Good to see you young people (that always sounds patronising l know ) getting into the music l grew up with as a teenager in the '70's . The Canterbury bands especially Soft machine and Caravan have always been my two favourite bands and l was lucky enough to see them in concert at the time . Keep up the good work introducing a new audience to this great , inventive and original music .
yes, I think also. Still, such prominent representatives of Canterbury Scene as Phil Miller or Dave Sinclair played there (I'm not sure about the icy, because I don't remember if he was in the band at the time of the recording of the album), but they really play cool
Yes, except I absolutely count Miles jazz fusion period as part of the prog rock portrait. Once you include jazz fusion, jazz rock, and some of the jazzier reaches of funk music, you get a far richer portrait of prog rock in the USA. That's when you can start talking about Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Return to Forever, The Dixie Dregs, Weather Report, The Allman Brothers, Parliament Funkadelic, and the first four Chicago albums.
Gong was for me more a French band with some English dudes but now I can clearly hear the Canterbury influences on flying teapot Great explanation of this fascinating period, bien joué :)
Superb video, well researched and expertly delivered. You should be doing lectures on this stuff! My recommendation for you, a short-lived band called Khan who did one album in 1972 called Space Shanty. Features Steve Hillage and Dave Stewart. A spacy and heavy guitar and organ drenched masterpiece. Essential for the Canterbury Scene.
You have taken this so called VC and taken it to another level , in a short length of time.Your ideas are by far more interesting then any of your video making colleagues.Keep it going - brilliant
@@the_prog_nerd note: PROG WAS MURDERED (much in the same way ROCK music as a whole has since been murdered by The Super-Mafia / Industry). FUN FACT! In Murica, the press WORSHIPS fame and money and celebrity.....but in England, if you got successful, the music press would usually take the piss out of you, and turn on you! THE PRESS control every atom of society (which is why the rich lose gobs of money to fund never-earn-a-profit behemoths like the NYTimes, NYPost, Bloomberg News, etc), and the death of prog was NOT NATURAL. Didn't help that "Success Ruins Everything" (when a band finally sees piles of cash and women, it almost always makes them LAZY and they no longer care; ex: Lars Ulrich was VERY progressive on Master Of Puppets etc and once they were rich, he GAVE UP COMPLETELY!)...... ....once YES and ELP and the rest had PILES OF CASH and WOMEN....it destroys the minds of most men. (the largesse, the excess....) They're pigging out every night on fancy meals and partying and they no longer HUNGER TO MAKE KILLER MUSIC. (Heartbreaking: toooo many musicians said "Seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan CHANGED EVERYTHING! I wanted to be them.......FOR THE SCREAMING GIRLS!" Wasn't the MUSIC they loved. They wanted to have girls screaming for them. Yikes.) SO THEY ALL LOST THEIR WAY BY THE MID 1970s (I'm generalizing but you get the point). ALL THE PROG BANDS were more rebellious than "PUNK" ever was (punk was just POP MUSIC with a snarl. Bryan Adams sneering in a leather coat) --- hell, Pink Floyd's LYRICS were more punk than all punk combined! THE PRESS WAS MOST RESPONSIBLE (ex: they want to write about the Next Big Flavor; psychedelia only got like 3 years of favor in the MSM!)......but the other HUGE problem was that the GIANTS got fat and old and lazy (It Can Happen to you!)(It can happen to me!) (It can happen to everyone eventually!) ..... ....and there was NOT a slew of BRILLIANT new prog daredevils coming up in the minor leagues after 1976. (All the BRIT acts went towards PUNK cuz the BRITISH press told them to. Murican press ignored Punk and it meant nothing over here. Muricans only know what's on the RADIO, and punk wasn't it. STYX, JOURNEY, FOREIGNER are what replaced art-rock.) (Curiously, ALL those bands had numerous PROG TRAPPINGS! Hmmm!) MOST PROG ACTS are too derivative of the Prog Giants, and that was fatal to the movement as well. MOST HUMANS LOVE ART-ROCK AND PROG but don't know it. (It's hard NOT to like it! It thrills the brain!) PUT ANY SONG ON THE RADIO TEN TIMES A DAY, and it becomes a "HIT". PUT ANY ACT IN THE NEWSPAPER, and they sell more albums. There's no secret here. (That's why most of the press does PAYOLA!) THE MORAL: PROG WAS MURDERED BY THE PRESS, who said it was no longer hip.
OH YEAH!! WE gotta turn Niamh on to JAZZ the most effective ways. (As an art rock fan, I didn't really like jazz at first. Just rock and classical etc.) THE RECORD THAT MAKES ROCK FANS "GET" JAZZ...is Al DiMeola's "ELEGANT GYPSY", a landmark record (1976?). His entire band is sick!
I grew up in Canterbury in the 70s. I'm glad to hear someone enthusing about the Scene. You did well to pick up the three main threads of hippy-dippy pop (Caravan), jazz-fusion (Soft Machine) and hardcore psych (Gong). You missed the folk-rock element (Spirogyra) and experimental music (Henry Cow). Like all genres we see musicians moving through a family tree of bands. The story of the Scene is not complete without a mention of Dave Stewart (Egg, Hatfield and the North) and Barbara Gaskin (Spirogyra, Hatfield and the North). Their cover of It's my Party was a huge chart hit in the early '80s. They are still making music together today.
for those like me who were momentarily confused by Spirogyra, the smooth jazz outfit is "Spyro Gyra". though in checking that, I learned that they had intended to spell their name also after the tiny creature.
Ah, Caravan. I latched on to them in about 1971 and saw the live in Birmingham when they were a "University band". Got all their albums up to The Battle of Hastings. Great, great band and undoubtedly prog. Nice to see a younger generation picking up on them.
Cześć. Pozdrawiam z Polski, jestem pod niesamowitym wrażeniem twojej wiedzy i zaangażowania w muzyczny świat ambitnej muzyki. Scena Canterbury , w moim kraju był taki artysta jak Czesław Niemen , nagrał wspaniałe albumy których możesz nie znać , twój tata również. Polecam przede wszystkim album Niemen Enigmatic ,, Enigmatic '' z 1970 r. to dla fanów z Polski absolutny kanon oraz grupę SBB która trzyma od lat 70 tych po dziś dzień wysoki poziom progresywnej gry. W tamtych czasach grali również koncerty na zachodzie a nie było wtedy łatwo wyjechać z mojego kraju , pomimo tego zyskali uznanie w Europie zachodniej .Świetne albumy. I na koniec jeden fantastyczny ale tylko jeden album grupy Skaldowie ,,Krywań, Krywań'' z 1972 r. koncertowali w Niemczech Zachodnich w tamtych latach .Polecam bardzo. pozdrawiam serdecznie S.
Excellent video. I really like the way you ended it by recommending to Prog fans are maybe into more classic Prog, that they should check out Canterbury. I love classic Prog, but Canterbury really helped open my mind and ears to a broader range of music. For those that are interested, tracking down the membership in the Canterbury bands can be very enlightening. So many musical visionaries and great songwriters. You're right that the Wilde Flowers were the start, spawning both the great Soft Machine and Caravan bands. You go on to name many other great Canterbury bands. I would point out that all those bands you mention came out of either Soft Machine or Caravan. Even Daevid Allen was in Soft Machine (prior to their first album). Anyway, great video today.
Daevid Allen, who founded Gong, was also in the first Soft Machine line up. He was forced to leave when they returned from a gig in France and he was refused re-entry to the UK as his visa had expired, so he returned to France.
Gong's history is pretty complex, after vocalists Daevid Allen and Gil Smyth left, there was 'Pierre Moerlen's Gong' (initially inc Allan Holdsworth, who had played in Soft Machine). Daevid Allen and Gil Smyth then did a live LP under the name 'Planet Gong' (1977, that LP is awesome).
@@raymondhartmeijer9300 Indeed. I had the pleasure of working with Daevid twice. Once in Glastonbury at the winter solstice (1991, I think) when he appeared with Hari Williamson (who was partnered to Daevid's ex Gilli Smyth at the time) and tried to levitate the room by getting the audience to link arms in a circle. The second time was in 2013, when he was part of an ensemble which also included Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra improvising music to silent videos.
isn't that the SAME reason Lemmy was dumped by Hawkwind? He got blocked at the border [for drugs]! Several times when I flew around Murica, I DELIBERATELY carried weed on me to TEST THE SYSTEM. (Yeah, kinda reckless but that's my style!) ONE TIME our band was returning from somewhere (domestic or international) and of course we had grass on us (maybe acid too?) and the DOGS were all over us in the airport!! OH NO!!! Thanks goodness for DANGEROUS FRUIT! The dogs were sniffing for FOREIGN FRUIT and one of us had some in his luggage! WHEW!! Here's a HORRIBLE anecdote: I was in the opening act (etc) for British Pop Star KATE NASH (now on HBO's "GLOW" tv show?) and her North American tour in 2008..... (and Kate and her band were fantastic people, she would even give me drunken piggy back rides!) .....and we went from NYC shows up to Niagra Falls headed to the TORONTO SHOW for 1200 people......and I had never been to Toronto so that was thrilling AND i'd be blowing the audience's mind with my act which never failed.....and the BORDER GUARDS STOPPED us for looking like musicians....and then they ran our IDs... and they said to me "CHRISTOPHER, you were arrested in NYC for MISDEMEANOR speech criticizing your murderous govt. THat means we can NOT permit you into canada." (!!!!) ME: "I'm not coming into canada to do POLITICAL SPEECH!!!" But it was hopeless. (Border Patrol are illiterate morons.) THE REST OF MY BAND / FRIENDS had to turn around and DUMP ME ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, and I had to find my way to DETROIT (!!!) .....ALONE (!!).....because once they hit Toronto, they couldn't come back for me afterwords, b/c Detroit was closer than where i was! #$$#@!!!!! I also missed the Vancouver shows this way! DEATH TO BUREAUCRCY!!! DEATH TO BORDERS!!!!
