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progressive rock recordings / bands

#148
Bob_Ross said:
Doesn’t Rick Wakeman play on those albums? I have a vague recollection of the drummer in my high school band trying to get me into Strawbs just because of their connection with Yes. I also have a less vague recollection of that connection not being strong enough to engage my interest.
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Rick's last record with The Strawbs was From the Witchwood. And you can definitely tell it's him from the style of playing. After he left (completely pissing off leader, David Cousins), a guy named Blue Weaver came on board for Grave New World and Bursting at the Seams. While, he wasn't a virtuoso type (like Wakeman), he did a commendable job. I haven't listened to Grave New World, but Bursting at the Seams is a very solid record, with some really interesting songs. Weaver opts to blend into the ensemble instead of standing out like a sore thumb, which is what a lot of Wakeman's playing on Witchwood did. D

The big shakeup came with Hero and Heroine, when they had a major personal change, with an entirely new rhythm section (Chas Cronk on bass and Rod Coombes on drums) and adding John Hawkin on keys. That was when the magic happened. Cronk and Coombes both sang harmony, which really filled out the vocal sound. And Hawkin was the best fit for the band.

He's more like Tony Banks of Genesis than Wakeman or Emerson, although he had a keener sense of melody than Banks. His parts were never flashy, but they always stood out. I believe he was also the first to run a Mellotron through a Leslie speaker, which really created some interesting sounds. He was the perfect fit and continued through the next record (Ghosts).

After he left, the band went without a keyboard player for a few records, using a variety of session players.

The band is still playing. They released their last record (The Ferryman's Curse) in 2017.

I stopped following them after the Deep Cuts album in 1976. It was a very good record, I'd just become disappointed that they no longer had a dedicated keyboardist (Keys being my main instrument until the mid 1990s).

While I don't mind the flash of prog bands like Yes and ELP, Strawbs and Genesis (Gabriel era) were much more interesting to me. ELP's lyrics were awful. Yes' were interesting, but nonsensical. Strawb's were brilliant. And unlike the other bands, their songs were built around the lyric, instead of having them added as an afterthought.
 
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#150
Jim622 said:
The Dixie Dregs
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Steve Morse is insane! I had the privilege of sharing a bill with him and his trio on a few occasions back in the early nineties. We came out of the dressing room wondering who was playing this insane blue grass guitar solo. It ended up being his bassist. I really dug how they did their effects. Instead of pedal board, both he and his bassist used rack effects and they had a row of volume pedals that they would use to add a particular effect.
 
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#157
BwanaDust said:
Rick's last record with The Strawbs was From the Witchwood. And you can definitely tell it's him from the style of playing. After he left (completely pissing off leader, David Cousins), a guy named Blue Weaver came on board for Grave New World and Bursting at the Seams. While, he wasn't a virtuoso type (like Wakeman), he did a commendable job.
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Blue Weaver!?!? Wow... he went on to be the Bee Gees touring keyboard player!
 
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