Progressive Rock / Classical or Technical rock

The root of progressive rock often thought to have blossomed in the early seventies, has a far more dimensional birth date than presumed by the average rock schools of thought. We turn our sights to the year of the lord, 1964, where a young San Francisco pianist / reedman, Terry Riley released his opus in C. Without a doubt, Terry Riley can truly be labelled as the grand father and author of the techno / rock era. The influence of Riley can be found in the Soft Machine, Mike Oldfield and King Crimson recordings. For the sake of the puritan and the obsession of the analytic we shall re-trace the progressive family tree relishing in some and dismissing others.

If one opens the pages to the early nineteenth century, then let us understand that however deep we dig, various patterns and similarities may lead us to individual entities and the ambience thereof, be it melodic or the simple stillness of the environment. The technicalities of trying to ascertain birth, period of existence and death pose challenging obstacles. To a large degree do we separate the jazz from the classical, or the classical from the jazz, the rhythm from the blues or add the jump and jive and call it rock and roll ? Without being ethereal and cosmic about the whole ambient family tree, let us approach and diagnose from an apocalyptic perspective, that which is born has to die, yet with hope gives life to another.

The desire to reach that utopian Valhalla would undoubtedly stem from an individual caught in some form of circumstantial confusion and taken it upon himself to withdraw into the eye of the storm and find his peace and solace in the rhythms of ambient nirvana. Charles Ives released his 1906 composition, the "Unanswered Question" followed by "Central Park in the Dark", creating sound from environmental order and disorder. A church organist who liked to experiment with two different bands, playing at the same time with different tunes. At a very young age, he built a quarter-tone piano to express his cluster tunes in varied tones. With the advent of a cluster cord, he would expound traditional folk and American hymns through the chime and rhythm of church bells and various brass ensembles.

Then came the great synthesizer by Thaddeus Cahill, most likely invented between 1880 and 1895 and patented in the early 1900s. But let us leave the beat frequencies of Lee Deforest (1915) and focus on the masters of the game. We set the stage with the birth of a transcendental messiah, the ambient and environmental John Cage. Borne out of the cradle of the American depression, John Cage would tap the environment life itself, as he proceeded on a journey of creation reaching for that angelic sound beyond the human ear. Amplifying wire coil, contact mikes and using the tuning frequencies of radios as a backdrop, Cage ventured deeper and deeper into the abyss of sound. A master chess player and Zen Buddhist, he would wallow in the sound of the mystical Eric Satie, capture the value of silence and utilise a forest of birds as his choir. Cage was a spiritual phenomena endowed by an ever increasing hunger to enhance the power of sound to a level of dangerous proportion. Spontaneous compositions stimulated from everyday sound was the life beat and stimulation of John Cage. The everyday sound, be it in sleep, dreams, or the walk of life, have become the ashram and cave of this pilgrim wonder.

And as the sun rose from the east, so did the esoteric Karlheinz Stockhausen devising rhythms and textures to refine the far reaching influences of the world music culture. If anyone deserves the rightful qualification of being the first composer to forge the essence of electronic music, then Stockhausen forms one part of that small circle that created waves from within. Karlheinz immersed himself in the beatnik and flower power of the sixties creating a position of criticism and predictably losing the loyalty and support of the conservative classical audience. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of John Lennon and Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead, he positioned himself as an ambient warlock caught up in the rising wave of eastern intrigue. The release of "St. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1967 not only had his face on the cover, but in essence was the product of his own influence. A close friend of Herman Hesse, this radical German would release his classic "The song of the youths in the fiery furnace" capturing power, feedback and pulse and releasing his wayward genius into the streets of Cologne. His support equalled his enemies yet nothing could stop this wizard of improvisation that would stimulate the Krautrock revival of the seventies. Combining his music with erotic poetry, he would play with rhythms and points of light to create an atmosphere considered harmonious and quasi-sensual. 

Then came the classical / jazz influence of Steve Reich. In fact it was Steve who assisted Terry Riley on his "In C" which became the progressive album and fore runner to the ambient age. Drawing on the eighteen century classical music of Debussy and combining it with ethnic and jazz music, Reich found himself siphoned into the contemporary world music arena. It was really jazz drumming that inflamed the inquisitive genius of this mystic Jew. He became an object of concern for Terry Riley with his continual passion and striving for jazz rhythms. Reich mirrored the ingenuity to the point of creating a system called piano phase where the pianist has to play against himself. Very much likened to the modern day chess software, "Deep Blue" this particular challenge could result in eccentric aftermath. For the words of wisdom, "He who presses too deep, becomes one with the deep, lost in the depth of unreality."