Good video, well done, too much stuff for one little video. It didn't really die but it did change a lot. Steven Hillage played on The Orbs albums and after some production work, started System 7, who have since released several great albums. Soft Machine musicians released several works separately and together as bands like Soft Heap and later Soft Machine Legacy until dropping the 'Legacy'. Gong in different forms continues to release albums even after Allen's death. Karl Jenkins did classical themed albums and Let's not forget Nucleus, Neil Ardley and all the other offshoots, too many to list or put in a video. Canterbury was also very close to Rock In Opposition which included Henry Cow and later the brilliant Univers Zero. Newer bands like Syd Arthur and especially the brilliant Sanguine Hum are influenced by Canterbury sound, have you heard those. Look forward to Pawn Hearts, Van Der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill, can't separate them, are my favourite artist, got everything. Seen the band and solo several times. Wonderful stuff. 👍
Thanks for doing this. I’m happy to see that the Internet can help some of this good music remain visible and I’m glad that some young people are connecting with it.
Another band from Canterbury was Spirogyra who were more of an acid/folk band. They made 3:albums, St Radigunds, Old Boot Wine and Bell boots and shambles, all worth checking out. Keep up the great work, just discovered your channel and love your enthusiasm.
Dear Niamh. I find very interesting that, as young as you are, you follow and listen to all this groups, I grew up with. In Mexico City we enjoyed special radio shows, late night, and that way got connected to this non commercial groups. A fan of all kinds of music, particularly prog and Canterbury scene, thanks you for sharing.
The greatest honor of my life was drumming on Hugh Hopper's solo record 'A Remark Hugh Made'.. I also did the New York Gong tour in '79 as their drummer as well as other endeavors with Daevid.. I love this channel and have to thank you for filling in so many blanks I seemed to have missed.. You and your father have created a treasure vault for future listeners.. Writing from Massachusetts USA (or what was the USA ;)
So good Niamh. You know your stuff! I've always been a slow collector (but relentless!), also into many genes (not all!) I have Land of Grey and Pink, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, Space Shanty, Gazeuse! with Pierre Molin's Gong, and also Camel including Rain Dances upon which the excellent Richard Sinclair arrives for vocals. It's good stuff. Your channel is so good, you're discovering the history, and grasping it. You're right in this video, prog became a dirty word for decades, but maybe as the 2000s started it began to regain it's following. The date is very subjective. It's a beautiful thing to read heaps about prog but then collect the records slowly, immerse yourself in each one and get them in your bones. Don't fall for the modern trap of needing to just "listen" to everything asap. Listen once and down the track you couldn't hum a tune to save your life - what's the point? Y'gotta collect it, buy it, and love it to death! When you have the tune going round in your head when you wake up and following you all day, you know you've been giving an album the braintime it deserves. Even if it means checking albums more slowly.
Wow! I have seen the Canterbury scene on BBC4 programmes and wanted to know more. Can I suggest Niamh, please keep doing what you are doing! Absolutely amazing that someone of your age is looking back at the 60s and 70s, and prog. You will go far! Keep at it!
I just gotta say that this type of video is something that I never knew that I wanted. I love the bands being discussed and the researched history behind them. If you choose to release more content, I don’t doubt it will be well received.
Excuse me, am I in the wrong room? I was looking for the German electronic music class... Wonderfully done and thanks so much for doing all the research. I know all these bands, but I never actually looked at a map to find Canterbury and I actually did not know the roots, so I learned a lot! I have to say one more thing totally meant as a compliment. If a guy on the internet, or even one of my friends, started spouting off like you did here I would probably tune out. But the fact that it comes from an attractive young lady, who even puts it out there that she wasn't born yet when prog died makes it all so much more interesting. I am *really* looking forward to seeing your review of Pawn Hearts, one of my favorite albums. I had the good fortune of seeing Van Der Graff once, and Peter Hammill many times solo and in different configurations. And I DO want to register for your electronic music class!
A brillaint video! I just checked out Henry Cow's debut and I just had to learn more about this "Canterbury Scene" I'd heard whispers of for a while...and there's no better video I could have turned to. Thank you!
Niamh what a star and your tee shirt made my day .....I am old enough to vaguely remember those albums and the impact they had on me as a youngling I was 12 ... The soft machine Third album was particularly memorable especially the the track Out Bloody Rageous with the use of terry riley type tape loops at the beginning an end ....never grow tired of this, and to top it off the Mick Ratledge key board solo: he really is one of my favourite key board players. He deserves more critical acclaim for his sound which is very much at the forefront of this album redefining that jazz prog rock sound ...and you hear it on 'Seven' which is another mind blowing album. I thought I was only the only one who had that connection with Soft Machine Third and there you were with the tee shirt, the knowledge and enthusiasm ...thanks for curating all this stuff before it disappears . When I saw you on TH-cam with that Tee Shirt, a 20 year old ...well I thought Out Bloody Rageous......I have sent your links to me daughter ad son who I I know will be checking out your videos ...Thanks Niamh
Hi from Japan Niamh, Although my love affair with music began with early Yes and ELP, I headed more towards fusion, jazz, and Brazilian sounds by the time I started my career here in Japan. But I had never even heard the term 'Canterbury Scene' until watching your channel. Fascinating new find for me. And although I am a TH-cam addict, I love to read. Between you and your dad, you've got enough information to begin writing for publication. Still somewhat old school, I have a floor to ceiling bookcase filled with histories of jazz, fusion, biographies, and autobiographies of musicians ... but it is now easier to publish than ever, digitally, for example, a Kindle book for sale on Amazon. I would be among your first purchasers. And who knows? After, or even, during this lockdown ... you might find a perfect career as an academic/popularizer of musicology. Cheers! - steve
Oh my God, amazing research and excellent video!! I really really love Soft Machine. I wish you and all of the people in the comments were my friends 😂
May be history for you, it was my teens although The Canterbury was not my personal scene. Trivia: Robert Wyatt left Soft Machine and formed Matching Mole, a pun on 'Machine Molle' which translates from French to Soft Machine. Looking forward to the Pawn Hearts video ... will probably comment further then ;-)
Saw this video shared in the Canterbury Scene Facebook group. Very cool! Canterbury is my favorite, so it’s nice to see a video like this. The scene doesn’t get enough love even among most prog fans.
Hi Niamh, you speak with great authority, for someone who has only 3 Canterbury related albums, and I say that as a compliment, as the ones you do have are great!. Boy do you have a lot of nice discovery's still to come though, and in a way, it would be nice to be in that exciting position again myself!. Just to start with, I thought I'd give a few tips on where to start with the Canterbury stuff. In particular, I'd single out both Soft Machine and Gong, as having a very varied history, and consequently, a very varied catalogue of albums. Starting with Soft Machine, which started off as a Psychedelic/Semi Experimental outfit, who put out what I consider their finest stuff in the first two albums (Volume 2, is one of my favorite albums of all time, a perfect album from start to finish!). I know this view could be slightly controversial, as most people seem to single out Volume 3 as their masterwork, but the first two albums are both highly original for the time, and unlike anything before, or since then! (some of the Kevin Ayers albums, might hint at what their doing here though). So from Volume 3 onwards, the direction of a Jazz element had been obviously decided upon, which they kept until Volume 6, and then turned in a more fusion orientated direction. Another highlight for me is Volume 7, which added a much welcome rock element to the music, and some very memorable compositions, and virtuoso jamming!... an awesome album for the prog fan!. This basic formula continued for the next three albums, but they were evolving into a Karl Jenkins project. Karl Jenkins was one of the leaders behind the British band Nucleus, and the direction of the band reflected this (I've heard there was some disagreement about the way this was going, but these albums are also great albums, you can be sure of that!). "Bundles" in particular, is a real 'Tour de force' album, and featured some breathtaking solo's from the great Allan Holdsworth, who really shows off, just 'some' of what he's capable of. Anyway, I hope that gives you a bit of a pointer on what to expect. As for 'Gong', they also started as a whimsical Psychedelic piece of Jazz rock crazyness, but the elements are much harder to define than with Soft Machine, I feel. All the early albums are great, but probably not the best place to start with, with Gong. The Flying Teapot trilogy, as it's called, is probably the pinnacle for the Prog fan, and the pinnacle for the first phase of Gong's development, which is a kind of Space rock/Prog (a description which is an oversimplifying way of describing this very original band, as there's so much more to the sound, than just that!). Of the Trilogy, the album which I consider their gateway album to get into, is the album "You". This is also the most spacey, serious, and jamming album, of the Daevid Allen era Gong, and is really quite magnificent, as it's a full on bass, synthesizer, and guitar freakout, that just keeps building to it's conclusion!. From there the band turned to it's Fusion elements, by releasing the album "Shamal", which I personally rate as a pleasant, but lesser effort (certainly in comparison to "You", which is very different, and vastly superior!). However, after this lackluster start in a Fusion direction, they then released two magnificent classic albums called "Gazeuse", and "Expresso 2". These are Fusion albums of the highest order in my mind, which was helped by the introduction of some wonderful musicians, like Pierre Moerlen, Hansford Rowe, and Allan Holdsworth. A revised version of this sound appeared on the next album "Downwind", which also features an input from Mike Oldfield (the Mike Oldfield touch, is an obvious addition to the flavour of this album... and it's good!). The last great 70's album by Gong was "Time is the Key", which is a much underrated effort. The compositions on the whole, may be a little weaker, but the musicianship overall, is most certainly first class!. Gong would continue in the eighties, when Daevid Allen returned, but that's another story!. Just to finish with, here's a few lesser known Canterbury bands that I know of. 'Uriel' (became the band Egg), 'Arzachel' (the same line up as Uriel, but released a rare album) 'Delivery' (a very early incarnation of Canterbury related musicians), 'Soft Head' (a fantastic Soft Machine spinoff project, similar to their pure Jazz phase), 'Gilgamesh' (another fantastic spinoff project of the 'National Health' related line up... featuring the late Alan Gowen), 'Soft Heap' (another Soft Machine related project, featuring Elton Dean on Sax), 'Gongzilla' (a later re-incarnation of the classic Gong fusion line up). There are also a number of other one off projects, but there's just too many to mention, so I won't bother going into them... anyway that's quite enough!, so I think you get the idea!.
