Van der Graaf generator

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Van der Graaf generator
Guy Evans and Hugh Banton
Guy Evans and Hugh Banton
General information
Genre (s) Progressive rock
founding 1967, 1975, 2005
resolution 1972, 1978
Website http://www.sofasound.com
Founding members
Peter Hammill
Vocals, drums
Chris Judge Smith (until 1968)
Nick Pearne (until 1968)
Current occupation
Guitar, keyboards , vocals
Peter Hammill
Organ , piano, bass
Hugh Banton (1968-77, since 2005)
Drums
Guy Evans (since 1968)
former members
bass
Keith Ellis (1969)
Bass, electric guitar
Nic Potter (1969-70, 1977-78)
Graham Smith (1977-78)
Charles Dickie (1977-78)
David Jackson (1969-1977, 2005)

Van der Graaf Generator is a British progressive rock band formed at the University of Manchester in November 1967 by Chris Judge Smith (vocals, drums), Peter Hammill (vocals, guitar) and Nick Pearne (organ) . The band name alludes to the Van de Graaff generator , a physical device.

music

Van der Graaf Generator at the open air concert in Plumpton / England, 1972

The independent sound results from the interplay of organ and saxophone, the extensive renunciation of electric guitars and the expressive singing of Peter Hammill. Another characteristic are the dark, existentialist lyrics of Hammill, which earned him the nickname "King of fear" (King of fear). The music oscillates between lyrical passages and violent, sometimes free jazz-like outbursts.

Band history

Smith and Pearne left the band before the first record was released. Hugh Banton (organ, piano), Guy Evans (drums) and Keith Ellis (bass) joined as new members , with whom Hammill recorded The Aerosol Gray Machine . Ellis left the band and Nic Potter took on the role of bassist for a while, as well as David Jackson (saxophone, flute). This formation formed the classic line-up of the band.

The band broke up several times (among other things due to lack of money) and formed anew. A brief renaming took place in 1977 under the name Van der Graaf . Instead of Hugh Banton and David Jackson, Graham Smith (violin) and Charles Dickie (cello) were the new members, and Nic Potter returned as bassist, which completely changed the soundscape.

Peter Hammill has also had a continuous solo career since 1971. The other band members recorded an album of the same name in 1973 under the name The Long Hello ; three more albums followed in the early eighties with strongly changing line-ups.

At the end of 2004, Hammill announced a reunion of the band in the classic line-up with Jackson, Banton and Evans. The band had already recorded a double album with new material in the summer of 2004, which was released in April 2005 under the title Present . There were also concerts in Europe in the summer of 2005. On November 5, 2005, Van der Graaf Generator performed as part of the 26th Leverkusener Jazztage in the Forum in Leverkusen.

After Jackson left again, the remaining trio went on tour in spring 2007. A concert on April 14, 2007 at Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and was available as a stream on the Fabchannel website until March 2009 . It was released on DVD and CD in June 2009. After the tour they recorded material for a new album, which was released in March 2008 under the name Trisector .

On March 11, 2011, the eleventh studio album A Grounding in Numbers was released; several pieces were presented live for the first time in December 2010 in London. In 2012 another live and studio album were released.

On September 30, 2016, a new studio album entitled Do Not Disturb was released on the Esoteric Recordings record label .

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

  • 1978 - Vital (recorded in 1978 as Van der Graaf )
  • 2004 - Maida Vale BBC Radio Sessions (recordings from 1971-75)
  • 2007 - Real Time (recordings from 2005)
  • 2009 - Live at the Paradiso (recordings from 2007)
  • 2012 - Recorded Live in Concert at Metropolis Studios, London (recordings from 2010, 2CD + DVD)
  • 2015 - Merlin Atmos (recordings of the 2013 European tour)
  • 2015 - After the Flood - at the BBC 1968-1977

Compilations

  • 1972-68-71
  • 1982 - Time Vaults (demos made between Pawn Hearts and Godbluff )
  • 1986 - First Generation: Scenes from 1969–1971
  • 1986 - Second Generation: Scenes from 1975–1977
  • 1988 - Now and Then
  • 1993 - I Prophesy Disaster
  • 1994 - Maida Vale - BBC Sessions
  • 2000 - The Box
  • 2000 - An Introduction: From the Least to the Quiet Zone

Numerous unofficial live and radio recordings have been released on LP and CD.

DVD

  • 2003 - Godbluff Live 1975 Charleroi Palais des Expos September 27, 1975
  • 2009 - Live at the Paradiso April 14, 2007

Footnotes

  1. Esoteric Recordings on Twitter. Retrieved July 25, 2016 .
  2. See http://www.manerg.co.uk/vdgglive.htm for an extensive list.

Web links