Ian Anderson disses prog

That Wakeman bit reminds me of talking to David Jackson (sax man w/VdGG) and him telling me that, when they were recording Godbluff at Rockfield in '75, Motorhead were in the next studio and he ended up recording a jam with them! So, somewhere there's a tape of Lemmy and the boys jamming with Jaxon on sax. Jaxon also remembered playing darts with Andy Fairweather-Low during some downtime in the Godbluff sessions!

 

cstack3 wrote: The history of The Marquee Club, where all of these bands "cut their teeth," is revealing.  Ian's playing a prank on us, trust me!   They were as thick as thieves, and I'm sure they are sharing his laugh at our expense!

 

A lot of bands knew each other because they'd play fests together and bump into each other at the Blue Boar Motorway on the way home from gigs. But if you ever interview them or read interviews of a lot of them, the times were very insular. Bands saw each other as rivals even though they'd be cordial and maybe even hang out (like at the drinking establishments La Chasse, The Ship (been there), and The Speakeasy). Doesn't mean they all loved each other's music.

 

I do get what you've been saying, that Ian's having a laugh and a bit of fun with it... but you can do that and still actually mean what you say. When he says Yes and ELP could take an idea and noodle it into the ground, I believe he's sincere and isn't a fan of those bands (but he could have a pint with them and yuck it up). So, to me, it's no different to when punks or hip critics have a go at prog. I just wonder if the same people who are saying 'lighten up!' (such as yourself, and fair enough!) would say 'lighten up, it's okay' when it's critics/punks knocking their fave prog bands in the same way. In my mind, they're hypocritical if they don't take the same attitude. If they do say 'its okay when punks do it too,' then they're consistent.