Editing Progressive rock (section)

===1966–1970: Origins===
{{Further|topic=the origins of progressive rock from the perspective of its early synonyms|Progressive pop#Origins|Art rock#Origins}}

====Background and roots====
{{See also|Progressive jazz}}

In 1966, the level of social and artistic correspondence among British and American rock musicians dramatically accelerated for bands like [[the Beatles]], [[the Beach Boys]] and [[the Byrds]] who fused elements of [[cultivated music]] with the [[vernacular music|vernacular traditions]] of rock.{{sfn|Holm-Hudson|2013|p=85}} Progressive rock was predicated on the "progressive" pop groups from the 1960s who combined rock and roll with various other music styles such as Indian [[raga]]s, [[Music of Asia|oriental]] melodies and [[Gregorian chant]]s, like the Beatles and [[the Yardbirds]].{{sfn|Prown|Newquist|1997|p=78}} The Beatles' [[Paul McCartney]] said in 1967: "we [the band] got a bit bored with 12 bars all the time, so we tried to get into something else. Then came Dylan, [[the Who]], and the Beach Boys. ... We're all trying to do vaguely the same kind of thing."{{sfn|Philo|2014|p=119}} Rock music started to take itself seriously, paralleling earlier attempts in jazz (as [[Swing music|swing]] gave way to [[Bebop|bop]], a move which did not succeed with audiences). In this period, the [[popular song]] began signalling a new possible means of expression that went beyond the three-minute [[love song]], leading to an intersection between the "underground" and the "establishment" for listening publics.{{sfn|Moore|2016|p=201}}{{refn|group=nb|Allan Moore writes: "It should be clear by now that, although this history appears to offer a roughly chronological succession of styles, there is no single, linear history to that thing we call ''popular song''.&nbsp;... Sometimes it appears that there are only peripheries. Sometimes, audiences gravitate towards a centre. The most prominent period when this happened was in the early to mid 1960s when it seems that almost everyone, irrespective of age, class or cultural background, listened to the Beatles. But by 1970 this monolothic position had again broken down. Both [[the Edgar Broughton Band]]'s '[[Apache Dropout]]' and [[Edison Lighthouse]]'s '[[Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)|Love grows]]' were released in 1970 with strong Midlands/London connections, and both were audible on the same radio stations, but were operating according to very different aesthetics."{{sfn|Moore|2016|pp=199–200}}}}

Hegarty and Halliwell identify the Beatles, the Beach Boys, [[the Doors]], [[the Pretty Things]], [[the Zombies]], [[the Byrds]], [[the Grateful Dead]] and [[Pink Floyd]] "not merely as precursors of progressive rock but as essential developments of progressiveness in its early days".{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|p=11}} According to musicologist [[Walter Everett (musicologist)|Walter Everett]], the Beatles' "experimental timbres, rhythms, tonal structures, and poetic texts" on their albums ''[[Rubber Soul]]'' (1965) and ''[[Revolver (Beatles album)|Revolver]]'' (1966) "encouraged a legion of young bands that were to create progressive rock in the early 1970s".{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=95}} Dylan's poetry, [[the Mothers of Invention]]'s album ''[[Freak Out!]]'' (1966) and the Beatles' ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' (1967) were all important in progressive rock's development.<ref name="AMProg" /> The productions of [[Phil Spector]] were key influences,{{sfn|Martin|1998|p=47}} as they introduced the possibility of using the recording studio to create music that otherwise could never be achieved.{{sfn|Tamm|1995|p=29}} The same{{vague|date=September 2016}} is said for the Beach Boys' ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' (1966), which [[Brian Wilson]] intended as an answer to ''Rubber Soul''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stereogum.com/1892600/tomorrow-never-knows-how-1966s-trilogy-of-pet-sounds-blonde-on-blonde-and-revolver-changed-everything/franchises/sounding-board/|first=Ryan|last=Leas|title=Tomorrow Never Knows: How 1966's Trilogy Of ''Pet Sounds'', ''Blonde On Blonde'', And ''Revolver'' Changed Everything|publisher=[[Stereogum]]|date=5 August 2016|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=14 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214190644/http://www.stereogum.com/1892600/tomorrow-never-knows-how-1966s-trilogy-of-pet-sounds-blonde-on-blonde-and-revolver-changed-everything/franchises/sounding-board/|url-status=live}}</ref> and which in turn influenced the Beatles when they made ''Sgt. Pepper''.{{sfn|Martin|1998|p=53}}{{sfn|Cotner|2001|p=30}}

