Progressive Nonsense

Eugene Salamati wrote: Moogtron III wrote: I read somewhere that Bill Bruford left Yes in '72 because he thought the band was moving towards a direction that was too much commercially oriented   It is true. I heard the same from one of the radio interviews with YES members. YES direction on "Close To The Edge" seemed commercial only to Bill Bruford, it doesn't mean the band was commercial in general.

No, he just felt he and the band had accomplished the best that they could possibly accomplish at that point.  They had reached their peak, and there was no topping themselves from there, it was all downhill.  In a way, he was right. Although they still had 3 great albums in them after he left, Close to the Edge and Yessongs was their peak.

There is a rumor that Frank Zappa ate sh*t on stage in NY at the 70s... i dont know if its true... but it sounds kinda shocking..

Not prog but I read:

Joni Mitchell told a group of session musicians to "play more orange". She didn't know how to read music and could only describe music in terms of colour. She thought everybody thought of music this way.

Actually, it's true. The story was from an interview of Ms. Mitchell herself.

My favourite... how did I foget? (again, not prog... sorry):

George Harrison was depressed about the direction that the Beatles were going, his wife left him for his best friend and he was strung out on drugs and feeling sick. He hadn't touched a guitar in weeks. His friend Eric Idle dropped off a gift (a new guitar). That afternoon, despite being in the depths of dispair, George sat quietly in his garden and wrote "Here Comes The Sun".

I heard this one at some kind of seminar. I forget what the point of the story was supposed to be. No, I don't believe it.

Chipiron wrote: I have read somewhere that Genesis kept playing in the 80s...

Just false rumours, I can tell you.

And the whole prog thing started with "Confusion will be my Epitaph"

Geck0 wrote: Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster! Sorry, not prog I know, but it never happened apparently. Ooh, I have one, not properly prog-related, but some friends of mine claim Peter Green's playing on Albatross is by a session musician..., I don't believe this for one moment! I did think for a brief moment that Dave Stewart of Hatfield and The North was the guy from the Eurythmics and Curve, but I didn't think that was the case. Some true facts: Jimi Hendrix played a comb and paper on "Crosstown Traffic". Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" is about a Frank Zappa concert and the venue burning down. Apparenlty Jeff Beck when he was in the Yardbirds, never bothered to tune his guitar properly...

Both Dave Stewarts appeared on the same Steve Hillage album - I think it was Open? - and one of them was credited as David Stewart.

When someone in my school said they play 'Punk progressive'..

I said no such thing exist and claimed that such remark was foolishly made by Greenday fans..

Well, he mainly likes Blink 182 and he described me how he plays the drums and how his playing probably makes their music progressive..

I personally find it stupid...

More are coming back to me...

That squealing sound in Pink Floyd's "Echoes" was a recording by Greenpeace of a harpooned and dying whale. In an interview with David Gilmore, he said the sound came about when he accidentally plugged a guitar into a guitar pedal backwards, loved the sound and went with it.

During "The Wall" tour, Syd Barrett applied for a job as a roadie for Pink Floyd. Some rumours say he did work as one... under an assumed name, naturally.

When ELP was forming, their original intent was to have Jimi Hendrix join them. Jimi was seriously considering it but he died of an overdose. (I don't know if it's true or if it's just to set up that they'd be called HELP).

Speaking of Mr. Hendrix:

He came off stage. Someone picked up his guitar and it was out of tune. Jimi later picked up the guitar and, without retuning, walked out and played a brilliant encore. The idea is that he could bend the strings to pitch as he played. Mind you, I've heard other versions of the same story but with Eddy Van Halen and The Edge.

I'm sure I'll remember more, I've always loved urban myth- type stories.

Then there's The Mudshark, The Zappa Gross Out Contest and Alice Cooper biting the head off a chicken... Ah, never mind.