Hi Niamh. Nice to see you have found "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack" and some new ELP posters! 😉 May I suggest a few albums worth a listen? The Enid - "In the Region of the Summer Stars" Manfred Mann's Earth Band - "The Roaring Silence" Electric Light Orchestra - "Eldorado" And when you're ready, there was a singer-songwriter called Nick Drake.
If you're interested the Canterbury scene music was very popular in parts of Quebec as for example Saint-Hyacinthe. I think it's because of André Perrault who started the largest classical music (pre-internet) mail-order house in North America. He also had a great music store. I remember seeing the imported Gong Flying Tea Pot album on his shelves in the 70s. He then moved to Virginia Beach. They eventually folded. One present Quebecois band from Montreal that are kind of descendants of the Canterbury thing is Miriodor. Check their most recent: Elements on Cuneiform. Their entire catalog is great! The best thing right now in Quebec. Good work Niamh.
Very interesting you mentioning how you like the jazz element of prog. Have you checked out jazz fusion from the late 1960's-1970's? Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Weather Report, etc. Good stuff and stellar musicianship.
The Cantebury scene is probably my favorite scene! Their connection to many of the Syd Barrett solo albums (playing on many of them) make them even more important! They were very underground and played at the UFO clubs many times. They are very anything goes and it makes for an amazing visual and audio experience! Gong/ Daevid Allen relocated to France and became much more communal and amazing! Very impressive research you have done! Keep it going, stay cool!
Thanks for the video. One of the most inspiring music genre's for me. Hope to hear more. Also, thanks for the t-shirt link. I was wondering where you were finding them.
I loved bands in the Canterbury scene before I knew the term. I discovered Gong and Soft Machine way back around 1969 or '70. Really got into the entire genre about that time. I'm glad you made this video because a lot of those bands don't get very much attention.
I am just getting into the Canterbury Scene after falling in love with Caravan..thanks for the link to the tee shirts..amazing video..I love your channel..👍👍👍glen
Thank you for touching on this topic that I did not know. He knew Canterbury through a rock festival and the book 'The Canterbury Tales', which inspired Pasolini's film.
Very interesting Naimh. If you haven't done so already please listen to Caravan's If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You. It's a terrible title but one of my favourite albums. It's very spacy, whimsical and a very English sound with plenty of jazzy sax and flute solos from Jimmy Hastings who is Pye Hastings brother. The famous track on this album is For Richard which was a big audience favourite. I always loved David Sinclair's distinctive organ and Richard Sinclair's melodic bass playing. Keep up the good work. I've always been stuck in the 60s and 70s but don't forgot there are plenty of modern prog bands such as District97 who are amazing musicians.
Hello Niamh, great video! Thank you. My favourite Canterbury band by far is Caravan with David and Richard Sinclair. Especially David who plays the synth as a wizard of the keys and is so uplifting, really great. I listen to them a lot for almost 50 years now. Also in my car and really loud! Love it! Greetings from The Netherlands 👍🏻
In March 1995, in the same week, 'Time Out' listed three gigs in various London venues: Kevin Ayers; Lol Coxhill; John Etheridge. The last one was a free lunchtime gig in a pub. Needless to say, I missed all three because I was working.
I now have new music to look for! Good job research presenter Niamh! Give the Mahavishnu Orchestra a go. Always looking forward to your posts. Keep up the great work. ☺
Love that you did a Canterbury special... Find a copy of Khan 'Space Shanty'! Just a phenomenal and overlooked album which features Steve Hillage and Dave Stewart (right after, Steve went to Gong and Dave to Hatfield and the North). Not easy to find, but worth it!! Also, the Hatfield and the North albums are essential, IMO, some of my faves...
Khan and the earlier Arzachel are both still readily available on CD. Arzachel was Dave Stewart reunited with the members of Egg, the four of them having been in a band called Uriel before DS left to go to uni and the other three continued as Egg.
Nice start, but you have a LOT to learn, Niamh! Keep going--keep exploring--there are some amazing gems from this sub-genre of prog. My main push would be for you to realize that there are many bands and artists who never saw the hallowed cobblestones of Canterbury much less "came from" there who emulated and were inspired by this "style" of music--bands from Italy, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the U.S.A., and Canada. It is a "style" or a sound more than a Scene. I mean, the music that was spawned by bands hanging around Soho London or New York City or San Francisco were far more numerous and far more incestuous and influential to one another than Daevid Allen, Robert Wyatt and the Coughlan, Hopper, or Sinclair brothers were. Plus, the sound is still very much alive and well--with bands like Amoeba Split, Homunculus Res, Zopp, The Winstons, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, Antique Seeking Nuns, and Setna.
Cool video. Great research. I always dug how a lot of those bands got a groovy fuzzed wah wah sound out of their keyboards .Fuzz wah is one of the unique features of this scene IMHO.
Nice video, "in the land of ..." was one of my rare treasures back in 2005 when I became a prog rock fan. Later I fall complete in love with Rock Bottom, but I dont know if this could be consider a canterbury scene as well
Niamh this is an excellent introduction for people who don’t know about the Canterbury scene. You certainly know what you’re talking about. Just want to mention a very interesting band that comprises of the three members of Egg and Steve Hillage called Arzachel from 1969. It’s an incredible album indeed. Your three Canterbury albums are killers. A great start!!
That "scene" is my alley for a long time and i did a french video showing my collection. I enjoy also your progs videos , and you music knowledge Bravo continuez
Great informative video. I will have to dig in deeper into the Canterbury scene. You also touched one other interesting subject: how did 70's prog bands adapt in the changing landscape of music scene in late 70's and "reinvent" themselves in 80's (some more successfully than others). And the neo-prog scene of 80's too. Keep doing the good work Niamh.
We were never laughed at for being fans of this music. It was great music in the same way jazz of the 30s and 50s still stands up as great music. Here in the USA, one was considered an outsider for even looking in this direction. I still love this music and consider it still to be innovative.
I tended to avoid terms like fusion and jazz rock, preferring one I coined, hybrid music" meaning incorporating elements of rock, jazz, classical and folk elements, including "world music and other diverse forms... .
Oh, and I person like much punk as well, although I kind of hesitated on it for a yeu or so in the late seventies, ( I nevertheless ended up in a punk band, though we called ourselves a " punk caberet act" because we had no drummer... We formed in Phoenix, were called Hate 'n' Take ( for Ricky Hate and Sharon Take- both unfortunately dead now) and we moved to NYC, to seek our fame and Fortune... which we never achieved, having broken up the same year we arrived there, owing to the relatiu between me and Sharon, which resulted in our ill fated marriage... I wouldn't do punk again after that, only touching on it in a couple of my 90's recordings...
Yeah, Hate n' Take, in our brief existence, did go over pretty well in our two gigs at CBGB, owing to the fact that out of town bands went over general ly better than the local ones owing to the New Yorkers being jaded with thier local groups, having seen them repeatedly... Though some had thier diehard fans...
Aloha Niamh, Thank you for a very informative video on Canterbury prog. I'm as old as your dad or older yet still learning about Prog. Looking forward to seeing your next video. Mahalo Ed.
Nice presentation Niamh. I learned a few things, can't say I was familiar with Canterbury itself. The late, great Alan Holdsworth is a favorite of mine, I didn't realize he had been part of that scene. Enjoyed the video, good job!
