Welcome to the best progressive rock of 1970. In this weeks show we dedicate the whole two hours to the year 1970. This was the year Progressive Rock announced itself to the world. There was still the occasional hangover to the psychedelic 60's but 1970 brought a freshness and openness to a new musical approach for a new decade.

At the bottom of the post you can catch the ProgAxia podcast where I get the chance to discuss the tracks on this show with Chris Gill, Jon Camp and Eliot Minn, 

The best progressive rock from 1970. Part one of a series highlighting progressive rock through the 70's In this show we look at the best progressive rock released during the year 1970.

The Tracks & Timings Of This Week's Show!

Everydays - Yes - 01:22
Witches Promise - Jethro Tull - 07:40
Refugees - Van Der Graaf Generator - 11:33
Before Tomorrow - Atomic Rooster - 17:48
Lucky Man - Emerson Lake & Palmer - 23:53
If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You - Caravan - 28:29
The Knife - Genesis - 32:28
Giant - Gentle Giant - 41:48
John Barleycorn - Traffic - 48:02
Pictures Of A City - King Crimson - 55:39
Nature's Way - Spirit - 01:05:16
Fat Old Sun - Pink Floyd - 01:07:57
A Time For Everything - Jethro Tull - 01:13:08
Vug - Atomic Rooster - 01:16:20
Killer - Van Der Graff Generator - 01:21:49
I Will Be Absorbed - Egg - 01:29:59
Question - Moody Blues - 01:34:59
Mirror Of Illusion - Hawkwind - 01:40:43
Anonymus - Focus - 01:46:45
Rob One - Curved Air - 01:52:31
Down Down - Cressida - 01:56:15

1970 Was An Incredible Year For Progressive Rock!

The best Progressive Rock of 1970 is of course subjective, I'm sure I would have missed out a favorite track or band of yours and for that I apologize.

The process of putting together a radio show featuring what I perceive to be the best progressive rock of 1970, which has a duration of just a few hours put a constraint on what tracks to include and the ones I wish I could have included.

The other consideration is that many of the tracks are a little longer than the three minutes or so, that made up the music of the pop charts of the time.

1970 was the year that Progressive Rock came of age. A new decade brought a new sound and a now focus on musicianship and the pushing back or boundaries, having said that, there is still the sonic resonance of the psychedelic 60's seeping through on some tracks.

Yes - Everydays

I start the show with a band that came to define progressive rock in this wonderful decade. The band is Yes and the track that opened my show was Everydays from the bands second album Time And A Word.

Everydays was in fact one of a couple of covers on the album. The original was written by Steven Stills and recorded and released by Buffalo Springfield in 1967 on the album Buffalo Springfield Again. It's worth noting that the version I included in the show came from the LP release Time And A Word and has the controversial orchestral arrangement by Tony Cox.

Yes purists may prefer the original version, which came out as a B-Side of the single Looking Around in 1969 and is unsullied by an arguably sickly sting arrangement. I however love the album version. It is the track that I played in my bedroom and fell in love with. As I said, music and the memories it evokes is all subjective.

Yes changed the lyrics quite significantly as well, making it smoother that the original Buffalo Springfield tune and more in line with the stylized vocal approach from Jon Anderson.

When I first heard the track I was in the middle of reading the book 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, and the track evoked the freedom experienced through the eyes of children like Scout and Jem from the book. 

Jethro Tull - Witches Promise

The next track was surprisingly a single (not many of them on my shows!) which was released in January 1970. The song was Witches Promise and the band Jethro Tull. Witches Promise reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart and the band, in all their weirdness appeared on British Charts TV show Top Of The Pops.

I have to say I was absorbed by the sound of Jethro Tull and have loved them since watching this on TV. It was the also the first time the incredible John Evan played with the band. He was responsible for layering on the Mellotron. Great track and a great band. They also played the Isle Of Wight festival that year which really stamped them as a band to be reckoned with.

Van Der Graaf Generator - Refugees

Next up is a stunning track from an incredible band. In February 1970 the album The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other by Van Der Graaf Generator was released on an unsuspecting world and seeped into the hearts of Prog Rock fans everywhere.

This was their second outing which to most Van Der Graaf Generator fans was the first real 100% band effort and the first to be released in the UK. The track I chose from this album for the show is Refugees. From the moment I heard this track I fell in love with it.

Most of the album was initially written by vocalist and mastermind Peter Hammill, however this was a definite band effort. It's a very deep and incredibly well constructed album with the track Refugees written by Hammill for ex-flatmates Mike McLean and Susan Penhaligon, as in 'West is Mike and Susie.'

Atomic Rooster - Before Tomorrow

British Prog Rock band Atomic Rooster came from the ashes of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and included drummer Carl Palmer. We have a couple of tracks form the band in this show. The first is the instrumental Before Tomorrow which was on their first album simply called Atomic Rooster and heavily features the organ work of Vincent Crane and some nifty flute from bassist Nick Graham.

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man

This bleeds nicely into another track with Carl Palmer on the drums, this time with the band that he's mostly associated with and that is of course Emerson Lake and Palmer. This album came out in November and included some great tracks including Tank, and Knife-Edge which is astonishing, but the track I took for the show was one that I have loved for many years, the beautiful Lucky Man.

Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You

Next track in the show was If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You from the kings of the Canterbury scene Caravan. This, the title track of the album seems to sum up Caravan, quirky, smooth, controlled with a touch of humor. Love the sound of the Organ of David Sinclair and the mix of vocals from Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair. Caravan created a great track and a sort of warm and cozy album.

Genesis - The Knife

The track The Knife was one of the the first real progressive tracks I ever heard. My friends older brother played is one day when we sat in his room playing about and being complete pains.. This track made me sit up and listen. I'd never heard anything like it. It sparked something in me and I started to get hooked on this track. The Knife was the most aggressive track on the Trespass album, arguably the first REAL Genesis album. There was of course Genesis To Revelation in 69, but this was the sort of music that we'd come to expect from one of the most consistent and loved progressive rock bands of the 70's.

Giant from Gentle Giant is the very first track from the very first album from this iconic band. I came to this album after I finally got into Free Hand which I bought in 1976 on a whim, I just liked the cover. It took me a while before the quirky textured complexity wormed its way under my skin, but boy when it did I just had to get everything the band produced. I finally got a cop of this wonderful album at the beginning of 1977 and loved it ever since.  I remember playing the album in my bedroom. This was of course the first track on the album and I loved it. Gentle Giant are one of those bands that take a few plays, but it worth it and this track is brilliant.

Traffic - John Barleycorn

Traffic was one of those bands that was on my radar at the time. I was just 10 years old in 1970, but I loved Traffic. The Traffic I loved however was the band I remembered from the 60's. I loved the tracks Paper Sun and the unforgettable hippy anthem Hole In My Shoe. I was given the album John Barleycorn Must Die by my uncle on my 11th birthday, played it once and put it to one side until one rainy Sunday when I was so board, I rooted through the cupboard in my bedroom and found a this forgotten album. I put it on laid on my bed and fell in love. The album is so organic. It still had a shadow of the sixties hanging over it with tracks like Glad and Every Mother's Son, but tracks like Freedom Rider sounded strange and mellow and then the track John Barleycorn came on an I experienced a wonderful traditional English folk track with a story. That's the track that stood out then and one I love to this day.

King Crimson - Pictures Of A City

Pictures Of A City comes off the second album from King Crimson and followed the mind blowing debut In the Court of the Crimson King. This is another album that took me a little time to get into but the one track I got straight away and still love is Pictures OF A City. The music reminds me of Batman, I'm talking about the Batman of my childhood with Adam West an Bert Ward. Frantic action riffs then suddenly disappears into a subtle soundscape and then emerge through chaos back into the track. I love the vocal of Greg Lake in this and I know prepared me for Emerson Lake and Palmer. 

Spirit - Natures Way

I included this track for one reason and one reason only. I love it. I had this album in my collection and it was my guilty pleasure. Non of my friends owned it, none of them had heard it and it seemed I was the only person who knew this album. It meant so much to me at the time. The album has now become a cult classic. I got it because I liked the title, 12 Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus. They were really an American psychedelic rock band, but I still believe that this album should be firmly planted in the genre of progressive rock. Apart from anything else they had a great guitarist with and even greater name, that was of course Randy California.

Pink Floyd - Fat Old Sun

I have to say there are parts Atom Heart Mother, the album that Fat Old Sun is pulled from that I don't like that much and yet there are parts that I adore. The track Fat Old Sun is to me a high point. It's interesting to note that Dave Gilmore played almost all instruments on this track including bass and drums. The only other person on the original recording was Richard Wright on keys.

ProgAxia Podcast - best Progressive Rock Of 1970

Listen to me Andy Phillips speaking with Chris Gill, Jon Camp and Elliot Minn about the Rockin' Rebel Radio showcasing the Best Progressive Rock Of 1970.