The neapolitan singer Gigi Pascal (real name Giancarlo D'Auria) had a long career as soloist in the melodic pop field, with some singles dating from the end of the sixties.As many others he was attracted by the newly born rock groups of the early 70's, and assembled one with the odd name Pop Compagnia Meccanica. This group had a similar story to Fabio Celi & gli Infermieri, also from Naples, as they released an album in 1973 that sounds like it had been recorded three or four years earlier.Only the first names are known of the other musicians playing with Pascal, the only known member was drummer Fulvio Marzocchella, that played with pop artists such as Umberto Bindi, Nico Fidenco, Patty Pravo and Orietta Berti.Debut is a very short album (eight songs for around 26 minutes) with the organ as main instrument and, where Fabio Celi's album had frantic vocals, this has a softer, more relaxed voice that owes much to the melodic Italian pop of the 60's, but always well mixed with the band's sound.The music has some nice classical influences, like in the instrumental Fuga in Si minore, or Crescente and the long Un concerto with a very good and complex arrangement, but sometime the sixties' sound is more evident, like in the opening La tua voce. Line-up / Musicians Gigi Pascal/vocals Arturo/guitar Mario/organ Franco/bass Fulvio Marzocchella/drums Discography(Album) Debut 1973
1.La Tua Voce 2.Ormai 3.Fuga in Si minore 4.Crescente 5.Debut 6.Oriente 7.Un Concerto 8.Io Mi Diverto
GAROLOU was a pan-Eastern Canadian group with members from Ontario thru to the Maritimes. Its origins could be traced to Franco Ontarian brothers Marc and Michel Lalonde who were living in Prince Edward Island in 1974 and part of a theatre troupe. Their musical career began humbly as a folk duo, but their interests and their popularity resulted in expansion to a full rock ensemble including keyboards, bass and drums, performing revved up and re-interpreted folk songs with plenty of progressive flourishes, Canada's answer to STEELEYE SPAN if you will. The group was ultimately based in Quebec, partly because a studio in the Laurentian Mountains was kind enough to provide free time to produce their first recording, even without any label signing, which eventually came. Their history is a turbulent one. While personnel changes were frequent and almost de rigueur for the communal lifestyles of the period, Garolou survived the indignity of a name change from their original LOUGAROU moniker, the result of a threatened lawsuit from a folk dance troupe with a very similar name. The original name is a contraction of the French word for werewolf, while Garolou is a play on words at several levels, perhaps at least one being a slight at the dance troupe. One interpretation is "Beware the wolf", while another is "Boy of the Wolf". Their first two albums, Lougarou (1976) and Garolou (1978), are widely regarded as their best and sold well. The 80s brought forth Romanceros (1980), which received critical acclaim, and Centre-ville (1982), but by then the golden era of Quebecois folk had withered, and the group called it a day in 1983.In 1993 the band re-united and has performed on and off since then. Rekindled interest resulted in re-releases of the four albums packaged as 2 two-fers, a live album, and a 1999 studio recording, all testament to the band's enduring appeal. Line-up / Musicians Michel Lalonde/guitar,vocals Marc Lalonde/vocals,bass Reginald Guay/vocals,keyboards Gilles Beaudoin/vocals,guitar Michel Stan Deguire/percussion,drums Discography(Album) Garolou 1978
1.Aux Illinois 2.La complainte du marechal Biron 3.Le depart pour les Etats 5.Je me suis habille en plumes 5.Alouette 6.Victoria 7.La retraite de Bonaparte 8.Wing-tra-la 9.Germaine
