An Embarrassment of Prog

If Yes established a new standard for prog rock in early 1971 with "The Yes Album," the British band took only a few months to demonstrate that the LP was not a destination but a point of departure. "Fragile," which opened with the astonishing "Roundabout," appeared at the close of the very same year. In this episode, Charlie, Henry, and Bill continue a two-part discussion into one of the most astonishing double achievements in recorded music. "Fragile" brought in new talent (the wizardly, flamboyant keyboardist Rick Wakeman) and took on new songwriting and arranging challenges. It also producing one of prog's most enduring radio hits and made a notable (and influential) change in their approach to cover art. Join us on the good ship Schindleria praematurus as we sail into the heart of this strange musical sunrise.

Related links: Yes: The Story Of Fragile: Rael Prog Rock Documentary: https://youtu.be/10GtZvppurM?si=hLTAoovidbMvALoV

Yes: Sounding Out BBC 71/72: Interviews and live footage from Oct 3, 1971, Hemel Hempstead Pavilion , Hertfordshire, England: https://youtu.be/uMvqVKLI-iI?si=r30apa9WUuABK4J4 Yes: America Studio Footage 1971: https://youtu.be/Q0JkTIKm2iY?si=Js3nZI6hDamvydSA Yes: Their Fully Authorized Story: 2007 Documentery by Jon Brewer: https://youtu.be/GJKTO4OatVE?si=p0bj7wxwBF5hz5-P

Fragile (Full Album): https://youtu.be/2MyzSLWn0Iw?si=fiPm6GBrocDeims2

On some episodes it's our duty here at An Embarrassment of Prog to dive into the obscure byways of progressive rock. But not this time! We are positively thrilled to kick off a two-part examination of a pair of masterpieces by a group that could lay claim to being the most successful act of the classic 1970s prog era: Yes. Today Charlie, Henry, and Bill endeavor to put a smile upon your face, to confide in battleships and and show you where they are, and with a little help from Messrs. Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Anderson, and Squire to send you satisfied and on your way. Starship trooper, come on board as An Embarrassment of Prog sails into the musical sun that is 1971's The Yes Album.

Related links: Yours Is No Disgrace Live April 1971 Beat Club: https://youtu.be/nx_GIji9EGw?si=1wyouFC282qPgeNu

All Good People Live April 1971 Beat Club: https://youtu.be/4gaZRACHMSk?si=JWwKDCBpWlde19nD America Live March 1971 Deutschlandhalle, Berlin: https://youtu.be/5--Uk1MeS8w?si=UUFgZf2Oofmgksg1 Yours Is No Disgrace Promo Video 1971 Take One Plus One: https://youtu.be/0vECSrbnDnA?si=3uK-x-_5Afcg_BVe

The Yes Album (Full Album): https://youtu.be/9u-kcOm0DDQ?si=K7IMmgUC8hjXhszi

Dramatic vocals! Songs about sharks! Lonely lighthouses and tormented psychodramas—powered by double saxophones and an organ played in a cathedral that orbits the moon. Welcome to Van Der Graaf Generator, an influential English band bursting with musical ideas and daring listeners to keep up. This week we become Progonauts on a voyage into the Inner Space created by Peter Hamill, David Jackson, Hugh Banton, and Guy Evans on their magnum opus, 1971's "Pawn Hearts"—which contains two of their most towering pieces, "Man-Erg" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers," and features some guest work from Robert Fripp of King Crimson. Are you Van Der Curious? It may be time to meet the killer that lurks inside you.

Related links:

VDGG play "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" and "Theme One" on Belgian TV https://youtu.be/GAc4ftOA07A?si=bm1Ce1rZeEBsqdIw

"Killer" live in Paris, 1972 (low-res black and white, but the band is hot!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPGb5iYtyjo

Live in 2005 in Germany, with interviews, presented on Rockpalast: "Man-Erg" begins around 29:40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blJ_3oOVVbI

Much like the artists who recorded the great live albums of the 70s, we needed a double-sized session to handle our ambitions for a tour through prog rock's monumental in-concert LP sets. In the second part of our Live Prog discussion (picking up from our previous episode), Rick Wakeman heads for the center of the earth with an orchestra for support, Bryan Ferry storms through the north with Roxy Music, Zappa gets Frank about bad movies, and Genesis doubles down on drummers. Plus: Todd Rundgren's Utopian marriage of prog-rock grandeur and Philly soul and King Crimson's battles with the audience. Our promise to listeners: no vocals were re-recorded for this Deluxe Bonus Disc Edition of An Embarrassment of Prog!

