Blake Morgan’s Personal Blog Post #2.n

My Personal Reactions to the bands King Crimson, ELP, Yes, and Genesis:

            First I will describe what I find interesting about the group of bands I have been assigned to evaluate as a whole. These four historical groups are tied together by common themes presented in their music. They represent a time of change within the musical culture of the early to mid 1970’s. This change is of the band to audience relationship and song writing style. The bands after 1969 became removed from the audience and put up on a pedestal for audience admiration. The concert experience was transformed from a social loving and bonding experience to a theatrical show. Genesis and Emerson, Lake and Palmer are good examples of this. During live performances the group members of Genesis especially original singer, Peter Gabrial, would dress up in costume and prance around the stage as if performing in a broadway musical. Keith Emerson and Rick Wakemen of ELP and Yes would dress in medieval styled costumes, and Rick Wakemen would sometimes dress like a wizard. As the 1970’s progressed, the production value of rock concerts blew up. Meaning, there were no longer just psychedelic oil light projections hiding the band, but spotlights and stage decorations to emphasize the band.

            Perhaps the most identifiable difference these bands share is the change in sound. These bands fused the sounds of rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, classical music, Indian music, and medieval sounds (in the case of Black Sabbath). According to musicologist and scholar, Edward L. Macan, the difference in sound between these bands and the countercultural Rock bands is the instrumentation and tone color. For example, the groups all echoe the sounds of symphonic music using modal baroque and renaissance style scales and chord progressions, classical guitar literature, and renaissance vocal styles. The song “Jerusalem” by ELP is a great example of classical vocals and instrumentation. The melody of the song is not the typical sound groovy rock melody, but of a major, happier sounding scale.

            The group Yes is very similar in the sense of classical sounding keyboards and vocals. However, they seem, to me, a bit more rock oriented. I know that Steve Howe (guitar), and Chris Squire (Bass) are more jazz musicians, while Rick Wakeman (keyboardist on most popular albums) was classically trained. So you hear this sort of virtuosity between classical-jazz and influences of rock and blues resulting in the composition of songs like “Roundabout” and “Long Distance Runaround”.

            King Crimson on the other hand seems, to me, to be even more rock oriented than the aforementioned groups. There definitely seems to be this chaotic, disorderly sense about them, bringing them close to the countercultural rock groups such as Jefferson Airplane and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but KC incorporates elements of symphonic classical styles into the music. This is demonstrated in songs such as “I Talk To the Wind,” and “Epitaph.” In my opinion, Greg Lake provides this subtle classical influence, because the sound is something that carries over into ELP.

            The band Genesis is maybe the most progressive, in my opinion, of all the bands mentioned so far. The reason I grant them this title, is not only because of their song compositions, but also their stage presence. The dressing up, and sitting down and prancing around is something that most bands up until this point had not done. Genesis took live performances and made them into shows, rather than just jamming in front of the audience.

My overall reaction to these bands is as follows, King Crimson kicks some serious ass, especially the albums, “In Court Of The Crimson King,” and “Disapline.” I think that they are not just rock, but dance upon the line of jazz-rock fusion and that’s just really groovy.

Yes also, in my opinion is an awesome band! Steve Howe has been a major influence on me as a musician, and Rick Wakeman just blows my mind with his technical skills.

As for ELP and Genesis, ELP are great musicians, I think that Keith Emerson is one of the greatest keyboardists of all time. However, the classical vibe is not really my bag so I have to say that I am not too found of ELP. Although when performing live, I think it is beyond cool when Emerson is lifted up and spun in a summersault motion while playing his solos.

I strait up hate Genesis. I think that Peter Gabrial was better for the band as a singer than Phil Collins, but I still just dislike all of their songs. I feel like they are not necessarily a rock and roll band, but more of a weaker, softer, more pansy-like, watered down version of a rock band. I respect the song writing in regards to songs like “Supper’s Ready,” but I just really don’t like the band.