Dylan introduced a literary element to rock through his fascination with the [[Surrealism|Surrealists]] and the [[Symbolism (movement)|French Symbolists]], and his immersion in the New York City art scene of the early 1960s.{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=156-7}} The trend of bands with names drawn from literature, such as [[the Doors]], [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]] and [[The Ides of March (band)|the Ides of March]], were a further sign of rock music aligning itself with high culture.{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=179}} Dylan also led the way in blending rock with folk music styles. This was followed by folk rock groups such as the Byrds, who based their initial sound on that of the Beatles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Andrew Grant|title=1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music|year=2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1-250-05962-8|pages=64–65}}</ref> In turn, the Byrds' vocal harmonies inspired those of [[Yes (band)|Yes]],{{sfn|Martin|1996|p=4}} and [[British folk rock]] bands like [[Fairport Convention]], who emphasised instrumental virtuosity.{{sfn|Hegarty|Halliwell|2011|pp=54–55}} Some of these artists, such as [[the Incredible String Band]] and [[Shirley Collins|Shirley]] and [[Dolly Collins]], would prove influential through their use of instruments borrowed from world music and [[early music]].{{sfn|Sweers|2004|p=72,204}}

====Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper====
{{Main|Pet Sounds|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band}}

{{Quote box|align=right|salign=right
|quote=Many groups and musicians played important roles in this development process, but none more than [[the Beach Boys]] and [[the Beatles]]&nbsp;... [They] brought expansions in [[harmony]], [[arrangement|instrumentation]] (and therefore [[timbre]]), [[Duration (music)|duration]], [[rhythm]], and the use of [[History of multitrack recording|recording technology]]. Of these elements, the first and last were the most important in clearing a pathway toward the development of progressive rock.
|source=– Bill Martin{{sfn|Martin|1998|p=39}}
|width  = 30%
|quoted = |}}

''Pet Sounds'' and ''Sgt. Pepper'', with their lyrical unity, extended structure, complexity, eclecticism, experimentalism, and influences derived from classical music forms, are largely viewed as beginnings in the progressive rock genre{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=15,20}}{{sfn|Martin|1998|pp=39–40}} and as turning points wherein rock, which previously had been considered dance music, became music that was made for listening to.{{sfn|Covach|1997|p=3}}{{sfn|Martin|1998|p=39}} Between ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Sgt. Pepper'', the Beach Boys released the single "[[Good Vibrations]]" (1966), dubbed a "[[pocket symphony]]" by [[Derek Taylor]], the band's publicist. The song contained an eclectic array of exotic instruments and several disjunctive key and modal shifts.{{sfn|Boone|Covach|1997|pp=41–46}} Scott Interrante of ''[[Popmatters]]'' wrote that its influence on progressive rock and the psychedelic movement "can't be overstated".<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Interrante|first1=Scott|title=The 12 Best Brian Wilson Songs|url=http://www.popmatters.com/post/193278-the-12-best-brian-wilson-songs/|magazine=[[Popmatters]]|date=20 May 2015|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-date=21 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921125644/http://www.popmatters.com/post/193278-the-12-best-brian-wilson-songs/|url-status=live}}</ref> Martin likened the song to the Beatles' "[[A Day in the Life]]" from ''Sgt. Pepper'', in that they showcase "the same reasons why much progressive rock is difficult to dance to".{{sfn|Martin|1998|p=40}}

