As a new boy here, forgive me if any of this has been heard before - but here goes. Checking through the album reviews (to add my halfpennys worth) surprised at the omissions of a number of bands:

Wishbone Ash: "Argus" is most definitely prog, although much of their collection is AOR or rock blues.

Touch:  the original American prog band - see my editorial at Ghostland and a somewhat plagiarised version of this utilised in Mojo magazine.

Collegium Musicum: the Czech answer to Nice.

T2

And I also recommend most strongly, inclusion of  the triple CD compilation: "Legend of a Mind" issued by Deram/Decca in the last 18 months in the UK and covering "British underground music" from 1967 to about 1973.

Have I missed something that means these bands are omitted? Or more simply it is very difficult to please all people at all times?

Dick Heath

Welcome aboard Dick Heath

YES, it is very difficult to please all people at all times? this is why we have a CATEGORY in the FORUM called : "Recommend us BAND"

Please use this thread to suggest band.

We will do our best to add them, sooner or later... 

MAX@

MAX@ wrote: What do you mean DUDE ?

He's just joking with the new guy, Max.

(I'm sure that's the case.)

Little Dudie actually loves it here

Mercator Projected  by East Of Eden is also missing

Touch:  the original American prog band

FINALLY someone who has heard of them

 inovative and unusual,an aquired taste

PRO4ME

prog4me wrote: Touch:  the original American prog band FINALLY someone who has heard of them  inovative and unusual,an aquired taste PRO4ME

I'm ever amazed when people mention early prog bands, Touch is not commonly on most people's lists. Ever since hearing a friend's US import in 1969, I've been hooked and ended up buying my UK pressing when released some months later - the poster of a seemingly androgeneous band was a bonus. And Touch does snooker some of those arguments about prog being a British invention (ironically by some American authors) - I think not, and add The United States Of America, to dispell the myth further.

My enthuiasm knows no bounds in an early Ghostland Editorial, (recently updated to answer an increasingly large number of enquiries),  at:

http://ghostland.com/ghostland/editorials.asp?ID=1 - http://ghostland.com/ghostland/editorials.asp?ID=1

I'm not sure that I would consider The United States of America a prog band - experimental, yes, but then the Byrds always were. I'll have to dig their LP out again - last time I listened to it I retained my original opinion that it was mainly improvised "wooooey noises" intermingled with some lightly jazzed-up folk music.

The carnival-style opening reminded me of Copland meets the Beatles and has a go at Sgt Pepper; Even the Beach Boys were playing around with theremins at that time . This rivalry between the 2 Bs was a huge influence on many bands who set out to do "something different". Some were more sincere than others, hence Zappa's "..In It For The Money" cover.

I would hypothesise that a lot of the inspiration for American bands who played around with technology came from the composers of that era, notably Edgar Varese, who was a great influence on Zappa, but also Luciano Berio and the grand-daddy of sequencing and sampling, Stockhausen. John Cage was another notable, although his compositional methods were key rather than the technologies he used.

Thanks for the heads up on Touch though - I'd never heard of them!

Certif1ed wrote: I'm not sure that I would consider The United States of America a prog band - experimental, yes, but then the Byrds always were. I'll have to dig their LP out again - last time I listened to it I retained my original opinion that it was mainly improvised "wooooey noises" intermingled with some lightly jazzed-up folk music.

I was reminded of The United States Of America's existence, when reading a whole chapter devoted to them in a very academic book on progressive rock:

Progressive Rock Reconsidered (Composer Resource Manuals)  
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Holm-Hudson%2C%20Kevin/026-2238398-1652438 - Kevin Holm-Hudson (Editor)

more details at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0815337159/qid=1084970042/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_11_2/026-2238398-1652438 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0815337159/qid=1084 970042/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_11_2/026-2238398-1652438

(And me too), having only got a short piece by USA on the Rock Machine Turns You On CBS sampler, I felt I needed to buy the CD and have a fuller listen. Quirky, most adventurous rock for the time of its release, which by definition of that time readily slots it into the progressive music pigeonhole - I might even venture to suggest proto-RIO. Have to say it you description (with which I again concur):

that it was mainly improvised "wooooey noises" intermingled with some lightly jazzed-up folk music

would have provided enough reason  circa 1968, to make it  prog album/band - anyway, do you want to fight a University professor of music's opinion.......................but as a non-arts academic, I have not problem with that!? To me, USA remains an album for the few.

BTW I've mentioned Jefferson Airplane After Bathing At Baxter's elsewhere; that also is quirky and adventurous, especially compared with their output either side of its release. However, I sure then we would have put that album down  to ideas induced by psychedelic assistance on West Coast hippies......... 

Crown of Creation is my favourite JA album - at least, the most consistent!

The sampler's good - try listening to the whole album in one sitting (I think they only made one - took me ages to track down a First Pressing).

...and yes, I would fight a university professor over his opinion - I wrote some pretty quirky and adventurous material as part of my degree (music) and spent many happy years arguing my use of certain musical devices. I always won. More subjective historical cases were much harder...

Bliss!