Why no 'USA' Prog bands made the big 5?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Rufus rag, Mar 5, 2018.

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  1. optoman

    optoman Forum Resident

    Location:
    London. UK
    I agree that Prog evolved from British Psychedelia but incorporated not only classical traditions but also jazz (Soft Machine, Gentle Giant and many others). Also English folk music, Indian and other world musics. Improvisation was also part of British prog. Long solos and showing off technical skills became the norm.
    I tend to view Prog as a short period when record companies were happy to invest in music that was not obviously commercial. When this was mixed with certain drugs and a post war cultural shift it resulted in musicians exploring all sorts of musics.
     
  2. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    Uk artists were directly exposed to a classical tradition that had no background in the US. Long pieces and progressions were part of their heritage, so prog also mirrored that. US music was much more the result of a melting pot from diferent sources. Naturally , the sound of the immigrants, african, european, finally prevailed
     
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  3. malco49

    malco49 Forum Resident

    i remember these guys.thought they were British!
     
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  4. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    No mention of Germany. I know a lot of people hear/see Kraut Rock as being all about electonic muisc (Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream) but there were many bands bashing away on their Hammond Organs & letting their inner Tolkien fly. A treasure chest of undiscovered glory waiting to be found.

    In Australia we had a number of bands with serious prog leanings. Getting gigs was always the problem holding them back from sustainability, especially beyond the mid 70's.
     
  5. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    It's hard to sound like ancient Greece in Toledo, Ohio. :)
     
  6. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    In Britain, and Europe in general, appropriating classical themes and mannerisms would be natural, since such music was a part of their shared culture. In the US, doing something like that looks either pretentious or hopelessly square.

    In the US, the cultural "space" of classical is largely held by jazz, so groups and artists that wanted to stretch out tended to gravitate more to that genre: Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, Santana, the various horn bands (Chicago, Chase, Blood Sweat & Tears), etc.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2018
  7. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    Erm. well. It had to didn't it.

    The US like Australia is almost all immigrants. The original inhabitants have been marginalised, discredited, ignored & pushed into the background so much that we overlook any contribution they have made to the larger population
     
  8. stanlove

    stanlove Forum Resident


    All prog rock bands bored me.
     
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  9. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    Correct, Germany is noteworthy. Eloy and especially Triumvirat are all time favorites. Just another example of the grandiose European approach and mentality of prog music. Mediterranean Tales is one of my all time favorite albums and one of the best produces albums I heard. Up there with the other prog classic definitely.
     
  10. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    LP records. The culture of american recorded music was built on singles. 3 Minutes to get your ideas out. The early British recorded music culture was regarded as immitations of the real thing until (This SHMF you knew this was coming) The Beatles came along. Suddenly British was hip, American was passe. The Beatles using their massive poularity heralded in the era of the Long Playing record. British Psychedelia --> Prog Rock. The Americans used the expanding playing time in a different manner.
     
  11. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    I have only discovered the wonders of German 70's music in the last couple of years & need to do a lot more listening & discovery to find the bands that I really like. There is just so much of it that is now easlily available. (same goes with Swedish & Italian bands)
     
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  12. lesterbangs

    lesterbangs Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Indiana
    Americans have short attention spans
     
  13. Scope J

    Scope J Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    I didn't know there were any US Prog bands.
     
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  14. rednedtugent

    rednedtugent Forum Resident

    Location:
    Funk, Ohio
    what were we discussing?

    Someone mentioned Spirit earlier. I don't hear them as Prog but I would
    put them up against the Progs in their heyday.
     
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  15. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    5-dai purogure bando are
    Pink Floyd
    King Crimson
    Yes
    EL&P
    Genesis
     
  16. Crimson jon

    Crimson jon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston
    Americans have short...

    Phone just rang sorry what was I saying?
     
  17. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    It’s A Beautiful Day was heavily influenced by classical music, but do you think they are a prog band?
     
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  18. Eleventh Earl of Mar

    Eleventh Earl of Mar Somehow got them all this far.

    Location:
    New York
    USA prog bands generally are only good when you've never heard of the group - just wasn't a big deal there.

    Pavlov's Dog is my favorite but they hardly count.
     
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  19. gd0

    gd0 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

    Location:
    Golden Gate
    With that user name, I'm not surprised.
     
  20. RudolphS

    RudolphS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rio de Janeiro
    In a way, yes. Apart from Vanilla Fudge and Zappa (which have been mentioned earlier), there were more late-60s US bands and artists who used classical influences or had proggy leanings, such as Ultimate Spinach, Ars Nova, The Left Banke's baroque pop, the orchestral psychedelia from David Axelrod, or albums like Electric Prunes' Mass In F Minor, Van Dyke Parkes' Song Cycle and What Love Suite by the canadian group The Collectors. But I guess these names and records simply didn't enjoy enough exposure on a commercial level to influence and kickstart a complete new music genre.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2018
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  21. drad dog

    drad dog A Listener

    Location:
    USA
    the US bands of the 60s were more experimental, specialized, and florid than the british bands, over all. The US had had the psych and cult bands. They didn't need to go through the prog phase.
     
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  22. SuntoryTime

    SuntoryTime Forum Resident

    Location:
    Winooski, VT
    I tend to agree with what Robert Fripp said to Vic Garbarini in 1981: "He [referring to Bill Bruford] was the only musician to play with all of the Big Three of English progressive / art rock bands, King Crimson, Yes and Genesis."

    I don't frequently agree with Fripp, but I agree with him about the big three, in alphabetical order: Genesis, King Crimson, and Yes.
     
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  23. samsondale

    samsondale Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tenafly, NJ, USA
    I think that the American musicians who might have played prog had they even British played jazz or fusion.
     
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  24. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    Who is the biggest (or most authentic) US prog band?
     
  25. spencer1

    spencer1 Great Western Forum Resident

    Is it weird that I never thought of Pink Floyd as a Prog Band?
     
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