Discussed in this episode: Rick Wakeman, "Journey To The Center If The Earth" Live 1974 on ABC In Concert: https://youtu.be/ZAQFfycgmzs?si=iw5ATTN1bqvhCxZn Roxy Music, "Out Of The Blue" (Live 1975 on The Midnight Special): https://youtu.be/W8hcd96GzMc?si=7u8DBFFW0U8VBRO3 Todd Rundgren's Utopia playing a full-length version of "The Seven Rays" 1975 on The Midnight Special: https://youtu.be/_Uc5-CFkAfo?si=Y41pbuzJ9TDz5_9e Genesis 1977 Live in Dallas, TX: https://youtu.be/OvrXwOsidyg?si=7K_cuwZTbzch8q7Z

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, "Live at the Roxy": https://youtu.be/r7fyyhhuE7c?si=pmud3ja77hOXfYWK

Frank Zappa, "Inca Roads" featuring Ruth Underwood https://youtu.be/95_7bgW2joE?si=7KIC7OsPxoe-_ljT

The same musical environment that allowed prog rock titans to rampage through your headphones like strange and colorful beasts also proved the perfect climate for the flourishing of a once mighty species that has all but vanished: the live rock LP. For prog acts, the live record could offer a showcase of stage virtuosity, the atmosphere of the band performing in communion with its audience, or just a chance for fans to buy a second version of the 20-minute musical scif-fi fantasia they'd just acquired on another record.

On this episode Charlie, Henry, and Bill return to the triple-disc-live paradise lost of the 1970s and listen to some of the concert-recording triumphs (and a couple of near misses) from bands including Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, and others. Plus a few that have been chosen because we want people to be upset with us. Part one of a series?

Deep Purple "Made in Japan" Live album on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw4N6j1KDwA&list=RDBw4N6j1KDwA&start_radio=1

Super-8 film capture of Yes performing "Siberian Khatru" live, 1972 on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6a_60GHNg8

"Yessongs" full album playlist on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5UV7lntAB8&list=OLAK5uy_lzIard6eQ8hTu5ApY4v_Txut6brZKimjw&index=2

Emerson, Lake and Palmer "Hoedown" Live in Milan 1973 on YouTube https://youtu.be/8Nllg3pvXPw?si=x6kPDwGKcfg33QkP

Jethro Tull "Bursting Out" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlVnXVFykZc

Blue Oyster Cult "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v35i90DLhd4&list=PLVPGzOHIIgz-WB-fkTh5XXzswlt5ITrgH

Renaissance "Can You Understand?" Live at RTL4 Studio Luxemburg 1974 on YouTube https://youtu.be/2A3bb47J3xU?si=J8X3LO9AXGl38ewX

Hello darkness, our old friend! This week, we've turned out all the lights (except for one blood-colored bulb) and turned up the volume on the trio of albums recorded by the band King Crimson in 1973 and 1974. For "Larks Tongues in Aspic," "Starless and Bible Black," and the culminating "Red," Robert Fripp gathered a collection of musicians willing to push themselves into strange, magical new places. He was joined by John Wetton, Bill Bruford, David Cross and Jamie Muir in creating a new kind of prog rock: dense, difficult, and exhilarating. Who knew the dark-matter planetoid at the center of the prog universe could be so much fun to visit!

Audio: Larks Tongues In Aspic (Full Album)-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXhfRoiJBIitfeySfg3M2JpsHofCulKv9&si=YueNYYgOJF3jITq9

Starless And Bible Black (Full Album)-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXhfRoiJBIiutFt5GN8_tsxHJVKRdE2qm&si=3VeC8UiIFl8qEt9M

Red (Full Album)-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXhfRoiJBIislZ9MHBBNYK0h3N30Gv7Ja&si=kzcD726vlSX5KRxc

USA (Live 1974)-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj4amT-_kJAy2jisYKv38sQ0Yi0iOa31b&si=9dkopyviprwNiRCd

The Great Deceiver (Live 1973-74): Part 1-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXhfRoiJBIivtqHn3nbCOW6TQsuF2DbR0&si=VIhOfIX1lqkzgT66

The Great Deceiver (Live 1973-74): Part 2-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXhfRoiJBIivcSZ7IKXTx_vsq9MB_rsZ0&si=MoHQkhruL_XMmNi5

Video: Larks Tongues In Aspic Part 1 - Beat Club - November 25, 1972-https://youtu.be/WhudDa3JAyc?si=IHYsDHOQMlV9zb-w

Easy Money - Midnight Special - October 12, 1973-https://youtu.be/t4hrwgMndEo?si=AWEoqZnEiRM2FwAQ

Larks Tongues in Aspic Part 2 - Melody French TV - March 02, 1974-https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=603735538423743

Starless - Melody French TV - March 02, 1974-https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1376389799181177

