TOUCH

When it comes to the history of progressive rock it is the English scene that pretty much gets most of the credit for transmogrifying the disparate genres of jazz, psychedelic rock and classical music into a potpourri of innovative art rock that has waxed and waned in popularity over the years but nevertheless elevated the rock paradigm to the same standards as the most highly developed art forms. When one ponders the question of just exactly where ground zero was for the world of prog, it is often cited that King Crimson with its revolutionary "In The Court Of The Crimson King" was spark that set off the explosion of creativity that followed the 1969 game changing album. But things in the world of music are really never quite so black and white of course.

If one were to pinpoint an exact moment of where the seeds of prog were sown, it's fairly agreed upon that The Beatles and its groundbreaking 1967 album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" single-handedly raised the bar of art rock for many generations to come and thus was the primary impetus for taking the rock and roll scene into the hi brow sophistication of contemporary jazz and classical music only without eschewing the attributes of what make rock music, well rock and roll! After The Beatles dropped their bomb on the world it became somewhat of an arms race to take rock into strange new worlds never considered and by the end of 1967, The Moody Blues released its classic "Days Of Future Passed" which hybridized its 60s beat music with the classical backing of The London Festival Orchestra. A new era of rock music had clearly begun.

While it would take a couple more years for the prog rock perfection of KC's "Crimson King" to hit the scene, the world of nascent prog rock was by no means solely an English phenomenon. The Swedish Hansson & Karlsson with its emphasis on tricky psych fueled keyboard sophistication is often considered the first progressive rock album while bands like The Savage Rose and Burnin Red Ivanhoe were brewing in nations like Denmark. Even the Eastern European nation of Hungry spawned a band named Omega which dropped its debut "10000 Lépés" in 1969. Despite the fact that prog wasn't exclusively an English phenomenon, the truth is the bands from jolly ole England were the most successful and most recognized internationally having nurtured the world of symphonic prog with The Moody Blues and The Nice as well as the more jazz-fusion oriented Canterbury sounds of The Soft Machine and Caravan.

The United States may have not been on the radar for most but on that side of the Atlantic, Frank Zappa and his Mothers of Invention were hard at work crafting some of the first avant-prog infused jazz-fusion workouts and although the most famous of the American scene was not the only one by far to craft some of the first expressions of fully developed progressive rock. The Los Angeles based TOUCH has remained an underground enigma since it entered the scene in 1968 when it emerged from the prior band The Kingsmen followed by Don and Good Times. The band was led by Don Gallucci (vocals, keyboards) and included the members Jeff Hawks (vocals), Bruce Hauser (vocals, bass), Joey Newman (vocals, guitars) and John Bordonaro (vocals, percussion).

TOUCH existed for only a brief moment in time and lasted barely long enough to record and release its sole eponymously titled album before moving on. Gallucci would become more famous as a producer for The Stooges however despite being virtually ignored upon its 1969 release (some claim this to have been released in November 1968), TOUCH has in many circles become considered to have crafted the first true progressive rock album from the USA since even though Frank Zappa was up to his shenanigans as early as 1966, the earliest recordings are nowadays considered experimental blues rock as opposed to fully developed prog. Same goes for other prog tinged bands like Boston's Earth Opera.

Although emerging from the psych scene that permeated the late 1960s, TOUCH took things to the next level on its sole album with extended compositional grandiosity, virtuosic musicianship and a total disregard for commercial acceptance by nurturing every aspect of over-indulgence. The result was an album that sounded like a direct predecessor of both Yes and King Crimson although admittedly not quite as satisfying melodically speaking. While the elements of prog rock had clearly been established on TOUCH's album, the band was still relying on the aesthetics and zeitgeist of the 60s psychedelic pop and soul rock bands rather than taking the musical approach into the fully mature prog that KC would launch at the 11th hour of the 1960s. Nevertheless, TOUCH's sole album is a beautiful transition album from the proto-prog leanings of bands like Procol Harum and Spirit to the the real shebang with extended compositional fortitude, oddball time signatures and a daring brashness missing from the more pop oriented bands that preceded.

The album exudes sort of a drunken party vibe that was graced by a whopping $25,000 advance by the Coliseum Records label and a celebratory giddiness that embraced as many stylistic approaches as possible. The recording of the album became legendary within the inner circles and even attracted Grace Slick, Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix to the recording studios to watch the band unleash its unique potpourri of early progressive rock. This is one of those albums that really sounds like absolutely nothing else that has ever been recorded. The album was crafted at that unique juncture where the psychedelic rock of yore was quickly evolving into a higher art form that vacuumed up as many attributes as possible from the world of jazz, Western classical and the myriad of ethnic folk flavors from around the world. One minute the album exudes a trippy psychedelic haze and then abruptly and without warning can erupt into a Turtles-like sunshine pop sequence that evokes an early rendering of a rock opera like "Jesus Christ Superstar." At certain moments on the closing track "Seventy Five" vocalist Jeff Hawks is a dead ringer for Jon Anderson and briefly sounds like an early version of Yes.

