Spirit of John Morgan (English crossover prog)

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Spirit of John Morgan was an English progressive rock band which played crossover prog blended with folk, blues, sould r'n'b & pop influences.

line-up:

John Morgan (organ, piano, vocals), Mick Walter (drums, percussion, vocals), Don "Fagin" Whitaker (lead guitar, vocals), Phil Shutt [Phil Curtis] (bass), Trevor Thoms [Trevor Thomas, Trevor James] (guitar)

(Phil Shutt later played bass in Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come band)

They recorded 2 albums:

Spirit of John Morgan (1969) - good mix of psycedelic rock, heavy blues, some folk and early british progressive rock (especially great John Morgan's organ). surely their best album. Very consistent. (Grham Bond's song "I Want You" from this album later was again covered by retro prog Italian band called "Standarte" in their s/t album. Also includes "Honky Tonk Train Blues" :-).

Age Machine (1970) - more pop/folk oriented tracks but still many good prog rock songs here like "Lost Nirvana"(with evident classical music influences), "Seventh Dawn"(early Santana-like) and great version of Yes' song "No opportunity, necessary no experience needed".

In 1971 John Morgan recorded Kaleidoscope album which can be treated as contination of "Spirit of John Morgan" in fact. Music is similar to "Age Machine" but with even more folk orientation on many song. 

videos:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHzKC6W35GU (Lost Nirvana, example of more prog oriented songs)
http://www.twitvid.com/NVY16 (great song in the vain of Velvet Fogg and Sugarloaf!!)
http://www.nme.com/artists/spirit-of-john-morgan (Orpheus And None For Ye)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD1j0ily6iY (Age Machine, example of more pop oriented songs)

short audio samples:

http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-John-Morgan/dp/B000EMSUC4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275891963&sr=1-1

other:

www.last.fm/music/Spirit+of+John+Morgan

www.last.fm/music/John+Morgan

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/spirit_of_john_morgan

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/john_morgan

www.spirit-of-john-morgan.com/ (seems to be official website, I don't know it's working or not. In my computer it doesn't...but it doesn't tell you anything 'cos I live in China....)

http://www.answers.com/topic/spirit-of-john-morgan

http://www.answers.com/topic/spirit-of-john-morgan-rhythm-blues-album

http://www.amazon.com/Kaleidoscope-Mini-Sleeve-John-Morgan/dp/B000VKNLRI

http://www.amazon.com/Age-Machine-Spirit-John-Morgan/dp/B000JQQLSU/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275891997&sr=1-12

http://www.amazon.com/Age-Machine-Mini-Lp-Sleeve/dp/B000VKNLR8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275892030&sr=1-5

Edited by ozzy_tom - June 07 2010 at 01:34

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ozzy_tom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: March 15 2006 Location: China/Poland Status: Offline Points: 754	Topic: Spirit of John Morgan (English crossover prog) Posted: June 07 2010 at 01:32
	Spirit of John Morgan was an English progressive rock band which played crossover prog blended with folk, blues, sould r'n'b & pop influences. line-up: John Morgan (organ, piano, vocals), Mick Walter (drums, percussion, vocals), Don "Fagin" Whitaker (lead guitar, vocals), Phil Shutt [Phil Curtis] (bass), Trevor Thoms [Trevor Thomas, Trevor James] (guitar) (Phil Shutt later played bass in Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come band) They recorded 2 albums: Spirit of John Morgan (1969) - good mix of psycedelic rock, heavy blues, some folk and early british progressive rock (especially great John Morgan's organ). surely their best album. Very consistent. (Grham Bond's song "I Want You" from this album later was again covered by retro prog Italian band called "Standarte" in their s/t album. Also includes "Honky Tonk Train Blues" :-). Age Machine (1970) - more pop/folk oriented tracks but still many good prog rock songs here like "Lost Nirvana"(with evident classical music influences), "Seventh Dawn"(early Santana-like) and great version of Yes' song "No opportunity, necessary no experience needed". In 1971 John Morgan recorded Kaleidoscope album which can be treated as contination of "Spirit of John Morgan" in fact. Music is similar to "Age Machine" but with even more folk orientation on many song. videos: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHzKC6W35GU (Lost Nirvana, example of more prog oriented songs) http://www.twitvid.com/NVY16 (great song in the vain of Velvet Fogg and Sugarloaf!!) http://www.nme.com/artists/spirit-of-john-morgan (Orpheus And None For Ye) www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD1j0ily6iY (Age Machine, example of more pop oriented songs) short audio samples: http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-John-Morgan/dp/B000EMSUC4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275891963&sr=1-1 other: www.last.fm/music/Spirit+of+John+Morgan www.last.fm/music/John+Morgan http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/spirit_of_john_morgan http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/john_morgan www.spirit-of-john-morgan.com/ (seems to be official website, I don't know it's working or not. In my computer it doesn't...but it doesn't tell you anything 'cos I live in China....) http://www.answers.com/topic/spirit-of-john-morgan http://www.answers.com/topic/spirit-of-john-morgan-rhythm-blues-album http://www.amazon.com/Kaleidoscope-Mini-Sleeve-John-Morgan/dp/B000VKNLRI http://www.amazon.com/Age-Machine-Spirit-John-Morgan/dp/B000JQQLSU/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275891997&sr=1-12 http://www.amazon.com/Age-Machine-Mini-Lp-Sleeve/dp/B000VKNLR8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275892030&sr=1-5 Edited by ozzy_tom - June 07 2010 at 01:34


DamoXt7942 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum & Site Admin Group Avant/Cross/Neo/Post Teams Joined: October 15 2008 Location: Okayama, Japan Status: Offline Points: 17455	Posted: June 07 2010 at 01:43
	Now checking their Amazon samples ...


DamoXt7942 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum & Site Admin Group Avant/Cross/Neo/Post Teams Joined: October 15 2008 Location: Okayama, Japan Status: Offline Points: 17455	Posted: June 07 2010 at 01:57
	Their eponymous album I've heard and felt they be a cool oldie pop & rock band, with less progressive essence IMO ... any other opinions? Lost Nirvana is a great organ-based melodious classical rock song indeed, not so progressive for me though.


harmonium.ro Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: August 18 2008 Location: Anna Calvi Status: Offline Points: 22989	Posted: June 07 2010 at 04:09
	Will check soon

harmonium.ro Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: August 18 2008 Location: Anna Calvi Status: Offline Points: 22989	Posted: June 07 2010 at 05:37
	Well, it's more artsy and musically complex than the regular organ lead classic rock, and it's not heavy enough for Heavy, so I'll pass it further to the Crossover Team. But I wouldn't get very optimistic on it.

Highlander97 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: June 23 2013 Status: Offline Points: 1	Posted: June 23 2013 at 13:31
	My great Uncle was in Spirit of John Morgan ,his name is Don Whitaker.