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Latest news: Happy Holidays and a big thank you to all who have purchased the book. Work has begun on The Strawberry Bricks Companion, a curated and annotated discography of the artists and groups from the timeline, 1967 to present. Due sometime in the future.

Buy the book: The third edition of The Strawberry Bricks Guide To Progressive Rock is available for individual purchase through your country's Amazon website, including local shipping and Prime benefits: Amazon.com (US) | Amazon.co.uk (UK) | Amazon.ca (CA) | Amazon.de (DE) | Amazon.fr (FR) | Amazon.es (ES) | Amazon.it (IT) | Amazon.jp (JP) | Amazon.com.au (AU)

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Reviews for the Third Edition

Reviews for the third edition of The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive rock (will be updated).

Totally missed this review! Thank you Pete Pardo and Sea of Tranquility!

Gentle Giant > Gentle Giant

Artist: Gentle Giant
Label: Vertigo
Catalog#: 6360 020
Format: Vinyl
Country: United Kingdom
Released: 1970-10
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Gentle Giant rose from the remains of the Shulman brothers' pop group, Simon Dupree & the Big Sound. That band had some minor chart success when the single "Kites" b/w "Like the Sun, Like the Fire" broke into the UK Top 10 in late 1967. More surprisingly were the legions of teenage girls that the band attracted, as documented in the British television show Man Alive.

Atom Heart Mother > Pink Floyd

Artist: Pink Floyd
Label: Harvest
Catalog#: SMAS-382
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-10
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Pink Floyd's fifth album, Atom Heart Mother, appeared a full year after the disappointing studio half of Ummagumma. Originally titled "The Amazing Pudding," the album's side-long title suite was an amalgam of work the Floyd had been kicking around at the time. Of course, 1970 turned out to be the year for adding orchestras to rock music, something to which even the Floyd would succumb. Composer Ron Geesin was called in to score the already-recorded backing track.

Trespass > Genesis

Artist: Genesis
Label: ABC Records
Catalog#: ABCX-816
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-10
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Having graduated from Charterhouse, Genesis-vocalist Peter Gabriel, guitarists Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips and keyboardist Tony Banks-decided to become professional musicians; and in the summer of 1969, set off to do so. Replacing John Silver, drummer John Mayhew was found via a Melody Maker advert. They settled into old classmate (and road manager) Richard MacPhail's parents' cottage and began writing and rehearsing.

If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'D Do It All Over You > Caravan

Artist: Caravan
Label: London Records
Catalog#: PS 582
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-09
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
By mid-1969, Caravan enlisted the services of manager Terry King, who in turn secured the band a long-term recording contract with Decca Records. First out was the Soft Machine-esque single "If I Could Do It All over Again, I'd Do It All over You" b/w "Hello Hello." It had some success, which resulted in a Top of the Pops appearance for the band, perhaps also raising the bar for their second effort, to which the band responded with the incredulously titled If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You.

John Barleycorn Must Die > Traffic

Artist: Traffic
Label: United Artists Records
Catalog#: UAS 5504
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-07
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
United Artists released Last Exit following Steve Winwood's departure to Blind Faith. A collection of live tracks and singles, it rose to No. 19 in the US. However Blind Faith barely got started before it ended; and Winwood's next move, tentatively titled Mad Shadows, was originally conceived as a solo record. With the addition of Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood, the album quickly became a Traffic release, and stands as one of the band's finest recordings.

Third > Soft Machine, The

Artist: Soft Machine
Label: Columbia
Catalog#: G 30339
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-06
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Soft Machine's Third album represents a significant shift from previous efforts. Their stream of consciousness songwriting had now given way to straight-out instrumental fusion. The album presents four compositions, each spanning one album side-adding to the confusion as to whether the Softs were still a rock band. The change was so intense within the group that the only vocal track, Robert Wyatt's superb "Moon in June," was recorded (the first section anyway) without participation from any other member.

Quatermass > Quatermass

Artist: Quatermass
Label: Harvest
Catalog#: SKAO-314
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-05
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Bassist John Gustafson was a member of the Merseybeat band The Big Three in the early 60s. With organist Peter Robinson, he first joined up with drummer Mick Underwood in Episode Six. That lineup, however, proved to be short-lived, as the trio went off to form Quatermass in July 1969. The band derived their name from Professor Bernard Quatermass, a character from the first science fiction program on the BBC in 1953. They signed to EMI's Harvest label and their debut was recorded at EMI Studios.

In The Wake Of Poseidon > King Crimson

Artist: King Crimson
Label: Atlantic
Catalog#: SD 8266
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-05
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
King Crimson imploded after their US tour in late 1969. Ian McDonald and Michael Giles had too much, too soon and would depart to record an eponymous record. Similarly, Greg Lake had met up with Keith Emerson while on tour, and agreed to form a band upon their return to the UK. Thus, Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield were left with the reins of the band, and faced the task of recording the follow-up-though both Lake and Giles did make contributions to the album, with the latter's brother Peter Giles adding bass. With all the upheaval, little new material was written.

Benefit > Jethro Tull

Artist: Jethro Tull
Label: Reprise Records
Catalog#: RS 6400
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-04
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Prior to the release of their third album, Jethro Tull scored another two Top 10 singles in the UK with "Sweet Dream" b/w "17" and "Witch's Promise" b/w "Teacher." The flip side of the latter single would become an FM radio staple in the US, where the band's success prompted their first headlining American tour. With Benefit, Jethro Tull puts the cap on their initial period, defined by their classic bluesy sound.

Atomic Rooster > Atomic Rooster

Artist: Atomic Rooster
Label: B & C Records
Catalog#: CAS 1010
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1970-02
Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer were first paired in The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. They split off during a US tour in 1969, and returned to England and formed Atomic Rooster (1969 was the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac). According to legend, it was during a psychedelic experience that Crane first envisioned the "rooster," and after which his subsequent psychiatric problems began to surface. Crane was a huge fan of James Brown, while Palmer was into Buddy Rich; bringing both influences to Atomic Rooster imbued the band with its unique character.