TOUCH's sole offering is a difficult release to get into at first. The album seems unsure of itself and where it wants to go therefore it simply throws down the gauntlet and indulges in as much excess as possible. While many could consider this a meandering mess, the album has grown on me after really letting it sink in and lapping up the flavors of that unique moment in time when the hippie ideals of the Summer of Love were swerving into a more grounded realism of the nuanced gray colored nature of the world. The music reflects this period and offers a glimpse into how the first ambitious hunger pangs of progressive music were taking their first baby steps into the greater world of hi-brow sophistication that would require the English artists to bring to fully implemented fruition. Sure the album sounds a bit naive and cluttered at times but the beauty of this one is in how utterly unpredictable one moment is to the next. A veritable mix of psychedelia, heavy psych, jazz rock and full blown prog offer mind blowing hairpin turns and exotically crafted jaunts into never never land. A full blown masterpiece? Not really but definitely an excellent display of transitional psych prog that doesn't leave you bored for even a scant moment. The enthusiasm on this one is rather infectious.

365 Days of Prog - Day 39/365

This album is a solid 5 STARS for me, I have heard it a few times now and each time it has grown more and more dear to me. At first, I was put off by this album because it was hard to find, the sound-quality was pretty bad and the cover looked really odd in my opinion. But, of course, I gave it a listen and was immediately hooked to it.

So when we usually talk about the beginnings of prog, we say that it was influenced by genres like jazz, blues and rock mostly, and that the combination of inspirations is what led to the creating of this new progressive genre. Well, this album encapsulates just that! This album FEELS like prog by all means but it is also sharing every bit of creative influence that has made it. Some sections on here are completely blues'y, some solos on here feel like they've been taken straight out of a late-night jazz session, and of course, everything is tied together by the rock arrangements and excellent playing of all the band members.

It is a shame that TOUCH have disbanded in the same year as they made this album, they could not even give it a proper tour. If they had done those things, they might have been better known today and not flung into obscurity and stay as a hidden treasure for prog-enthusiasts to discover. Instead, KING CRIMSON released their debut a little later and were crowned the forefathers of prog, when in actuality, TOUCH did it first. And might I add, even a tad better.

I can honestly find not faults in this piece of music, its bumps and cracks make it all the more epic and perfect. Truly my best discovery of this year so far! I am still on the fence on which song is my favourite, so I will just say that both "Friendly Birds" and "The Spiritual Death of Howard Greer" are my favourites by for two very different reasons.

So if you haven't given this gem a listen, please, do yourself a favour and go give it a listen.

-Naomi || 365 Days of Prog on YouTube

"An interesting case of Proto-Prog"

Many years ago I got this reissue (from 2003) as a promo for a Dutch progrock magazine, I had never heard of this USA band, but on the Internet I read many positive reviews, close to euphoric. So I was very curious to the sound of this band. The included information sheet mentions: "Touch is classic psychedelic/proto progressive band album from 1969, featuring producer Don Galluci (Kingsmen and The Stooges)."

Listening to this CD I notice a proto prog climate (passion, creativity, eclectic, adventurous) that reminds me of contemporary late Sixties bands, like Vanilla Fudge, Colosseum, The Nice and The Moody Blues, and Classic Prog like King Crimson and Yes. The powerful Hammond organ sound in the opener We Feel Fine even evokes embryonal Yes its keyboard player Tony Kaye, along fiery guitarwork. Next Friendly Birds that sounds mellow, but halfway more lush and dynamic, topped with propulsive and sparkling piano runs. The other five tracks contain a lot of variety, embellished with compelling keyboard play, from Hammond floods to wonderful Grand piano (between tender, swinging and jazzy), a huge asset on the original LP. The Yes-like elements and the variety reminds me of Early British Progressive Movement beauty Fruupp, but Touch delivers a more raw sound.

In general Touch succeeds to keep my attention and I consider this band as a strong attempt to make original prog. But at some moments, especially on the five bonustracks, Touch sounds a bit unstructured. But I am pleased with the long bonustrack The Second Coming Of Suzanne (a movie soundtrack) featuring beautiful Mellotron flutes and delicate work on the harpsichord and piano.

The recording quality is far from optimal, but better than an average bootleg, I think here is done a good job with the remastering in the studio. And from the 80 minutes running time I enjoyed more than the 40 minutes of the original release. So in my opinion a well deserved reissue, from an interesting proto prog band from the late Sixties.

