History: SWEGAS was a British 'progressive' brass-rock band that existed between 1969 and 1971. They played all the major venues in the UK and made several tours of Italy and Germany where they were extremely popular. The name of the band is derived from an Anglo Saxon word for music. Swegas began life as a rehearsal band in 1969 (UK, Progressive Brass-Rock band). They were put together by Brian (Joe) Spibey and Nick Ronai who had been members of the Fulson Stilwell Band before joining the soul band, Cat Road Show. The original Swegas band consisted of Joe Spibey (trumpet), Nick Ronai (trombone), Alan Smith (Tenor Sax), Jonny Toogood (guitar) plus a few pick up players. Mid 1969 they advertised for an Organist and Bass Guitarist and Keith Strachan and Roy Truman applied and got the gig. They had been playing together in various bands since being at college together and were looking for something a bit more adventurous. They found it in this band which were beginning to fuse Rock and Jazz in the manner of Blood Sweat and Tears and The Chicago Transit Authority who were in their early stages of development. They rehearsed originally above a pub in Acton (The Kings Head?) but later in a basement of a cafe in Fulham Palace Road (about no. 201) They secured a deal with B&C Records in October 1969 and recorded an untitled album at Advision Studios, Regent St. The line up was Chris Dawe (trumpet), Brian (Joe) Spibey (trumpet/vocals), Nick Ronai (trombone), Alan Smith (alto sax and piano), Nick Thomas (tnr sax), John Legg (bari sax), Keith Strachan (organ/vocals), Jonny Toogood (guitar), Roy Truman (bass guitar), Chrys Chrysostomou (drums). The album was not destined for release and Joe Spibey, Alan Smith and Jonny Toogood left the group shortly thereafter followed shortly by Chrys Chrysostomou. Undeterred, Keith, Roy, Nick and John recruited Stewart Wilkinson (guitar), Ron Shillingford (tenor sax) and Maurice McElroy (drums) and managed to get a deal with First Class Management. Barry Class bought the group a tour bus (at their suggestion) but the insurance and hgv licence issues not to mention the parking problems in Soho soon put paid to that idea and the bus was exchanged for a Ford Transit minibus and a Transit van. With their new line-up the band rehearsed endlessly on new material in a room at the London Ambulance Service in Waterloo Road. They signed record and management deals with the Barry Class Organisation in March 1970 and during this Spring period of 1970 they had a regular spot Upstairs at Ronnie Scotts - Swegas one night - Genesis the next! They then embarked on a three month tour of Europe starting in Oslo on May 20th. They travelled to Gothenburg from Felixstowe by ship on 17th or 18th May. They were in Oslo till the first week in June then travelled to Zurich for one week. They then left Zurich for Munich on Mon 15th June and ended up in Hamburg in July. The blue mini bus was breaking down continually and through lack of money spent a number of nights sleeping under the vans. They ended up in the famous Top Ten club sharing the bill with the Boston Show Band (featuring the then unknown Gary Glitter). They liked their drummer Billy Hogan so when Maurice left shortly after Billy was offered the job. When they arrived back from Germany in July they went into the salubrious Tangerine Studios in Dalston to record the Child Of Light album. Maurice was still playing drums at this point. More gigs followed around the UK then in September 1970 the group returned to Europe for a few weeks to play in Turin & Rome (The Titan Club). Chris left shortly after and was eventually replaced by Lennie who joined the band in December. Swegas returned to Italy again in Jan 1971 and played a few open air concerts in Bavaria. The second album Beyond The Ox followed in early 1971 and was recorded at Command Studios in Piccadilly. Things started to go wrong in mid 1971. The band bus (a blue transit) suffered a collision in Hamburg and it was a virtual write-off. The writing was on the wall and Barry Class and First Class Management pulled the plug when the band returned from Germany. Swegas played its final gig on 9th September at The Granary, Bristol. Personnel: Nick Ronai - Trombone Brian (Joe) Spibey - Trumpet / Vocals Keith Strachan - Keyboard/Vocals Roy Truman - Bass Guitar John Legg - Alto Sax/Baritone Sax/Flute Chris Dawe - Trumpet Ron Shillingford - Tenor Saxophone/ Flute Stewart Wilkinson - Guitar/Vocals Maurice McElroy - Drums Billy Hogan - Drums John Macnicol - Trumpet
A folk-music group, known also by the full name Perth County Conspiracy (Does Not Exist) based in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. It formed in 1969 and was active until at least 1977. The music is characterised by its message-oriented lyrics and unconventional arrangements. The 1970 self-titled album features Shakespearian dialogue and audio collage elements that might place it in the genre of Psych folk. Over its career PCC(DNE) recorded several albums of material including at least two on the Columbia label.” The band was founded by singer-actor Cedric Smith and Richard Keelan, ex of the Spikedrivers. Various backing vocals were also provided by hippie communards from the Stratford area. After two major label albums for CBS, the group went independent and released a string of records on their own. Bob Burchill (guitar, vocals) joined the group in 1973. They lived together as a commune, similar to the Grateful Dead. The music is characterised by its message-oriented lyrics and unconventional arrangements. The 1970 self-titled album features Shakespearian dialogue and audio collage elements mixed with folk and folk rock music that might place it in the genre of psych folk.
