Timeline of progressive rock (1960–1969)

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This is a timeline of artists, albums, and events in progressive rock and its subgenres. This article contains the timeline for the period 1960–1969.

## 1962–1967: Background and roots

[edit]

The roots of progressive rock developed from pop groups in the 1960s, like the Beatles and the Yardbirds, who "progressed" rock and roll by exploiting new recording techniques,[1] and by merging electric blues with various other music styles such as Indian ragas, oriental melodies and Gregorian chants.[2] Hegarty and Halliwell identify the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Doors, the Pretty Things, the Zombies, the Byrds, the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd as "not merely as precursors of prog" but "essential developments of progressiveness in its early days".[3] According to musicologist Walter Everett, the Beatles' "experimental timbres, rhythms, tonal structures, and poetic texts" on their albums Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966) "encouraged a legion of young bands that were to create progressive rock in the early 1970s".[4] Dylan's poetry, the Mothers of Invention's album Freak Out! (1966) and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) were all important in progressive rock's development.[5] The productions of Phil Spector were key influences,[6] as they introduced the possibility of using the recording studio to create music that otherwise could never be achieved.[7] The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966), which Brian Wilson intended as an answer to Rubber Soul[8] influenced the Beatles when they made Sgt. Pepper.[9][10]

Folk rock groups such as the Byrds, based their initial sound on that of the Beatles.[11] In turn, the Byrds' vocal harmonies inspired those of Yes,[12] and British folk rock bands like Fairport Convention, who emphasised instrumental virtuosity.[13] Some of these artists, such as the Incredible String Band and Shirley and Dolly Collins, would prove influential on progressive rock through their use of instruments borrowed from world music and early music.[14]

### Recordings influential on later progressive rock bands

[edit]

Release Date  | Artist  | Recording  | Country

|
|
|

16 May 1966  | The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds[15][16] | US
27 June 1966  | The Mothers of Invention | Freak Out![5] | US
5 August 1966  | The Beatles | Revolver | England
10 October 1966  | The Beach Boys | "Good Vibrations"  | US
November 1966  | Love | Da Capo | US
January 1967  | The Left Banke | Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina | US
1 February 1967  | Jefferson Airplane | Surrealistic Pillow | US
March 1967  | The Velvet Underground | The Velvet Underground & Nico | US
26 May 1967  | The Beatles | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band[5] | England
26 May 1967  | The Mothers of Invention | Absolutely Free | US
July 1967  | The Incredible String Band | The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion | Scotland
24 July 1967  | The Beach Boys | "Heroes and Villains"  | US
August 1967  | Vanilla Fudge | Vanilla Fudge | US
4 August 1967[17] | Pink Floyd | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn | England
September 1967  | Procol Harum | Procol Harum | England
October 1967  | Nirvana | The Story of Simon Simopath | England
November 1967  | Love | Forever Changes | US
10 November 1967  | The Moody Blues | Days of Future Passed[18] | England
27 November 1967  | Jefferson Airplane | After Bathing at Baxter's | US
8 December 1967  | Traffic | Mr. Fantasy | England

### Date of formation of bands who are later identified as progressive

[edit]

* Phoenix (1962)
* Omega (1962)
* Dinamiti (1963)
* Sfinx (1963)
* Los Jaivas (1963)
* The Moody Blues (1964)
* The Wilde Flowers (1964)
* Pink Floyd (1965)
* The Syn (1965)
* Nirvana (1965)
* Barclay James Harvest (1966)
* Family (1966)
* Sam Gopal (1966)
* Soft Machine (1966)
* Stormy Six (1966)
* Touch (1966)
* Unit Delta Plus (later White Noise) (1966)
* Genesis (1967)
* Quill (1967)
* Gong (1967)
* Jethro Tull (1967)
* The Nice (1967)
* Procol Harum (1967)
* Supersister (1967)
* Traffic (1967)
* Van der Graaf Generator (1967)

### Disbandments

[edit]

* The Syn (1967–1969)
* The Wilde Flowers (1967–1968)

### Events

[edit]

* David Gilmour joins Pink Floyd in December 1967.

## 1968

[edit]

### Newly formed bands

[edit]

* Amon Düül II
* Art Zoyd
* Brainbox
* Can
* Caravan
* Catherine Ribeiro + 2Bis
* Colosseum
* Deep Purple
* Dogovor iz 1804.
* Earth & Fire
* Henry Cow
* King Crimson
* Korni Grupa
* Krokodil
* O Terço
* Porodična Manufaktura Crnog Hleba
* Rush
* Yes

### Albums

[edit]

