Van Der Graaf in the 1970s: Decades

There were a lot of very different bands peddling their wares in the progressive rock ’golden age’ of the 1970s - some tending toward symphonic grandeur, other towards jazz fusion, and others still ploughing the more immediate end of the spectrum. There were the left-field eccentrics and the tricky ’difficult’ bands. Apart from it all, however, there were Van Der Graaf Generator. In a decade stuffed with a wild array of influences, styles and instrumental line-ups, there can be few tending quite so near to the definition ’unique’ as the four musicians who made up the ’classic’ line-up of Van Der Graaf. For a start, there was the astonishing songwriting and vocals of generally accepted ’leader’ Peter Hammill, but there was much more behind that to set these men apart. Their unparalleled instrumental make-up saw little or no guitar and no bass guitar, while organist Hugh Banton handled the bass parts on pedals, David Jackson pioneered an astonishing saxophone style, playing two instruments at once, electric rather than miked up, and using a full effects pedalboard. Drummer Guy Evans filled in - well, everything else. It was and remains a sound quite like no other. This book documents their incredibly influential first decade as prog’s ultimate ’outsiders’. It’s quite a ride

Steve Pilkington is a music journalist, editor and broadcaster. He was Editor in Chief for the Classic Rock Society Magazine and is now co-administrator of the rock website Velvet Thunder as well as presenting a weekly internet radio show called A Saucerful Of Prog, and also writes CD booklet notes. He has contributed to various magazines, and his previously published books include Led Zeppelin On Track, Decades: Uriah Heep In The 1970s, Iron Maiden On Track, Deep Purple and Rainbow On Track, The Rolling Stones On Track and Monty Python On Screen, all for Sonicbond, and he has also written the official biography of legendary guitarist Gordon Giltrap, entitled Perilous Journey. He lives in Wigan, Lancashire, UK.