'Mushroom Music' on Rumour Records before being signed to Columbia Records and releasing their self-titled album 'Perth County Conspiracy Does Not Exist' in 1970. Their third release, in 1971, was the double live album 'Perth County Conspiracy...Alive' (recorded in the Batthurst Street United Church in Toronto) featuring "You Ain't Got Nothing" which was edited for radio. In 1973 and another live album, 'What School Bus Tour' was recorded from performances in Ottawa, Sudbury, Winnipeg in February of that year. Because the band made rare and infrequent stage appearances, another live album followed in 1976 called 'Break Out To Berlin'. After the album the band split up leaving Cedric Smith to carry on. Smith collaborated with Terry Jones on 1977's 'Ten Lost Years - And Then Some'. The album did nothing and Smith moved into a career as an actor. ('Rumour ll (aka What School Bus Tour)' and 'Ten Lost Years And Then Some' were re-issued on CD in 2008)
Albums:
1969 Mushroom Music (Rumour) RUMOUR-I 1970 Perth County Conspiracy Does Not Exist (Columbia) EKL-375 1971 Alive (Columbia) GES-90037 1973 What School Bus Tour (Rumour/Mushroom) RUMOUR-II 1975 Kanada (Rumour) RUMOUR-IV 1976 Breakout To Berlin (Rumour) RUMOUR-V 1977 Ten Lost Years - And Then Some (Rumour)
Personnel:
Cedric Smith - vocals, guitar Richard Keelan - guitar, vocals Michael Butler - bass Terry Jones - guitar, vocals George Taros - piano, vocals Bob Burchill - guitar, vocals, fiddle (1973-1975)
Fruupp, who formed in early 1971, were an early 1970s progressive rock band, which originated in Northern Ireland, but developed a fan base in Britain. Fruupp was the brainchild of Vincent McCusker, guitarist, songwriter and vocals, a native of Maghera, Northern Ireland. Vince had been a member of The Blues by Five - an R&B group who performed mostly on the famous Irish-Showband, ballroom circuit. There weren't really a lot of other places to play in Ireland at that point so Vince's idea was to form a progressive group and shortcut the Belfast/Irish circuit by heading straight to London.
They were relatively popular, particularly on the student scene, and as a support group (they supported Genesis and Queen on their UK tour in 1974). Fruupp played their first gig in Belfast on 23rd June 1971, supporting Rory Gallagher in the Ulster Hall.
They released several albums, including Future Legends (1973), Seven Secrets (1974), The Prince of Heaven's Eyes (1974), and Modern Masquerades (1975).
Most of the artwork on their album covers was created by bassist/singer Peter Farrelly. Stephen Houston left the band in January 1975 and became a Christian activist, to be replaced by John Mason, who can be heard on their final album, Modern Masquerades, produced by King Crimson founder and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, who also played saxophone on it. The band eventually broke up in December 1976. There were rumours at the end of 2006 of a possible reunion tour, including a statement by Houston on his website that he was: "definitely open to the possibility of a reunification tour if management, funding and the band members personal lifestyles could handle the upheaval".