One of his major works of minimalism was his 1971 release called "Drumming", a combination of marimba, bongos, piccolo and various other percussion instruments. Very much influenced by the African drum rhythms of Ghana, Reich would stimulate the progressive rock of the seventies, in particular Pink Floyd and the German surreal group, Popol Vuh. One particular aspect of Reich was his focus on pure instrumentation, rejecting the electronic influence to the point of actually denying that he played any electronic music. This particular style of ambient has found fortitude in the nineties, slicing the ambient audience into two sections, the puritans and the house music hedonist. 

A certain amount of acknowledgement has to be given to a Jewish child prodigy who played violin at the age of six and flute at the age of eight. His name was Phillip Glass and he was one part of that first generation American Jew that came out of the Russian exodus. Glass absorbed himself with the raga of the east and the neo classical style of Aaron Copeland. With countless trips to Morocco, Glass combined his talents with Steve Reich to perform live gigs at various venues in New York. To some he was labelled as abstract jazz, to others it was simply noise and by 1974 no record company was really interested in the spacey trips of his eastern intrigue. It was only in the eighties that Phillip Glass refined his album called "Glassworks", launching a host of digital recordings and various instrumental commissions.

I suppose in all things, legal tender has certain amount of elemental power. Thus the most probable reason for Terry Riley's 1964 release "In C" to be labelled as the fore runner of the progressive era, would most likely be the commercial attraction of this work. A major influence of Soft Machine, Curved Air and King Crimson, Terry Riley's grasp of improvisation combined with the psychedelic era, captured the rock generation of the sixties aptly. His 1969 release, "A Rainbow in Curved Air", became the accepted landmark of the sixties progressive rock era. A must for every record collector, Terry Riley mastered the art of creating mirror images in the music dimension of the mellotron. Riley would improvise on experience and feeling while absorbing mescaline to reach into the corridors of perception. 

The Netherlands held its own firmly with the classical rock genre of Focus, powered by master flautist Thys van Leer and guitar extraordinaire Jan Akkerman. Behind the lines keyboard wizard Rick van der Linden of Ekseption would amaze the continent with his concept album Birds under his present day combo Trace. Even in the shadows the three octave ability of Peter Hammill of Van Der Graaf Generator would create a progressive act so powerful in lyric and Avant-garde that the most diverse Genesis or Soft Machine could not match the dimensional grasp of this Dutch genius. Even Germany came to the forefront with the likes of Edgar Froese, Chris Franke and Peter Baumann known as Tangerine Dream. Although this young Berlin organist had failed to capture the progressive market with his early electronic Psychedelia namely Alpha Centauri / Zeit, it was a very young Richard Branson that gave Tangerine Dream their first world wide acceptance in 1974 with the album Phaedra.  

Desired appeal could only be achieved if the progressive market made impact in the USA.  Although certain groups such as Renaissance, Yes, Camel and Genesis moved close to this bone, nothing could be achieved until the fat lady had sung. This fat lady had shaved her head and wore earrings in her nose - they called her Punk and she would be the direct destruction of progressive rock. Admittedly the cost of touring was astronomical and the glam rock audience of the seventies were not interested in twenty minute guitar and drum solos. Several progressive rock bands managed to hurdle into the eighties by sheer might of faith and marketing. 

A new Genesis now headed by Phil Collins, met with approval while Peter Gabriel launched into a successful solo career. Later Mike Rutherford of Genesis would head up Mike and the Mechanics and fulfil his financial dream. Nothing could be stranger than the story of Yes where contractual problems would result in no less than three bands under the same name touring the states. Each one in its own legal right retaining at least one or two of the original members. This would finally confuse the loyal Yes fans to the point that the present day Yes had little or no resemblance to the latter day master combo. On the rise came Asia, Marillion, Jeff Wayne, Mike Batt and the early nineties spewed forth the power of Magellan, World Trade, Arena, Cairo and many more. Progressive did not die, only became easier with PC technology and the ambient fashions.

Duncan Mackay formerly with Camel, Alan Parsons and 10CC. Seen here with Hammond B3 and Mellotron.