wkmac
Well-Known Member
Truimvirat. Spartacus! Yeah I remember them. A 3 piece like ELP. Saw them in 74' with Jefferson Starship and Boston and mostly went to the show to see them (T-Rat)but I was interested in Boston because of of MIT grad Tom Scholz and his new approach to recording and production. This was early on before they (Boston)really launched it big around 1976'.
Saw Renaissance several times and between Annie's vocie and Jon bass it was always good. If you play bass you've got to know who Jaco Pastorius is? And speaking of fretless, about 2 years ago my then 14 year old and I met Tony Franklin who is now a rep with SWR but in the 80's was the bass player for Jimmy Page and Paul Rogers in The Firm and can this guy play a fretless bass. He spent nearly an hour with my daughter one on one teaching her several techniques on the fret and fretless bass and even let her play his personal fretless bass. Talk about a super, super person. And he also gave her one of the best lectures about the evils of the drug trappings that you see in rock music and the importance of staying focused on your music and maintaining a pure and clean spirit. Hearing this from someone firsthand who's been through it sure had a positive impact on my daughter and to Tony I'll always be greatful.
And speaking of great bass players, Tony Levin. Check out Liquid Tension experiment where Tony plays bass and the Chapman Stick. He's awesome on the stick. Also if you like mellotron's and other synth's then check out this video from a NAMM show a couple of years ago and I think you'll know the guy on the Keys!
Also if you like Gabriel era Genesis then check out the tribute band The Musical Box. I saw Genesis twice with Gabriel in 74' and then in 75' and I saw the musical box and I had to pinch myself several times to make sure I knew I wasn't back in 74'. They are very good and both Steve Hackett and Phil Collins have come up on stage and played with them.
Here's a vid of Phil's appearance:
I know the psychedelic music period of the latter 60's with bands like Pink Floyd and Iron Butterfly had a huge impact but IMO Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King really started it all as progressive rock goes. Several years ago I was reading a thesis on music and in it the discussion turned to the progressive rock era and specifically KC. The writer also came to the same conclusion about Crimson King but he also made a strong arguement that the same album laid a similar foundation for metal music. Yeah metal! The proof was 21st Century Schzoid Man and sure enough if you listen to the music is does have that heavy almost metallic vibe to it. Now it lacks the over the top heavy distortion most common with metal but you hear the concept within the music itself. I was surprised to say the least after listening to this song with new ears.
I was only able to see KC one time in 1974' and Robin Trower (I love his guitar work even till now) was on the bill with them. During the show Bob Fripp was side stage watching Trower and the reverse was true when Crimson played. Years later I learned that the 2 of them wanted to work together on a project and it never came to pass and that's a real shame IMO.
Bob Fripp recently recorded on the new Porcupine Tree CD "Fear of a Blank Planet" on the tracks "Way Out of Here" and "Nil Recurring" and toured with PT some on their last tour in the States.
Man this is awesome to learn there really are people at UPS with great tastes in music!
