Quill (U.S.) for Psychedelic rock or "Crossover"" |
Post Reply |
Author | |
Anstey
Forum Groupie Joined: December 04 2019 Location: Devon Status: Offline Points: 66 |
Post Options
Thanks(2)
Posted: December 07 2019 at 01:12 |
Not to be mistaken with the U.S. "symphonic prog" trio with the same name. Quill were the band from the U.S. underground scene and played at Woodstock 1969. They released their only album in 1970. |
|
AFlowerKingCrimson
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 02 2016 Location: Philly burbs Status: Offline Points: 18358 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Coincidentally I was listening to some of their only album on youtube yesterday. I think they might have been the closest to a progressive rock band to play at Woodstock. Proto prog might be another possible category. Prog wasn't really a US thing at the time though so maybe not. I'll have to listen to more of that album.
|
|
ExittheLemming
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 19 2007 Location: Penal Colony Status: Offline Points: 11415 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
^ Is Truro closer to Serbia than Devon?
|
|
AFlowerKingCrimson
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 02 2016 Location: Philly burbs Status: Offline Points: 18358 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
^How should I know?
|
|
HarryAngel746
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 13 2018 Location: Poland Status: Offline Points: 446 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Regarding prog rock from the USA I found such an ancient thing: The Masters of Deceit: Maybe in the US they also started in the 60s, but with a smaller breakthrough than Caravan or Soft Machine at the same time In the case of Quill I think that these saxophones are very funny and around 22:50 on their 1970 album I'm thinking about Gong.
Edited by HarryAngel746 - December 13 2019 at 08:20 |
|
PROGSHOW
Forum Newbie Joined: December 20 2019 Location: Boston, MA Status: Offline Points: 12 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Quill opened day two (Saturday) at Woodstock Festival
This one came as a total surprise package to this reviewer. On reading
their unexpectedly extensive Wikipedia entry I found that they’d played
at Woodstock despite being an unrecorded act; that they were a popular
regional attraction around Boston and the northeast; and that virtually
all of them were multi-instrumentalists with a penchant for swapping the
instruments around onstage: guitarists and keyboardists switching to
horns, woodwind or cellos at the drop of a setlist.
The Woodstock slot came courtesy of a well-received appearance in NYC,
and on hearing of their impending festival appearance with its film and
live album potential, Ahmet Ertegun signed Quill to Atlantic’s Cotillion
subsidiary in the summer of ’69.
The non-appearance of the band’s set in the Woodstock movie contributed
to the label losing interest and the band’s insistence on producing the
debut album themselves didn’t particularly help their cause with Ertegun
either. Although it was released the following year it received next to
no corporate support and quickly stiffed. Like many another
unsuccessful opus of the period it lay doggo for decades until
resuscitated for CD reissue by the excellent Wounded Bird imprint in
2010.
The music itself is also surprising, distinctively and wilfully strange,
somewhere between the Doors and early British prog-rock. The band
members are all credited under wigged-out pseudonyms, Beefheart-style,
and the compositions themselves have similarly wacky titles. Sonically,
it’s sparsely realised despite the multifarious talents of the
musicians, populated by barely-audible organs and pianos and mixed-back
guitars and drums – the most prominent instrument is often the bass
guitar.
The arrangements are of the apparently loose, adlibbed type that can
only result from the most meticulous orchestration and rehearsal. The
lyrics are far from the usual hippie abandon of the day, laden with
social commentary, and the backings are full of irregular chord
sequences and modulations. There’s no telling where it’s going from one
track to the next, or sometimes within any given track.
After an unpromising raggedy-ass intro, the opening “Thumbnail
Screwdriver” builds around a catchy Hendrixoid guitar riff and features a
chiming solo by harmonised guitars. The nine-minute “They Live The
Life” is a minimalist shuffle with warped Moody Blues harmonies and a
sparse drum solo which builds into a collapsing cacophony of chanting
and percussion, apparently a favourite concert closer.
“BBY” showcases the alternative horn skills of the players and comes
over like Zappa bowdlerising Chicago, while “Yellow Butterfly” uses only
flanged, wah-ed guitar and sparse bass and has ghostly vocals redolent
of Syd Barrett. The closing “Shrieking Finally” opens with a droll mock
Gregorian chant which leads into a fragmented prog workout with
distinctive piano trimmings. Although all the musicianship is excellent,
it’s probably Roger North’s inventive and technically adroit drumming
that stays longest in the memory.
It’s all wacky and it all works. You won’t whistle the melodies as you
walk down the street, but without doubt this is another rarity that
deserves its rediscovery.
by Len Liechti
Edited by PROGSHOW - December 20 2019 at 04:23 |
|
yam yam
Collaborator Crossover Team Joined: June 16 2011 Location: Kerberos Status: Offline Points: 6394 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
This suggestion seems to have fallen down a crack, so as soon as I've got Mike at Awesome Prog to add the band to his site (I'm not sure how to do it myself when there's already that other US band named Quill in the Awesome Prog database), I'll try to get an evaluation under way.
|
|
Cristi
Special Collaborator Crossover / Prog Metal Teams Joined: July 27 2006 Location: wonderland Status: Offline Points: 43855 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
No bio, also this or that subgenre situation, it will fall down the crack.
|
|
yam yam
Collaborator Crossover Team Joined: June 16 2011 Location: Kerberos Status: Offline Points: 6394 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
^ There's enough info in Johnny Progshow's post to put together a biography for these guys, and I'll happily take care of that if the band gets approved in either of the two subs. The suggestion was actually made a couple of months before Keishiro introduced the 'no bio, no evaluation' rule, so the lack of a biography shouldn't really have held things up.
|
|
Cristi
Special Collaborator Crossover / Prog Metal Teams Joined: July 27 2006 Location: wonderland Status: Offline Points: 43855 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
True, then it's the second thing I mentioned, this or that subgenre. Until a decision is made, which is the exact team to look into the suggested band, it will stay in limbo.
Edited by Cristi - 6 hours 6 minutes ago at 14:45 |
|
yam yam
Collaborator Crossover Team Joined: June 16 2011 Location: Kerberos Status: Offline Points: 6394 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
^ I've already mentioned the suggestion in the PSIKE team thread, so hopefully once we've got an Awesome Prog link to work with (I've asked Mike at AP add the band to that database for us due to there already being a US band named Quill on the site), the Psych guys will have a listen to the album in the first instance.
|
|
Post Reply | |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |