By the same author:
Matrix and line:
Derrida and the possibilities of postmodern social theory
Humanism and its aftermath:
The shared fate of deconstruction and politics
Politics in the impasse:
Explorations in postsecular social theory
music of Yes:
structure and vision in progressive rock
Photo of Robert Fripp courtesy S. Morley/Redferns.
Photo of Jethro Tull courtesy David Redfern/Redferns.
Copyright © 1998 by Carus Publishing Company
First printing 1998
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, A division of Carus Publishing Company, 315 Fifth Street, P.O. Box 300, Peru, Illinois 61354-0300.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Martin, Bill, 1956-
Listening to the future: the time of progressive rock, 1968-1978/Bill Martin.
p. cm.—(Feedback: v. 2)
Includes discography, bibliographical references, and index.
ISBN 978-0-81269-944-9
1. Progressive rock music—History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series: Feedback (Chicago, Ill.); v. 2.
ML3534.M412 1998
781.66—dc21
97-36495
CIP
MN
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This book has been reproduced in a print-on-demand format from the 1998 Open Court printing.
Open Court Publishing Company is a division of Carus Publishing Company.
For my mother and father,
Eve and Gene Martin
The past carries with it a temporal index by which it is referred to redemption. There is a secret agreement between past generations and the present one. Our coming was expected on earth. Like every generation that preceeded us, we have been endowed with a weak Messianic power, a power to which the past has a claim. That claim cannot be settled cheaply.
A chronicler who recites events without distinguishing between major and minor ones acts in accordance with the following truth: nothing that has ever happened should be regarded as lost for history. To be sure, only a redeemed humankind receives the fullness of its past—which is to say, only for a redeemed humankind has its past become citable in all its moments. Each moment it has lived becomes a citation à l’ordre du jour—and that day is Judgment Day.
The soothsayers who found out from time what it had in store certainly did not experience time as either homogenous or empty. Anyone who keeps this in mind will perhaps get an idea of how past times were experienced in remembrance—namely, just in the same way. We know that the Israelites were prohibited from investigating the future. The Torah and the prayers instruct them in remembrance, however. This stripped the future of its magic, to which all those succumb who turn to the soothsayers for enlightenment. This does not imply, however, that for the Israelites the future turned into homogenous, empty time. For every second of time was the strait gate through which the Messiah might enter.
Walter Benjamin, from “Theses on the Philosophy of History”
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface: Future anterior
Chapter one: Introduction: Seize again the day
Chapter two: The prehistory of progressive rock: Generosity and synthesis
Chapter three: The time of progressive rock: Toward a theory
Chapter four: Sent through the rhythm: A guided discography
Emergence, 1968–1969
1968
1969
Apogee, 1970–1974
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
Trials and transformations, 1975–1978
1975
1976
1977
1978
Sixty-two essential albums
Chapter five: After the time of progressive rock, 1977–1997
Afterword: Zeitgeist: Sea change or heart murmur?
Appendix: Resources
Notes
Additional discography
Bibliography
Index
As with my earlier music of Yes, Listening to the future was also written as a labor of love. I want to offer heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped with this project. This includes a rather long list of friends both old and new, who shared with me their ideas about music—sometimes without knowing it: Jim Abraham, Alison Brown, Kevin Condatore, Al Cinelli, Billy Chapman, John Covach, Andrew Cutrofello, John Collinge, Glen Di Crocco, Jim DeRogatis, Martin Donougho, David Detmer, Sarah Dowless, Zane Edge, Lydia Eloff, Nina Frankel, Aaron Fichtelburg, Henry Frame, Miller Francis, Diana Fuss, Stephen Gardner, Mark Giordano, Tom Greif, Brett Gover, Lewis Gordon, Peter Gunther, Stephen Houlgate, Patricia Huntington, Craig Hanks, Christine Holz, Joanie Jurysta James, Leslie Jones, Tony Kirven, Nick Kokoshis, Dana Lawrence, Michael Lind, Raymond Lotta, Chris Mitchell, Tina McRee, Brad Merriman, Edward Macan, Brenda MacDonald, Lisa Mikita, Innes Mitchell, Sam Martin, John Martin, Lynne Margolies, Thomas and Coral Mosbo, Clay Morgan, Todd May, Martin Matustik, Kate Murphy, David Orsini, Jeff Rice, Garry Rindfuss, Jane Scarpontoni, Dale Smoak, Chelsea Snelgrove, Gary Shapiro, Catrina Thundercloud, George Trey, Jerry Wallulis, Cynthia Willett, Deena Weinstein, and Robert Young.
For their friendship and encouragement, I would like to thank my colleagues in the philosophy department at DePaul University: Ken Alpern, Peg Birmingham, Cindy Kaffen, Daryl Koehn, David Krell, Niklaus Largier, Mary Jeanne Larrabee, Will McNeil, Darrell Moore, Michael Naas, Angelica Nuzzo, David Pellauer, and Katherine Rudolph.
Thanks to the people at Open Court Publishing for their support of this project, especially my ever-patient editor, Kerri Mommer.
I have the great fortune to be married to the African Japanese queen of Kansas, Bascenji. Thanks, my Yoko and SdB, my dear Kathleen, standing by your vinegar