My rating: 3,5 stars.

Touch formed sometime during the mid-sixties and, despite rubbing shoulders with some pretty big fish during their brief tenure as an up-and-coming band(Jimi Hendrix was said to be a fan) fate, fortune and luck seems to have been very much against them. An American outfit featuring former Kingsmen alumnus Don Galluci, Touch would issue just one fairly unsuccessful album, a self-titled affair, eventually disbanding before the 1960s were out. It's an album that has certainly grown in stature over the intervening decades since it's release in 1968, and it's fair to say that 'Touch' is one of the earliest examples of progressive rock to appear on either side of the Atlantic, coming across very much like a kind of Yankee version of Procol Harum and featuring a sound part influenced by the then burgeoning psychedelic scene, though much of the music is of a rather complex and curious nature that pre-figures the likes of Genesis, Yes and King Crimson. Very much a stand- alone release style-wise - this is nothing like the progressive rock produced by such leading American acts as Kansas, Styx and Journey - 'Touch' is genuine oddity that takes several listens to truly grasp. It's also an album that hasn't dated especially well, with a sound based around eccentric vocal harmonies and busy keyboards, strange lyrics and jerky rhythms. The album's real downfall, however, lies in a maddening lack of melodic invention, making this another entry into the 'interesting-yet-flawed' category of supposedly 'lost classics', albums that became obscure for a very good reason. Released on CD for the first time via Mark Powell's usually terrific reissue label Esoteric Recordings, 'Touch' is a frustratingly overwrought mixture of early prog meanderings, theatrical pop, and colourful, Brit-style psychedelia featuring perhaps too many ideas for it's own good. To put it simply: there is a genuine lack of memorable tunes. Only on the album's twelve-minute closer 'Seventy Five' does the group manage to work up a proper head of steam, yet even this is a composition flooded with overwrought instrumental passages, crudely stitched together to create an unconvincing whole. Those with a sincere interest in progressive rock's early days may find Touch's style more to their tastes, especially those who dig the likes of Procol Harum, Spring or The Byrds, though this is certainly no classic. Initially intriguing, and not completely without merit, yet ultimately 'Touch' is both frustrating and consistently unexceptional.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

I was in my first year at university when we spotted the unusual cover which the Touch album had at the time. Once hearing it for the first time, it immediately became one of our unique pieces of music that we shared many hours turning new listeners on to it. I would love to buy a new C.D. release of this album which would have all of the lyrics etc. on it just like the original. I gave it a 5 star rating but would like to have a studio copy, so perhaps some of you readers could assist me with my request, Steve Vasseur [email protected] I would also like for the members of the band to know that they have not been forgotten and we hope that they are all enjoying life and in good health.

I'm a little surprised at the high ratings for this one although it is one of the early Prog albums as it was released in 1968.The sound quality isn't the best either.TOUCH were an American band led by Don Gallucci a keyboardist who at 15 years of age played with THE KINGSMEN on their 1963 hit "Louie, Louie". Unfortunately he couldn't tour with the band because of his age and had to stay at home and go to school. By 1966 he had formed a band called DON AND THE GOODTIMES and scored a top 20 hit with that band. It was while recording a followup to their hit that Don decided to do something completely different. He states "The TOUCH album was first and foremost a spiritual quest put to music; a search for the holy grail of it's generation by way of sound. It was designed to go where no one had musically gone before in order to break down barriers and walls in the mind; to cause the listener to achieve an altered state of consciousness, not through meditation or drugs, but through music".These guys were smart because after they got a manager they held rehearsals in a Moorish castle in Hollywood Hills and invited record company executives to listen to their music.They would get them stoned and place them in the best spots to experience their unique sonic assault.The result was being signed for a then record breaking 25,000 dollar advance after much competitive bidding from labels.This allowed them to make the record they wanted to at Sunset Sound. Word got out and there certainly was buzz about this band and their unique sound. People started showing up to the studio, lots of people. Mick Jagger dropped by and spent a lot of time with them during these sessions, as did Grace Slick. Jimi Hendrix bought extra studio time just so he could listen to playbacks of everything the band had recorded. When the album was released it sold very well but it soon tailed off and when the record label suggested they needed to tour the band said no saying the studio album couldn't be duplicated live.

Kerry Livegren from KANSAS had this to say about TOUCH. "I first heard their music while driving back from a gig in western Kansas sometime in 1969 or 70. It was about 2am and I was listening to a powerful AM station out of Arkansas. I got about halfway through the song "Seventy Five" before I had to pull off the road and listen (it's been a long time since i've done that).The next day I bought two copies of their album, one to absorb and one for posterity.Their song writing, musicianship and arrangements were quite an inspriration to me.They were way ahead of their time, and one of the best American progressive bands". The music is good but I wouldn't consider this a 4 stars album by any means.

