Where Bruford Belongs! - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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daz2112

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Topic: Where Bruford Belongs!
Posted: March 04 2006 at 18:08

He is brilliant whatever band he plays in, but i vote for Yes

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nobody

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Posted: March 04 2006 at 17:45

BaldFriede wrote:

Did you know Bill Bruford was a member of Gong once? As far as I know there don't exist any recordings of this though. Gong seems to be a band that attracts great drummers, since Pip Pyle and Pierre Moerlen played there too.

NetsNJFan wrote:

Yea too bad there are no recordings he must have sounded excellent.

There is one fundamentally awesome recording of Gong during their brief stint with BB. It is available currently on the BT site DimeaDozen here:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=84460

If you are not a DIME member you will have to sign up... but here is the info for that exquisite bootleg in case you are interested:

Gong (featuring Bill Bruford)
Oslo (Norway), Château-Neuf - 15-12-1974
Rotterdam (Netherlands), Eksit - 7-12-1974

source: sbd (good to excellent)

An instance of lucky synchronicity, the untimely break-up of King Crimson in September 1974 happened just a few weeks before Gong, while on a European tour, were once again left without a drummer. The drummer in question, Laurie Allan, hadn't left of his own accord to join the Percussions de Strasbourg, or been kicked out - he was arrested while crossing the French-German border in the possession of illegal 'substances'. Why he was the only one in the band thus convicted remains shrouded in mystery, but although Laurie was able to perform on the band's German tour in early November, a replacement had to be found pronto.

A recommendation by journalist and mutual friend Steve Lake put the band in touch with Bill Bruford, who agreed to join for the remaining dates. Of course Bruford was something of a star, but Virgin were evidently willing to pay him what he required - allegedly a salary five times higher than what the regular members were getting paid (which probably explains why the arrangement was shortlived). Anyway, Bruford caught up with Gong in Germany, rehearsed with them for a couple of days in Orléans and the 'all-star' Gong toured France, more Germany, Holland, more France, through to Norway, coming back home just in time for Christmas !

The Oslo gig had originally been scheduled to take place earlier in the tour but had to be postponed after the band missed the overnight ferry from Kiel to Oslo after their concert at Amsterdam's Melkweg. Consequently, it was rearranged for the end of the tour, and turned out to be Bill Bruford's last concert with Gong.

The recording of the Oslo gig is an excellent soundboard, but is sadly incomplete. Coincidentally, another show from the same tour, in Rotterdam, also a soundboard but of inferior quality, contains almost exactly what's missing from the Oslo show, so I thought I'd offer a double-set of both to approximate the feel of a complete Gong concert with Bill Bruford on drums.

CD1 (Oslo)
1. Master Builder (13:34)
2. Perfect Mystery (2:38)
3. Tropical Fish / Selene (7:13)
4. I Never Glid Before (7:38)
5. transition (1:10)
6. Solar Musick Suite (9:01)
7. Didier improv (10:21)
8. Oily Way (2:32)
9. Inner Temple (3:33)
10. Outer Temple (1:37)
11. Gliss Improv (3:41)
12. A Sprinkling Of Clouds (2:21)

CD2 (Rotterdam)
1. A Sprinkling Of Clouds (7:24)
2. You Can't Kill Me (8:58)
3. Isle Of Everywhere (10:21)
4. You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever (12:37)
5. applause (5:57)
6. Flying Teapot (8:04)

Daevid Allen - vocals & guitar
Didier Malherbe - saxes, flute & vocals
Steve Hillage - guitar & vocals
Miquette Giraudy - vocals & percussion
Tim Blake - synthesizers & vocals
Mike Howlett - bass
Bill Bruford - drums

This is absolutely fantastic stuff, "You" era Gong with Bill just slamming. He even uses the discarded "dirty crash" cymbal from One More Red Nightmare in this concert. The Oslo portion is A+, just a pristine soundboard, while the Rotterdam part has some distortion (mostly in the vocals...it's still highly listenable). Any BB fan should have this one, it's one of my all-time favorite boots.

Oh yeah, I voted for BB with KC but he is the greatest anywhere he lays his drumstool. My favorites after KC are National Health, Genesis, Yes and the above Gong tape.

