Monday, January 11, 2010

Colesseum - The Kettle




Going to stick with some amazing psych stuff here with something i bought myself for X-mas because i love me. This is one of those songs that just does it. I mean everything about it is just amazing IMHO. And also in my opinion the bands best song.
Just awesome in every aspect... Something i am now very proud to own!

Colesseum were one of the pivotal progressive bands that emerged in the second part of the Sixties. Unfortunately the progressive world was more impressed by The NICE and KING CRIMSON, making COLOSSEUM a bit under appreciated progrock band. In '68 the founding members were drummer Jon Hiseman, tenor sax-player Dick Heckstall-Smith and bass player Tony Reeves, later joined by Dave Greenslade (keyboards), Dave Clempson (guitar), Chris Farlowe (vocals) and Mark Clark, he replaced Tony Reeves. COLOSSEUM made three studio albums: "Those Who Are To Die We Salute You" and "Valentyne Suite" (both from '69) and "Daughter Of Time" ('70). The music is a progressive mix of several styles with lots of sensational solos and captivating interplay. In '71 the band released their highly acclaimed live album "Colosseum live". After COLOSSEUM was disbanded in '71, most of these members formed or joined known groups like HUMBLE PIE (Clem Clempson), ATOMIC ROOSTER (Chris Farlowe), GREENSLADE (Dave Greenslade re-united with Tony Reeves) and COLOSSEUM II (founded by Jon Hiseman).

While Colosseum lasted only a little more than three years, they made a great impression on the blooming subgenre of progressive rock, first with the energetic jazz- and blues-influenced Those Who Are About to Die Salute You, with its unusual chord progressions and variant song structures, and then with the epic Valentyne Suite. The title track of Valentyne Suite, a 17-minute composition, pushed keyboardist Dave Greenslade to the forefront of the band and into the spotlight of progressive music, a position he was increasingly uneasy with over the years. Drummer Jon Hiseman, on the other hand, gradually moved towards the jazz fusion area. Colosseum began to undergo personnel shifts with their third album, Grass Is Greener, with everyone calling it quits upon the departure of Greenslade in 1971. In 1975, Hiseman formed Colosseum II, but this time the mandate was firmly jazz fusion.

This is not jazz fusion but straight ahead heavy guitar psych rock...

Colesseum - The Kettle

5 comments:

Mondo said...

Nice one DD, I think I opened my Heavy Hippy mix with this last year..

Dave In Guelph said...

Fatboy Slim uses that riff throughout the song "Push the Tempo".
Nice to hear it in it's original context.

matthew said...

Just discovered your blog, amazing.
Thank you for sharing these incredible gems.

Anonymous said...

Just testing to see if your comment fuctinon works, abundance doesnt!

Anonymous said...

I have included this on all my hard rock/psych comps for many years -- it is definitely one of the best (if not thee best) songs of its type. You are correct, it has EVERYTHING. This has always been my belief, and the 45 sounds great. I'm really lukewarm on everything else by Colosseum. Thi sis such an amazing standout track. You have great taste.