripes. Author Charles Snider taps his deep knowledge of the genre for a fascinating read.
It's a strong piece of work. Snider makes his points well and writes in a smooth conversational style. We don't share the same views on every release, but who does? The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is very honestly the most enjoyable book on progressive music I've read to date! I must now seek out several albums I never even knew existed before I read this book!”
--John Wilcox, Progsheet
Author, "The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock"

www.progressiverock.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 30 2017 at 08:09
The cover photo was taken with a Scanning Electron Microscope, it's the record grooves of Jethro Tull's Minstrel In The Gallery vinyl!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 25 2017 at 06:56
I checked out the website and must admit it is rather impressive. Found a few minor errors but that is to be expected with such a colossal task Definitely would pick up the book if I saw it in the store. I'm just wondering why only 1972 is covered in the timeline and only 1967 in the albums heading. Is the website still under construction? 

One thing that I absolutely loved was the cover concept. Thank God no dragons, elves or sky wizards or Roger Dean copycat artwork. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 25 2017 at 03:14
Progrock, art rock or whatever the freak you want to call it is the only genre where the people who listen to it argue over what it is, where it started, how it started, why it started, etc. Do Celine Dion fans have this same problem?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 24 2017 at 18:26
Please note that the second edition of the book, The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock, Revised and Expanded Edition (2017) has been released.

The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is the definitive record guide to the classic progressive era of rock music. Beginning in 1967 and continuing until 1982, the book presents the progressive rock canon, set in the presentation of a timeline. This new edition extends the timeline into the early 80s, to offer a more natural conclusion to the progressive era, as well as offering a broader selection of albums from the era.

Secondly, beginning with a database of the birth years of musicians in the timeline, the book offers that what we now know as “progressive rock” is in fact the music of a generation. The statistics play out: the median birth year for the “progressive artist” is 1947, with a standard deviation of +/- 3 years. I’ve also conducted many interviews with artists from the era, and 16 of these appear in the book. The premise was to study their early lives, from birth through the late 60s and very early 70s, to find the commonalities that these men experienced. The newly written Prologue offers a historical perspective of the pretext to the progressive era, beginning post-WWII, while the Epilogue offers a current perspective on progressive rock since the early 80s.

I’ve also spent a good deal of time fact-checking every detail in the book, including song titles and artist names. Further, this edition has been professionally edited and peer reviewed, all to make this as exacting and rewarding a book as the music it covers. Strawberry Bricks is another narrative on the classic era of progressive rock, one with hopefully a novel and candid outlook on the genre, its albums and the men that made it one of the most interesting chapters in rock’s history.

Reviews of 476 albums from 1967 - 1982
Exclusive interviews with 16 artists from the progressive era
Fully edited, proofread and fact-checked
632 pages
Author, "The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock"

www.progressiverock.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 29 2011 at 12:53
Hi Dick, thank you for yoru comments. Proof reading is indeed one aspect of the book I wish I could have improved on; it is also one of the disadvantages of self-publishing, and unfortunately Microsoft Word. However, I hope these are but minor niggles. Please email mail me off-list, I would much appreciate your feedback.

As for Touch, I would say it is *my* think to avoid early home-grown talent ;)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 29 2011 at 11:48
Based on the recommendations here, I've purchased this book. Certainly support many of the positive comments made above. Indeed it is a book to dip into from time to time, since it doesn't seem a book to read from cover to cover, that is once the introduction including time lines (nothing much if anything to argue there, in fact I would want to add a few minor contributing factors) and end pieces have been studied. One niggle: proof-reading should be better - as an academic you develop a deep suspicion that if in theses and other documents of fact, there are errors in one part  you wonder how error free are other parts of the work? So couple of obvious ones: (Pete) Townshend NOT Townsend, Allan Holdsworth NOT Alan Holdsworth (but then both spellings are given) - however, another N.American published and heavily recommended  book on prog is at least 100xs worse for typo errors. (In comparison one book I knew that was thoroughly proof-read by 4 people to eliminate both factual errors and typographicals, only has one error in the published version - ironically found in acknowledgments to the proof-readers!!!). It's probably me but yet again Touch is not included - is this an American thing to avoid early home-grown talent?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 07 2011 at 14:02
But the definitive work on progrock has to be this one 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 07 2011 at 09:37
BRAND NEW WEBSITE:

the new progressiverock.com website is here: URL=http://www.progressiverock.com

Edited by djfake - June 07 2011 at 09:39
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 04 2011 at 15:38
They actually have this book in my local public library!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 06 2010 at 07:43
The Strawberry bricks guide online is a wonderful website. Well done to all involved!  I used it as a checklist of what to get next as far as albums go.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 07 2010 at 20:34
Originally posted by Rank1 Rank1 wrote:

One more song " Blue Jay Way,” was conceived on the harmonium but is more significant in that it reveals the depth of Harrison’s understanding of Indian music, as well as his ability to express it in a pop context.  The opening sequence of notes imposes part of the scale from an Indian raga called “Marwa” onto a basic C-major chord. He uses notes that are dissonant in the C-major setting (E-flat and F-sharp), pivoting them around a C-diminished chord. It certainly was not rock ‘n’ roll, and the quality of his work was now to be found in the details-not in the immediate impact. Perhaps this is why this example of Harrison radically pushing the songwriting envelope is rarely discussed in such terms.