Although ''Sgt. Pepper'' was preceded by several albums that had begun to bridge the line between "disposable" pop and "serious" rock, it successfully gave an established "commercial" voice to an alternative youth culture{{sfn|Holm-Hudson|2008|p=10}} and marked the point at which the [[LP record]] emerged as a creative format whose importance was equal to or greater than that of the single.<ref name="pirenne1">{{cite conference |last=Pirenne |first=Christophe |title=The Role of Radio, 33 Records and Technologies in the Growth of Progressive Rock |book-title=Proceedings of the International Conference "Composition and Experimentation in British Rock 1966–1976" |year=2005 |access-date=27 June 2013 |url=http://www-3.unipv.it/britishrock1966-1976/testien/pir1en.htm |conference= |archive-date=7 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707014112/http://www-3.unipv.it/britishrock1966-1976/testien/pir1en.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|LP sales first overtook those of singles in 1969.{{sfn|Sweers|2004|p=120}}}} [[Bill Bruford]], a veteran of several progressive rock bands, said that ''Sgt. Pepper'' transformed both musicians' ideas of what was possible and audiences' ideas of what was acceptable in music.{{sfn|Weigel|2012b|}} He believed that: "Without the Beatles, or someone else who had done what the Beatles did, it is fair to assume that there would have been no progressive rock."{{sfn|Bruford|2012|p=159}} In the aftermath of ''Sgt. Pepper'', magazines such as [[Melody Maker]] drew a sharp line between "pop" and "rock". Americans increasingly used the adjective "progressive" for groups like [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]], [[Family (band)|Family]], [[East of Eden (band)|East of Eden]], [[Van der Graaf Generator]] and [[King Crimson]].{{sfn|Zoppo|2014|p={{page needed|date=December 2016}}}}

====Proto-prog and psychedelia{{anchor|Symphonic rock}}====
{{Main|Proto-prog|Psychedelic rock|Acid rock}}
{{See also|Rock opera|Canterbury scene}}
{{Cite check|section|date=March 2016}}

According to [[AllMusic]]: "Prog-rock began to emerge out of the British psychedelic scene in 1967, specifically a strain of classical/symphonic rock led by [[the Nice]], [[Procol Harum]], and [[the Moody Blues]] (''[[Days of Future Passed]]'')."<ref>{{cite web|author1=Anon|title=Prog-Rock|url=http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/prog-rock-ma0000002798|website=[[AllMusic]]|date=n.d.|access-date=23 July 2016|archive-date=8 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208051215/http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/prog-rock-ma0000002798|url-status=live}}</ref> The availability of newly affordable recording equipment coincided with the rise of a London [[underground (British subculture)|underground]] scene at which the psychedelic drug LSD was commonly used. Pink Floyd and [[Soft Machine]] functioned as [[house band]]s at all-night events at locations such as [[Middle Earth (club)|Middle Earth]] and the [[UFO Club]], where they experimented with sound textures and long-form songs.{{sfn|Sweers|2004|p=114–15}}{{refn|group=nb|Beatles member [[John Lennon]] is known to have attended at least one such event, a [[happening]] called [[the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream]].{{sfn|O'Brien|1999|}} [[Paul McCartney]] was deeply connected to the underground through his involvement with the [[Indica Gallery]].{{sfn|Miles|1999|}}}} Many psychedelic, folk rock and early progressive bands were aided by exposure from [[BBC Radio 1]] DJ [[John Peel]].{{sfn|Sweers|2004|p=119}} [[Jimi Hendrix]], who rose to prominence in the London scene and recorded with a band of English musicians, initiated the trend towards guitar virtuosity and eccentricity in rock music.{{sfn|Martin|1998|pp=164–65}} The Scottish band 1-2-3, later renamed [[Clouds (60s rock band)|Clouds]], were formed in 1966 and began performing at London clubs a year later. According to ''Mojo''{{'s}} George Knemeyer: "some claim [that they] had a vital influence on prog-rockers such as Yes, The Nice and Family."{{sfn|Hogg|1994|}}

