Who was the first Prog Rock band?

I think the first progressive rock was definitely Gustav Holst's
The Planets. I mean, just look at all the brass he uses. Each of
the seven movements were inventive and original (and Mars is
in 5/4!), and Neptune is extremely... undescribable.

Everyone should keep in mind that at one point, everyone was
inspired by someone else. The statement above isn't really all
that truthful, because Holst was only composing in the 19th
Century; he was influenced perhaps by Stravinsky, who was
influenced by Prokofiev.... the list is endless. Someone out
there was influenced by classical music, and a long chain of
events led to ingenious things like prog rock and whatever you
can call Frank Zappa, and cringe-inducing things like "numetal"
and rap.

-M

But wouldn't you have to consider the Byrds as prog first, then - since I believe that a main driving factor in Mr Z "going electric" was the fact that they (and others) were making lots of money by electrifying his songs? Simon and Garfunkel weren't far behind Dylan with the electrification of folk music either.

Maybe "8 Miles High" was not only the first identifiable work of psychedelia, but also the first identifiable work of prog?

Dylan's "electro-folk" move was also influenced by the British Invasion - the Animals ("House of the Rising Sun") and, of course, the Beatles, who already had a kind of folk/rock sound, even on "Please Please Me".

...but the Beatles aren't prog... are they...?

Edited by Certif1ed

True -- but if you want to go there, Brian Wilson said he was influenced by "Rubber Soul" in creating "Pet Sounds".

And as mentioned, Byrds/Dylan influence on Rubber Soul:

" http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/products/?item_id=B0000 02UAO&search_type=AsinSearch&locale=us  "

A link, only to state what is widely accepted.

Not that I would  care to state these facts, it is only fair in doing so.

Edited by raleighgranprix

I haven't read all the posts.  (my bad)  If someone has already posted this band I apologize.

I would consider the first progresive rock band.

"The Pretty Things" - their LP "Emotions" laid the foundation

Next would be "The Nice", "Procol Harum, or "Soft Machine".

IMHO

Personally, I think the honor goes to Lt. Uhura for "Beyond Antares"...

Some of the pionners

Zappa, Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, King Crimson, Le Orme, Yes, Jetro Tull, Gong...

some great post..  

al these have recorded some LPs pre 1970,  specially Zappa..

is worth recalling that "Free Jazz" and "Fusion Jazz", in the early 60's and trough the 70's were a great influence. (coleman, coltrane, davis, wheather report...)

 

Right you are Joren 1766

Edited by Velvetclown

King Crimson > In the Court of the Crimson King.

By the way Joren, Freak Out! has a copyright date of 1965 check your copy.

Aaron wrote: i usually just say that King Crimson's In the Court.. was the first prog album, but honestly, i dont care Aaron

 

Jerry Lucky (author of the Progressive Rock Files) puts the case for the Moody Blues Days of Future Past in the Ghostland's Editorials - released 18 months or more before ITCOTCK . But as most Brits ignored it (firsthand knowledge: I worked in  record store at the time and  it was difficult to give the album away) when it was first released, i.e. another British band that had to find success in the US before being accepted back home. It may be the first prog album by default rather than by deliberate intent by the band - e.g. Decca records were trying to broaden the appeal of it Phase Four stereo label, by taking a has-been/underused/increasingly unsuccessful  pop group (with Denny Laine the MB's had one major hit "Go Now") and marry them with its popular music orchestra.

Quote: I believe David Gilmour from Pink Floyd is featured on that one.

I think you're 30 years out - Mr Gilmour featured on the remake of the album by the Pretty Things done in the late 90's. Besides members of Tomorrow (Keith West and to a lesser extent Steve Howe) were working on "Teenage Opera" (which had two chart singles in the UK 1967), predating "SF Sorrow", but against that argument is the fact that the whole album then took nearly 30 years to appear.

Why do so many American progressive rock fans neglect (or unaware) of their own high innovative band Touch, who recorded their eponymously titled album 1968/9 and released in 1969? And one highly academic book on progressive rock Progressive Rock Reconsidered by  Kevin Holm-Hudson invests a whole chapter on United States Of America (who could be a candidate for the earliest proto-RIO band), as another candidate. Then Jefferson Airplane's "After Bathing At Baxters" is very experimental rock for the period.

Edited by Dick Heath