Psychedelia / Prog / Kraut / Space / Psychedelic Folk (60s-70s)

http://www.last.fm/music/Robert+Calvert wrote:Robert Calvert is best known as the on-off frontman of influential rock group Hawkwind. Robert was born in 1945 in Pretoria, South Africa. His family moved to Kent in England in 1947. He grew up wanting to be a fighter pilot but ended up a writer, an enthusiastic participant in the 1960s London psychedelia subculture.
After meeting Hawkwind co-founder Dave Brock in 1970, Robert joined the underground icons as resident poet, reading his work amid strobes and light cascades on stage.

Seeking a break from touring, Robert left Hawkwind in 1973 and recorded two solo albums, Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters (featuring Brian Eno and Arthur Brown) and Lucky Leif and the Longships (produced by Eno). In 1975 he rejoined Hawkwind as their frontman and main lyricist, staying on for three years before leaving for the second time in 1978. Through the end of the 70s and into the 80s up to his death from a heart attack in 1988 he produced numerous poetic and musical works, as well as short stories and novels.
Robert is believed to have been bi-polar and spent much of his adult life in states of mania, depression or recovering in mental institutions.

http://rockasteria.blogspot.gr/ wrote: Graphite were formed at Reading University in the late sixties. They gigged professionally on the rock circuit from 1970 to 1973 supporting many big names of that era such as Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Mott The Hoople and evenT-Rex. Amazingly, Graphite got a billing above Queen at a festival in Truro, Cornwall in 1971.

The band's musical approach dwelt on the imaginative use of sleepy mellotron, drifting vocals and spacey guitar effects laced with melancholic overtones, establishing them as exponents of downbeat, hedonistic prog-rock.

Ever present in the line-up were the band's three songwriters, Keith Allen (vocals), Chris Gore (keyboards) and David Hook (guitar) but the rhythm section underwent a succession of changes.

The group recorded a considerable amount of material using a selection of top studios including Rockfield, Command, CBS and Nova Sound but only two singles were ever released.

The first "Gimmie Your Number"/"Chestnut Loke" came out on the BEACON label in 1972 and was followed by "Come Back"/" Good Time Women" issued by EMI in 1974 (the year the band split up) under the curious pseudonym of Sinbad. Much of the previously unreleased material is featured on this release.
by Pete Sarfas

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2413 wrote:JUNIPHER GREENE was a Norwegian progressive rock band who were formed in Oslo in 1967. The initial line-up included Bent ÅSERUD on guitars, keyboards, flute and vocals, Geir BØHREN on lead vocals, drums and sax, Helge GRØSLIE on keyboards, Freddy DAHL on guitar and vocals and Øyvind Vilbo on bass. They released their ambitious debut album in 1971 called "Friendship". It stands as one of Norway's earliest progressive album and the country's first double LP. They were one of Norway's best bands together with RUPHUS and HØST, although they only released one more album, in 1973, named "Communication" (also very good), before splitting in the mid 70s. Two compilation albums, "Best Of" (1975) and "Rewind" (1981), which also featured a number of unreleased tracks recorded between 1969 and 1980, were issued. Helge GRØSLIE left the band to join TITANIC in 1972, ÅSERUD and BØHREN kept the JUNIPHER GREENE name for various incarnations during the 80's, although these were very different to the original group. They've since built a reputation as the creators of Norwegian movie soundtracks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_and_the_Hand_People wrote:Lothar and the Hand People was a late-1960s psychedelic rock band known for its spacey music and pioneering use of the theremin[1] and Moog modular synthesizer.[2]

The band's unusual appellation refers to a theremin nicknamed "Lothar", with the "Hand People" being the musicians in the band,[3] who included John Emelin (vocals), Paul Conly (keyboards, synthesizer), Rusty Ford (bass), Tom Flye (drums) and Kim King (guitar, synthesizer).

The band was notable for being "the first rockers to tour and record using synthesizers, thereby inspiring the generation of electronic music-makers who immediately followed them."[4] Formed in Denver in 1965, Lothar and the Hand People relocated to New York in 1966. The band jammed with Jimi Hendrix and played gigs with groups such as The Byrds, Grateful Dead, The Lovin' Spoonful, Canned Heat, and the Chambers Brothers. Lothar and the Hand People played music for Sam Shepard's play The Unseen Hand,[5] and was the opening act at the Atlantic City Pop Festival.

