An Introduction to Prog Rock Prof. J. Paradiso – MIT Media Lab
Session 1: Intro - Things your dad should have told you about Prog Session 2; Canterbury Session 3: Rock in Opposition Session 4: Zeuhl Session 5: Space Rock and Neopsychedelia Session 6: French & Quebecois Prog Session 7: Rock Progressivo Italiano Session 8: Germany, Berlin, and Krautrock (perhaps some Scandavania too) Session 9: Japanese Prog
Lecture 4 – The Canterbury Bands …and a few fascinating detours! IAP 2018
The City of Canterbury London Up Here An amazingly creative bunch of emerging musicians hung out at Robert Wyatt’s House & environs in the mid 60s
Memories
Brian & Hugh Hopper, Richard Sinclair, Kevin Ayers formed The Wilde Flowers in the early 1960s – Daevid Allen, David Sinclair, Richard Coughlin, etc. in the mix too
Leading to Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, and Kevin Ayers solo career Enter Soft Machine!
Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge (Daevid Allen, Kevin Ayers) Jimi was their colleague, friend, and fan
He gave them their sound… We Did It Again Early Soft Machine
1968 1969
Why Are We Sleeping? As Long as he Lies Perfectly Still Hung out and toured with Jimi Hendrix Fuzzbox and pedals on organ are iconic in Canterbury Music Very intense live band
Hope for Happiness (Live @ Middle Earth Club) - 1967 Live in France - 1968 Kevin Ayers splits for his solo career
1969 1970 1972 1974
Rheinhardt And Geraldine / Colores Para Dolores (1970)
The Confessions Of Doctor Dream: Irreversible Neural Damage (1974) Becoming a (psychedelic) Jazz Band
1970 1971 1972 Last album with Robert Wyatt
Third was a breakthrough in psych jazz!! Live in Brussels 1971
6:18 Robert Wyatt splits to get back to rock with Matching Mole
1972 1972 With Phil Miller, David Sinclair, Bill MacCormick, David McRae Matching Mole Live in France, 1972 Robert Wyatt post Matching Mole, post accident
1974 1975
Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road (1974) Pigs (In There) - 1982
Released strong records, often with political overtones, through 2010 Later Soft Machine – Enter Karl Jenkins & Alan Holdsworth
1973 1973 1975 1976 Alan Holdsworth guitar John Etheredge guitar
The Soft Weed Factor (1973)
Nettle Bed (1973) Still together as Soft Machine Legacy Bundles (1975) (Etheredge, Babbington, et al) Caravan
1971 1972 1973 1975
Nine Feet Underground Memory Lain, Hugh
Richard Sinclair, David Sinclair, Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan… Uriel
Arzachel (1969)
Garden of Earthly Delights 1972 release By Hillage, Stewart, etc.
David Stewart, Mont Campbell, Clive Brooks, Steve Hillage Egg
Egg - 1970 The Polite Force - 1971 The Civil Surface - 1974 The Metronomical Society 2007 A Visit to the Newport Hospital (1971) Show Business…
David Stewart, Mont Campbell, Clive Brooks
David Stewart was in ‘The Ottawa Company’ with Chris Cutler after Egg and before… Enter Virgin records!!