Personnel: Vince McCusker - Guitar, Vocals (born 3 October 1949) Stephen Houston - Keyboards, Oboe, Vocals (born 18 July 1953) Peter Farrelly - Bass, Guitar, Lead Vocals (born 4 January 1949) Martin Foye - Drums, Percussion (born 13 May 1951) Miles McKee - John Mason - Keyboards, Vibes, Vocals
Discography: Future Legends (released: October 5, 1973) Seven Secrets (released: April 19, 1974) The Prince of Heaven's Eyes (released: November 8, 1974) Modern Masquerades (released: February, 1975)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruupp (Legend had it that the band's name Fruupp came from the name of a ghost who allegedly haunted said house. Fact has it that the name came from a Letraset sheet, which had been all used up, except for the letters F, R, U, P. The group added another U and P.)
Mike Travis, Alan Gowen, Phil Lee, Steve Cook (1974)
Gilgamesh was a British jazz fusion band in the 1970s led by keyboardist Alan Gowen, part of the Canterbury scene. The band was formed in the autumn of 1972. It split up in late 1975, shortly after the release of its debut album. It was revived sometime in 1977 for occasional rehearsals which led to the recording of the second album in the summer of 1978. History:
The original nucleus of Gilgamesh was the duo of Alan Gowen on keyboards and Mike Travis on drums. After a series of line-up changes involving players like Rick Morcombe, Jeff Clyne, Alan Wakeman and Richard Sinclair, the quartet stabilised in early 1973 with the arrival of Phil Lee on guitar and Neil Murray on bass. There were then a few changes of bass player, with Murray being replaced by Steve Cook, Mont Campbell and finally Jeff Clyne again for the album sessions. After leaving National Health in March 1977, Gowen started work on new compositions, and occasionally assembled an informal line-up of Gilgamesh - consisting of himself, Phil Lee, Neil Murray and Trevor Tomkins - to rehearse it. When the time came to record a second album in June 1978, Murray was replaced by Hugh Hopper, but this line-up only lasted for the duration of the sessions.
Gowen was previously in a band named Sunship. When that band's drummer, Jamie Muir, left to join King Crimson in July 1972, Gowen started working on a new band project with guitarist Rick Morcombe. Jamie Muir recommended his old friend Mike Travis from Edinburgh, who had now established himself on the London jazz scene. Connections on that scene then provided Alan Wakeman and Jeff Clyne. When Morcombe left, Travis recommended Phil Lee, and Gowen met Neil Murray at a party. When Murray left, Steve Cook joined, having been a member of CMU, the band led by Gowen's old friend Roger Odell (later Shakatak's drummer). Trevor Tomkins, the drummer on the second album, was a longtime collaborator of Phil Lee on jazz gigs.
Why did they choose the name Gilgamesh: In Assyro-babylonian mythology (around 3000 BC), Gilgamesh was a legendary god-king of Sumeria who discovered the secret of eternal life. Gilgamesh's quest for immortality is described in an epic poem, written on clay tablets in a complex cuneiform alphabet, that was discovered just over a century ago in the ruins of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). The band chose that name following suggestion from Clive Merredew, a photographer friend, who had a book called "The Epic Of Gilgamesh". Gigs:
Gilgamesh played only a few gigs, mainly in and around London (they only ventured as far outside London as Brighton). Given its low-key status, Gilgamesh could not be a permanent occupation for its members, who had to work elsewhere to make a living. Most notable were the band's two double-quartet gigs with Hatfield and the North in November 1973, in Leeds and London. The eight-piece line-up of Phil Miller, Phil Lee, Dave Stewart, Alan Gowen, Richard Sinclair, Neil Murray, Pip Pyle and Mike Travis was the precursor to the 'rock orchestra' concept of the original National Health. Albums:
Gilgamesh released two albums : "Gilgamesh" (late 1975) on Caroline Records (then a sub-label of Virgin) and "Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into" (February 1979) on Charly Records. The American label Cuneiform Records released a CD of archive recordings by Gilgamesh entitled "Arriving Twice", in September 2000. This consists of previously unreleased recordings from 1973-75 featuring Alan Gowen, Phil Lee, Mike Travis, Neil Murray, Steve Cook, Jeff Clyne and Peter Lemer. It includes several previously unreleased compositions, most notably "Extract", a theme from the unrecorded Gilgamesh/Hatfield and the North double-quartet piece.
The reasons for splitting up:
Rick Morcombe left because of disagreements on the direction of the band. He subsequently became a session player, but also co-led the original Strange Fruit with Nucleus keyboardist Geoff Castle, and in the 80s co-led a band with Jeff Clyne. After living in Monte-Carlo for several years, he recently went back to live in London and is a member of Ba-Ba-Da, a jazz-rock band which also includes Geoff Castle and Clark Tracey. They released an eponymous, self-produced debut CD in spring 2000. Neil Murray left to join Hanson, a Hendrix-type band led by former Bob Marley sideman Junior Hanson. Following his stint in National Health in 1976-77 he has played in various major hard-rock bands such as Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, the Gary Moore Band, Brian May's band... Steve Cook left due to musical differences, to join the touring version of Seventh Wave, then work with Annette Peacock, Mirage, Soft Machine and Mike Westbrook. He is no longer involved in music on a regular basis, although he occasionally plays in Peter Lemer's jazz trio alongside drummer Roger Odell. Mike Travis left in order to "earn a better living". He played on Hugh Hopper's "Monster Band" album in 1976, and in 1979 moved back to his native Edinburgh.
Where are they now:
After the first incarnation of Gilgamesh broke up in 1975, Alan Gowen went on to form National Health with Dave Stewart, the original line-up of which also included Phil Lee. He later formed Soft Heap [in late 1977], reformed Gilgamesh for a second album in 1978, rejoined National Health in 1979-80 (a period documented on the upcoming CD "Play Time", to be released in January 2001 on Cuneiform), and recorded the albums "Two Rainbows Daily" with Hugh Hopper, and "Before A Word Is Said" with Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair and Trevor Tomkins. He died of leukaemia in May 1981. Jeff Clyne went on to form his own band, Turning Point, in early 1976 with his former Isotope bandmate, keyboardist Brian Miller. That band gigged intensively in the UK and released two albums before splitting up in late 1980. He is still active on the British jazz scene. Mike Travis moved back to Edinburgh in 1979 after playing in Stomu Yamash'ta's East Wind and with various Hugh Hopper projects. There he joined the band Cado Belle, featuring singer Maggie Reilly. He still plays jazz and folk gigs in Scotland. Both Phil Lee and Trevor Tomkins have been mainstays of the London jazz scene since the late 1960's and can still be heard playing in various club gigs and workshops.
Popol Vuh was a German electronic avantgarde band founded by pianist and keyboardist Florian Fricke in 1969 together with Holger Trülzsch (percussion) and Frank Fiedler (recording engineer and technical assistance). Other important members during the next two decades included Djong Yun, Conny Veit, Daniel Fichelscher, Klaus Wiese and Robert Eliscu. The band took its name from the Popol Vuh, a manuscript containing the mythology of the Post-Classic Quiché Maya people of highland Guatemala and south east Mexico; the name translates roughly as "meeting place." In the K'iche' language Popol Vuh translates as: "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."
History: The first album, Affenstunde, released in 1970, can be regarded as one of the earliest ambient music, space music or New Age music works, featuring the then new sounds of the Moog synthesizer together with ethnic percussion. This continued for only one more album, In den Gärten Pharaos, and material later to be released on the soundtrack to "Aguirre", before Fricke largely abandoned electronic instruments in favor of piano-led compositions from 1972's Hosianna Mantra forward. This album also marked the start of exploring overtly religious themes rather than a more generally spiritual feeling within the music. The group evolved to include all kinds of instruments: wind and strings, electric and acoustic alike, combined to convey a mystical aura that made their music spiritual and introspective. Popol Vuh influenced many other bands from Europe with their uniquely soft but elaborate instrumentation, that took inspiration from Tibet, Africa, and pre-Columbian America. They created dream-like soundscapes along with psychedelic walls of sound, and are regarded as precursors of contemporary world music, as well of new age music and ambient music. The band contributed soundtracks to the films of Werner Herzog, including Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Nosferatu, Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde, Heart of Glass and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, in which Fricke appeared. Florian Fricke died in Munich on December 29, 2001, and the group disbanded. In October 2003 Klaus Schulze wrote: "Florian was and remains an important forerunner of contemporary ethnic and religious music. He chose electronic music and his big Moog to free himself from the restraints of traditional music, but soon discovered that he didn't get a lot out of it and opted for the acoustic path instead. Here, he went on to create a new world, which Werner Herzog loves so much, transforming the thought patterns of electronic music into the language of acoustic ethno music."
