Any interesting stories behind songs/albums/prog artists?

hi there

   this is martin from China:) i love this forum because all of you are so kind and knowledgeable and funny. it seems amazing that you guys know so many things about prog rock.

   i love prog rock because it is something that make you think,make you believe in things:) and these days i've been working on a on-line radio program about prog.

i want to make  it more interesting and attractive(not just listing the member names,year, or simply lyrics) i want to add stories into the program,tell people about things that may attract their attention

(i have to admit that to a non-progger,songs that usually last more than 10 minutes or with complex arrangement isn't always a pleasure:p )

so...could help me and share the stories you know?thank you!

Regards

HI MARTINS, THIS IS CÉSAR INCA, FROM LIMA (PERU)

This is the Dylan Thomas poem that primarily inspired the lyrics that Richard Palmer-James wrote for the King Crimson song 'Red':

'Under Milkwood'

"To begin at the beginning:
"It is Spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea."

An extra air of melancholy was inspired by this single line: "This night wouds time"

Rush's title track '2112' is based on the Ayn Rand novella "Anthem", that is "...set in a distant collectivist future, when every form and emblem of individualism has been erased and society has reverted to a preindustrial level. Its hero, a scientist in a world where the pursuit of knowledge is a crime, discovers the meaning of individual freedom." (From ayn-rand.com).

More later...

Cesar Inca wrote: HThis is the Dylan Thomas poem that primarily inspired the lyrics that Richard Palmer-James wrote for the King Crimson song 'Red':

Red is an instrumental.  Did you mean Starless?

David Gilmour says he took the first line of the Pink Floyd song Sorrow from a poem he read, but he didn't give credit to the poet since he couldn't remember who it was written by or what it was called.

Originally, when Pink Floyd played the song Matilda Mother live, Syd Barrett would read out passages from actual childrens books for the lyrics (there was a particular author, but I can't remember who at the moment).  When it came time to record the song, he went to that author's estate to try to get permission to use his books on the album, but failed to get it.  So he wrote his own story for the song instead.

hmm, dusting off my useless Floyd knowledge there.  If I think of more, I'll be back.

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Martins:

Welcome to Progarchives.

There are actually numerous interesting stories behind prog band names, album titles, song titles, lyrics. etc.  In fact, it's strange that no one has thought of compiling a list - perhaps even an encyclopedia - of these.  Perhaps some of our illustrious members will assist in this effort?  Here are just a few - one for each of the eight "seminal" prog bands:

Gentle Giant.  Their name and "mascot" (the "gentle giant") - and some of their song titles and lyrics - are derived from Rabelais' "Gargantua and Pantagruel," a classic novel.

King Crimson.  Although known mostly for their paranoia-inducing approach, they have a delightful song called "Happy Family" which is about The Beatles.

Yes.  Their name is derived from a scene in The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" in which the word "yes" appears in huge block letters covering the entire screen.

Genesis.  When they went to write their second album ("Trespass"), they secluded themselves in a cabin in the English woods, and had only one album to listen to: "In the Court of the Crimson King."  In this regard, if you listen carefully, you can hear a great deal of influence from that album.  The album was titled "Trespass" because they were admittedly "trespassing" on Crimson's "ground."

The Moody Blues.  The album "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" is derived from the notes represented by the five lines on a treble clef: E, G, B, D, F.

Pink Floyd.  The song "Careful with that Ax, Eugene" is based on a legend (never confirmed - or unconfirmed...) regarding Syd Barrett.  Supposedly, during an early Pink Floyd appearance, Barrett grabbed a fire-ax from behind stage and began swinging it around his head during a particularly "aggressive" musical moment.  The head of the ax came loose and flew into the audience, burying itself in a chair only inches from a concert-goer's head.  No one was injured, but Barrett was supposedly questioned by police after the concert.