After three initial singles, Capitol Records released two albums by this short-lived band: Presenting...Lothar and the Hand People (1968, produced by Robert Margouleff) and Space Hymn (1969, produced by Nick Venet). A Rolling Stone review described Lothar and the Hand People's music:

It is electronic country, a kind of good-time music played by mad dwarfs, and it is really good to listen to. There is no tension here, no jarring forces at war with each other. It may be strange that New York, the city which deifies speed and insanity, could produce this music, but it is as if Lothar and the Hand People have gone through this madness and come out on the other side, smiling.[6]

The band's most popular recording was the title song "Space Hymn," which received significant FM radio play.[7]

The first album featured a notable "robotic" cover of Manfred Mann's UK hit "Machines" (composed by Mort Shuman), which Capitol released as a single.[8]

In 1997, The Chemical Brothers sampled the Lothar song "It Comes on Anyhow" in "It Doesn't Matter" on their album Dig Your Own Hole. A music video for "Space Hymn" screened in 2004 at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival and the ION International Animation, Games, and Short Film Festival in Los Angeles.[9]

Lothar and the Hand People was the source for a Saturday Night Live skit called "Lothar of the Hill People" and a Boston-area theremin band named The Lothars

https://www.vulcanhammer.org/2014/03/07/st-pius-x-seminary-choir-each-one-heard-in-his-own-language-about-the-marvels-of-god/ wrote:One of those early, pre-NOM works, it was led by Rev. Nicholas Freund. The best way to describe this album is “eclectic.” It has some of the “space age” effects of Leo Nestor’s Sons of the Morning, but doesn’t venture into the refined realms of that work. It explores the combination of folk and choir as does God Unlimited and Peter Scholtes’ parish, but lacks the original compositional resources. From a 1960’s folk and rock standpoint, it’s definitely a step forward from the likes of The Winds of God and has some nice covers of some of the best of early post-Vatican II folk music, and many Catholic parishes and student groups would follow in its footsteps for the next decade and beyond.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quill_%28band%29 wrote:Quill was a popular Northeast United States band that played extensively throughout New England, New York and the mid-Atlantic states in the late 1960s and that gained national attention by performing at the original Woodstock Festival in 1969. The band was originally founded by two singer/songwriters and brothers from the Boston area, Jon and Dan Cole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Tide_(album) wrote:High Tide is the second album by High Tide. The album is slightly less heavy, with folk-influences within the band's sound. Though guitarist Tony Hill would later record with a new band under the High Tide banner, as well as releasing posthumous compilations of demos, this was the last proper album by the original group.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-beyond-the-material-sky-mw0000955191 wrote:New Zealand guitarist Billy T.K. came to prominence in the '60s beat scene, when he joined fellow New Zealander, drummer Maurice Geer, in the Human Instinct. The group transplanted themselves into swinging London and recorded a succession of singles for Decca, which were classic English beat with psychedelic stylings. The guitar pyrotechnics explored in breaks on these early singles (collected on Ascension Records in 2000) dominated their three albums of hard rock/psychedelia, the quintessential being Stoned Guitar, which holds a high position in the psychedelic academy. The progressive funk stylings hinted at on the final album, Pins in It, are equally mind-boggling as the corrosive feedback sound he is known for. Billy T.K. entered the Human Instinct as a replacement for Jesse Harper, an equally Hendrix-inspired and feedback-fueled guitarist who vanished into obscurity shortly after Jimi Hendrix praised his genius. Rumor has it that T.K. and Harper were two guitarists who the great Hendrix admired greatly. So after this eruption, Billy T.K. went back to his native land and formed the progressive/future funk jam band Powerhouse -- a fantastic unit who was poorly documented at the time except for this double-LP collection on Little Wing (there are no other known releases). The immediate comparison for this group would be Santana -- guitar-driven jams heavy on percussion, though the Latin rhythms of Santana are usurped for the Pacific rhythms and language of Billy T.K. 's native Maori heritage. While the hippie jam feel of this recording and unusual production style suggests ethno rock of the highest order, it is unusually metric, and in parts of these side-long jams it calls to mind German progressive outfit Amon Duul as much as it does '70s Miles Davis. The Billy T.K. signature guitar is present throughout, but never reaches the explosive peaks of his career highlight, Stoned Guitar.

http://www.rockadrome.com/store/might-of-coincidence-announcing-the-birth-of-might-of-coincidence-lp.html wrote:Might of Coincidence - Announcing the Birth of Might of Coincidence LP. Progressive acid folk in the trippy German tradition similar to Emtidi's Saat or especially Amon Düül's Paradieswärts Düül. Tranced female/male vocals over tablas, wood flute and electric/acoustic guitar. Most of the tracks sound similar, except the last one which is considerably more cosmic and experimental.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2577 wrote:Virus were a psychedelic band originating from Bielefeld in Northern Germany. Their music incorporates Pink Floyd's space rock, heavy keyboards somewhat reminiscent of Deep Purple all put together into long songs filled with jams. They released only two albums -- "Revelation" (1970) and "Thoughts" (1971). The album was recorded in Star Studios, Hamburg and produced by Konrad Plank. The Virus lineup for the first album is: Werner Monka (guitar), Jorg-Dieter Krahe (organ), Bernd "Molle" Hohmann (vocals, flute), Reinhold Spiegelfeld (bass) and Wolfgang Rieke (drums).