Formed in 1970 the band existed till 1989, GROBSCHNITT (which translates to ROUGH CUT) was the best German band from the mid-Seventies. All of the members of the band adopted pseudonyms, namely "Eroc", "Mist", "Wildschwein", "Lupo" and "Popo". The band was created by Joachim "Eroc" Ehrig (drums, percussion), Stefan "Wildschwein" Daneliak (guitars & vocals), and Gerd-Otto "Lupo" Kühn (guitar, vocals). This nucleus was later completed by Wolgang "Popo" Jäger (bass) and Volker "Mist" Kahrs (keyboards, Mellotron, synthesizers). They were best known as a clone of YES (symphonic progressive group), but they also explored other progressive rock styles (either psychedelic prog or more cohesive "Krautrock" with some stunning instrumental passages that will be familiar to anyone into the likes of MAN, AMON DUUL II, WISHBONE ASH and many similar bands). Their sound was characterized by sometimes long suites allowing ambitious composition developments, with intermingled themes, rhythms, climates changes and symphonic passages. A VERY COMPELLING BRAND OF MUSICAL MOODS: haunting melodies, funny voices (by Eroc), wonderful guitar work, great synthesizer sounds, strange drumming/effects man, and sophisticated arrangements. This eclectic German band became one of the most popular live acts in German history.The group released about fifteen albums and added touches of absurd humor to their records and live shows. Their first five albums are all classics. Vocals are mostly in English, although some albums were released with German vocals for the home market and English vocals for export. "Ballermann" (1974) consisted of two LP's, one filled with symphonic progressive rock, and the other that contained a space rock suite... the original version of "Solar Music". "Rockpommel's Land", the fourth studio album exhibited intricate ensemble work, delicate dual lead guitars and theatrical vocals which dominate the music. A solid concept album in the YES/GENESIS tradition, the record told the story of a boy's adventures in a strange land and ultimately finding some sort of wisdom about human nature, as well as piece of mind. The beautiful cover painting looks exactly like an early Roger Dean cover. "Solar Music Live" (1978) is sometimes considered one of the best live albums of all time (similar to early PINK FLOYD's albums in space/cosmic rock. Line-up / Musicians Stefan Danielak/guitar,vocals Joachim Ehrigdrums,percussion Axel Harlos/drums, percussion Gerd-Otto Kuhn/guitar Hermann Quetting/organ,piano,spinet,percussion Bernhard Uhlemann/bass,flute,percussion Discography(Album) Grobschnitt 1972
1.Symphony 2.Travelling 3.Wonderful music 4.Sun trip
Gualberto (Garcia Perez) has developed a unique manner to play a mix between flamenco and fusion rock music. He created flamenco sitar which consists to perform flamenco basic scales on sitar. He first introduced his musical "fusion" approach in his first band Smash in the early seventies. Two albums of progressive rock will be published under this name. During these recent years he appeared in Woodstock festival and also met Frank Zappa. In 1975 he started his career in solo, recording his first album personal album "A La Vida Al Dolor" ("To the life and the pain") a monumental progressive psych album. It features an important use of electric rock guitar next to acoustic parts delivered by flamenco guitar, sitar and violin. In 1976 he released his second official album called"Vericuetos", one of the major contributions for the development of Spanish rock music. After these two classic albums, Gualberto worked for numerous projects with others musicians, notably with Ricardo Mino for a serie of albums more in the genre of traditional flamenco music composed with an evident use of sitar and Hindu's accents ("Puento Magico" in 1983, "Sin commentario" at the beginning of the 90's). He recently released an album "Resistances" (1998) with the great flamenco guitar interpreter Ricardo Mino. Line-up / Musicians Gualberto/guitar,Sitar Antonio Diaz/guitar Tod Purcell/guitar Arthur Wolh/violin Willie Rodriguez de Trujillo/drums Carlos Carcamo/flute Enrique Morente/voice Discography(Album) A La Vida, Al Dolor 1975
1.Cancion de la primavera 2.Cancion del agua 3.Cancion de las nieves 4.Cancion del arco iris 5.Cancion de las gaviotas 6.Terraplen 7.Prisioneros 8.Tarantos (para Jimi Hendrix) 9.Dialogo interior
