Prototypes of Prog

Heart of the Matter wrote: Not only quick, but right too! Here I start another one: listening carefully to Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well", with that stunning combination of riffage an classical piano & guitar, a resemblance emerges: "South Side Of The Sky", by Yes, also with heavy riff in the beginning, and classical piano middle section. Sowing the seeds of prog...

^ My other two favourite Fleetwood Mac songs are from 2 different eras from "Oh Well"

Excellent selections both of them, Ken. In the Welch-era I like "Bermuda Triangle", and during the Buckingham tenure, "The Chain" (a little obvious?), with that anthemic bass solo by John McVie.

And Steve, relax, "In Held Twas In I" won't be forgotten, let's just take a walk in the park and smell the flowers before we all get too old for this.

Well, I don't know, Jon Anderson mentioned as early influences Buffalo, Simon & Garfunkel and Vanilla Fudge, explaining the confluence of electric and acoustic elements in Yes. Probably those bands weren't prog yet, but they may have been prototypes for things that blossomed later within the proper genre...

Jimi Hendrix.

Heart of the Matter wrote: Excellent selections both of them, Ken. In the Welch-era I like "Bermuda Triangle", and during the Buckingham tenure, "The Chain" (a little obvious?), with that anthemic bass solo by John McVie. And Steve, relax, "In Held Twas In I" won't be forgotten, let's just take a walk in the park and smell the flowers before we all get too old for this.

Heart of the Matter wrote: "Hypnotized"! What a particular vibe spreads that song... The meeting of both, Welch and Kirwan, was a moment of pure grace, I think. "Dust", for instance, so somber and self-contained, however so radiantly mystical. Another favourite from Future Games? "Sands of times", with Mick hitting the plates as nobody ever before (or after) did it. Perfection can take simple forms sometimes...

SteveG wrote: kenethlevine wrote: Heart of the Matter wrote: "Hypnotized"! What a particular vibe spreads that song... The meeting of both, Welch and Kirwan, was a moment of pure grace, I think. "Dust", for instance, so somber and self-contained, however so radiantly mystical. Another favourite from Future Games? "Sands of times", with Mick hitting the plates as nobody ever before (or after) did it. Perfection can take simple forms sometimes... yes to "Sands of Time".  If Micky was around he would be all over this.  I will say it again, that song is a balm for the soul.  It's a portal to a better world for 7+ minutes.  That moment when the first part shifts into the second is a spine tingler.  I need to listen to "Dust" as I can't remember it now.  Another good one from Future Games is "Women of a Thousand Years' Future Games and Bare Trees are two of my favorite albums of all time. I always thought that I was the only person on earth that liked them.

Well, seeing the last Steve-Ken exchange I must conclude that there might be lots of unloved music out there, that many people actually love! Why would that be? Let me guess: More haters repeating the same nonsense until we believe it, than real appreciation of the art.
Anyway, I've listened time ago to Danny Kirwan's Second Chapter, and I liked it. As I remember, the main difference with his work in the Mac lies in the nostalgic tone, something like that old vignette feel in the album of Van Dyke Parks with Brian Wilson. I'll try to recover it to check this memory...

If “Surfs Up” doesn’t qualify Brian Wilson as a proto-prog genius, then I just don’t know.