"Revelation" starts as a straight forward psychedelic track and develops as the song conines forward. Towards the middle of the song comes in a cover of the Rolling Stones song -- Paint It Black. Another homage is found in the second song where at the end you can hear a Saucerful Of Secrets choir bit. This album is very inventive and contains surprises along the different tracks. These songs have long guitar playing parts and exciting organ playing, both demonstrating very good musicianship.

The second album "Thoughts" is a big change from their first one. The lineup change considerably as well, leaving only Krahe and Rieke from the original group. The new members were: Axel Nieling (drums), Jurgen Schafer (bass, vocals), Bernd Rosner (guitar) and Werner Vogt (bass, guitar, vocals). In this album they abandoned their long tracks and space rock and psychedelic nature. This album presents a more mainstream approach with blues rock songs. Therefore this would not be of interest for those looking them for their psychedelic and progressive sound.

http://www.last.fm/music/Bib+Set/+wiki wrote:

   
This band was formed in Osby in the mid-60's as BIB Rhythm & Blues Set by singer and guitarist Ingvar Björnson. The band made several line-up changes and also changed their musical direction. In January 1970 the three remaining members released the album It Wasn't Meant To Happen on the Toniton label, a pleasing mix of psychedelic and progressive music featuring long tracks sung in English. It is dominated by a swirling organ and sounds quite similar to Kvartetten Som Sprängde, although much more psychedelic. Soon after the recording, Roland Gärdh quit. BIB Set tried a few new drummers without success, so the band split up. Björnson got a solo deal with Metronome in 1984, naming his backing band BIB Set. It featured none of the musicians from the Toniton album.
- Tobias Petterson

http://www.last.fm/music/M%C3%BAsica+Dispersa/+wiki wrote:

Musica Dispersa joined in Barcelona in 1970, when they recorded their only album, published by Diabolo (reedited in 1979 by Edigsa), in which they developed a really avant-garde music, with hypnotic rhythms, eastern influences, and sensual voices (Selene) producing onomatopoetic sounds that transport you to another dimension. They had a very short life, round to one year. Their main composer was "El Cachas" from Madrid and among the members was a young Jaume Sisa, that was then an institution in the Catalan music. I can state that their record was one of the best in that time (if not the best) and of course the most original and experimental one. - Orlando Iglesias (The Spanish Progressive Rock Encyclopedia)
New, nice digipack reissue of this fantastic '71 album, probably the best Spanish folk-psych album ever. Acid folk in typical UK 70's style, with traces to Incredible String Band but in a more experimental way. This edition features many unseen photos. (CD Euroxpres)

The album of Musica Dispersa is really different to any other thing, and even if one listens to it today it's difficult to realize whether one is listening to a masterpiece of art or to a silly thing with no other purpose. It's a mostly acoustic recording and utilizes the voices like one instrument more, no lyrics are sung. I can not find any influence from other artists and no other artists have been influenced by them later. It's hard to get into this world of craziness, but when you're in, you will find moments of extraordinary beauty. Sisa was one of the members of this band, being later one of the most important singers of the Catalan scene. - Alberto Albas (The Spanish Progressive Rock Encyclopedia)

New, nice digipack issue. 70s Barcelona band's masterpiece of melodic tunes paying a certain tribute to the English folk movement of that era, as it does to early Amon Duul's freak-out sound concept. Hypnotic rhythms, Eastern influences and Selene's sensual voice transport the listener into another dimension. Echoes of the Incredible String Band are present, mainly in the guitar parts. Comes with great sleeve artwork! (Malesch Records)

Digipack reissue of this fantastic 1971 album, probably the best Spanish folk-psych album ever. Acid folk in typical UK 70's style, with traces to Incredible String Band but in a more experimental way. This edition also contains a booklet that features many unseen photos. (Freak Emporium)

One of the historic artists of the Catalan progressive scene in the 70s. He came from Musica Dispersa, together with Batiste, at the light of the psychedelic and theatrical music. Under his supervision, the big band Orquesta Plateria was created. He made lots of collaborations with other musicians, cineasts and theater groups like Dagoll-Dagom. He was one of the top selling artists in those 70s ambiences. - Jose Manuel Inesta
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http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=854 wrote:This group is one of the earliest prog group from all of Scandinavia (their first album was recorded in 69 but the group has roots from 68) although they were hardly classic prog, playing a very wide spectrum of music from jazzy stuff to blues via folk and rock. All four albums are very constant in the crazy Finnish way of playing progressive music, but you will have a hard time to find their second album - the only one not to be released on Love Record under which recorded TABULA RASA and FINNFOREST as well as WIGWAM a band that could they (TASAVALLAN PRESIDENTITI) be compared to. Their last album was more similar to COLOSSEUM.

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/please/1968_69/ wrote:Please was the predecessor to the heavy psych/prog band T2 and they recorded these songs in 1968 and 1969 like the album title says. The earlier version of Please was Neon Pearl who recorded some songs in Germany in 1967. Their archival album is also worth checking out by the way. Neon Pearl relocated to the UK and changed their name to Please after some line-up changes.