Release date  | Artist  | Album  | Country

|
|
|

22 January 1968  | Spirit | Spirit | US
February 1968  | Vanilla Fudge | The Beat Goes On | US
21 February 1968  | Blood, Sweat & Tears | Child Is Father to the Man | US
1 March 1968[19] | The Nice | The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack [18] | England
4 March 1968  | The Mothers of Invention | We're Only in It for the Money | US
6 March 1968  | The United States of America | The United States of America | US
March 1968  | The Incredible String Band | The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter | Scotland
March 1968  | The Move | Move | England
13 May 1968  | Frank Zappa | Lumpy Gravy – An original rare release appeared in late 1967 on Capitol, but was pulled quickly because of threatened legal action by MGM. This MGM/Verve release was the first popularly available version. [1] | US
June 1968  | The Crazy World of Arthur Brown | The Crazy World of Arthur Brown | England
28 June 1968[20] | Pink Floyd | A Saucerful of Secrets | England
June 1968  | Fairport Convention | Fairport Convention | England
June 1968  | Vanilla Fudge | Renaissance | US
5 July 1968  | Tyrannosaurus Rex | My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows | England
17 July 1968  | Deep Purple | Shades of Deep Purple | UK
19 July 1968  | Family | Music in a Doll's House | England
26 July 1968  | The Moody Blues | In Search of the Lost Chord | England
29 July 1968  | The Jeff Beck Group | Truth | UK
13 September 1968  | Giles, Giles and Fripp | The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp | England
September 1968  | Procol Harum | Shine on Brightly | England
September 1968  | Jefferson Airplane | Crown of Creation | US
October 1968  | Aphrodite's Child | End of the World | Greece
October 1968  | Traffic | Traffic | England
October 1968  | Deep Purple | The Book of Taliesyn | UK
14 October 1968  | Tyrannosaurus Rex | Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages | England
25 October 1968  | Jethro Tull | This Was | England
1 November 1968  | George Harrison | Wonderwall Music | England
November 1968  | The Nice | Ars Longa Vita Brevis | England
November 1968  | The Left Banke | The Left Banke Too | US
November 1968  | The Incredible String Band | Wee Tam and the Big Huge | Scotland
11 December 1968  | Blood, Sweat & Tears | Blood, Sweat & Tears | US
December 1968  | The Pretty Things | S.F. Sorrow | England
December 1968  | Soft Machine | The Soft Machine – the original album was only available in the US, an import in the UK; later re-issued as Volume One.  | England
December 1968  | Spirit | The Family Plays Together | US
1968  | International Harvester – originally called Pärson Sound (recordings from Pärson Sound weren't released until 2001)  | Sov gott Rose-Marie | Sweden
1968  | Touch | Touch | US

### Disbandments

[edit]

* The United States of America

### Events

[edit]

* Syd Barrett leaves Pink Floyd in April 1968.

## 1969

[edit]

### Newly formed bands

[edit]

* Atomic Rooster
* Beggars Opera
* Egg
* Elonkorjuu
* Eloy
* Embryo
* Focus
* Fusion Orchestra
* Glass
* Hawkwind
* If
* Marsupilami
* May Blitz
* Nektar
* Organisation
* Rare Bird
* Renaissance
* Samla Mammas Manna
* Stackridge
* Supertramp
* Triumvirat
* Uriah Heep
* Wigwam

### Albums

[edit]

Release Date  | Artist  | Album  | Country

|
|
|

January 1969  | Caravan | Caravan | England
January 1969  | Sam Gopal | Escalator | England
February 1969  | Jefferson Airplane | Bless Its Pointed Little Head | US
February 1969  | Vanilla Fudge | Near the Beginning | US
5 March 1969  | The Byrds | Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde | US
March 1969  | Colosseum | Those Who Are About to Die Salute You | England
March 1969  | Family | Family Entertainment | England
28 March 1969  | Genesis | From Genesis to Revelation | England
21 April 1969  | The Mothers of Invention | Uncle Meat | US
25 April 1969  | The Moody Blues | On the Threshold of a Dream | England
28 April 1969  | Chicago | Chicago Transit Authority | US
9 May 1969  | George Harrison | Electronic Sound | England
16 May 1969  | Tyrannosaurus Rex | Unicorn | England
19 May 1969[21] | The Who | Tommy | England
May 1969  | Traffic | Last Exit | England
13 June 1969  | Pink Floyd | More | England
16 June 1969  | Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band  | Trout Mask Replica | US
June 1969  | Deep Purple | Deep Purple | UK
June 1969  | It's a Beautiful Day | It's a Beautiful Day | US
June 1969  | Procol Harum | A Salty Dog | England
25 July 1969  | Yes | Yes | England
30 July 1969  | Miles Davis | In a Silent Way | US
1 August 1969  | Jethro Tull | Stand Up | England
August 1969  | Organisation | Tone Float | Germany
August 1969  | Santana | Santana | US
August 1969  | The Nice | The Nice | England
September 1969  | Soft Machine | Volume Two[18] | England
September 1969  | Van der Graaf Generator | The Aerosol Grey Machine | England, however album was originally released only in the US
September 1969  | Vanilla Fudge | Rock & Roll | US
26 September 1969  | The Beatles | Abbey Road | England
10 October 1969  | King Crimson | In the Court of the Crimson King [18] | England
10 October 1969  | Frank Zappa | Hot Rats | US
October 1969  | Spirit | Clear | US
7 November 1969[22] | Pink Floyd | Ummagumma | England
7 November 1969  | Manfred Mann Chapter Three | Manfred Mann Chapter Three | UK
21 November 1969  | The Moody Blues | To Our Children's Children's Children | England
November 1969  | Quintessence | In Blissful Company | UK
November 1969  | Kevin Ayers | Joy of a Toy | UK
November 1969  | The Incredible String Band | Changing Horses | Scotland
November 1969[23] | Renaissance | Renaissance | England
December 1969  | Fairport Convention | Liege & Lief [18] | England
1969  | Amon Düül | Psychedelic Underground | Germany
1969  | Amon Düül | Collapsing / Singvögel Rückwärts & Co | Germany
1969  | Amon Düül II | Phallus Dei | Germany
1969  | Brainbox | Brainbox | Netherlands
1969  | Cromagnon | Orgasm | US
1969  | East of Eden | Mercator Projected | England
1969  | Catherine Ribeiro + 2Bis | Catherine Ribeiro + 2Bis | France
1969  | Rare Bird | Rare Bird | UK
1969  | Wigwam | Hard 'n' Horny | Finland
1969  | The Tony Williams Lifetime | Emergency! | US