Richard Branson’s then Prog Label launches in 1972 Hatfield and The North
1973 1975 Son Of 'There's No Place Like Homerton’ (1973) Big John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw, Chaos at the Greasy Spoon, The Yes/No Interlude (1975)
Phil Miller, David Stewart, Richard Sinclair, Pip Pyle (& many friends) National Health
1982 1978 1977 See Also Tenemos Roads (1977) Gilgamesh The Bryden 2 Step (for Amphibians) Part 1 (1978) Phil Miller, David Stewart, John Greaves, Pip Pyle (Alan Gowen, Georgie Born, etc.) Bruford Solo Albums
1978 1979 1980
Hells Bells (1979)
Bill Bruford, David Stewart, Alan Holdsworth, Jeff Berlin See also UK (Bruford, Holdsworth, Eddie Jobson, John Wetton) David Stewart & Barbara Gaskin
1986 1990 1991 2009 2009
Henry and James (1986)
Barbara was from the Northettes and Spyro Gyra (70s Canterbury) Supersister (Netherlands)
Memories Are New (1970) A Girl Named You (1971) Judy Goes on Holiday (1972) R.J. Stips and friends The Muffins (USA)
1978 1981 1993 (1975) 1977-1980
The Adventures of Captain Boomerang (1978) Zoom Resume (1981)
The Muffins Reformed several times over the next decades and issued great subsequent records! Dave Newhouse, Tom Scott, Billy Swan, Paul Sears (and many friends) Kojiro Yamashita (Japan)
2010 1985 Untitled (Track 2) Pondes Ete Ain Soph (Japan)
Mizzle HenryTennis (Japan)
2006
Luster Brain MIA. (Argentina)
1976 1977 Cornonstipicum (1978)
Crifana Y Tamilstenes Schnauser (UK)
Protein For Everyone - 2014 Band from Bath, Alan Strawbridge’s follow-up to The Lucky Bishops. Strong Canterbury moments, especially around the time of this album National Grid (goes Canterbury midway through) Syd Arthur (UK)
2012 2014 2016
Singularity Garden of Time
Young ‘Canterbury’ Band Interlude – Wild new mathrocky ’prog’ bands from central France!
Ni PoiL Pryapisme Chromb!
Ni – Butor (see video next slide from Burg Herzberg 2015) PoiL - Trouille cosmique Pryapisme - Boudin Blanc Et Blan Boudin Chromb! - Des Francis En Quinconce
Perhaps a legacy in Etron Fou Leloublan, Albert Marcoeur, Moving Gelatine Plates…
Daevid Allen & Gong
Formed in France by Daevid Allen & Gilli Smythe in 1967 after he was unable to return to the UK with Soft Machine (visa issues) Gong Live on French TV 1973 Prime Early Classic-Period Gong
1971 1973 1973 1974 Zero The Hero and the Witch’s Spell (Flying Teapot) Planet Gong Castle in the Clouds (Angel’s Egg) Trilogy Master Builder (You)
Daevid Allen, Gilli Smythe, Steve Hillage, Tim Blake, Miguette Grandy, Pierre Morelin, Mike Howlett, Didier Mallerbe, Pip Pyle…. Transition of Gong to Hillage then Pierre Morelin
1975 1976 1978 1979 1979
Expresso (1976)
Alan Holdsworth replacing Hillage post Shamal Great albums, but not Allen-driven psychedelia – more jazz fusion Steve Hillage Launches Solo Career
1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 (w. Rundgren/Utopia)
Sea Nature (1978)
Subsequent albums got funkier Steve went on to reinvent himself in Techno/EDM as ’System 7’ Daevid Allen in NYC
The Zu Festival October 1978
Organized by Giorgio Gomelsky
Daevid Allen & Gilli Smythe (Gong) Chris Cutler (Henry Cow) Yochk’o Seffer & Neffish Music The Muffins Bill Laswell and Pre-Material musicians First appearance by No-Wave Bands in afternoon Glen Branca, John Zorn, etc….
…I was there….
This event launched the ‘Downtown’ scene Daevid re-emerges as New York Gong w. Laswell & Material
1990 1979 1982
O My Photograph (NY Gong) Daevid returns to Australia after, drives cab, lives on beach, etc. but puts out interesting records Collaborations with Here & Now, Kramer, Makoto, Robson, etc.
1978 (punky) 1992 - w. Kramer 1999 - Brainville 2003 w. AMT
Alphaville Beach (Brainville)
1992 …Then reforms ‘classic’ Gong
2000 2009 2014
The Eternal Wheel Spins (2014) RIP Daevid Allen (March 2015) & Gilli Smyth ( August 2016)
Posthumous Release 2016 4/08 JAP Watch These!
‘Romantic Warriors’ DVD set by Adele Schmidt & José Zegarra Holder In MIT’s Music Library Krautrock documentary in progress – Italian prog and perhaps space rock, etc. coming…. 44 ResEnv Research Update 4/16 Joe Paradiso