"The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer" is my favourite although there is a poppy section around 5 minutes."Seventy Five" ends in an experimental manner which would have been unique for that time i'm sure. A good album that deserves to be heard just because of it's status as one of the first Prog albums.

this is one of the greatest albums of all time... SO perfect. When I first heard it I didn't see what was so special about it but when I listened to it more something snapped and I was blown away, SO good. I highly recommend getting this album for all fans of any old school progressive rock or fans of any kind of classic rock. I am into a lot of bands from this time period, and this album is definitly one of (or possibly is) the best. It really is unfortunate these guys did not continue after this album, I cant even imagine the dankness and beautiful influence they would have bought upon music of the 70s. GOOD ALBUM.

Great album. I saw the group Touch in 1968 at a nightclub in Hollywood, Ca. I was impressed by their performance. I bought the album when it came out. I still have it. I enjoy all the songs. "We Feel Fine" reminds us of when everyone thought L.A. was going to slide into the ocean. "Miss Teach" reminds me of my high school days and the different teachers and their personallities we had to put up with. Then to the lounge sounding song "Alesha and Others' then it fades into "Sevent Five". Wonderul sound.

Oh how in love I was with this album from the late 60s! I was somewhere around 13 or 14 and listened to this, Zappa's "We're Only In It For The Money" & "Lumpy Gravy" and whatever Beatles album was out at the time. I was seriously smitten.

Touch is the story of a record label saying, "You won't tour for this album? Ok, we aren't promoting it anymore." And just like that, friends I said "run and get this album" couildn't find it, nor get it via ordering.

Just like that the industry cut it's nose to spite it's face.

So what was such a big deal abouit a band called Touch? Some here will bring up it's historical meaning, being the first U.S. Progressive Rock album, and make no mistake, it was progressive. One listen to "Friendly Birds" "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer", "Down At Circ's Place" and "Seventy Five" brought about changes sometimes touched on by Frank Zappa, such as the at the time - revolutionary arrangements and voicings of these songs and the absolute startling reality that what came next was at once thrilling and unique. Even by "Zappa" standards.

Instrumentation was mostly bass, drums, guitar and a Pipe Organ that would see the first serious creative use of effects we take standard for today such as reverb, or as in Touch's case, slabs of reverb and reversed reverb; globs of echo effects planned to explode at various sections of the song as orchestral segments written by the band were delegated to a drum kit attempting to emulate an orchestral set of kettle drums and Tam Tams while guitar and organ played horn sections.

Nothing like this existed as a rock recording, let alone any recording as of 1968. And that was just a 3 and a half minute song that started as lounge jazz, onto abstract jazz, followed by a Gil Evans on Acid by means of Stockhausen transition to orchestral sections barely understood most likely by Touch, let alone the recording company that smelled proffit on it's hands....and most likely would have gotten it had the band caved in and tried to play this virtually impossible to play music live and on television sans the studio effects necessary to replicate the sound Touch needed.

As a completest thank you, several tests in the studio are performed, and while pretty good, the small but very important effects prove to be a problem. And so a record company played hard-ball, made getting this amazing album difficult and making sure the band was all but dead until their contract expired years later.

But now we can hear Touch again and while it isn't 2006 production, the sound repair is amazing. As listeners remember this was recorded in 1968 and released in 1969. Prepare for a bit of age in the production process and give this masterpiece a chance. Normally I am very sad listening to the albums I liked as a kid.That's not the case with Touch, which is great via a decent stereo and astonishing with headphones. Touch was a bold album and stands the test of time. Sit back and listen to the beginnings of Progressive Rock; the beginnings of a whole new way of recording and of using the studio as a creative tool as well as taking keyboards, especially organs, and creating a new wall of sound.

There are few moments were such massive changes meet the technical minded and the audience at the same time. Best of all, you can live the moment the world changed and our favorite form of music was born.

This record is not perfect, but close enough. Released a full year before King Cimson's 1st,this seems to be the original blueprint for many symphonic prog records to come. This must have sounded striking in 1968 . Sure, there were the Mothers, Velvets, Pink Floyd and other amazing bands preceding them, but none sounded anything like Touch.There is a real positive sound to this record, as if the musicians were reaching for something higher. Jimi Hendrix loved this record and even rented studio time to listen to it. The keyboard player, Don Gallucci, played on the KIngsmen's "Louie Louie" and later went on to produce the Stooges. This record is a 5 star masterpiece that should be in every prog rock collection. P.S. According to brief but informative review in Mojo, Dan Gallucci now works in real estate.