### Disbandments

[edit]

* Dinamiti

## See also

[edit]

* Timeline of progressive rock: other decades: 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s – 2020s
* Timeline of progressive rock (Parent article)
* Progressive rock
* Canterbury scene
* Symphonic rock
* Avant-rock
* Rock in Opposition
* Neo-prog
* Progressive metal
* Jazz fusion

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Paul Willis (2014). Profane Culture. Princeton University Press. p. 219\. ISBN 978-1-4008-6514-7.
2. ^ Pete Prown; Harvey P. Newquist (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 78\. ISBN 978-0-7935-4042-6.
3. ^ Paul Hegarty; Martin Halliwell (2011). Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock Since the 1960s. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 11\. ISBN 978-0-8264-2332-0.
4. ^ Walter Everett (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 95\. ISBN 0-19-512941-5.
5. ^ a b c "Prog-Rock". AllMusic.
6. ^ Martin 1998, p. 47.
7. ^ Tamm 1995, p. 29.
8. ^ Leas, Ryan (5 August 2016). "Tomorrow Never Knows: How 1966's Trilogy Of Pet Sounds, Blonde On Blonde, And Revolver Changed Everything". Stereogum. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
9. ^ Martin 1998, p. 53.
10. ^ Cotner 2001, p. 30.
11. ^ Jackson, Andrew Grant (2015). 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music. Thomas Dunne Books. pp. 64–65\. ISBN 978-1-250-05962-8.
12. ^ Martin 1996, p. 4.
13. ^ Hegarty & Halliwell 2011, pp. 54–55.
14. ^ Sweers 2004, p. 72,204.
15. ^ Macan 1997, p. 15,20.
16. ^ Martin 1998, pp. 39–40.
17. ^ "Pink Floyd official site".
18. ^ a b c d e "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock". Classic Rock (146). July 2010.
19. ^ Edward Macan, Endless Enigma: A Musical Biography of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, pp. 19, 657; Richard Morton Jack, Galactic Ramble
20. ^ "Timeline". Pink Floyd - The Official Site. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
21. ^ "RIAA certifications". Recording Industry Association of America.
22. ^ Povey 2008, p. 115.
23. ^ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Melody Maker. 29 November 1969. p. 19. Retrieved 15 September 2021.

## Sources

[edit]

* Cotner, John Sidney (2001), Archetypes of progressiveness in rock, ca. 1966–1973, University of Wisconsin-Madison
* Hegarty, Paul; Halliwell, Martin (2011), Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock Since the 1960s, New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-8264-2332-0
* Macan, Edward (1997), Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-509887-0
* Martin, Bill (1996), Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock, Chicago: Open Court
* Martin, Bill (1998), Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock, Chicago: Open Court, ISBN 0-8126-9368-X
* Povey, Glenn (2008) [2007]. Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd. Mind Head Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9554624-1-2.
* Sweers, Britta (2004), Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English Traditional Music, New York: Oxford University Press
* Tamm, Eric (1995), Brian Eno: His Music and the Vertical Color of Sound, Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-80649-5, archived from the original on 5 December 2006

## Further reading

[edit]

* Snider, Charles. The Strawberry Bricks Guide To Progressive Rock. Chicago, Ill.: Lulu Publishing (2008) 364 pages, ISBN 978-0-615-17566-9 (paperback). A veritable record guide to progressive rock, with band histories, musical synopses and critical commentary, all presented in the historical context of a timeline.
* Lucky, Jerry. The Progressive Rock Files Burlington, Ontario: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc (1998), 304 pages, ISBN 1-896522-10-6 (paperback). Gives an overview of progressive rock's history as well as histories of the major and underground bands in the genre.
* Macan, Edward. Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1997), 290 pages, ISBN 0-19-509887-0 (hardcover), ISBN 0-19-509888-9 (paperback). Analyzes progressive rock using classical musicology and also sociology.