The Strawberry Bricks Guide To Progressive Rock

Fairly few books merit the name of a "brick", but this one does: not only because of its name, but also its format that comes close to a real clay brick, though the book's cover is neither strawberry or clay colour like. Despite its foundational reference book nature, it is a brick which you shouldn't place at the bottom of your library's foundation, because you will probably pull it out repeatedly to verify some info on an album's place in progressive rock's history.

Though a lot of encyclopedian music books follow some kind of chronology, Charles Snider has a different concept than most music books, who either go through the history of a musical movement either year by year, group by group. In the present case, he goes one further by respecting a more strict chronology, going through the year's releases month by month, which is as far as I know the first time this has been done. Aymeric Leroy has done this to some extent on his Canterbury School recent book, but if that other (thicker) brick does review somewhat the albums released, it is not its main goal.

Indeed, this monthly release notion is relatively important in understanding as to whom influenced whom and eventually on on which album. Most other books will present a given year's output on the same pedestal with no chronological order, unless a band/artiste has put out more than one album that year.

This monthly release notion is not only an important one, but a sometimes complicated task, as the information is not necessarily easily available/ Most records will give the recording date, but never the actual release date, though one can extrapolate that it would normally be marketed roughly six to 15 weeks after the recording sessions, though there is no rule at all. In some case, the author did not manage to find a more precise date, so he will give "Autumn 71" (which is still fine) or "Sometime in 73" (which means that the author's search for additional info failed)  

Of course the book doesn't fully manage to translate  Snider's excellent website of the same name, as the actual timeline is simply unformattable (read practically impossible) onto paper, unless using the foldable leporello format, but even then I doubt the result will be very practical. Though still focusing on the late-60's until the late 70's, this 2.0 version of Strawberry Brick book sees the timeline extended to the early 80's, and he gives us a rapid overview of decades to come as an epilogue. As another "bonus", a series of lengthy and fascinating interviews of some of the key actors - no superstars, but some essential artistes – are very welcome.

If you are referring to what I said I didn't dismiss it based on what one reviewer said. In fact I didn't dismiss the book at all. I'm sure it's a great book for those who want to explore prog further and don't know where to start. For me personally I have all the information I need to buy prog music for the next several years. 

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 17 2017 at 06:59

Is it also absurd that you would dismiss an entire book on the basis of one sentence in a review, even when the reviewer (who read the book) found it "Fascinating, and persuasively explained in the context of his premise."

Here is no substitute for heavy lifting, my friend!

Here's a few encapsulations from very recent reviews of The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock, Revised and Expanded Edition (2017):

“In this updated edition of his 2007 book, an idea of the kind of depth Charles Snider goes into can be gleaned from the revised artwork, an electron-microscope image of the grooves of Minstrel In The Gallery. It’s a heck of a project, and his dedication and breadth of choice is to be applauded. Snider’s summaries are intensely fact-packed but academic – this is still an enthusiast’s mothership.”
--Jo Kendall, Prog Magazine

“[H]is time-centric genre definition cite[s] supportive data from various sources and suggest[s] that progressive rock is/was music created by a generation of men born roughly between 1944 and 1950 (median birth year 1947): Fascinating, and persuasively explained in the context of his premise.
Where “guide” books of this ilk sink or swim lies in how convincingly the author makes his/her case for inherently subjective viewpoints and conclusions. Snider deserves credit for tackling this head-on. The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is an informative, enlightening read that’ll keep you occupied for hours and certainly get you thinking. Snider supports his [opinions] with considerable research/study. This book offers valuable perspective on where “prog” came from historically, in one handy (hefty) volume.”
--John Collinge, Progression Magazine

“I don't often use the word massive, but this book is, in fact, massive. At over 600 pages, The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is a sort of bedside reader for prog fans of all stripes. Author Charles Snider taps his deep knowledge of the genre for a fascinating read.
It's a strong piece of work. Snider makes his points well and writes in a smooth conversational style. We don't share the same views on every release, but who does? The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is very honestly the most enjoyable book on progressive music I've read to date! I must now seek out several albums I never even knew existed before I read this book!”
--John Wilcox, Progsheet

I checked out the website and must admit it is rather impressive. Found a few minor errors but that is to be expected with such a colossal task Definitely would pick up the book if I saw it in the store. I'm just wondering why only 1972 is covered in the timeline and only 1967 in the albums heading. Is the website still under construction? 

Please note that the second edition of the book, The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock, Revised and Expanded Edition (2017) has been released.

The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock is the definitive record guide to the classic progressive era of rock music. Beginning in 1967 and continuing until 1982, the book presents the progressive rock canon, set in the presentation of a timeline. This new edition extends the timeline into the early 80s, to offer a more natural conclusion to the progressive era, as well as offering a broader selection of albums from the era.

Secondly, beginning with a database of the birth years of musicians in the timeline, the book offers that what we now know as “progressive rock” is in fact the music of a generation. The statistics play out: the median birth year for the “progressive artist” is 1947, with a standard deviation of +/- 3 years. I’ve also conducted many interviews with artists from the era, and 16 of these appear in the book. The premise was to study their early lives, from birth through the late 60s and very early 70s, to find the commonalities that these men experienced. The newly written Prologue offers a historical perspective of the pretext to the progressive era, beginning post-WWII, while the Epilogue offers a current perspective on progressive rock since the early 80s.

I’ve also spent a good deal of time fact-checking every detail in the book, including song titles and artist names. Further, this edition has been professionally edited and peer reviewed, all to make this as exacting and rewarding a book as the music it covers. Strawberry Bricks is another narrative on the classic era of progressive rock, one with hopefully a novel and candid outlook on the genre, its albums and the men that made it one of the most interesting chapters in rock’s history.

Reviews of 476 albums from 1967 - 1982
Exclusive interviews with 16 artists from the progressive era
Fully edited, proofread and fact-checked
632 pages

Based on the recommendations here, I've purchased this book. Certainly support many of the positive comments made above. Indeed it is a book to dip into from time to time, since it doesn't seem a book to read from cover to cover, that is once the introduction including time lines (nothing much if anything to argue there, in fact I would want to add a few minor contributing factors) and end pieces have been studied. One niggle: proof-reading should be better - as an academic you develop a deep suspicion that if in theses and other documents of fact, there are errors in one part  you wonder how error free are other parts of the work? So couple of obvious ones: (Pete) Townshend NOT Townsend, Allan Holdsworth NOT Alan Holdsworth (but then both spellings are given) - however, another N.American published and heavily recommended  book on prog is at least 100xs worse for typo errors. (In comparison one book I knew that was thoroughly proof-read by 4 people to eliminate both factual errors and typographicals, only has one error in the published version - ironically found in acknowledgments to the proof-readers!!!). It's probably me but yet again Touch is not included - is this an American thing to avoid early home-grown talent?

BRAND NEW WEBSITE:

the new progressiverock.com website is here: URL=http://www.progressiverock.com

Edited by djfake - June 07 2011 at 09:39

The Strawberry bricks guide online is a wonderful website. Well done to all involved!  I used it as a checklist of what to get next as far as albums go.

... Then George Harrison played the sitar, tamboura, swarmandal, and recording the guitar backwards.  Jeff Beck and Roger McGuinn were not playing Indian instruments and George was the first rock guitarist to play these instruments.

Edited by moshkito - September 07 2010 at 21:31