Edited by nobody

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MattiR

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Posted: March 04 2006 at 16:28

Probably in Yes. It was his first music team

Zargus

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Posted: February 24 2006 at 13:18

YES was best with Bruford, KC hade so many great drummers before him, Michael Giles is 1 of my all time favorites. So i think Giles shuld have stayed with KC and Bruford with YES.

Empathy

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Posted: February 24 2006 at 09:55

Arsillus wrote:

Though I prefer Yes with Bruford, I think Yes did just fine with Alan White until Drama.

So I'm going with King Crimson, because Bruford seems to fit even better there than with Yes.

My thoughts exactly.

Pure Brilliance:

ANDREW

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Posted: February 24 2006 at 08:47

YES

rokmebaby

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Posted: February 24 2006 at 03:40

This one was a toughie. I have been a Bruford fan since purchasing Fragile back in the day. So, I have to think about what I play most. I love Bruford with Levin most of all, so my top "collective musical efforts" as Bill would say are:

King Crimson with Levin
Bruford and Levin (Upper Extremities, Blue Nights)
Yes
Bruford (with the amazing Jeff Berlin)
King Crimson with Wetton
UK
Earthworks
ABWH

Kudos to the question poser.

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JL08030

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Posted: February 24 2006 at 03:28

I voted King Crimson. That's where I want him.

He seems to be pretty firm in wanting to be in Earthworks, so that's where he should be.

At this point, anyone besides Alan White in Yes would sound "wrong".

People are excited at the prospect of Bill on Relayer. Yet Alan's performance pushed it over the top.

A Chaos of Visions and Voices

Norbert

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Posted: February 24 2006 at 02:45

I have heard only Yes and Crimson with Bill Bruford, but I can't imagine him playing badly.

He shines on every album I have heard so far!

ken4musiq

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Posted: February 23 2006 at 21:59

Man With Hat wrote:

BaldFriede wrote:

I strongly recommend the book "Drummers And Where They Belong: A Study On Psychiatric Wards" by A. Square, Random House 1999

Ditto

Padraic

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Posted: February 23 2006 at 21:28

I also had difficulty between Yes and KC, chose Yes.
The guy is simply unreal.

TheProgtologist View Drop Down

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Posted: February 23 2006 at 21:14

Hard to decide between Yes,KC and UK.

I'll go for Yes.

He is incrediible in any setting,though.

Rust

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Posted: February 23 2006 at 21:11

Such a hard choice between KC and Yes. Gotta say Yes by a hair.

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Spacemac

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Posted: February 23 2006 at 19:26

Alllllll

Emiaj

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Posted: February 19 2006 at 20:24

all of the bands and projects mentioned..one of the best drummers on the planet..

Harry Hood View Drop Down

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Posted: February 19 2006 at 20:22

My vote goes to KC. He was very talented in Yes, but his work with KC was very original and innovative.

alan_pfeifer View Drop Down

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Posted: February 19 2006 at 20:15

I say KC. He was great in Yes, but his stint with Fripp made those 80's albums.

el böthy

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Posted: February 19 2006 at 19:47

I must say that I don´t know his solo stuff...but ever since I heard Discipline for the first time I got hypnotise by his playing in King Crimson...much jazzier, and virtuoso than in Yes...so my vote goes for KC!

Bruford...my favorite drummer in my favorite band!

"You want me to play what, Robert?"

Peter

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Posted: September 29 2005 at 21:54

Yes and Crimson -- equally astounding in both. Clap

(I voted Crimson, as he's falling behind in the poll there.)

He's always the best prog drummer, wherever he is, in my book. Thumbs Up

I can always spot Bruford's drumming -- very unique! There are many fine drummers out there, but how many have been so downright distinctive?

Bruford, Levin and Torn is great stuff too, BTW -- Bill continues to excel and amaze! Cool

Edited by Peter

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krusty

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Posted: September 29 2005 at 19:02

Although he has done soem great stuff with both Yes & KC I'm going with Bruford,, just love One Of A Kind...

Humanism

Poll Question: Where was Bill Bruford best?
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
Yes	57	[45.60%]
King Crimson	48	[38.40%]
Bruford	11	[8.80%]
UK	1	[0.80%]
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe	0	[0.00%]
Bill Bruford’s Earthworks	6	[4.80%]
Other	2	[1.60%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted