EXAM 10 PART 2

Progressive Rock
By the 1970s, rock had established itself as a powerful idiom within the larger picture of musical
culture, inspiring many artists to fuse rock stylings with the broad instrumentation and forms of
European art music. This movement in rock focused on ambitious improvisation and
compositional settings and had come to be known as progressive rock.
Progressive rocks foundation was laid in the sixties by an assortment of talent. Songwriters and
producers, such as Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, brought rock into a more ambitious context
using orchestras and multitrack studio effects. The Beatles and their album Sgt. Peppers
Lonely Hearts Club Band, as well as the lengthy psychedelic music of Jimi Hendrix, matured
rock to the point where artists would attempt more advanced composing and improvisation.
Historically, progressive rock was a British movement, representing the work of a second wave
of British rockers active from the late sixties to the end of the seventies. There are two distinct
factors why progressive rocks stronghold was in England. The first reason being that the British
were well versed in the European art music tradition. The other factor is attributed to English
rockers awareness of the association of the upper-class with classical music and wanting to
attempt to make rock acceptable for the upper-class.
One of the first successful recordings categorizable under the progressive rock label was Procol
Harums song, A Whiter Shade of Pale, released in 1967. The song is based on baroque
composer Johann Sebastian Bachs (16851750) Air on a G String from the Suite No. 3 in D
Major. As an early progressive rock band, Procol Harum combined energetic R&B with grandscale classical music influences, using church-like organs and rock guitars. Other significant
British bands, that took part in the progressive rock movement include the Moody Blues, Deep
Purple, and King Crimson.

Listening example: A Whiter Shade of Pale

Artist: Procol Harum

The Moody Blues began their career as an R&B band, until they joined forces with the London
Festival Orchestra in 1968, to produce the concept album Days of Future Passed. Although it
was an honorable attempt at classical-rock fusion, the end product was superficial, resulting in a
patchwork of pleasant mood music and rock, with little cohesive interaction between the rock
band and the orchestra.

Listening example: Nights in White Satin

Artist: The Moody Blues

Deep Purple had a heavy metal focus, but also combined their sound with an orchestra. In 1969,
Deep Purple teamed up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to record Concerto for Group
and Orchestra. The three-movement piece was composed by the groups keyboardist Jon Lord.
In the piece, the rock group maintains a hard rock sound throughout. In 1970, Lord composed
Gemini Suite, a six-movement rock band and orchestral work in which the band and orchestra
produce a successful fusion.

Listening example: Smoke on the Water

Artist: Deep Purple

King Crimson was led by Robert Fripp. Fripp played guitar and Mellotron, a keyed instrument
used to recreate the sound of symphonic instruments. King Crimsons first album In the Court
of the Crimson King, combined challenging instrumental work, powerful rock guitar, orchestral
Mellotron textures, and doom-laden lyrics. Their first album was such a powerful progressive
rock statement, that any other material King Crimson were to produce would not be able to top
it. With the success of the first album, many of the members disbanded and Fripp went on to
work with Brian Eno, David Bowie, and the Talking Heads.

Listening example: Elephant Talk

Artist: King Crimson

The analysis of progressive rock would not be complete without the mention of Pink Floyd. The
band began in the mid-1960s as a psychedelic blues band that experimented with long
improvisations, electronic effects and light shows. After recording and releasing a few albums,
both Pink Floyd and progressive rock reached their peak with the release of Dark Side of the
Moon in 1973. The album abounded with well-crafted and brooding songs, sound effects,
female backup vocals, long instrumental sections, and elaborate production ensuring Pink
Floyds place in history as the ultimate progressive rock band.

Listening example: Money

Artist: Pink Floyd

Whereas the Moody Blues and Deep Purples approach to progressive rock involved placing
a rock band, with little or no classical training, in an orchestral setting. This produced a result in
which two disparate styles occurred alternately or simultaneously. The band Yes, formed in
1968, took a different approach to progressive rock. Yes limited their instrumentation to a rock
band but, utilized extensive classical training. Yes keyboardist, Rick Wakeman, studied at the
Royal Academy of Music and was a session pianist for David Bowie and Cat Stevens. Wakeman
used keyboard instruments including acoustic and electric pianos, synthesizers, electric organ,
and the Mellotron, to add an orchestral texture to the bands music. With Wakeman in the band,
Yes produced a series of albums that balanced vocals with long, ambitious instrumental cuts.
Wakeman remained in Yes until 1974.

Listening example: Roundabout

Artist: Yes

The British progressive rock keyboardist that matched Rick Wakeman was Keith Emerson of
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer was comprised of musicians from other
British progressive rock bands. Keith Emerson performed with The Nice, and guitarist Greg
Lake, performed with King Crimson. They then enlisted drummer Carl Palmer to form the trio
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Their work is a seamless blend of influences from jazz, classical,
and rock elements, as well as a proficiency with multiple keyboards and masterful keyboard
technique. Not only was Emerson, Lake, and Palmers work comprised of extended original
compositions based on classical models, but also rock adaptations of existing classical works.
For example, in their 1972 album Pictures at an Exhibition, they adapted Modest
Mussorgskys multi-movement work into a rock setting using much of the original work as well
as newly composed material.

Listening example: Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Parts 1 & 2

Artist: Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

Although progressive rock was primarily British, the movement took place in America as well.
The figurehead for American progressive rock was Frank Zappa (1940-1993), a serious and
structured composer, whose music was some of the most challenging and creative in music
history. Zappa was a guitarist, singer, and composer, with an equal affinity for R&B, as well as
the contemporary works of classical composers Karl Heinz Stockhausen, Igor Stravinsky, and
Edgard Varse. In Los Angeles, in 1964, Zappa formed the group the Mothers of Invention.
Their music was strange but structured, grounded in twentieth-century classical music techniques
that did not make use of tuneful melodies or regular metrical pulses. Much of the language in
Zappas music is explicit, a manifestation of his belief in uncensored expression of art. This
tendency unfortunately kept him off radio and television and strained his relationship with record
companies, keeping him out of the mainstream media outlets for much of his career.

Listening example: Dont Eat the Yellow Snow

Artist: Frank Zappa

Jethro Tull was a British rock group, formed in 1967, initially playing experimental blues rock
and later incorporating elements of classical music, folk music, jazz, hard rock and art rock into
their music. Their music is characterized by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and the flute playing of
Ian Anderson, who led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre.

Listening example: Bouree

Artist: Jethro Tull, British progressive rock band

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) was a British rock group from Birmingham, England, who
released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO was
formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs
with classical overtones. After Wood's departure following the band's debut record, Lynne wrote
and arranged all of the group's original compositions and produced every album.

Listening example: Dont Bring Me Down

Artist: The Electric Light Orchestra, British progressive rock band