Jethro Tull.  Although Ian Anderson wrote the lyrics for "Thick as a Brick" (i.e., it was not a poem by an English schoolboy), the story behind the album is based on the true story of an English schoolboy who was expelled from school for writing a poem that contained erotic imagery.

ELP.  The oft-told rumor is actually true.  As you know, ELP was comprised of a keyboardist (Emerson), a bassist (Lake) and a drummer (Palmer).  Originally, the band was supposed to have a guitarist.  That guitarist was Jimi Hendrix, who died only months before ELP was formed.  Had he survived, the name of the band would have been (as it was supposed to be) HELP.

I'm anxious to see what our members come up with...

Peace.

Historic lyrics by Genesis

 "Can Utility and the Coastliners": is based in a true story, King Canute of Norway who tried and failed to command the waters to retreat at Chichester.  He was placed in a stone throne at the edge of the sea and he ordered the waters to retreat, he almost died drowned.

Genesis "Eleventh Earl of Mar" is bases on the story of Sir John Erskine (AKA. Bobbing John) the 6th or 11th Earl of Mar, some kind of Maxwell Smart of the XVII Century, a fanatic Jacobite but absolutely incompetent General, he got lost in his way to Perth and  never reached Sheriffmuir where the battle was really being fought.

Iván

The ELP rumour re Jimi Hendrix is only partially true.According to Keith Emerson they never actually asked him to join as Emerson couldn't see how he could expand on or add to what Hendrix was already doing.They did however seriously consider asking Mitch Mitchell to be the drummer before settling on Carl Palmer.There is a very interesting article on ELP in September issue of 'Classic Rock Magazine' which clears this all up.

BTW Jimi Hendrix was very much still alive when ELP was formed.They both played at the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970!

thank you!thank all of you!!

(Cesar Inca/Arbiter/Marcelo/emdiar/Useful_Idiot/James Lee/Dick Heath/maani/ivan_2068/richardh) these stories are of great use!

thank you all great friends

really interesting stories,are there any sites about these stories?

Arbiter wrote: Rush's title track '2112' is based on the Ayn Rand novella "Anthem", that is "...set in a distant collectivist future, when every form and emblem of individualism has been erased and society has reverted to a preindustrial level. Its hero, a scientist in a world where the pursuit of knowledge is a crime, discovers the meaning of individual freedom." (From ayn-rand.com). More later...

i've read a very detailed "essay" about this album,to be more specific,about the song "2112".

wow...greatest ¡°concept album¡± in my eyes...compact and delicate:)

Sorry guys, I meant 'Starless'. My Canadian Friend Useful I. is right.

Oh, and about Paul Menel. Well, the guys in Pallas, who had already fired their lead vocalist (not like Nicholls, who left IQ) had also set their eyes on him, but since Menel became IQ's new vocalist, they stuck with another vocalist with a similar range and vocal tone, Alan Reed (formerly of Abel Ganz).

Nowadays, Alan is still in the music business, unlike Paul, who has even refused to keep contact with his former IQ-partners; in fact, he hasn't even given any interview in the pre-production of the forthcoming IQ history DVD. Well, it seems that being the replacement of/re-replaced by Peter Nicholls is a weight that Paul isn't willing to "carry for a long time".

Hi Martin.. and welcome to the site. If you want some interesting facts about songs.. whether true or not... go to http://www.songfacts.com - www.songfacts.com

There's lots on Pink Floyd.. however I added some ELP on a few weeks ago and it still hasn't been updated... so who knows how often they update..

threefates wrote: Hi Martin.. and welcome to the site. If you want some interesting facts about songs.. whether true or not... go to http://www.songfacts.com - www.songfacts.com There's lots on Pink Floyd.. however I added some ELP on a few weeks ago and it still hasn't been updated... so who knows how often they update..

"Curse you, vile woman!" - Stewie

Yet another fun site to eat away at my valuable time when I should be curing cancer or painting my masterpiece

Mr Zappa's Illinois Enema Bandit, anybody?

