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Dean

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 14:14

Guldbamsen wrote:

You've got a Bardo Pond album Dean? Wouldn't have guessed that..... How do you find it(and what is it btw)?

In 2006 I walked into Waterloo Records in Austin Texas looking for something new, the guy behind the counter commented on my English accent and we got talking, before I left I asked him for the coolest new album they'd got. He handed me Ticket Crystal.

Edited by Dean - March 26 2013 at 14:15

What?

Guldbamsen View Drop Down

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 14:23

Dean wrote:

Guldbamsen wrote:

You've got a Bardo Pond album Dean? Wouldn't have guessed that..... How do you find it(and what is it btw)?

I don't have that actually - is it any good?

I have this one, which I really dig(especially the beautiful art work):

Edited by Guldbamsen - March 26 2013 at 14:25

“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams

dennismoore View Drop Down

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 15:54

Stool Man wrote:

So I had an idea, let's have an appreciation-of-US-prog thread, for non-US people like me. Then we can show each other amazing things that we might otherwise never bother to listen to.

Hi Stool Man,

As a very proud American Veteran, I am not ashamed to say that as far as progressive music goes, we will

always be the UK's bitch#%s. Nothing more.

Yes, Kansas were great but not to the level of ELP or YES or Genesis, and I do really enjoy Kansas...

Hmm, let's include Canada as well,... great North American Prog:

RUSH

Kansas

Glass Hammer

Mystery

Pat Metheny

Eric Johnson (best guitarist on planet Earth who is not Steve Howe...)

Spock's Beard

Art in America....

Zappa

Al Dimeola (from New Jersey

) His album "Casino" is a must own.

Allman Bros.

Dixie Dregs!!!!!!!!

Edited by dennismoore - March 26 2013 at 15:55

"Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire

SquonkHunter View Drop Down

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 17:47

Agree with the Starcastle mention. I bought the first three albums on CDs last year and are loving them. Had forgotten all about them for years until I started lurking about on this Forum. Thanks for reminding me of them.

"You never had the things you thought you should have had and you'll not get them now..."

Dean

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 18:28

Guldbamsen wrote:

I don't have that actually - is it any good?

I have no point of reference so I can't be of any use. I like it, but never felt the need to own another album by them.

I can tell you that I laughed (out loud) when I first heard the cover of Cry Baby Cry, but not in a bad way.

What?

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 18:50

I'm an Englishman and have developed a fondness for US prog over the years, there's definitely a good US Avant scene. Amongst my favorites

Thinking Plague, Hamster Theater, 5UU's, Calle Debauche, The Nerve Institute, The Muffins, Herd Of Instincts, Alec Redfearn & The Eyesores, Zevious, Algernon, The Aristocrats, Behold ... The Arctopus, Tool, U Totem, Far Corner, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Steve Tibbetts, Electric Masada, Secret Chiefs 3, MoeTar, Mirthkon, Cheer-Accident, Decemberists, Djam Karet, Moraine.

Phew, I thinks that's plenty of good listening

Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/

brainstormer View Drop Down

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 20:27

I've been continuing my interview with James Lowe of the Electric Prunes and

I just got this from him:

From Dark Globe, Julian Palacios' biography (page 207) of Syd Barrett:

'Infused with a spirit of sudden discovery, 'Astronomy Domine' was a continual work in progress. Barrett tinkered with the song's construction right until the recording session, inspired by a single issued that week by American garage psychers the Electric Prunes. Its A-side, 'Get Me To The World On Time', was a minor hit climbing Radio London's chart. However, Barrett was riveted by the B-side, 'Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)', he lifted the song's intro wholesale for 'Astronomy Domine'.'

I'd not made the link before but blindingly obvious now it has been pointed out to me. Any thoughts/recollections? Assumption made by the biographer? Did Barrett/Pink Floyd ever acknowledge it? Mere coincidence?

The Electric Prunes were from California. I'm convinced the importance of seeing them
as a Prog band.

--
Robert Pearson
Regenerative Music http://www.regenerativemusic.net
Telical Books http://www.telicalbooks.com
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net

brainstormer View Drop Down

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Posted: March 26 2013 at 21:26

I'm sorry to say you guys but I think Prog History may need to be rewritten.

Electric Prunes - I had too much to dream last night

The Lp was released April 1967

EMI-Columbia released The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in August 1967.

My opinion on the real history of the early incarnation. Dave Axelrod, even though he might have

an average musician's Ego (meaning huge) actually became more like a member of the Prunes then the

isolated "consultant or composer," that it seems like his role was. He worked with the band

for one whole album, and then worked with the guy who pulled the legal strings for the band

for another entire album, until the whole thing changed direction and for one album only this

co-owner/producer person became the sole owner of the name. This might be

the most extreme case of membership realignment under a flagship name, but even if James Lowe

doesn't want to accept it, it's not unheard of that rock bands sometimes greatly change their directions like

this. Chris Squire is only remaining original member to be in the band Yes, and that band has

always had significant member line-up changes. We could even go so far to say that this producer David

Hassinger was almost like a Peter Sinfield in King Crimson, although I am sure James Lowe would probably laugh

or be angry at the suggestion. I never met David Hassinge in those days and don't know what kind of person

he was. I guess he wasn't the archetypal groovy hippie musician, but my guess is that he wasn't really

a Dickensian monster at that time. A lot of people like Release of an Oath and Mass, and it does fit into

the Prog Rock canon rather nicely at the earliest stages. I'm just trying to show an underlining cohesiveness of The

Electric Prunes as a musical entity, not the fractured early tragedy that people might want to always see them as.

Sure, we can say what they could have been shows that there was an early long term band there,

but Lowe mentioned that he had a type of self-preservation instinct to him that made him eventually

avoid the musical world. It might have worked out best for the world, Todd Rundgren included, that

things turned out the way they did.

They didn't go on to become have a huge line of records in their first incarnation,

but early innovators rarely have happy or easy stories. As we can see from the lifelong

success of James Lowe, the fact that Mark Tulin also had a good life, not too long by today's

standards but not what one could call tragically short. He went on to work with

Billy Corgan, one of the biggest figures in music in from the 90' to current times.

--
Robert Pearson
Regenerative Music http://www.regenerativemusic.net
Telical Books http://www.telicalbooks.com
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net

ExittheLemming View Drop Down

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 04:54

Kotro wrote:

Happy the Man.

Excellent nomination. A band who fell under the radar the first time around but their first two albums seem to just keep improving with age (or mine at any rate)

Top drawer Symph style prog from the USA is conspicuous by its absence and I guess that the US tended to excel in the jazzier/fusion end of the spectrum ?

However, exceptions to that are:
Quill
Ethos

moshkito

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:08

Dean wrote:

...

Sorry mate, I don't buy it. If it were not for the English rock press and the English record labels of the 1970s people now sitting in their Californian living rooms wouldn't be singing the praises of Krautrock and RPI in the 21st Century. ...

It was the London Press that helped the most, because LA had the Free Press, which was basically considered an underground and "illegal" publication (anything that is not the LA Times always was!), SF had Rolling Stone, but only showed "stars", so Jan could get laid. And NY didn't care, because they already had a god named Andy!

So, yes, the London calling is valid! But it is not the only music there was, and LONDON knew it! I read my Melody Maker about once a month (when we went to LA so we could get it!) ... and I got into Terje Rypdal from his concert with AshRaTempel, and knew Can was in London, and Amon Duul 2 ... we never got that at Rolling Stone, or the Free Press. Ohhh ... and the first time that Rolling Stone reviewed Tangerine Dream, they said it was washing machine music, which tells you what they were ingesting for dope and drink ... even we had fun with that, but I know that you know, that we both know ... that washing machines do not sound anything like TD, even in the 2nd or 3rd album! Which really tells you where their head was at ... and the folks around the radio stations, were not a whole lot better, btw ... which makes Guy's efforts for over 20 years insane ... !

Dean wrote:

...

Krautrock wasn't popular in its home country in the 1970s, it was only when the British press started to take notice of the progressive music coming out of Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands that those bands started to get any recognition anywhere. ...

Krautrock was a natural extension of the film and theater work in Germany at that time. Music was a better and more efficient progenitor of the message ... we all know that! Please take a look, or read up Peter Brook, as to how/why he selected Peter Weiss ... and it will give you an idea of what was going on in German Theater ... and a year later or two Peter Handke was going his Burroughs impression, which Damo Suzuki made famous and it became known as "krautrock", along with others.

Dean wrote:

...

Why do you think the BBC would produce a programme on Krautrock if it wasn't relevant in the UK in the 1970s? Think about it. ...

I did ... and check out the Encyclopedia Brittanica ...

Again ... what we're getting caught on is a term that was NOT used at the time, and now we're calling it that ... and giving it different criteria fro everything including the kitchen sink ... I was aware of a lot of film around the world, and music, just like you were quite well aware of music on this side of the continent ... and we all heard it!

Btw ... I didn't care for Kansas, either! I would rather pay to go see The Allman Brothers Band at that time, since not too many import bands were around, then, specially in California, though later, things like KC did really well in LA and SF.

Edited by moshkito - March 27 2013 at 10:29

Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Guldbamsen View Drop Down

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:15

brainstormer wrote:

I've been continuing my interview with James Lowe of the Electric Prunes and

I just got this from him:

From Dark Globe, Julian Palacios' biography (page 207) of Syd Barrett:

'Infused with a spirit of sudden discovery, 'Astronomy Domine' was a continual work in progress. Barrett tinkered with the song's construction right until the recording session, inspired by a single issued that week by American garage psychers the Electric Prunes. Its A-side, 'Get Me To The World On Time', was a minor hit climbing Radio London's chart. However, Barrett was riveted by the B-side, 'Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)', he lifted the song's intro wholesale for 'Astronomy Domine'.'

I'd not made the link before but blindingly obvious now it has been pointed out to me. Any thoughts/recollections? Assumption made by the biographer? Did Barrett/Pink Floyd ever acknowledge it? Mere coincidence?

The Electric Prunes were from California. I'm convinced the importance of seeing them
as a Prog band.

I find this very interesting, and as you yourself put it - it's rather obvious when you compare the two tracks.

I do however think that Floyd are here on PA because of their subsequent releases, and as much as Piper was overtly experimental and progressive, it's still heavily rooted in the psych rock from the sixties. As I see it, The Electric Prunes never underwent the same shift in their music, at least not towards the 'prog' we have come to call it later on.

“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams

Guldbamsen View Drop Down

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:25

Dean wrote:

Guldbamsen wrote:

I don't have that actually - is it any good?

I have no point of reference so I can't be of any use. I like it, but never felt the need to own another album by them.

I can tell you that I laughed (out loud) when I first heard the cover of Cry Baby Cry, but not in a bad way.

I know the feeling. I have the first Ramases album, and while I really dig it, I have no real urge to acquire the follow up.

Oh and laughing out loud during music is perhaps one of the most sensible things to do, whenever you come across something weird/intangible/left-field - instead of pressing skip or changing the album..... Mr Wilson did have a point back when he destroyed ipods with various guns, - with today's digital world, there does seem to be a serious deficit of putting albums on and listening to them in their entirety. Too busy and fragmented to sit still for 45 minutes, and I tend to agree with him, even if I think his way of demonstrating against it was counterproductive. Ok rant over LOL

“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams

moshkito

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:30

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:

I'm an Englishman and have developed a fondness for US prog over the years, there's definitely a good US Avant scene. Amongst my favorites

Thinking Plague, Hamster Theater, 5UU's, Calle Debauche, The Nerve Institute, The Muffins, Herd Of Instincts, Alec Redfearn & The Eyesores, Zevious, Algernon, The Aristocrats, Behold ... The Arctopus, Tool, U Totem, Far Corner, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Steve Tibbetts, Electric Masada, Secret Chiefs 3, MoeTar, Mirthkon, Cheer-Accident, Decemberists, Djam Karet, Moraine.

Phew, I thinks that's plenty of good listening

You haven't added "Herd of Instinct"? ... shame on you!

Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:51

He also forgot about two brethren of the German kosmische tradition Wink

Moolah:

Friendsound:

Like I said, both of these genuinely sound like they were made ca 1971 Germany, and whereas the Moolah album sports an early spooky industrial atmosphere . there's still that wonderful playful almost naive approach to the instruments that colours much of the Friendsound album. Two very imaginative albums, and I can't believe they've been forgotten about.

“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams

Guldbamsen View Drop Down

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 12:39

Oh oh oh I know, we've completely forgotten about this one as well:

“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams

Nogbad_The_Bad View Drop Down

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 13:51

moshkito wrote:

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:

I'm an Englishman and have developed a fondness for US prog over the years, there's definitely a good US Avant scene. Amongst my favorites

Thinking Plague, Hamster Theater, 5UU's, Calle Debauche, The Nerve Institute, The Muffins, Herd Of Instincts, Alec Redfearn & The Eyesores, Zevious, Algernon, The Aristocrats, Behold ... The Arctopus, Tool, U Totem, Far Corner, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Steve Tibbetts, Electric Masada, Secret Chiefs 3, MoeTar, Mirthkon, Cheer-Accident, Decemberists, Djam Karet, Moraine.

Phew, I thinks that's plenty of good listening

You haven't added "Herd of Instinct"? ... shame on you!

They're in my list, I seem to remember suggesting they be added here when the first album came out and getting slapped down as they'd been suggested before. Great band, love the new album.

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - March 27 2013 at 13:53

Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 13:55

Hey Nogbad.

Do you by any chance know of the three albums I just mentioned? Seeing your tastes, they'd probably fit you like a pair of gloves.

“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 13:59

Guldbamsen wrote:

Hey Nogbad.

Do you by any chance know of the three albums I just mentioned? Seeing your tastes, they'd probably fit you like a pair of gloves.

Thanks for the reco, I don't know them but will certainly check them out, what is the third one?

Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 14:04

It's Bobby Beausoleil's soundtrack for the Kenneth Anger movie Lucifer Rising. You know, the Charles Manson affiliate who supposedly killed a drug dealer for selling him bum mescalin? He then proceeded to record this album from the insides of a jail cell - sending bits and pieces back and forth between him and the band - making this one of the first albums done by 'mail'.

“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams

brainstormer View Drop Down

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Posted: March 27 2013 at 15:33

Guldbamsen wrote:

brainstormer wrote:

I've been continuing my interview with James Lowe of the Electric Prunes and

I just got this from him:

From Dark Globe, Julian Palacios' biography (page 207) of Syd Barrett:

'Infused with a spirit of sudden discovery, 'Astronomy Domine' was a continual work in progress. Barrett tinkered with the song's construction right until the recording session, inspired by a single issued that week by American garage psychers the Electric Prunes. Its A-side, 'Get Me To The World On Time', was a minor hit climbing Radio London's chart. However, Barrett was riveted by the B-side, 'Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)', he lifted the song's intro wholesale for 'Astronomy Domine'.'

I'd not made the link before but blindingly obvious now it has been pointed out to me. Any thoughts/recollections? Assumption made by the biographer? Did Barrett/Pink Floyd ever acknowledge it? Mere coincidence?

The Electric Prunes were from California. I'm convinced the importance of seeing them
as a Prog band.

I find this very interesting, and as you yourself put it - it's rather obvious when you compare the two tracks.

That wasn't my quote, that was James Lowe, the singer saying that.

As far as the EP being prog, they have 2 concept albums in 1968. Have you heard them? Mass and

Release?

--
Robert Pearson
Regenerative Music http://www.regenerativemusic.net
Telical Books http://www.telicalbooks.com
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net

US prog appreciation by non-US people

Electric Prunes - I had too much to dream last night