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Hi Gang,

On to a new tangent...
I figured I might share some of the stuff that comes up randomly as I play music at home, which is pretty much constantly. The shuffle function in iTunes can sometimes be annoying (i.e. Dark Side Of The Moon, most Moody Blues albums), but it is a great way to be reminded of great songs and bands that can fall off the radar. Today Gryphon popped up and I was really grabbed by Spring Song, from their album Treason. They were part of the early 70s progressive scene, although they might be better categorized as Progressive Renaissance. Check this out and let me know what you think. The song starts about 15 seconds in I think. There is a link at the bottom to their page at Wikipedia as well.

Neil



Gryphon at Wikipedia

Well at first thought my speakers were turned down
Pick me off the floor, cheers Neil, I'm awake now,, lol
It's a long one, opps hold on thoses drums are back, Im ready for it.. Ahh its the end.
Intresting and different, are their other tunes like this?
Will have to investigate.
Rick

Neil:

A few years ago, right about the same time I signed up here at TG, I was really into discovering new tunes. Something to get me out of the rut of the typical radio station and my narrow diet of classic rock (not that there is ANYTHING wrong with classic rock B) ). I was listening to Pandora and punched in ELP. That lead me to Gentle Giant, which then lead to Gryphon, Captain Beyond, Marrillion, Pentangle, Camel, Caravan and so many others. Lots of crazy, spacy keyboard work in there. Not some people's cup of tea, but I found that I really enjoyed it. I had forgotten what it was like to discover NEW music (well, new to me anyway). Since becoming a member at TG and finding others that enjoy this music, I have found even more bands. It really is a fun genre of music. I keep telling myself I am going to transcribe a couple of the acoustic songs by Gentle Giant (Friends and Thank You), but have yet to do so. They really lend themselves to the 12-string which I am enjoying so much right now. Maybe I need to sit down and actually get started on that....

Jason

That's a great track Neil.

Here's one I was listening to recently for the first time in years.

Hmmm, Gryphon sounded a bit like an early day "YES" wanna be. I think If I would have heard them years ago, I would have really enjoyed them.

Scott

Hi Gang,

Rick asked if their other stuff sounded similar and really the answer is no. Spring Song is from their last (5th) album, released in 1977, when progressive rock was evolving into a dinosaur and getting much more commercial. Many other pioneers were starting to lose it by then, even some of my favorites like Gentle Giant, Caravan and Camel. The earlier Gryphon albums were more medieval and Renaissance sounding using very unusual instruments (where did I put that krumhorn anyway?). Here is the first song from their first album, one many of you should recognize.

Neil

Sir Gavin Grimbold should have been on monty python