Why is it called progressive rock?

Agreed. As mentioned in the article, Tim's gift (never discussed in the biography, btw, or by ANY of the musicians we know -- that I have seen) was to help add some focus ... I really think that the line in 7UP about "get into the vibe" of the music, is important and things like the Cosmic Jokers (what an album that is ... and still one of my favorites) is almost all -- exclusively -- about the "feel" and the "flow" and anything else is not as important ... and specially pretty is when the bass does the long stretches in it ... so simple, and yet ... so strong ... and yet so vivid ...

 

Both Helmut Hattler and Mani Neumaier have not been the conventional "hippies" hiding their experiences in those days ... I really liked Helmut's comment ... that they were so stoned, and looking at each other not knowing what to do and ... he did something ... which I'm sure happened at the Fillmore a thousand times, but the ability to take that very "moment" and expand it, and make it live with the music ... is one of the most special learnings and teachings that any music master will ever give you ... one lives for those moments, and when they come to just plop a scale or three notes ... might not even be what that moment is/was about ... and that is something that the ... and this is one of the most fundamental acting/theater/film exercises for actors by the way in advanced acting exercises ... learning to expand and make it work, not break it or change it. It is the very pinacle and the point with Hindu and Eastern ragas ... to reach that "point" and extend it, so others can see it. And KC did this on their first album as well -- with similar exercises and rehearsal.

 

All of a sudden CAN working with an actor, as was Amon Duul in the communes and then whole thing tied to film and theater (via Peter Handke, Wim Wenders, Peter Weiss and Werner Herzog), the whole thing takes a different dimention, does it not?

 

Now you know why so much of this stuff is so dear and special to me.

I love Donny And Marie Schulman.  I always watched their show.  Had no idea it was prog.

 

That's what I stated before....don't get stuck on a "label".....which is what sooo many people do that can cause horridly long threads about the word progressive.

If this site was not called Prog Archives but featured the same artists we see now.....we would still be here discussing Yes, Genesis, PF, Rush, KC.....so on...

 

 

The core of my thought is that there are ways in which a song can be composed so as to suggest a scope beyond the simple verse-chorus form that is usually sufficient for most pop and rock songs.  Specifically, this would include the use of the instrument in a way that equals or surpasses the significance of the vocals and where the song contains a linear progression of story in lyrics or of musical themes in instrumentation.  Perhaps this is just a naive way of saying that songs which contain these elements are those that were created by musicians who decided to look to the broader realm of music forms and apply it to the simplest form that is rock.  But my aim is to play the definers game (not for everyone) and see if I can't make a good approximation of how to identify many progressive rock songs from the "bottom up" of just looking at the individual song, so I intentionally focus on the first view and ignore the source of this style of composition for the sake of the style itself.

 

This approach can also be applied at the album level to identify those albums which are, more or less, those that have a defining concept.  So whereas most songs have a core idea, most albums do not and the extent to which an album is crafted into a core idea also could qualify it as a progressive rock album.  The extent to which the album's songs are connected in small groups or all together as a whole is relevant.  This approach might better validate the signifcance many people attach to those albums which seem, on some level, to be concept albums, but in looking at the lyrical content alone might not be.   

 

The central theme, I feel, between the song based and album based means for identifying a progressive rock album is that something beyond the verse-chorus form is intentionally used to enhance the song.  The more this is done, the more the song qualifies as progressive rock.  When parts of a song begin to enhance or reflect each other or various songs in an album do the same then there is a expansion in the realm of the possibilities for rock music as art and it is this idea that is, perhaps, behind what has always been meant by labeling a song or an album or a band as "progressive". 

 

I will need to set up some arbitrary rating system to establish the "progressiveness" of the song or album based on the critieria above and apply it systematically.  I've actually sketched out a rating system and if I can find where I put that "sketch" will probably start using it in my album reviews going forward.