Progrock bands using violin?

 

ELO ... I definitly missed that ...

 

It's a Beautiful Day ... a definite miss ... and White Bird was one of the first songs to make the electric violin famous and pretty much helped bring the others along. And that first and second albums by this band are actually quite progressive ... assuming some folks don't just want ELP and KC covers or copies, of course!

 

Papa John Creech ... played with Jefferson Airplane many times and albums ... and the only albums that really stand out he is on it ... talk about helping "make" the music ... his involvement in the album that has Caroline and Ride the Tiger by the 2nd generation of the band, Jefferson STarship.

 

Darryl Way also played with Pierre Morlin in his Gong version ... really nice too, and actually a much better venue for his style. Darryl had an album with Francis Monkman, a symphony kind of thing that I don't think went as well as it could. but had some nice pieces in it. Also .. did he not play in GO with all those other guys?

 

Mike Oldfield ... you can see the violins in action on EXPOSED, one of the best live concerts ever recorded with an orchestra. The only problem is that I would have to add Yanni to this mix as that lady that played with him is very good ... but Mike's music is way more prog and original, while Yanni's is more conventional. Mike designs his music his own way and later converts things to other instruments ... and some of them these days are ... virtual.

 

Adding ...

Can ... Holger Czukay and I believe Mikael Karoli were profitient with a violin and used it more than once. I have to re-check this though. Found in Soon Over Babalooma and Landed and some of the other side albums.

Cano ... Canadian band in the 70's that did some really nice things.

Bondage Fruit ... Japanese Prog 90's

Malicorne ... french folk/rock mix that is very nice and could be considered progressive ... it's french folk at any rate, and we're not used to hearing that at all!!!

Alan Stivell ... there isn't an instrument that his albums has not touched!  And he is way too prog'y for everyone by blending rock, jazz, accoustic and orchestral stuff together to make some amazing hybrids.

 

Some greek stuff ... I think that Aphrodite's Child had a lot of violin in it ... have to go chase it down ... son of a gun ... you guys making me work! (Vangelis' first band, btw) .... and very progressive and off the wall this band was with their last album ... that helped define the Gomelsky that eventually brought us Gentle Giant, Gong and so many other biggies of our music. Later, I think it was Socrates, a band that Vangelis helped here and there that also had a violin, but this one is obscure in my head right now ... but greek music is strong on violins usually so it's surprising to not hear it more in various contexts.

 

I accidentally left the Celtic/Irish stuff out ... but almost all of them have a violin ... there are a few that are/were rock oriented like Horslips, but then you can start with The Chieftains, and go all the way through the hundreds of those families ... Horslips would be, in their earlier days more progressive since they were trying to blend rock with the traditional stuff and be original ... but I have not checked later when they did a christmas album (prog's nightmare!) ... the only issue here is that some of these are way too traditional instead of anything else.