Very fascinating video, Soft Machine’s Third is perfect. I’d love to hear your take on Rock In Opposition, which I believe has a really interesting history as well.
Thanks for bringing up and discussing CARAVAN, one of my all time favorite bands ever! I'm a 66 year old bassist/percussionist from the U.S. with a love for prog (most types), jazz, and symphonic power metal. (especially NIGHTWISH, from Finland). Keep up the good work! 👍🏻💖
.... thank you Niamh! I'm really enjoyed your vdo. (my first clip by you). Surely, i will finish all your clips and i also did subscribed for future post as well. kob kun krub!
I'm amazed that someone's talking about one of my favourite genres of the moment! You got a new sub. Try listening to the band Henry Cow, they were very Canterbury related and would be great if you do a research and talk about them.Their history and legacy are one of the more rich and fascinating in music history imo.
I used to work at the original Knitting Factory.... where I was surrounded by your Fred Friths and John Zorns......and IDIOT ME..... I deliberately avoided everyone!! I could've easily befriended them all AND jammed with them in nyc. ARGH!!! (When you're young, you take things for granted!)
Good video and again your love of the genre shines through. The title track to In The Land of Grey and Pink is one of those songs that tempted me into dipping my toes into prog
Henry Cow, Slapp Happy and Nucleus were also great bands related to that scene. Not completely sure if they were considered in the Canterbury scene but they have a similar sound, worth checking out
Congratulations, you have found the centre of the Prog Universe ! For info, both Caravan & Soft Machine were regularly playing live up until the lockdowns.
A very enjoyable and informative overview! I thought I’d provide a partial prog-related reading list for your viewers/subscribers. I hope it’s not an imposition! And I’d love to hear about any books I may have failed to mention. Thanks! 1. Wondrous Stories: A Journey Through the Landscape of Progressive Rock - Jerry Ewing 2. Listening to the Future - Bill Martin 3. The Music of Yes - Bill Martin 4. Experiencing Progressive Rock: A Listener’s Companion - Robert G. H. Burns 5. The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Progressive Rock - David Weigel 6. Beyond and Before: Progressive Rick Since the 1960s - Paul Hegarty & Martin Halliwell 7. Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture - Edward Macan 8. The Music’s All That Matters: A History of Progressive Rock - Paul Stump 9. A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 1970s - Mike Barnes 10. The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age - Mark Prendergast 11. Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sounds & Imaginary Worlds - David Toop 12. White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s - Joe Boyd 13. The Progressive Underground - Kev Rowland 14. The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock, Third Edition - Charles Snider 15. The Living Years - Mike Rutherford 16. Citizens of Hope and Glory: The Story of Progressive Rock - Stephen Lambe 17. Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes - Chris Welch 18. Original Jethro Tull: The Glory Years - 1968-1980 - Gary Parker
I only discovered this channel a couple of weeks ago and it's become one of my favorites. Well done! I dig the simplicity, it gives off a friendly honesty, by not being just another rehashing of the same old tired banality some have when it comes to Progressive Rock. Luckily I have noticed more and more that has changed somewhat or at least is in the process of changing. I never understood why a Prog (Canterbury) band drifting into a more Jazz sensibility alienated their fans when it's almost a natural progression (see what I did there?). The whole Ideal behind Prog is the incorporation of non-standard styles, arrangements, and composition into Rock. Maybe it's because I started out being a fan of Jazz (arriving there by way of R&B and seminal Soul) in the early '60s, not even interested in Rock, which I found boring (at the time). There were a couple factors at play that made me a Prog fan. One was hearing the Graham Bond Organisation (Graham Bond, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruse, Ginger Baker, John Hiseman, and Dick Hecksall-Smith), and the other was going into a record store to buy the 1963 Charles Mingus album 'the Black Saint and the Sinner Lady'. They didn't have it so I rummaged through the bins and eventually came across an album by Saxman Steve Marcus, 'Tomorrow Never Knows'*, his 1968 first solo album. I knew him from Stan Kenton records and for being in Buddy Rich's band, so I shelled out the $1.25 (or whatever it was... this was 1968). Listening to that album was a pivotal moment, one of several musical epiphanies that were crucial to my musical development (Hearing Johnny Winter, then Rory Gallagher was another, followed soon after by discovering Black Sabbath). It wasn't long before I found out there was something exciting being created... Jazz-Rock (what it was called before it was called Fusion). This begs the question: is Fusion a form of Prog or is Prog a form of Fusion? Or are they one and the same? For me, at least, both terms are really just a way of telling you which style is the base form, but with a shared focus and direction, melding various forms of music into something else. Honestly, I don't think you can be a true Prog fan without embracing its essence, in all its forms. I know Prog fans who will tout Yes' 'Close to the Edge' or ELP's 'Brain Salad Surgery' (incredible albums both) as examples of what Prog is but will argue to no end when I dare to suggest that early War (especially 'World is a Ghetto') was a Prog band, or that the Grateful Dead ever played Prog. I'm not saying you have to like any particular group or artist, but there's so much out there if you really listen. Anyways, keep it up... love this channel! * This album features a number called 'Half a Heart'... give it a listen and then try to convince me the sax solo from ex-Stealers Wheel Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' isn't ripped off from it... You may have to fight me.
Another great show Niamh! Here's hoping you fill your shelves with all the Canterbury stuff. Being an American, I didn't know Canterbury from the Cadbury Bunny. But in the late 70's, a little band called ELO brought along Steve Hillage as their opening act and from there I just became a Canterbury fan. Now I have Canterbury coming outta everywhere!
Wow, you've done a few videos since I last checked. This is also a favorite subgenre of mine, though Italy, Argentina and Quebec aren't far behind. On the Canterbury tip, though, I would mention recent releases by Symmetric Communication (a Polish one-man band that sounds amazingly Egg-like) and Zopp (more Hatfieldy, I guess.) Thieves' Kitchen, while technically not Cantabrian, seemed to have that same vibe...
Moving Gelatin Plates 1971 self-titled debut from France. Supersister- To The Highest Bidder 1971 Netherlands. Fantastic examples of 'Canterbury' despite their national origin.
Good way to explore the Canterbury scene is to look at the 'Soft Machinery' pages of Pete Frame's book 'Rock Family Trees'. In fact, ALL of Pete Frame's Rock Family Trees books are essential for anyone with a real interest in rock music from 1965-1983. they really help you link up bands and discover albums in their context. I'd also recommend the live album 'June 1st 1974', with one side of Kevin Ayers (of Soft Machine) and Nico, Cale and Eno on the other side. Great live album.
Good to see you young people (that always sounds patronising l know ) getting into the music l grew up with as a teenager in the '70's . The Canterbury bands especially Soft machine and Caravan have always been my two favourite bands and l was lucky enough to see them in concert at the time . Keep up the good work introducing a new audience to this great , inventive and original music .
In the Land of Grey and Pink is such a lovely album. Is one of my favorites.
....where only boy-scouts stop to think
@@nicholaswhite649 ...?
The Canterbury Scene is pure treasure!
The Rotters Club by Hatfield and the North is one of my favorite albums. Never get tired of it!
Couldn't agree more!
Great blend of Prog jazz rock fusion and fuzz tones🤟
yes, I think also. Still, such prominent representatives of Canterbury Scene as Phil Miller or Dave Sinclair played there (I'm not sure about the icy, because I don't remember if he was in the band at the time of the recording of the album), but they really play cool
Both of their albums are as good as it gets for me, stunning music
Mumps is one of the best prog rock songs imo
Third is like the “Bitches Brew” of prog. They both released the same year too!
Good compression - like it
Did not realize that. Peace to Chick Corea.
Yes, except I absolutely count Miles jazz fusion period as part of the prog rock portrait. Once you include jazz fusion, jazz rock, and some of the jazzier reaches of funk music, you get a far richer portrait of prog rock in the USA. That's when you can start talking about Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Return to Forever, The Dixie Dregs, Weather Report, The Allman Brothers, Parliament Funkadelic, and the first four Chicago albums.
All I have to say is Tony Williams Lifetime
@@carldybowski4338 this man speaks the truth.
Dave Stewart (keys) of Egg, Arzachel, Khan, Hatfield and the North, National Health, Bruford is the most underrated musician ever.
I love every prog/fusion album with Stewart. He also played on Steve Hillage's "Fish Rising".
Steve Hillage and Bruford also!
Not underrated at all
His work from Egg is awesome especially live at chalk farm round house audio, they play Symphony No.2 with more explosiveness
By whom?
Absolutely Amazing how so many bands came from such a small Island
More importantly is the fact so many talented musicians came from or were drawn to this small area of East Kent
Mike Ratledge is an extremely underrated composer. The chord progressions on “Backwards” gives me chills
Gong was for me more a French band with some English dudes but now I can clearly hear the Canterbury influences on flying teapot
Great explanation of this fascinating period, bien joué :)
Superb video, well researched and expertly delivered. You should be doing lectures on this stuff! My recommendation for you, a short-lived band called Khan who did one album in 1972 called Space Shanty. Features Steve Hillage and Dave Stewart. A spacy and heavy guitar and organ drenched masterpiece. Essential for the Canterbury Scene.
Caravan is, was and always will be that special band that puts me in my "happy place".