Put down your double-disc concept albums and 25-minute musical fantasias. Everything you love about prog rock lives in the Top 40 and FM radio hits of the 70s. In this episode we're putting our collective foot on the (classical) gas and sailing away to the point of know return. There may be a little hocus pocus involved assembling this Frankenstein of an episode, but we sure felt like three lucky men by the end. Join Charlie, Henry, and Bill for the most hummable episode of An Embarrassment of Prog yet! On YouTube: "Classical Gas" on the Smothers Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1xHJRHWOlw "Sylvia/Hocus Pocus" by Focus on the Old Grey Whistle Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV-X-5CcfYY "Frankenstein" by the Edgar Winter Group live on the German TV show Rockpalast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh3wIlHqPlI Matt Berry's perfect prog roast, with a definite nod to Edgar Winter (Snuff Box on "Old Grey Whistle Test"): https://youtu.be/zxB4_uZyWAI?si=a4UQJvukMeh-n12e

Picking up from the conversation started in our last episode, Charlie, Bill and Henry head for a visit at the Colony of Slippermen and the second half of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway," the trippily majestic 1974 album that was Peter Gabriel's last outing with Genesis. Sunny high notes, facing down death, taking a few moments for a jazz odyssey, meeting (and eating) new friends...will Rael make it back to New York City? Will our trio of musical adventurers keep their footing as they Ride the Scree? Will they get lost in a discussion of Kurt Vonnegut's fiction along the way? There's only one way to find out...

See the gatefold cover and read Peter Gabriel's liner-notes narratives here-https://www.andyphillips.tv/the-lamb-lies-down-on-broadway-the-full-inner-gatefold-story-and-lyrics/

On YouTube:

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Original Mix)-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaJcanknqCjqtODENGk_L8BKtN7EDLAei&si=Ac6DpzAksyeeIDLa

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (2007 Mix)-https://youtu.be/tax7ZlWyYvA?si=QUfTk6n8QHn0c3Vg

German Choir Sings Carpet Crawlers (2010)-https://youtu.be/nDXjfqfwgo0?si=R1-E9WeL0mruySNC

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Live 1974/75 Movie-https://youtu.be/TKS9np3GoWc?si=94UQm4PTAMcRkn8V

The prog-rock podcast you didn't know you needed is back for a new season of concept albums, long-form musical odysseys, sci-fi scenarios and occasional calls to the Rhyme Police. We're starting out big, with a 2-part journey into the last record of the Peter Gabriel-era of the band Genesis, 1974's double album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway." In a departure from their previous songwriting practice, the band allowed Gabriel to become lyricist-in-chief for an extended suite set in an American environment that seemed a far cry from their previous outings. But as Gabriel dove into a fever-dream trip through New York City, the rest of the group generated a towering musical edifice of its own. Could the two visions be made into a single prog-rock composition? Charlie, Henry, and Bill head for the Chamber of 32 Doors to find out.

On YouTube:

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Original Mix)-https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaJcanknqCjqtODENGk_L8BKtN7EDLAei&si=Ac6DpzAksyeeIDLa

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (2007 Mix)-https://youtu.be/tax7ZlWyYvA?si=QUfTk6n8QHn0c3Vg

The Story Of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Rael NYC Doc)-https://youtu.be/Os-F3DgjYis?si=fkMtVzYJVMXwGZr5

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Live 1974/75 Movie-https://youtu.be/TKS9np3GoWc?si=94UQm4PTAMcRkn8V

Phaedrus' Analysis of The Lamb-https://www.phaedrus.es/publications/the-lamb-lies-down-on-broadway/

The English keyboardist, violinist and composer Eddie Jobson has a career that has touched nearly every corner of prog rock's strangely shaped universe. A prodigy who joined the band Curved Air at the age of 17, he went on to play with Roxy Music and Frank Zappa before becoming part of UK, prog's first "supergroup," in 1977, alongside bassist/vocalist John Wetton, drummer Bill Bruford (both ex-King Crimson) and guitarist Allan Holdsworth. UK burned briefly and brightly, and to lead us through the thrills of their self-titled debut and their follow-up "Danger Money" we're joined by NYC's favorite piano man, Joe McGinty, of Psychedelic Furs and Loser's Lounge fame. On YouTube:

U.K.'s 1978 "Penn Landing" show https://youtu.be/12VFzCwub8M

U.K.'s debut-https://youtu.be/13RhulcC394

Danger Money-https://youtu.be/nX7XrfR3e3Q

Curved Air's "Metamorphosis" https://youtu.be/LzeWmEFa9e0

Roxy Music's "Out of the Blue" https://youtu.be/2bC5LnCYHk8

Eddie Jobson & Zinc, "Resident" https://youtu.be/A9dYe67my-Y

Eddie Jobson/Richie Havens, There's Something About A Train (Amtrak Ad) https://youtu.be/2bC5LnCYHk8

For more Joe McGinty, Check out "Summer Wine" by Alyson Greenfield and Joe McGinty

Joemcgintymusic.com