----- Original Message ----- From: "just john" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 10:32 PM Subject: Re: 70s "Prog" Rock (was Quatermass)
> > >> > >> To make a slow attack on notes, they manipulate a volume control. That's > >> the heart of the slow parts of the "Yes lead guitar sound." I'd never > >> heard it before I heard it with them. It's on Flash albums, too. But > >it's > >> not really on either of the first two Yes albums. SO, one of the > >guitarists > >> is imitating the other, but I don't know which. > >> > > > >I think that was a style that was popularised a bit during the sixties and > >had just come back into vogue with the progressive set. It is used to great > >effect on 'On The Silent Wings Of Freedom" from Tormato. > > > I don't think it was popularized in the sixties -- I would have noticed > when I heard it. > > Or can you think of a specific example? Maybe we are thinking of 2 different things, but have you ever heard the Beatles? Really, volume pedals have been around forever. > > When I first heard it, I wasn't even sure it was a guitar. My high school > mate who first played me Yes in '72 had first played a bunch of synth > stuff, so I thought it was a keyboard, for the first few notes. Name a song, maybe that will get us on the same page. > > > >At the same time the tide was turning in music. Quality music by quality > >musicians was under attack from the low end by the grassroots movement of > >punk rock and from the high end by the record companies who wanted *all* the > >profits. > > When I hear a phrase like "Quality music by quality musicians," I think > that somebody has missed the point. Especially the point of pop music. > It's not a spectator sport, ya know ... > > ... and by any measure that Yes fans treasure, the jazz people had them > whipped from the get-go. What Yes fans are you talking about? I know several who like Jazz, but not a sizeable majority. Although The Synergy Quartet is on Cyberian Khatru and they are making a bit of a name for themselves in Jazz circles. > > > >Well.....you are kinda getting into a different era now. In 82 Rabin took > >over the guitar chores and tried to turn the band into a stadium filling hit > >machine. It only worked for one album. > > >At this point, if a band wasnt playing teenybopper rock ballads, > >they were being marginalised, or put out of business. > > > > You mean like the Police? Elvis Costello? Joe Jackson? (His early band's > bass/guitar interaction is still my favorite.) I mean more like Journey or REO Speedwagon. The Police were a top band, but Costello and Jackson were both marginalised. Raves in Rolling Stone dont mean anything. They hate popularity. > > Joni Mitchell's Mingus album? Maybe you are missing my point. The 80s was an age where playlists were shrinking and corporations took control of the music business. Musicians were expected to play programmed music and be video friendly. Ugly people need not apply. > > And this was the era where Zappa's band was making money and introducing > Adrian Belew to the world. And Steve Vai and Mike Keneally. Belew is still in King Crimson these days. But Zappa was quite dependent on his 70s fan base for album sales. He had lots of complaints himself about the changes in the business side of music. > > (Admittedly, this was before Springsteen had learned to enunciate. I went > to a show of his as "Born to Run" was coming out, and I couldn't understand > a single word he sang. And yes, Patti Smith begged us not to write her mom > just 'cuz she was too stoned to play.) > > I guess I should lay off, since I've been down this road before. I hear you! <G> > > I'm just happy that Iggy Pop, Johnny Rotten and the Ramones will be > respected longer and more than Yes will. I only wish I'd realized it more > at the time -- I would have jumped to this side of the argument that much > sooner. I didn't take down my Roger Dean posters (Greenslade covers) until > I enlisted in '81. Actually I think you are quite wrong in that, but only time will tell. Not many people are happy with Rolling Stone and the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame telling them what to like. > > Music is about connection. Who ever connected with "Mountains come out of > the sky and stand there"?? Millions of people who bought the single come to mind immediately. Excuse me while I kiss the sky. Imagery is cool! xponent Look For The Girl With The Sun In Her Eyes And Shes Gone Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