Can't listen to Golf Girl and not smile.
me too :)
was for me, until at some point in out late teens, kev goes ‘the instrumental organ passage sounds like it’s off a 70’s porn film soundtrack’
Get the new big box
Are you gonna do a PHD in prog/underground 70s music?You are getting really knowledgeable.Brilliant.
You have taken this so called VC and taken it to another level , in a short length of time.Your ideas are by far more interesting then any of your video making colleagues.Keep it going - brilliant
Wow, thank you so much!
It is an excellent video.
@@the_prog_nerd note: PROG WAS MURDERED (much in the same way ROCK music as a whole has since been murdered by The Super-Mafia / Industry).
FUN FACT!
In Murica, the press WORSHIPS fame and money and celebrity.....but in England, if you got successful, the music press would usually take the piss out of you, and turn on you!
THE PRESS control every atom of society (which is why the rich lose gobs of money to fund never-earn-a-profit behemoths like the NYTimes, NYPost, Bloomberg News, etc), and the death of prog was NOT NATURAL.
Didn't help that "Success Ruins Everything" (when a band finally sees piles of cash and women, it almost always makes them LAZY and they no longer care; ex: Lars Ulrich was VERY progressive on Master Of Puppets etc and once they were rich, he GAVE UP COMPLETELY!)......
....once YES and ELP and the rest had PILES OF CASH and WOMEN....it destroys the minds of most men. (the largesse, the excess....)
They're pigging out every night on fancy meals and partying and they no longer HUNGER TO MAKE KILLER MUSIC.
(Heartbreaking: toooo many musicians said "Seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan CHANGED EVERYTHING! I wanted to be them.......FOR THE SCREAMING GIRLS!" Wasn't the MUSIC they loved. They wanted to have girls screaming for them. Yikes.)
SO THEY ALL LOST THEIR WAY BY THE MID 1970s (I'm generalizing but you get the point).
ALL THE PROG BANDS were more rebellious than "PUNK" ever was (punk was just POP MUSIC with a snarl. Bryan Adams sneering in a leather coat) --- hell, Pink Floyd's LYRICS were more punk than all punk combined!
THE PRESS WAS MOST RESPONSIBLE (ex: they want to write about the
Next Big Flavor; psychedelia only got like 3 years of favor in the MSM!)......but the other HUGE problem was that the GIANTS got fat and old and lazy (It Can Happen to you!)(It can happen to me!) (It can happen to everyone eventually!) .....
....and there was NOT a slew of BRILLIANT new prog daredevils coming up in the minor leagues after 1976. (All the BRIT acts went towards PUNK cuz the BRITISH press told them to. Murican press ignored Punk and it meant nothing over here. Muricans only know what's on the RADIO, and punk wasn't it. STYX, JOURNEY, FOREIGNER are what replaced art-rock.) (Curiously, ALL those bands had numerous PROG TRAPPINGS! Hmmm!)
MOST PROG ACTS are too derivative of the Prog Giants, and that was fatal to the movement as well.
MOST HUMANS LOVE ART-ROCK AND PROG but don't know it.
(It's hard NOT to like it! It thrills the brain!)
PUT ANY SONG ON THE RADIO TEN TIMES A DAY, and it becomes a "HIT".
PUT ANY ACT IN THE NEWSPAPER, and they sell more albums.
There's no secret here.
(That's why most of the press does PAYOLA!)
THE MORAL:
PROG WAS MURDERED BY THE PRESS, who said it was no longer hip.
OH YEAH!! WE gotta turn Niamh on to JAZZ the most effective ways.
(As an art rock fan, I didn't really like jazz at first. Just rock and classical etc.)
THE RECORD THAT MAKES ROCK FANS "GET" JAZZ...is Al DiMeola's "ELEGANT GYPSY", a landmark record (1976?).
His entire band is sick!
@@dumpygoodness4086 Anyway , moving on.
I grew up in Canterbury in the 70s. I'm glad to hear someone enthusing about the Scene. You did well to pick up the three main threads of hippy-dippy pop (Caravan), jazz-fusion (Soft Machine) and hardcore psych (Gong). You missed the folk-rock element (Spirogyra) and experimental music (Henry Cow). Like all genres we see musicians moving through a family tree of bands. The story of the Scene is not complete without a mention of Dave Stewart (Egg, Hatfield and the North) and Barbara Gaskin (Spirogyra, Hatfield and the North). Their cover of It's my Party was a huge chart hit in the early '80s. They are still making music together today.
for those like me who were momentarily confused by Spirogyra, the smooth jazz outfit is "Spyro Gyra". though in checking that, I learned that they had intended to spell their name also after the tiny creature.
Soft Machine 4 and 5 the pinnacle. Well done good summary
Ah, Caravan. I latched on to them in about 1971 and saw the live in Birmingham when they were a "University band".
Got all their albums up to The Battle of Hastings.
Great, great band and undoubtedly prog.
Nice to see a younger generation picking up on them.
Cześć. Pozdrawiam z Polski, jestem pod niesamowitym wrażeniem twojej wiedzy i zaangażowania w muzyczny świat ambitnej muzyki. Scena Canterbury , w moim kraju był taki artysta jak Czesław Niemen , nagrał wspaniałe albumy których możesz nie znać , twój tata również. Polecam przede wszystkim album Niemen Enigmatic ,, Enigmatic '' z 1970 r. to dla fanów z Polski absolutny kanon oraz grupę SBB która trzyma od lat 70 tych po dziś dzień wysoki poziom progresywnej gry. W tamtych czasach grali również koncerty na zachodzie a nie było wtedy łatwo wyjechać z mojego kraju , pomimo tego zyskali uznanie w Europie zachodniej .Świetne albumy. I na koniec jeden fantastyczny ale tylko jeden album grupy Skaldowie ,,Krywań, Krywań'' z 1972 r. koncertowali w Niemczech Zachodnich w tamtych latach .Polecam bardzo.
pozdrawiam serdecznie S.
Thank you! Probably my favorite genre. LOVE National Health, Quiet Sun and Soft Machine especially. Pip Pyle- underrated drummer!
Excellent video. I really like the way you ended it by recommending to Prog fans are maybe into more classic Prog, that they should check out Canterbury. I love classic Prog, but Canterbury really helped open my mind and ears to a broader range of music. For those that are interested, tracking down the membership in the Canterbury bands can be very enlightening. So many musical visionaries and great songwriters. You're right that the Wilde Flowers were the start, spawning both the great Soft Machine and Caravan bands. You go on to name many other great Canterbury bands. I would point out that all those bands you mention came out of either Soft Machine or Caravan. Even Daevid Allen was in Soft Machine (prior to their first album). Anyway, great video today.
Daevid Allen, who founded Gong, was also in the first Soft Machine line up. He was forced to leave when they returned from a gig in France and he was refused re-entry to the UK as his visa had expired, so he returned to France.
Gong's history is pretty complex, after vocalists Daevid Allen and Gil Smyth left, there was 'Pierre Moerlen's Gong' (initially inc Allan Holdsworth, who had played in Soft Machine). Daevid Allen and Gil Smyth then did a live LP under the name 'Planet Gong' (1977, that LP is awesome).
@@raymondhartmeijer9300 Indeed. I had the pleasure of working with Daevid twice. Once in Glastonbury at the winter solstice (1991, I think) when he appeared with Hari Williamson (who was partnered to Daevid's ex Gilli Smyth at the time) and tried to levitate the room by getting the audience to link arms in a circle. The second time was in 2013, when he was part of an ensemble which also included Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra improvising music to silent videos.
The late Daevid Allen was Australian I believe.
@@ozbaz99 He was, but he lived and worked all over the world during his lifetime
isn't that the SAME reason Lemmy was dumped by Hawkwind? He got blocked at the border [for drugs]!
Several times when I flew around Murica, I DELIBERATELY carried weed on me to TEST THE SYSTEM. (Yeah, kinda reckless but that's my style!)
ONE TIME our band was returning from somewhere (domestic or international) and of course we had grass on us (maybe acid too?) and the DOGS were all over us in the airport!!
OH NO!!!
Thanks goodness for DANGEROUS FRUIT!
The dogs were sniffing for FOREIGN FRUIT and one of us had some in his luggage!
WHEW!!
Here's a HORRIBLE anecdote:
I was in the opening act (etc) for British Pop Star KATE NASH (now on HBO's "GLOW" tv show?) and her North American tour in 2008..... (and Kate and her band were fantastic people, she would even give me drunken piggy back rides!) .....and we went from NYC shows up to Niagra Falls headed to the TORONTO SHOW for 1200 people......and I had never been to Toronto so that was thrilling AND i'd be blowing the audience's mind with my act which never failed.....and the BORDER GUARDS STOPPED us for looking like musicians....and then they ran our IDs... and they said to me "CHRISTOPHER, you were arrested in NYC for MISDEMEANOR speech criticizing your murderous govt. THat means we can NOT permit you into canada." (!!!!) ME: "I'm not coming into canada to do POLITICAL SPEECH!!!" But it was hopeless. (Border Patrol are illiterate morons.)
THE REST OF MY BAND / FRIENDS had to turn around and DUMP ME ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, and I had to find my way to DETROIT (!!!) .....ALONE (!!).....because once they hit Toronto, they couldn't come back for me afterwords, b/c Detroit was closer than where i was! #$$#@!!!!!