Symphonic rock artists in the late 1960s had some chart success, including the singles "[[Nights in White Satin]]" (the Moody Blues, 1967) and "[[A Whiter Shade of Pale]]" (Procol Harum, 1967).<ref name="FowlesWade2012"/> The Moody Blues established the popularity of symphonic rock when they recorded ''Days of Future Passed'' together with the [[London Festival Orchestra]].{{sfn|Macan|1997|pp=21–22}} Classical influences sometimes took the form of pieces adapted from or inspired by classical works, such as [[Jeff Beck]]'s ''[[Beck's Bolero]]'', [[Love Sculpture]]'s<ref>{{Cite web |last=Breznikar |first=Klemen |author-link=Klemen Breznikar|date=2023-08-25 |title=Pour Nous Autres {{!}} Interview {{!}} Lost Prog Rock from Montreal |url=https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2023/08/pour-nous-autres-interview-lost-prog-rock-from-montreal.html |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=[[It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[L'Arlésienne (Bizet)|''Farandole (Arlésienne Suite No 2. Movement 4)'']] and parts of the Nice's ''[[Ars Longa Vita Brevis (album)|Ars Longa Vita Brevis]]''. The latter, along with such tracks as "[[Blue Rondo à la Turk|Rondo]]" and "[[America (West Side Story song)|America]]", reflect a greater interest in music that is entirely instrumental. ''Sgt. Pepper's'' and ''Days'' both represent a growing tendency towards [[song cycle]]s and suites made up of multiple [[Movement (music)|movements]].{{sfn|Macan|1997|pp=21–22}}

[[Focus (band)|Focus]] incorporated and articulated jazz-style chords, and irregular off-beat drumming into their later rock-based riffs, and several bands that included jazz-style [[horn section]]s appeared, including [[Blood, Sweat & Tears]] and [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]]. Of these, Martin highlights Chicago in particular for their experimentation with suites and extended compositions, such as the "[[Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon]]" on ''[[Chicago (album)|Chicago II]]''.{{sfn|Martin|1998|pp=163–164}} Jazz influences appeared in the music of British bands such as [[Traffic (band)|Traffic]], [[Colosseum (band)|Colosseum]] and [[If (band)|If]], together with [[Canterbury scene]] bands such as [[Soft Machine]] and [[Caravan (band)|Caravan]]. Canterbury scene bands emphasised the use of wind instruments, complex chord changes and long improvisations.{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=20}} Martin writes that in 1968, "full-blown progressive rock" was not yet in existence; however, albums were released by three bands who would later come to the forefront of the music: Jethro Tull, Caravan and Soft Machine.{{sfn|Martin|1998|p=168}}

{{Listen
|pos=right
|filename=King Crimson - The Court of the Crimson King.ogg
|title="The Court of the Crimson King" (1969)
|description=Macan writes that King Crimson's album "displays every element of the mature progressive rock genre&nbsp;... [and] exerted a powerful extramusical influence on later progressive rock bands".{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=23}}
}}

The term "progressive rock", which appeared in the liner notes of Caravan's 1968 [[Caravan (Caravan album)|self-titled debut LP]], came to be applied to bands that used classical music techniques to expand the styles and concepts available to rock music.{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=26}}{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=184}} The Nice, the Moody Blues, Procol Harum and Pink Floyd all contained elements of what is now called progressive rock, but none represented as complete an example of the genre as several bands that formed soon after.{{sfn|Macan|1997|pp=22–23}} Almost all of the genre's major bands, including Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Yes, [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], [[Van der Graaf Generator]], [[Emerson, Lake & Palmer|ELP]], [[Gentle Giant]], [[Barclay James Harvest]] and [[Renaissance (band)|Renaissance]], released their debut albums during the years 1968–1970. Most of these were folk-rock albums that gave little indication of what the bands' mature sound would become, but King Crimson's ''[[In the Court of the Crimson King]]'' (1969) and Yes' [[Yes (Yes album)|self-titled debut album]] (1969) were early, fully formed examples of the genre.{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=23}}{{refn|group=nb|They are also generally credited as the first global standard-bearers of symphonic rock.<ref name="FowlesWade2012">{{cite book|last1=Fowles|first1=Paul|last2=Wade|first2=Graham|title=Concise History of Rock Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nW2-7BrEUOEC&pg=PA125|year=2012|publisher=Mel Bay Publications|isbn=978-1-61911-016-8|page=125|access-date=12 October 2016|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223162202/https://books.google.com/books?id=nW2-7BrEUOEC&pg=PA125|url-status=live}}</ref>}}