Past members: Florian Fricke Holger Trülzsch Djong Yun Conni Veit Daniel Fichelscher Klaus Wiese Bob Eliscu
The album "Resan (The Trip)", 1973 (Sweden, psych. rock.) is a concept album dealing with life, not in chronological order but rather as a journey through the thoughts and actions. The plate is also said to be one of the delights of the Swedish prog rock mold, but is unfortunately very hard to find and expensive (over 500$) . Features Anders Nordh from Life.
At last a facsimile exact reissue of this most mysterious mega rare Swedish psych/prog gem from 1973 including a in-depth biography written by The Amazing / Dungen lead guitarist Reine Fiske plus previously unpublished photographs. Limited edition 500 copies.
The colourful and turbulent late 1960's created a ground for a world-spanning counter-culture and musical phenomenon that swept all over Europe.
In Sweden and in Stockholm specifically, the sign of those times gave rise to diverse politics, anarchistic and playful happenings that all intertwined eventually giving birth to a rather small but highly prolific and unique musical scene.
Resan (The Trip) was surprisingly released on the Swedish CBS subsidiary label Epic in 1973 and is the rarest of all the major-label releases within the Swedish psychedelic/progressive era. It has been seen as continuation of the legendary Swedish Life album as it features all the former Life band members.
The Resan (The Trip) crew all lived together in a hippie commune outside of Stockholm and the album represents a unique and almost hidden part of the most "heady" (cerebrally stoned and turned on) Stockholm psychedelic-rock-history. The uniqueness and rarity of Resan (The Trip) is in its blissful but at times dark atmosphere. Strong composition with full electric band instrumentation including some stellar electric acid fuzz guitars and spaced out flutes etc…pretty much everything you could wish for in a recording like this.
The albums rather splintered musical palette is also something of a perfect but peculiar mix of preaching hippie-naivety rooted in the psychedelic late 1960´s, though clearly coming of age in the slightly darker 1970´s.
Line-up:
Anders Nordh - Guitar, Organ, Vocals Hasse Jonsson - Guitar, Vocals Lasse Finberg - Aucustic Guitar Stefan Höglund - Bass Paul "Palle" Sundlin - Bass, Piano Thomas Rydberg - Drums, Congas, Vocals Pelle Holm - Drums, Congas, Vocals Marion Noél - Flute, Vocals Benny Svensson - Piano
Track list:
1. 00:00 Skrattet (Laughter)
2. 00:35 Hunger och svält (Hunger and Famine)
3. 04:56 Tankar (Thoughts)
4. 06:22 Vakuum (Vacuum)
5. 10:30 Kärlekens natt (Night of Love)
6. 13:35 Solens vän (Friend of the Sun)
7. 17:31 Sagan i Sätra (The Saga in Sätra)
8. 21:20 Annorlunda (Different)
9. 23:43 05.00
10. 32:04 Life
11. 35:24 Slutet (The End) - the melody that can be heard in the end of the song is the Swedish National Anthem
It was Stephen's first solo effort, and had his friends David Crosby, Graham Nash, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Rita Coolidge and Mama Cass Elliot performing! Stephen Stills is an eponymous rock album by Stephen Stills, famous for his long-time membership in Crosby, Stills & Nash. It consists of songs written by Stills and is one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their 1970 chart-topping album Déjà Vu. The album features an array of well-known guest musicians, including David Crosby and Graham Nash, who contributed vocals. Ringo Starr drums on two tracks under the pseudonym "Richie." Stills' album is also the only album in rock and roll history to which both Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix supplied guitar work. Hendrix would be dead before the album was released--Stills dedicated the album to "James Marshall Hendrix." The song "We Are Not Helpless" was written in response to Neil Young's song "Helpless" from the CSN&Y Déjà Vu album and both "Black Queen" and "Love the One You're With" have remained in the performing repertoire of both Stills and CSN. "Love the One You're With," Stills' biggest solo hit single to date, peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 19, 1970, and another single pulled from the album, "Sit Yourself Down," went to #37 on March 27, 1971. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums in the chart in the week of December 5, 1970. Side One: 1."Love the One You're With" 2. "Do For the Others" 3."Church (Part of Someone)" 4."Old Times Good Times" 5."Go Back Home" Side Two: 1."Sit Yourself Down" 2."To a Flame" 3."Black Queen" 4."Cherokee" 5."We Are Not Helpless"
Personnel: Stephen Stills - vocals, guitars, bass, piano, organ, steel drum, percussion Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels - bass Dallas Taylor - drums Conrad Isedor - drums Ringo Starr (listed as "Richie" on track listing) - drums Johnny Barbata - drums Jeff Whittaker - congas Jimi Hendrix - guitar (Track 4) Eric Clapton - guitar (Track 5) Booker T. Jones - organ, vocal Sidney George - flute and alto saxophone David Crosby - vocals Graham Nash - vocals John Sebastian - vocals Rita Coolidge - vocals Priscilla Jones - vocals Claudia Lanier - vocals Cass Elliott - vocals Henry Diltz - photography (cover), vocal Liza Strike - vocal Judith Powell - vocal Larry Steele - vocal Tony Wilson - vocal Sherlie Matthews - chorus, vocals Horns arranged by Stephen Stills; strings arranged by Stephen Stills and Arif Mardin (Bill Halverson - producer Andy Johns - engineer Gary Burden - art direction, photography Charles John Quarto - sleeve poem) Source: YouTube
September 25, 1967, BBC, Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue: 01 - Flaming 0:00 02 - Scarecrow 2:38 03 - Matilda Mother 4:41 04 - The Gnome 8:00 December 20, 1967, BBC, Maida Vale 4: 05 - Pow R Toc H 10:10 06 - Vegetable Man 13:08 07 - Scream Thy Last Scream 16:33 08 - Jugband Blues 20:12 June 25, 1968, BBC, 201 Piccadilly, Studio 1: 09 - Let There Be More Light 24:06 10 - Murderistic Women 27:47 11 - Julia Dream 30:05 12 - Massed Gadgets Of Hercules 32:29 December 2, 1968, BBC, Maida Vale 4: 13 - Point Me At The S 39:18 14 - Embryo 43:40 15 - Baby Blue Shuffle In D Major 47:11 16 - Interstellar Overdrive 51:05 May 12, 1969, BBC, Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street: 17 - Daybreak 59:42 18 - Nightmare 1:03:18 19 - The Beginning 1:06:45 20 - Beset By Creatures Of The Deep 1:10:00 21 - The Narrow Way 1:13:00
Biography: Laser Pace is an american progressive rock band from early '70s who managed to release one album in 1973, Granfaloon, issued by Takoma records. The music is very challenging and experimental combining progressive rock with funk, jazz and even other crossover moments giving to this album a special status in this genre. Featuring excellent musicians including the brilliant voice of Maureen O'Connor - who can sing in a wide range of sounds - definetly the cherry on the cake here. The guitar and mellotron moments are also very interesting and spacey, sometimes developing more jamming or jazzy moments, more towards the end of the album. They disbanded in 1976. Line-up: Maureen O'Connor - vocals, guitar, synthesizer, mellotron D. Distorto (Doug Decker) - bass, mellotron W.G. Christensen (John "Chris" Christensen) - vocals, drums, percussion Larry Parsons - piano, organ, synthesizer Jimbo Dee - synthesizer Carl Van Young - clarinet Larry Wolf - soprano saxophone George Bell - percussion Album:Granfalloon (1973)