Pioneering early-70's Spanish progressive band, GRANADA (from Madrid...) was the musical project of multi-instrumentalist Carlos Carcamo (flute, violin, acoustic - and electric piano, mellotron, clavicordio, 12-string guitar, percussion and vocals!) and the other musicians Michael Vortreflich (electric guitar), Antonio Garcia Oteyza (bass) and Juan Bona (drums and vocals). GRANADA had a unique style. They remind of the Mexicans ICONOCLASTA, and also other Spanish bands like TRIANA or COTO EN PEL. The British influences come from YES, JETHRO TULL and other Italian bands very present in their sound. The emphasis of GRANADA relies on the keyboards (with profusion of moog and mellotron) and guitar instrumental passages, but with more keys that guitar. They sound like a mix of fusion and symphonic influences. GRANADA released three albums: "Hablo De Una Tierra" ('75), "Espana Ano" '75 ('76) and "Valle De Pas" ('78). The debut-album "Hablo De Una Tierra" is their most original album. The six compositions sound very varied (from rock and bluesy to latin and symphonic) with strong Spanish vocals, powerful guitar (some biting solos), pleasant keyboards (many beautiful Mellotron waves) and IAN ANDERSON inspired fluteplay. The title track includes a splendid and very unique duet from the Mellotron and flamenco guitar of guest-musician Manolo Sanlucar, goose bumps! Two of their best albums "Espana Ano 75" and "Valle Del Pas" were reissued on 1 CD. They consist of instrumental, melodic progressive rock with occasionally surprising moments, which include the use of orchestration and bagpipes. Line-up / Musicians Carlos Cárcamo/keyboards,flute Carlos Basso/guitars Julio Blasco/bass Antonio Rodríguez/drums Joaquín Blanco/Spanish woodwinds Discography(Album) Valle del Pas 1978
1.No se si debo 2.Brave silueta de color carmin 3.Noches oscuras, ocas contentas 4.Himno del sapo 5.Valle del pas 6.Calle betis (Altardeciendo) 7.Ya llueve
GOTIC is light, optimistic and high quality music that gently combines the warm and relaxing sound of CAMEL with early PFM and roots in Spanish ethnic sounds from Cataluña, a great exponent of Spanish Symphonic. The band was formed in the late 70's by the famous Rafael Escote in the bass, Jep Nuix (Flute and Piccolo), Jordi Vilaprinyo (Keyboards) and Jordi Marti in the drums and percussion. The main influences of their only album Escenes released in 1978 are Camel and PFM, but there are some other easy to identify Prog references to Gentle Giant and some form of Fusion that reminds of the Jazz-Symphonic sound of Chick Corea's keyboard in his RETURN TO FOREVER era. The best track of the album is the 10:15 minutes Epic "Historia d'una Gota d'Aigua" (History of a Drop of Water) with the dramatic change between the relaxing introp and the breathtaking closing section. Sadly they didn't had the chance to evolve because the debut album was more than promissory but as a consolation Rafael Escote has a very prolific career as member of the Fusion band Pegasus and as a soloist. Line-up / Musicians Rafael Escoté/bass,gong,claps Jordi Martí/drums,percussion,claps Jep Nuix/flute,piccolo,claps Jordi Vilaprinyó/keyboards,synthesizers Jordi Codina/guitar Josep Albert Cubero/guitars Jordi Vidal/effects Discography(Album) Escenes 1978
1.Escenes de la terra en festa I de la mar en calma 2.Imprompt I 3.Jocs d'ocells 4.La revolucio 5.Danca d'estiu 6.I tu que ho veies tot tan facil 7.Historia d'una gota d'aigua
Gunder Hägg [1967-1971] was a Swedish progg-band (not to be confused with progressive) with their lyrics cover a wide range, from marxist analysis and invitations to revolution to satire, art criticism, 1940s childhood nostalgia, images from daily life and experimental pop art works. Despite the political view the members mainly had upper-middle class/upperclass background. The group took the name from Gunder Hägg (December 31, 1918 – November 27, 2004) who was a Swedish runner and multiple world record breaker of the 1940s. He later forced the group to change the name to Blå Tåget 1972. Band members: Torkel Rasmusson (vocals, accordion, harmonica), Leif Nylén (drums), Mats G. Bengtsson (keyboards), Tore Berger (vocals, clarinet), Roland Keijser (saxophone, flute), Göran von Matérn (guitar, 1968-70), Urban Yman (bass, violin, 1968-72), Kjell Westling (guitar, violin, winds, 1968-72), Carl-Johan De Geer (trombone, accordion, vocals, 1970-72). Line-up / Musicians Torkel Rasmusson/vocals,accordion,harmonica Leif Nylén/drums Mats G. Bengtsson/keyboards Tore Berger/vocals,clarinet Roland Keijser/saxophone,flute Göran von Matérn/guitar Urban Yman/bass,violin Kjell Westling/guitar,violin,winds Carl-Johan De Geer/trombone,accordion,vocals Discography(Album) Vargatider 1970
1.I stället för - så länge 2.Bröderna Surf 3.Ligga lågt 4.En höstbild 5.Tyck synd om mig nu 6.Alienation 7.Tio Svarta Pantrar 8.En främling stiger in 9.I Guds frånvaro 10.I vargatider
One of the least-heard but most beguiling albums to emerge from the British progressive rock era, the sole, self-titled album by East London band Grannie was recorded at a demo studio in late 1971 and then issued on vinyl in a total pressing of just 99 copies. Feverishly sought-after by genre aficionados since its belated discovery in the early 1990s, Grannie now gains its first-ever official reissue. With quotes from drummer John Clark and keyboardist John Stevenson that tell the story of both band and album for the first time, this is the definitive release of one of the most valuable jewels of the early 1970s British progressive rock scene. Line-up / Musicians Fred Lilley/vocals Phil Newton/guitar Jan Chandler/Flute,vocals John Stevenson/organ,piano Dave Holland/bass,vocals Johnny Clark/drums Discography Grannie 1971
1.Leaving 2.Romany Return 3.Tomorrow Return 4.Saga of the Sad Jester 5.Dawn 6.Coloured Armageddon
Formed at the end of the 60's, Gomorrha rised from the German progressive rock scene thanks to the help of the producer and sound engineer Conny Plank. The band original line up includes Helmut Pohl (drums) and Eberhard Krietsch (ogan, bass) with Ad Oschel and Ali Claudi at the guitars. They released their first album in 1970. The second recording "trauma" (1971) really marks a new step in the development of Gomorrha's original song. They distinguish with a dense heavy psych rock experience punctuated by organ dominated sequences. It now includes lyrics in English and a lead singer in the name of Peter Otten. In 1972 they release what will be considered as their summit "I Turned To See Whose Voice It Was"; An adventurous album featuring catchy instrumental jams, krautrock's original psych / spacey mood, pastoral flute parts and heavy guitar riffs. The concept of this release is focused on the apocalypse theme and the book of revelation. They suddenly split up in 1973 after the publication of two memorable documents of German independent rock. Line-up / Musicians Eberhard Krietsch/organ,piano Helmuth Pohl/drums Mike Eulner/bass Ad Ochel/guitar,vocals,vibraphone Ali Claudi/guitar,vocals Discography(Album) I Turned To See Whose Voice It Was 1972
1.Dance On A Volcano 2.Opening Of The Sealed Book 3.Dead Life 4.I Turned To See Whose Voice It Was 5.I Try To Change This World 6.Titish Child
GASH is a 70s Krautrock band from Germany featuring the musical talents of Manfred Thiers on bass, Reinhard Schiemann on drums, percussion, Frank Feldhusen on guitars, vocals, and Jochen Peters on piano, organ, and lead vocals. The band have released studio album in 1972, "A Young Man's Gash". The music is a definitive taste of the underground hard rock oriented sound churned out of the German Krautrock era. The music is replete with catchy songs, keyboard, organ and guitar solos and an overriding hard driving energy. The vinyl album is intriguing in that it features on Side A 3 songs of varying lengths all over 6 minutes. Side B is the one track 'A Young Man's Gash' in 3 sections.GASH are another of the early 70s Krautrock groups that released only one album and disappeared from the scene. The music should appeal to lovers of Krautrock with a harder edge and an emphasis on guitar and keyboard driven rock. Line-up / Musicians Manfred Thiers/bass Reinhard Schiemann/drums,percussions Frank Feldhusen/guitars,vocals Jochen Peters/piano,organ,vocals Discography A Young Man's Gash 1972
1.Angel And Mother 2.Twenty One Days 3.In The Sea 4.A Young Man's Gash
Good God was a jazz/rock fusion band based is Philadelphia in the early 1970s. The group was led by guirist Larry Cardarelli on guitar and Cotton Kent on keyboards. Filling out the band were Greg Scott on saxophones, John Ransome on bass and Hank Ransome on drums. They released one album in 1972 on Atlantic Records. The songs, while fusion lean a bit more toward the rock side, with Larry Cardarelli's strong guitar leading the way. But Cotton Kent's keyboards, mostly electric piano, keep the fusion feel throughout the album. The horns play a big role here, and the band added a number of extra players to keep the sound heavy. The group does a fantastic job on Frank Zappa's early standard, King Kong, and John McLaughlin's Dragon Song.Considering the popularity of good fusion at that time, it's surprising that this band remained obscure, and onlt put out this one album. Line-up / Musicians Zeno Sparkles/guitar,vocals Cotton Kent/keyboards,saxophone,marimba,vocals Greg Scott/saxophones John Ransome/bass Hank Ransome/drums,vocals Johnny Almond/saxophone Bruce Solomon/trombone Bob Martin/french horn Bob Shemenek/trumpet Larry Washington/conga Discography Good God 1972
1.A Murder Of Crows 2.Galorna Gavorna 3.King Kong 4.Dragon Song 5.Zaragoza 6.Fish Eye
Another fairly unknown band heading from Italy, Gruppo D'alternativa was formed in Milano in the early 70's and managed to release one album (named "Ipotesi") before they splitted and drowned into futher obscurity. Some could consider them as a 'proto-RIO' band due to their activity long before the first RIO movement in the late 70's, and their alternative and experimental prog-rock sound confirms this well although they also reveal some notable Jazz-Rock/Canterbury influences in their sound. Ipotesi was based on the death of a friend of the band who was killed in a road accident some time before the album was written, but whenever this explains the bands musical approach is unknown. After a request for a more commercial second album from the record company, the band decided to disband. They are a very unpredictable and playful band musically, but at the same time quite challenging, especially for more unexperienced listeners. They have a typical Italian sound, something that could easily associate them with other Italian Progressive Rock bands, but their experimental and RIO-ish music gained them a place in the RIO/Avant genre. This band should especially appeal to fans of Etron Fou Leloublan, Slapp Happy and Henry Cow/Art Bears. Line-up / Musicians Tino Guasconi/Vocals Gianfranco Fumagalli/Flute Leonardo Dosso/Bassoon,guitar Rodolfo Pace/Guitar Roberto Romano/Keyboards Paolo Rizzi/Bass Nino Flenda/Drums,percussion Discography Ipotesi 1972
1.Quando Le Parole 2.Incidente 3.Infanzia 4.Voglia Di Essere 5.Solitudine 6.Appare La Forma 7.La Tua Lotta 8.Messaggio Libero 9.Ipotesi
Gli Alluminogeni's roots can be traced back to 1966, and to five young friends who met each year while on holiday on the Italian Riviera. Originally formed as a beat group, the band went through several changes of name in those early days and at different points they were known as Green Grapes, Vips, and Bats. In 1968 lead singer Patrizio Alluminio moved from Casale Monferrato to Turin, where most of the band were based, and this enabled them to be more active. Around this time they condensed to a trio consisting of Alluminio (keyboards, vocals), Daniele Ostorero (drums), and Guido Maccario (guitar). Maccario would prove to be the first in a long succession of temporary guitarists. Further changes of group name ensued, firstly to Terza Sensazione and ultimately to Gli Alluminogeni (after Alluminio who was the most accomplished musician of the three, having graduated in piano from the Conservatorio Viotti of Vercelli). On the back of their demo tracks they successfully landed a recording contract with the Fonit Cetra label. After recording their first single in 1970 they performed in front of 15,000 at the Cantagiro summer festival having had little previous live experience. Over the course of the next two years they released a further 3 singles, and Piero Tonello replaced Maccario as guitarist during this period. In 1971 they appeared at an Avant-garde festival in Viarregio and then supported Gentle Giant on their Italian tour. Also in 1971, Caio 2001 magazine named them the third best band in Italy, behind Formula 3 and New Trolls, and ahead of Le Orme. Another change of guitarist saw Tonello leave and Enrico Cagliero join the band. This new line-up (Alluminio, Ostorero, Cagliero) recorded the soundtrack for an Italian movie in which the band appeared, performing as Troglomen. In 1972 they released the apocalyptic concept album SCOLOPENDRA, a visionary tale with cosmic ecology as its central theme. This album was based around Alluminio's Hammond