The classic rock band Ian Anderson said started prog rock: “A precursor”
How the hell do you even begin to describe what prog rock is to somebody who doesn’t necessarily listen? It’s a tricky one, because there certainly are parallels between it and regular rock, but there is just a little bit more on offer that elevates it somewhat, or sets it apart at least. The work of people like Ian Anderson, Frank Zappa and Geddy Lee doesn’t fall within the standard “rock” category, so we wouldn’t ever label it as such.
Prog rock is essentially any form of rock music that deviates slightly from… well… rock music. Take what you hear in the charts and what you consider to be classic rock, and then contort it somehow. You can add unconventional instruments to the mix, change it thematically, or expand upon the journey of a song rather than just delivering the standard three-chord hits.
We look towards the 1970s as one of the decades where prog rock peaked, and we may well have a point, but this is less because of the artists and more because of the direction granted to them. The genre first started to be established towards the back end of the ‘60s, and it was here that the movement started to take shape. A number of different bands were involved in evolving this sound, but it all comes back to one standout musical outfit, according to Ian Anderson, anyway.
“A more progressive approach, which had been the latter part of ’66, listening to people like Graham Bond, who had at that point in his band Jack Bruce on bass and Ginger Baker on drums. In many ways, Graham Bond was kind of a precursor of that thing that became progressive rock,” said Anderson, “And, of course, Cream in its way when those two guys left Graham Bond and set out as Cream, that became something that moved Eric Clapton along from just being a blues guitarist.”
The three now-iconic figures all originated from session musician backgrounds, with Clapton garnering an immense reputation for his tremendous time playing with The Yardbirds and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. Baker and Bruce, meanwhile, had played together in the Graham Bonds Organisation.
After a car journey shared between the legendary drummer Baker and the Guitar God Clapton, ended with them deciding to form a band with Jack Bruce. The scene was set, and one of the most devastating live acts of all time was formed. Though the band wouldn’t stick around for long, the music they made and the influence they wielded during that time mean they’re undoubtedly one of the greatest trios in all of music.
It’s true that Graham Bond is certainly one of the first artists we can pinpoint as prog rock, and Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce took what they learnt from playing with him and injected it into their new band. When you listen to a lot of prog rock artists talk, Cream was the starting point for them, as while they lean towards rock and only dabble their toes in the prog scene, they were one of the first bands who highlighted what that iconic sound would be like. The thing that we still consider tough to define initially found its form in the kind of music that Cream were putting out.
It’s interesting that Anderson brings up Eric Clapton in this conversation as well. There are many people out there who believe that Clapton peaked when he was in Cream, and it’s because of what Anderson picked up, the idea that when he was in the supergroup, he became more than just a blues guitarist. Achieving that iconic sound where people stepped outside of the rock genre but kept one foot firmly in it was difficult, and with Cream, a great deal of it came down to the guitar.
The abstract nature of prog rock is what continues to draw so many people towards it. It’s a genre that we still struggle a great deal to define, but thanks to artists like Graham Bond and bands such as Queen, it’s something that we recognise the moment we hear it.