I have the Live in NY vynil, and it tells the story. True, as a matter of fact. "Michael H. Kenyon, 30,the suspected enema bandit who terrorized coeds at the Univerity of Illinois for 10 years, has pleaded guilty in Urbana, Ill., to six counts of armed robbery. He has admitted administrating enemas to woman victims in at least three of his six robberies". Believe it or not, true.

By the way, rhythm guitarist Ray White does a beautiful job handling lead vocals on this one.

James Lee wrote: "Curse you, vile woman!" - Stewie Yet another fun site to eat away at my valuable time when I should be curing cancer or painting my masterpiece

Well you know, James, I try to be as helpful as I possibly can..

Neil Peart of Rush moved to England when he was 18 and worked in a tacky gift shop in Carnaby Street, London. After he became dissilousioned with the UK music scene he returned to Canada, and sold tractors and combine harvestors before Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson tracked him down for an audition. Apparently they were not going to employ him at first because he looked a bit 'dorky' Thats rich, chaps..

Apparently 'Mama' by Genesis is about an abortion..from the babies point of view, but thats not a funny one. Sorry..

Dave Brock of Hawkwind used to busk in London with Ralph McTell of 'Streets of London' and 'Alphabet Zoo' fame.

Vibrationbaby wrote: The song Lucky Man by ELP was never intended to be included on the first ELP album and was written by Greg Lake When he was a kid it was added because tthey didn't have enough material for afull album. Ironically it became one of their best known peices.

Also about this song.. the moog ending of this was the first time Keith had touched his new toy and he considered that a run through... but Greg said.. Nope that was perfect.. and wouldn't let him do another run through.. which most likely would have been an extra 10 minutes....

5% for nothing - originally titled "suddenly it's wednesday"

Yes, actually "Suddenly it's Wednesday" was the titile that Bruford used for this piece. Meanwhile, the band had recently managed to get rid from their original manager under they condition that he be paid 5 % of the band's earnings monthly for a while. So the title was changed in order to express the band's discomfort about this easy byt cheesy solution. Bruford wasn't happy with this situation either, but he thought that the title shouldn't change - despite he being the writer, the title was effectively changed, as we all know...

Cesar Inca wrote:   5% for nothing - originally titled "suddenly it's wednesday" Yes, actually "Suddenly it's Wednesday" was the titile that Bruford used for this piece. Meanwhile, the band had recently managed to get rid from their original manager under they condition that he be paid 5 % of the band's earnings monthly for a while. So the title was changed in order to express the band's discomfort about this easy byt cheesy solution. Bruford wasn't happy with this situation either, but he thought that the title shouldn't change - despite he being the writer, the title was effectively changed, as we all know...

the story is far more interesting than the song

maani wrote: ...it's strange that no one has thought of compiling a list - perhaps even an encyclopedia - of these.  Perhaps some of our illustrious members will assist in this effort?

Hi Maani and Martins,

I came across this website that lists a whole string of band names and their origins in a couple of lines each (not all of them are prog but still quite a few): http://www.progdome.com/band_names1.htm - http://www.progdome.com/band_names1.htm

On a slightly different subject, there's also a site called The Progressive Rock Bibliography whose section entitled "Literary References in Progressive Rock" explains who got their inspiration from what literary works, from the Holy Bible to George Orwell, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, etc. Very enlightening stuff. Their address is http://www.progbibliography.de/desiderata.htm - http://www.progbibliography.de/desiderata.htm

Go to the bottom of the page and click on "Literary References..."

Lise

Hope I'm not repeating any one, (I don't think I am.)

In the 60's/70's, Hawkwind (like Micheal Moorcock, Bowie, Mark Bolan etc.) used to frequent the (now famous) 'greasy spoon' working man's cafe, The Mountain Grill, on the Portobello road, London.They immortalised the place, which is still in business today, with their "Hall of the Mountain Grill".