I also missed the Vancouver shows this way!
DEATH TO BUREAUCRCY!!!
DEATH TO BORDERS!!!!
A pleasure to watch a smart young lady talking about the music I love. Keep rockin ' !!!
Good video, well done, too much stuff for one little video. It didn't really die but it did change a lot. Steven Hillage played on The Orbs albums and after some production work, started System 7, who have since released several great albums.
Soft Machine musicians released several works separately and together as bands like Soft Heap and later Soft Machine Legacy until dropping the 'Legacy'. Gong in different forms continues to release albums even after Allen's death. Karl Jenkins did classical themed albums and Let's not forget Nucleus, Neil Ardley and all the other offshoots, too many to list or put in a video.
Canterbury was also very close to Rock In Opposition which included Henry Cow and later the brilliant Univers Zero.
Newer bands like Syd Arthur and especially the brilliant Sanguine Hum are influenced by Canterbury sound, have you heard those.
Look forward to Pawn Hearts, Van Der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill, can't separate them, are my favourite artist, got everything. Seen the band and solo several times. Wonderful stuff. 👍
Thanks for doing this. I’m happy to see that the Internet can help some of this good music remain visible and I’m glad that some young people are connecting with it.
Another band from Canterbury was Spirogyra who were more of an acid/folk band. They made 3:albums, St Radigunds, Old Boot Wine and Bell boots and shambles, all worth checking out. Keep up the great work, just discovered your channel and love your enthusiasm.
Dear Niamh. I find very interesting that, as young as you are, you follow and listen to all this groups, I grew up with.
In Mexico City we enjoyed special radio shows, late night, and that way got connected to this non commercial groups.
A fan of all kinds of music, particularly prog and Canterbury scene, thanks you for sharing.
The greatest honor of my life was drumming on Hugh Hopper's solo record 'A Remark Hugh Made'.. I also did the New York Gong tour in '79 as their drummer as well as other endeavors with Daevid.. I love this channel and have to thank you for filling in so many blanks I seemed to have missed.. You and your father have created a treasure vault for future listeners.. Writing from Massachusetts USA (or what was the USA ;)
So good Niamh. You know your stuff! I've always been a slow collector (but relentless!), also into many genes (not all!) I have Land of Grey and Pink, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, Space Shanty, Gazeuse! with Pierre Molin's Gong, and also Camel including Rain Dances upon which the excellent Richard Sinclair arrives for vocals. It's good stuff. Your channel is so good, you're discovering the history, and grasping it. You're right in this video, prog became a dirty word for decades, but maybe as the 2000s started it began to regain it's following. The date is very subjective. It's a beautiful thing to read heaps about prog but then collect the records slowly, immerse yourself in each one and get them in your bones. Don't fall for the modern trap of needing to just "listen" to everything asap. Listen once and down the track you couldn't hum a tune to save your life - what's the point? Y'gotta collect it, buy it, and love it to death! When you have the tune going round in your head when you wake up and following you all day, you know you've been giving an album the braintime it deserves. Even if it means checking albums more slowly.
Wow! I have seen the Canterbury scene on BBC4 programmes and wanted to know more. Can I suggest Niamh, please keep doing what you are doing! Absolutely amazing that someone of your age is looking back at the 60s and 70s, and prog. You will go far! Keep at it!
I just gotta say that this type of video is something that I never knew that I wanted. I love the bands being discussed and the researched history behind them. If you choose to release more content, I don’t doubt it will be well received.
Excuse me, am I in the wrong room? I was looking for the German electronic music class...
Wonderfully done and thanks so much for doing all the research. I know all these bands, but I never actually looked at a map to find Canterbury and I actually did not know the roots, so I learned a lot!
I have to say one more thing totally meant as a compliment. If a guy on the internet, or even one of my friends, started spouting off like you did here I would probably tune out. But the fact that it comes from an attractive young lady, who even puts it out there that she wasn't born yet when prog died makes it all so much more interesting.
I am *really* looking forward to seeing your review of Pawn Hearts, one of my favorite albums. I had the good fortune of seeing Van Der Graff once, and Peter Hammill many times solo and in different configurations.
And I DO want to register for your electronic music class!
A brillaint video! I just checked out Henry Cow's debut and I just had to learn more about this "Canterbury Scene" I'd heard whispers of for a while...and there's no better video I could have turned to. Thank you!
Great video. It's a really interesting topic. Caravan and matching mole are my favourites of this scene.
I did a progressive rock radio show for 25 years in Bridgeport Connecticut. I had Richard Sinclair live in the studio! Played a ton of Canterbury.
Niamh what a star and your tee shirt made my day .....I am old enough to vaguely remember those albums and the impact they had on me as a youngling I was 12 ... The soft machine Third album was particularly memorable especially the the track Out Bloody Rageous with the use of terry riley type tape loops at the beginning an end ....never grow tired of this, and to top it off the Mick Ratledge key board solo: he really is one of my favourite key board players. He deserves more critical acclaim for his sound which is very much at the forefront of this album redefining that jazz prog rock sound ...and you hear it on 'Seven' which is another mind blowing album. I thought I was only the only one who had that connection with Soft Machine Third and there you were with the tee shirt, the knowledge and enthusiasm ...thanks for curating all this stuff before it disappears . When I saw you on TH-cam with that Tee Shirt, a 20 year old ...well I thought Out Bloody Rageous......I have sent your links to me daughter ad son who I I know will be checking out your videos ...Thanks Niamh
Other prog Subgenres are Zeuhl and Rock in Opposition (RIO), that have gone parallell to the Canterbury sound/scene.
Hi from Japan Niamh,
Although my love affair with music began with early Yes and ELP, I headed more towards fusion, jazz, and Brazilian sounds by the time I started my career here in Japan. But I had never even heard the term 'Canterbury Scene' until watching your channel. Fascinating new find for me.
And although I am a TH-cam addict, I love to read. Between you and your dad, you've got enough information to begin writing for publication. Still somewhat old school, I have a floor to ceiling bookcase filled with histories of jazz, fusion, biographies, and autobiographies of musicians ... but it is now easier to publish than ever, digitally, for example, a Kindle book for sale on Amazon. I would be among your first purchasers.
And who knows? After, or even, during this lockdown ... you might find a perfect career as an academic/popularizer of musicology.
Cheers! - steve
Great vlog, very informative. A fascinating music scene very much of its time. Long live the 70’s🙂
You took a big bite with this one. Well done. Soft Machine’s Third is such a good record.
Oh my God, amazing research and excellent video!! I really really love Soft Machine. I wish you and all of the people in the comments were my friends 😂
Thoroughly enjoyed this! Very informative as I knew very little about the Canterbury scene. Thanks Niamh!
May be history for you, it was my teens although The Canterbury was not my personal scene.
Trivia: Robert Wyatt left Soft Machine and formed Matching Mole, a pun on 'Machine Molle' which translates from French to Soft Machine.
Looking forward to the Pawn Hearts video ... will probably comment further then ;-)
That was a really good one - thanks for the hard work
Gong Live Etc is still one of my all time fave albums. Extraordinary musicianship and perfect Brit-hippie vibes.
MAGMAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Soft Machine's Third. Now there's a go-to if I ever need to melt into a record.
Would love to see you do an Italian Prog segment there are so many amazing bands. Banco. PFM. Arti y Mesterie
Saw this video shared in the Canterbury Scene Facebook group. Very cool! Canterbury is my favorite, so it’s nice to see a video like this. The scene doesn’t get enough love even among most prog fans.
Hi Niamh, you speak with great authority, for someone who has only 3 Canterbury related albums, and I say that as a compliment, as the ones you do have are great!.
Boy do you have a lot of nice discovery's still to come though, and in a way, it would be nice to be in that exciting position again myself!.
Just to start with, I thought I'd give a few tips on where to start with the Canterbury stuff.
In particular, I'd single out both Soft Machine and Gong, as having a very varied history, and consequently, a very varied catalogue of albums.
Starting with Soft Machine, which started off as a Psychedelic/Semi Experimental outfit, who put out what I consider their finest stuff in the first two albums (Volume 2, is one of my favorite albums of all time, a perfect album from start to finish!).
I know this view could be slightly controversial, as most people seem to single out Volume 3 as their masterwork, but the first two albums are both highly original for the time, and unlike anything before, or since then! (some of the Kevin Ayers albums, might hint at what their doing here though).
So from Volume 3 onwards, the direction of a Jazz element had been obviously decided upon, which they kept until Volume 6, and then turned in a more fusion orientated direction.
Another highlight for me is Volume 7, which added a much welcome rock element to the music, and some very memorable compositions, and virtuoso jamming!... an awesome album for the prog fan!.
This basic formula continued for the next three albums, but they were evolving into a Karl Jenkins project.
Karl Jenkins was one of the leaders behind the British band Nucleus, and the direction of the band reflected this (I've heard there was some disagreement about the way this was going, but these albums are also great albums, you can be sure of that!).
"Bundles" in particular, is a real 'Tour de force' album, and featured some breathtaking solo's from the great Allan Holdsworth, who really shows off, just 'some' of what he's capable of.
Anyway, I hope that gives you a bit of a pointer on what to expect.
As for 'Gong', they also started as a whimsical Psychedelic piece of Jazz rock crazyness, but the elements are much harder to define than with Soft Machine, I feel.
All the early albums are great, but probably not the best place to start with, with Gong.
The Flying Teapot trilogy, as it's called, is probably the pinnacle for the Prog fan, and the pinnacle for the first phase of Gong's development, which is a kind of Space rock/Prog (a description which is an oversimplifying way of describing this very original band, as there's so much more to the sound, than just that!).
Of the Trilogy, the album which I consider their gateway album to get into, is the album "You".
This is also the most spacey, serious, and jamming album, of the Daevid Allen era Gong, and is really quite magnificent, as it's a full on bass, synthesizer, and guitar freakout, that just keeps building to it's conclusion!.
From there the band turned to it's Fusion elements, by releasing the album "Shamal", which I personally rate as a pleasant, but lesser effort (certainly in comparison to "You", which is very different, and vastly superior!).
However, after this lackluster start in a Fusion direction, they then released two magnificent classic albums called "Gazeuse", and "Expresso 2".
These are Fusion albums of the highest order in my mind, which was helped by the introduction of some wonderful musicians, like Pierre Moerlen, Hansford Rowe, and Allan Holdsworth.
A revised version of this sound appeared on the next album "Downwind", which also features an input from Mike Oldfield (the Mike Oldfield touch, is an obvious addition to the flavour of this album... and it's good!).
The last great 70's album by Gong was "Time is the Key", which is a much underrated effort.
The compositions on the whole, may be a little weaker, but the musicianship overall, is most certainly first class!.
Gong would continue in the eighties, when Daevid Allen returned, but that's another story!.
Just to finish with, here's a few lesser known Canterbury bands that I know of.
'Uriel' (became the band Egg), 'Arzachel' (the same line up as Uriel, but released a rare album)
'Delivery' (a very early incarnation of Canterbury related musicians), 'Soft Head' (a fantastic Soft Machine spinoff project, similar to their pure Jazz phase), 'Gilgamesh' (another fantastic spinoff project of the 'National Health' related line up... featuring the late Alan Gowen), 'Soft Heap' (another Soft Machine related project, featuring Elton Dean on Sax), 'Gongzilla' (a later re-incarnation of the classic Gong fusion line up).
There are also a number of other one off projects, but there's just too many to mention, so I won't bother going into them... anyway that's quite enough!, so I think you get the idea!.
Awesome video! There were so many fun bands that came from that scene.
Hi Niamh. Nice to see you have found "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack" and some new ELP posters! 😉 May I suggest a few albums worth a listen?
The Enid - "In the Region of the Summer Stars"
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - "The Roaring Silence"
Electric Light Orchestra - "Eldorado"
And when you're ready, there was a singer-songwriter called Nick Drake.
If you're interested the Canterbury scene music was very popular in parts of Quebec as for example Saint-Hyacinthe. I think it's because of André Perrault who started the largest classical music (pre-internet) mail-order house in North America. He also had a great music store. I remember seeing the imported Gong Flying Tea Pot album on his shelves in the 70s. He then moved to Virginia Beach. They eventually folded. One present Quebecois band from Montreal that are kind of descendants of the Canterbury thing is Miriodor. Check their most recent: Elements on Cuneiform. Their entire catalog is great! The best thing right now in Quebec. Good work Niamh.
Very interesting you mentioning how you like the jazz element of prog. Have you checked out jazz fusion from the late 1960's-1970's? Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Weather Report, etc. Good stuff and stellar musicianship.
The Cantebury scene is probably my favorite scene! Their connection to many of the Syd Barrett solo albums (playing on many of them) make them even more important! They were very underground and played at the UFO clubs many times. They are very anything goes and it makes for an amazing visual and audio experience! Gong/ Daevid Allen relocated to France and became much more communal and amazing! Very impressive research you have done! Keep it going, stay cool!
Thanks for the video. One of the most inspiring music genre's for me. Hope to hear more. Also, thanks for the t-shirt link. I was wondering where you were finding them.
I loved bands in the Canterbury scene before I knew the term. I discovered Gong and Soft Machine way back around 1969 or '70. Really got into the entire genre about that time. I'm glad you made this video because a lot of those bands don't get very much attention.
I am just getting into the Canterbury Scene after falling in love with Caravan..thanks for the link to the tee shirts..amazing video..I love your channel..👍👍👍glen
Probably the best background wall on TH-cam! Also, your videos are amazing, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for touching on this topic that I did not know. He knew Canterbury through a rock festival and the book 'The Canterbury Tales', which inspired Pasolini's film.
Very interesting Naimh. If you haven't done so already please listen to Caravan's If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You. It's a terrible title but one of my favourite albums. It's very spacy, whimsical and a very English sound with plenty of jazzy sax and flute solos from Jimmy Hastings who is Pye Hastings brother. The famous track on this album is For Richard which was a big audience favourite. I always loved David Sinclair's distinctive organ and Richard Sinclair's melodic bass playing. Keep up the good work. I've always been stuck in the 60s and 70s but don't forgot there are plenty of modern prog bands such as District97 who are amazing musicians.
Great video! I love canterbury scene, particularly Caravan and Gong. You should do a video about Krautrock.
Hello Niamh, great video! Thank you. My favourite Canterbury band by far is Caravan with David and Richard Sinclair. Especially David who plays the synth as a wizard of the keys and is so uplifting, really great. I listen to them a lot for almost 50 years now. Also in my car and really loud! Love it! Greetings from The Netherlands 👍🏻
In March 1995, in the same week, 'Time Out' listed three gigs in various London venues: Kevin Ayers; Lol Coxhill; John Etheridge. The last one was a free lunchtime gig in a pub. Needless to say, I missed all three because I was working.
I now have new music to look for! Good job research presenter Niamh! Give the Mahavishnu Orchestra a go. Always looking forward to your posts. Keep up the great work. ☺
EVERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ON EARTH should teach kids the big history of music.
Imagine 7 years olds losing their minds to MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA!!!!
@@dumpygoodness4086 thanks for the comment! How true it is! I rarely hear anyone mention them. Makes me feel like I have imagined them.
Love that you did a Canterbury special... Find a copy of Khan 'Space Shanty'! Just a phenomenal and overlooked album which features Steve Hillage and Dave Stewart (right after, Steve went to Gong and Dave to Hatfield and the North). Not easy to find, but worth it!! Also, the Hatfield and the North albums are essential, IMO, some of my faves...
Khan and the earlier Arzachel are both still readily available on CD. Arzachel was Dave Stewart reunited with the members of Egg, the four of them having been in a band called Uriel before DS left to go to uni and the other three continued as Egg.
My favorite album of all time.
Thank you for showing Caravan's LP.
Gong has been my favourite band for almost forty years. I love all the other bands you mention as well.
Nice start, but you have a LOT to learn, Niamh! Keep going--keep exploring--there are some amazing gems from this sub-genre of prog. My main push would be for you to realize that there are many bands and artists who never saw the hallowed cobblestones of Canterbury much less "came from" there who emulated and were inspired by this "style" of music--bands from Italy, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the U.S.A., and Canada. It is a "style" or a sound more than a Scene. I mean, the music that was spawned by bands hanging around Soho London or New York City or San Francisco were far more numerous and far more incestuous and influential to one another than Daevid Allen, Robert Wyatt and the Coughlan, Hopper, or Sinclair brothers were. Plus, the sound is still very much alive and well--with bands like Amoeba Split, Homunculus Res, Zopp, The Winstons, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, Antique Seeking Nuns, and Setna.
Ian from the Epileptic Gibbon Podcast champions the Antique Seeking Nuns.
Cool video. Great research. I always dug how a lot of those bands got a groovy fuzzed wah wah sound out of their keyboards .Fuzz wah is one of the unique features of this scene IMHO.
Nice video, "in the land of ..." was one of my rare treasures back in 2005 when I became a prog rock fan. Later I fall complete in love with Rock Bottom, but I dont know if this could be consider a canterbury scene as well
Niamh this is an excellent introduction for people who don’t know about the Canterbury scene. You certainly know what you’re talking about. Just want to mention a very interesting band that comprises of the three members of Egg and Steve Hillage called Arzachel from 1969. It’s an incredible album indeed. Your three Canterbury albums are killers. A great start!!
That "scene" is my alley for a long time and i did a french video showing my collection. I enjoy also your progs
videos , and you music knowledge Bravo continuez
Great informative video. I will have to dig in deeper into the Canterbury scene. You also touched one other interesting subject: how did 70's prog bands adapt in the changing landscape of music scene in late 70's and "reinvent" themselves in 80's (some more successfully than others). And the neo-prog scene of 80's too. Keep doing the good work Niamh.
We were never laughed at for being fans of this music. It was great music in the same way jazz of the 30s and 50s still stands up as great music. Here in the USA, one was considered an outsider for even looking in this direction. I still love this music and consider it still to be innovative.
Bruce Zeines: I wholeheartedly agree!
Soft Machine And Gong, very jazzy ... Gong especially after departure of Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage, under the leadership of Pierre Moerlin...
I tended to avoid terms like fusion and jazz rock, preferring one I coined, hybrid music" meaning incorporating elements of rock, jazz, classical and folk elements, including "world music and other diverse forms...
.
Oh, and I person like
much punk as well, although I kind of hesitated on it for a yeu or so in the late seventies, ( I nevertheless ended up in a punk band, though we called ourselves a " punk caberet act" because we had no drummer... We formed in Phoenix, were called Hate 'n' Take ( for Ricky Hate and Sharon Take- both unfortunately dead now) and we moved to NYC, to seek our fame and Fortune... which we never achieved, having broken up the same year we arrived there, owing to the relatiu between me and Sharon, which resulted in our
ill fated marriage... I wouldn't do punk again after that, only touching on it in a couple of my 90's recordings...
Yeah, Hate n' Take, in our brief existence, did go over pretty well in our two gigs at CBGB, owing to the fact that out of town bands went over general ly better than the local ones owing to the New Yorkers being jaded with thier local groups, having seen them repeatedly... Though some had thier diehard fans...
Aloha Niamh, Thank you for a very informative video on Canterbury prog.
I'm as old as your dad or older yet still learning about Prog. Looking forward to seeing your next video. Mahalo Ed.
Nice presentation Niamh. I learned a few things, can't say I was familiar with Canterbury itself. The late, great Alan Holdsworth is a favorite of mine, I didn't realize he had been part of that scene. Enjoyed the video, good job!
Very fascinating video, Soft Machine’s Third is perfect. I’d love to hear your take on Rock In Opposition, which I believe has a really interesting history as well.
Thanks for bringing up and discussing CARAVAN, one of my all time favorite bands ever! I'm a 66 year old bassist/percussionist from the U.S. with a love for prog (most types), jazz, and symphonic power metal. (especially NIGHTWISH, from Finland). Keep up the good work! 👍🏻💖
.... thank you Niamh! I'm really enjoyed your vdo. (my first clip by you). Surely, i will finish all your clips and i also did subscribed for future post as well. kob kun krub!
Great video the Canterbury Scene was marvellous. I love Gong , Soft Machine and Kevin Ayers, Cheers Sean
Very interesting video. I’ll have to check some of these bands out. Cheers.
You did a great job! I learned a lot and I've been around! Thank you!
oh my gooood what a great channell! love this material
I'm amazed that someone's talking about one of my favourite genres of the moment! You got a new sub.
Try listening to the band Henry Cow, they were very Canterbury related and would be great if you do a research and talk about them.Their history and legacy are one of the more rich and fascinating in music history imo.
I used to work at the original Knitting Factory.... where I was surrounded by your Fred Friths and John Zorns......and IDIOT ME..... I deliberately avoided everyone!!
I could've easily befriended them all AND jammed with them in nyc.
ARGH!!!
(When you're young, you take things for granted!)
Good video and again your love of the genre shines through. The title track to In The Land of Grey and Pink is one of those songs that tempted me into dipping my toes into prog
Henry Cow, Slapp Happy and Nucleus were also great bands related to that scene. Not completely sure if they were considered in the Canterbury scene but they have a similar sound, worth checking out
Congratulations, you have found the centre of the Prog Universe ! For info, both Caravan & Soft Machine were regularly playing live up until the lockdowns.
A very enjoyable and informative overview! I thought I’d provide a partial prog-related reading list for your viewers/subscribers. I hope it’s not an imposition! And I’d love to hear about any books I may have failed to mention. Thanks!
1. Wondrous Stories: A Journey Through the Landscape of Progressive Rock - Jerry Ewing
2. Listening to the Future - Bill Martin
3. The Music of Yes - Bill Martin
4. Experiencing Progressive Rock: A Listener’s Companion - Robert G. H. Burns
5. The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Progressive Rock - David Weigel
6. Beyond and Before: Progressive Rick Since the 1960s - Paul Hegarty & Martin Halliwell
7. Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture - Edward Macan
8. The Music’s All That Matters: A History of Progressive Rock - Paul Stump
9. A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 1970s - Mike Barnes
10. The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age - Mark Prendergast
11. Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sounds & Imaginary Worlds - David Toop
12. White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s - Joe Boyd
13. The Progressive Underground - Kev Rowland
14. The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock, Third Edition - Charles Snider
15. The Living Years - Mike Rutherford
16. Citizens of Hope and Glory: The Story of Progressive Rock - Stephen Lambe
17. Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes - Chris Welch
18. Original Jethro Tull: The Glory Years - 1968-1980 - Gary Parker
Dave Stewart and barbera gaskin it’s my party all good stuff
I only discovered this channel a couple of weeks ago and it's become one of my favorites. Well done! I dig the simplicity, it gives off a friendly honesty, by not being just another rehashing of the same old tired banality some have when it comes to Progressive Rock. Luckily I have noticed more and more that has changed somewhat or at least is in the process of changing. I never understood why a Prog (Canterbury) band drifting into a more Jazz sensibility alienated their fans when it's almost a natural progression (see what I did there?). The whole Ideal behind Prog is the incorporation of non-standard styles, arrangements, and composition into Rock. Maybe it's because I started out being a fan of Jazz (arriving there by way of R&B and seminal Soul) in the early '60s, not even interested in Rock, which I found boring (at the time).
There were a couple factors at play that made me a Prog fan. One was hearing the Graham Bond Organisation (Graham Bond, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruse, Ginger Baker, John Hiseman, and Dick Hecksall-Smith), and the other was going into a record store to buy the 1963 Charles Mingus album 'the Black Saint and the Sinner Lady'. They didn't have it so I rummaged through the bins and eventually came across an album by Saxman Steve Marcus, 'Tomorrow Never Knows'*, his 1968 first solo album. I knew him from Stan Kenton records and for being in Buddy Rich's band, so I shelled out the $1.25 (or whatever it was... this was 1968). Listening to that album was a pivotal moment, one of several musical epiphanies that were crucial to my musical development (Hearing Johnny Winter, then Rory Gallagher was another, followed soon after by discovering Black Sabbath). It wasn't long before I found out there was something exciting being created... Jazz-Rock (what it was called before it was called Fusion).
This begs the question: is Fusion a form of Prog or is Prog a form of Fusion? Or are they one and the same? For me, at least, both terms are really just a way of telling you which style is the base form, but with a shared focus and direction, melding various forms of music into something else. Honestly, I don't think you can be a true Prog fan without embracing its essence, in all its forms. I know Prog fans who will tout Yes' 'Close to the Edge' or ELP's 'Brain Salad Surgery' (incredible albums both) as examples of what Prog is but will argue to no end when I dare to suggest that early War (especially 'World is a Ghetto') was a Prog band, or that the Grateful Dead ever played Prog. I'm not saying you have to like any particular group or artist, but there's so much out there if you really listen.
Anyways, keep it up... love this channel!
* This album features a number called 'Half a Heart'... give it a listen and then try to convince me the sax solo from ex-Stealers Wheel Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' isn't ripped off from it... You may have to fight me.
Seeing that Graham Bond Organization had all those top notch players I will check them out. Actually been on my check out list for awhile now! Thanks!
prog comes from fusion not the other way around
Try "You"by Gong and "Fish Rising" by Steve Hillage.
fish rising is an amazing album
Another great show Niamh! Here's hoping you fill your shelves with all the Canterbury stuff. Being an American, I didn't know Canterbury from the Cadbury Bunny. But in the late 70's, a little band called ELO brought along Steve Hillage as their opening act and from there I just became a Canterbury fan. Now I have Canterbury coming outta everywhere!
Hope your video encourages people to get interested in this fascinating music scene.
Hey, Girl!
I loved your channel.
I'm from Brazil and i think only amazing your TH-cam Channel. Congratulations.
Live for the Progress Rock!!!!!
Great very informative and well made video look forward to seeing your next one, 🔥🔥
Great video! I love Wyatt and Ayers, haven't heard much apart from them but I really should.
Very interesting. Thanks. Looking forward to Pawn hearts.
i love your passion for this i am a 70child i am so you thank you i am soft machine and gong fan
Wow, you've done a few videos since I last checked. This is also a favorite subgenre of mine, though Italy, Argentina and Quebec aren't far behind. On the Canterbury tip, though, I would mention recent releases by Symmetric Communication (a Polish one-man band that sounds amazingly Egg-like) and Zopp (more Hatfieldy, I guess.) Thieves' Kitchen, while technically not Cantabrian, seemed to have that same vibe...
Moving Gelatin Plates 1971 self-titled debut from France.
Supersister- To The Highest Bidder 1971 Netherlands.
Fantastic examples of 'Canterbury' despite their national origin.
Good way to explore the Canterbury scene is to look at the 'Soft Machinery' pages of Pete Frame's book 'Rock Family Trees'. In fact, ALL of Pete Frame's Rock Family Trees books are essential for anyone with a real interest in rock music from 1965-1983. they really help you link up bands and discover albums in their context. I'd also recommend the live album 'June 1st 1974', with one side of Kevin Ayers (of Soft Machine) and Nico, Cale and Eno on the other side. Great live album.
Third changed the way I listen to music! Love Canterbury sound (and all the rest of prog rock too)