organ and plaintive vocals, but the band members were unhappy with the final production as they felt it sounded too commercial. Their dissatisfaction with the record label, combined with some internal conflict, resulted in the break-up of the band. Consequently, the album wasn't promoted and the split also obscured their participation in the annual Festivalbar song contest in Italy. Patrizio Alluminio subsequently brought out a solo single in 1975, but apart from that one release the different members of Gli Alluminogeni went on to pursue careers outwith the music industry.Following the re-issue of SCOLOPENDRA in 1991 the band reformed but Cagliero then left, to be replaced by yet another new guitarist Massimo Cabrini. After a meeting with Beppe Crovella, of Arti e Mestieri fame, they decided to record a new album in the original style of the band. The resultant album, GENI MUTANTI (1993), also carries a strong ecological message about the future of the planet. They followed this up with GREEN GRAPES (1994), which contains new and old unreleased material. Line-up / Musicians Patrizio Alluminio/keyboards,vocals Enrico Cagliero/guitar,bass Daniele Ostorero/drums Discography Scolopendra 1972
1.La Natura e l'Universo 2.Scolopendra 3.Che fumo c'è 4.La Stella di Atades 5.Thrilling 6.Cosmo 7.Pianeta
The origins of GRAVESTONE go back to 1975, when Rudi DORNER and Mike SCHMIDT formed a band called HEIZKÖRPER. In 1976 they were joined by Berti MAJDAN and changed the name of the band to OREGON. In early 1977 they were also joined by Wolfgang RITTNER and Andy MÜLLER, and at the suggestion of of Berti MAJDAN they changed name again to GRAVESTONE. GRAVESTONE, like several compatriots of the time, initially experienced nothing but failure. Their two early LPs - 1979's ''Doomsday'' and 1980's ''War'' - remain relatively unknown even to this day, yet they hung around long enough to enjoy a small taste of recognition following the colossal 80's success of fellow countrymen like SCORPIONS and ACCEPT. Capitalizing on this sudden surge of interest, vocalist Berti MAJDAN - with a new line up featuring guitarists Mathias DIETH and Klaus REINELT, bassist Thomas SABISCH, and drummer Dieter BEHLE - released three additional albums from their home base outside the southern city of Stuttgart - namely 1984's ''Victim of Chains'' (featuring bassist Oli ORLITTA), 1985's ''Back to Attack'', and 1986's ''Creating a Monster'' - before morphing into a new band named 48 CRASH, who played a much more commercial brand of hard rock, releasing an album called ''Some Like It Hot'' in 1990.1993 saw the release of an eponymous collection of GRAVESTONE's best 80's output, and guitarist DIETH went on to work with both U.D.O. and SINNER in later years. Line-up / Musicians Berti Majdan/Bass,vocals Mike Schmidt/Drums Wolfgang Rittner/guitar Rudi Dorner/guitar Andy Muller/organ,vocals Discography(Album) Doomsday 1979
1.Doomsday 2.Life In The Coffin 3.Hope 4.On The Run 5.Stone Age 6.Corinne 7.Summer '78
This avantgarde album with partly recited vocals is actually the brain child of Gaetano Liguori (music) and Giulio Stocchi (lyrics). Stratos delivers the sung words (and the guttural excursions) together with Concetta Busacca while bassist Roberto Del Piano and drummer Pasquale Liguori are heads of the jazzy rhythm section. G. Ligouri's piano playing is minimalistic and nice in a contemporary classical way. Sometimes the album even reaches the heights of Pholas Dactylos' Concerto della Menti! Line-up / Musicians Gaetano Liguori/piano Giulio Stocchi/spoken word Demetrio Stratos/vocals Discography La cantata rossa per Tall el Zaatar 1976
1.Fedayn 2.I 53 giorni 3.Liberta subito 4.Amna 5.Piccolo Fadh 6.La madre 7.Sulle macerie 8.La cantata rossa 9.Fedayn
Obscure British psychedelic quartet based in London who played the Marquee, among other clubs, in 1969. Their only album, released around 1970 on the German Metronome label, is rumored to have been produced by Rod Stewart. Line-up / Musicians Chris Williams/vocals,autoharp Paul Barrett/guitar,clarinet,vocals Dave Blake/cello,sitar,flute,vocals Stan Decker/bass,guitar,keyboards Chris Perry/drums,percussion Discography Grail 1970
1.Power 2.Bleek Wind High 3.Day After 4.Grail 5.Camel Dung 6.Sunday Morning 7.Czechers
