Rick Wakeman appreciation thread

Please, pal, before I knew what prog was, I was listening Classic Rock bands as Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Steppenwolf, BTO, The Who and some Prog related Rock bands like Uriah Heep and Deep Purple.

Yes, I love Symphonic, but I'm as interested in Psychedelia and early Rock

You have claimed that:

Iván

Of course we can disagree, it's healthy for a forum (And fun for those of us who like a good debate)..

But your comment of Refugee left me cold

According to every piece of literature and almost every review of the album, describes the band as keyboard oriented and praises the work of Patrick Moraz, combining Rock, Classical and Jazz (Remember that Moraz made his early career as Jazz player rather than as Classical musician) with brilliance, the only weak point of Refugee were the terrible vocals

Now, if you have to choose one early Yes album with lesser classical influence, you have to go with Relayer, Moraz is absolutely different to Wakeman in every sense, both are great, buit Moraz is much more aggressive and of course Jazz Rock oriented.

I never cared for the Moody Blues, because of the poppy sound, but things changed in the fantastic "Long Distance Voyager", all the themes (except "Taking Out of the Turn") are much more rewarding and Rock oriented than anything done with Pinder.

Patrick Moraz gave freshness to every band he joined, as a fact he changed the sound and style, listen him in Mainhorse (described as a combination between Deep Purple and Atomic Rooster), and tell me if the guy can't rock. 

BTW: Haven't heard your opinion about Par Lindh or Jurgen Fritz, normally described as members of the school of Emerson and as clones by the mot radical ELP fans.

Just in case you never heard him, this is the guy who studied Classical Music in a Conservatory, went for perfection  with almost 30 teachers and toured as a Classical pianist and organist:

Now tell me that he can't Rock.

Iván

 

Now we're getting to the nitty-gritty. I didn't intend to disrespect any of the very fine musicians you mentioned, that's not really the point Im making. Prog did many fine and healthy things, it elevated pop/rock music and introduced true musicianship into the general genre, but it also had unhealthy sides to it. Musicians began to forget the roots of what pop music is, and in some ways you are displaying some of those attitudes in your posts. Rock music is not classical, or at least should only contains elements of classicism if it is to retain its roots and dynamic qualities. How would Rubenstein have fared as a rock musician? Very poorly I would suggest, or at least he would have been only of use in those moments where rock was mimicing classics. Wakeman is perhaps the most famous example of that ilk, and almost all the examples you are given fall into the same category. No-one can doubt their technique or talent, but it is more in the realms of a concert pianist that a rock keyboard player. I would suggest that most of these players are actually rather poor at the job, needing the full support of guitars and the texture of a full band to be of use at all. This simply isn't true of Emerson, Ritchie, and a few others, they have a whole rock dynamic that Wakeman and the others you mentioned do not even approach, being based purely on piano technique with no thought or awareness (or ability) to play not just the piece but the forces surrounding them. They could be playing in a living room or in a large hall and they would play exactly the same in both cases.

 

If music was simpley about who had the most proficient technique, then there would be no such thing as aesthetics, emotional content, and sheer power. That's how the implosion of Prog happened, it drifted too far from the place of its birth.