Esoteric (label)
25 November 2022 (released)
14 November 2022
1973 as a year was critical to the development of Progressive music – what we would now call Prog – as it began to separate itself from Rock. Many of the musicians had been around for a few years but 1973 saw them really making statements that separated them from the various rock forms that were dominating the singles charts.
As a boxed set that really shows the versatility of the Progressive scene, this is about spot on. The 49 tracks cover about 40 different bands from all sides of the Progressive scene. You have artists such as John Martyn and Al Stewart from the folk scene, the big keyboard outfits are covered by the likes of ELP, Greenslade and Yes, the Canterbury scene is shown off by Caravan & Kevin Ayers, the quirky elements such as Family & Curved Air and the bands that had singles hits such as Manfred Mann’s Earthband, Traffic & Procul Harum. From the travelling hippie contingent there are tracks by Hawkwind, Gong, Pink Fairies.
That only just touches on the variety box on offer here because so many bands crossed the lines. The innovation and sheer chutzpah of bands melding Jazz & Classical or Folk & Synths – there were no limits to what bands were prepared to try and, remarkably, most of it seemed to work. The wonderful lack of any formulaic adherence to anything is utterly refreshing.
Much of this music appeared on the “progressive” imprints of major record labels such as EMI’s Harvest, Decca’s Deram and Philips Records’ Vertigo and the emerging independent labels such as Charisma, United Artists and Island Records and led to an increasing presence of underground album music on BBC Radio One on its Sounds Of The Seventies and Top Gear programmes and on television on the iconic series The Old Grey Whistle Test. The airwaves were flooded with variety.
1973 was a year when no-one seemed to be trying to be in the mainstream and where anything good enough was being signed up and plying their trade on the college circuit.
No-one will like every track here but as a representation of the Progressive scene in the early seventies it is pretty well essential listening
