I Heart Van Der Graaf

When I first heard Van Der Graaf Generator I was about twenty years old. I was listening to this new radio show I found on the other side of the dial. It was better then the two Classic Rock Stations I been listening to. I was just getting into Jazz, which this station had, and it had a really neat Progressive Rock type show on Sunday nights. Each Sunday night was great because I could hear music that I never heard before. I mentioned this show in previous blog posts, but in case you forgot here is a quick recap. This show one night opened it's show with Jeff Beck's "Beck's Bolero." The song is quite interesting and really ahead of it's time. Other nights it opened up with maybe a King Crimson song or even a really odd song by Yes. Once in a while he would throw the Progressive Rock out and open with Neil Young's "Last Trip To Tulsa." Neil's nine minute piece was quite interesting to say the least. A person young as myself was at a loss for words.

One night he opened up with a song called "Darkness 11/11." I had no idea who or what they were but the music was quite interesting. The song was seven minutes long, but the vocals were wonderful and the music that just sounded way out there. The organ, drums and Saxophones were an interesting mix. The bass was supplied by the organs pedals and once in a while you would hear a guitar. The music was really intense. He did not play just one of this stuff but he played a song that was about twenty-three minutes long. He got on the microphone and told us about one his favorite bands Van Der Graaf Generator. I wrote this down and went to see my friend the next day. I think my friend knew because he looked at me and told me he thought the opening of the radio show was great. He handed me a few tapes of Van Der Graaf. He made me a two 90 minute cassette of their music. He told me to listen carefully. The music is quite intense.

I agreed and put them in my car. The music was quite interesting and was full of audio theatrics and with different tempo and changes. It was really not any other Progressive I heard. I think what stood out was the music was long and had very few short songs to each piece that he gave me. I think the shortest was like seven minutes. Each part of the music was wonderful and full of emotion that I never heard before. The signature Van der Graaf Generator sound in the 1970s was a combination of Peter Hammill's distinctive and dynamic voice and David Jackson's electronically-treated saxophones, generally playing over thick chordal keyboard parts. The band explored the complete range of phonaesthetics from euphony to cacophony, often within the same song. Van der Graaf Generator albums tended to be darker in atmosphere than many of their prog-rock peers.

My friend told me that one album along had just three songs on it. To me that was quite amazing. I never heard music being played for for that long. I mean I heard it in a Jazz setting with Ornette Coleman or Tim Berne, but not in a rock setting. The music of Van Der Graaf Generator was great for it's time. There was moments of greatness that would have made other Progressive Rock bands get a little nervous. I liked the vocals a lot because Peter Hammill he was quite distinct in his approach.

The one album with three songs on it was the one I chose for this post. The music is innovative and fun. The music makes you really pay attention to what the hell is going on. I always thought they were interesting. Pawn Hearts is an album at least to get you in the right direction. The magic that was created was like no other and should be really listened with great interest. I got a wish granted and saw them live in 2009 and they were great, only wish I saw them in the height of their popularity. I was once told they did open for King Crimson in 1970 and 1971. I think it was at Fripp's request because he played on Pawn Hearts. The Music here is new and for most people fresh. Try it out and listen for yourself and enjoy! Have fun with this and tell me what you think. Let me know what you think of it. Rock On!!!!!