 
I still do not agree. And George at the time was quite experimental and the likelihood is that this is what he heard that later was called this or that on a regular music scale so we have a name for it. He also was a very typical western man with the sitar in hand and did not master it, which kinda tells you that he could do a few things but nothing else, and if he was getting confused with the count and scales, which are not 4/4 inclined like most of the music he played and was familiar with ... otherwise he would have played a lot more eastern music in his own work, which he did NOT. He also experimented with electronics heavily ... and you might check out "Lectronic Sound". It really tells you more about "George" than it does his music ... !
 
You don't go into meditational music, or a sitar, by studying scales when the instrument and specially the "ragas" are designed to bring out the music and feeling inside the person. And that music might, or might not, have the feeling or idea that you -- YOU -- thought of. I think the question for George was ... what can we add and double up with this piece here to make is "musical" for our audience, and in that sense ... yes, the Beatles are very good and quite progressive. But the nature of the composition itself is not progressive at all.
 
The point was that "pop music" was not known as being intelligent, well defined and composed and on top of beautifully done, and The Beatles broke that mold really good ... pop musicians can do this too! ... has to do with the music, not the style was their point ... I accept that. And I think that is something that a lot of "progressive" minded folks are afraid of. Not being accepted. And the best way to discuss this music is to show it's valid progression in "time" and "place" to help validate its existence. The comment about mixing music and scales is esoteric to say the least since not many of us in the western world are versed in eastern musical concepts and idioms and conversely similar to the other folks from the eastern countries. And both can mix, just like anything can mix, and in the late 60's and early 70's the experimental thing was ... "anything is music" ... and "sound is music" ... otherwise things like Faust and many other experimental bands come off like a bunch of kids playing with toys ... well, to be fair, who's to say that music can not come out of that?


Edited by moshkito - September 07 2010 at 21:27
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 07 2010 at 20:25
Quote ...

Then George Harrison played the sitar, tamboura, swarmandal, and recording the guitar backwards.  Jeff Beck and Roger McGuinn were not playing Indian instruments and George was the first rock guitarist to play these instruments.

 

This is probably not true, either. India was not born yesterday and they have had rock bands doing their music right with/after the Beatles, and I would say, that it is very likely that this mix was out there before. Are you suggesting that India was a third world country that had no electric guitars? Or drums?

 
What should be said, is that our ears had not heard those mixtures yet .... but to think that no musician had ever tried or done it before is ... not complete. There were a lot of classical musicians that did a lot of work with Eastern musicians and Isaac Stern and Yehudi Menuin just about made their names with it. And Yehudi is responsible for bringing Ravi Shankar to the West, not The Beatles as far as I can remember and tell. I had already heard Ravi Shankar way before Sgt Peppers had come out! 
 
The issue here is publicity and media ... one did not hear, or understand, as much music as we can today ... so the east/west mix was really big in the 60's ... but today is not important, even in the context of the development of "progressive music". And the simplistic attitude that it is discussed with is not a good ingredient for helping the book be more widely accepted and understood. Specially when it's history is ignoring some advances in America like FM radio, which almost single handedly put "progressive music" in the map, until 5 years later it became just another AM radio station playing top hits ... or worse ... classics!
 
I don't dislike the book. I find it incomplete and lacking and way too generalized ... and I don't think that we can make things better unless PA gets it on ... we have the best here ... and you don't have to rely on books that ... do not measure up? But we consider it better simply because it was published and we don't credit this board at all ... and the book is also toally clueless about any other art that is related to the music, be it directly or indirectly ... and as such they take away the "soul" of a lot of music. To me, and many others, "Epitath" is not a progressive music anthem ... it is one of the most important anti-war statements ever put together ... with the exception that you don't know what a war is and what it entails and it is simpler to call it "progressive" and forget the rest? Sorry ... not all of us are members of the ignorance is bliss department of music knowledge, and specially this board, where the knowledge is outtasight!
 
I just think that it's time that PA take a step forward and become THE book on the subject! And we even incorporate the interviews, which so many of these books don't.
 
Btw, there are two of those books out there that have my pictures of Gong showing and I am not given the credit for it ... shouldn't that give you an idea of how generic and reckless and thoughless something like that is?
 
We just need to convince Dean and a couple of other people here ... we need to become the ultimate progressive bible and information place ... not some second rate book!


Edited by moshkito - September 07 2010 at 21:31
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 21 2010 at 06:38
The Strawberry Bricks website was one of the first to get me deeper into prog - before i discovered this site that is :)Wink
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