They where not underrated why would you underage a band that you chose to see especially double shaxphone through wha wha you’d have to be as mad as a light house keeper’s parrot wearing sun glasses
Pure poetry...And the music rises from the poem. And at last , the music gains its own identity. VDG is one of the most powerful and unique musical projects of the century.
Hard to believe that someone in 1972 actually knew how to properly video record a band playing music of this dramatic complexity, without (actually, some, but not too many) silly camera "accents". The cameras actually hit the right instruments at the right time, which leads me to believe that the producer actually knew the music. An incredible proposition.
yeah, makes a real difference, doesn't it! The bane of my life as a kid was watching Top of the Pops and the BBC camera man would always do something dumb like a close-up on the drummer when I wanted to watch the synth solo.
I like the fact that Peter Is clearly already baked a bit (they were notoriously oriented in that fashion) but when he sings and bangs the keys you dont even notice. Great guys, must have been histerical to hang out with at those times.
I saw Van der Graaf many times in the mid 70s but they never played Lighthouse. I always assumed this was because it was too complex to play live so it's wonderful to see this video. I actually roadied for them (sort of). I was sitting in the Poly bar at Newcastle when they came in looking for volunteers to bring their gear up from the truck. That would have been late 74 or early 75....
I'm lucky enough to have seen them do it, albeit as a three-piece, on the Grounding in Numbers tour. The opening was genuinely the most spine-tingling thing in my long and extensive gig-going life.
Yes, because they made it through the piece, and it was no.l in Italy, more importantly they'd made a masterpiece. That's success all round in my book, oh, and they never sold out or otherwise compromised. Quality!
magic. pure magic. simple fact: there are parts in this performance that surpasses everyting that any band on earth delivered in brutality and devastating, controlled, beautifiul and simply unbearable power. that done without a guitar and/or bass player is simply beyond reason
Legend has it that they were completely caught off guard when the TV station requested this song be played, and they had to completely relearn it. As we can see they were able to do so.
It was the only time they played the complete piece, requested out of the blue by the programme makers. Most Bands would've refused, as it was risky, but V.D.G.G. are rather exceptional, as we know!
My 1st time here. Steven Wilson's podcast, The Album Years, 1972, brought me here. I knew, I knew this voice. Peter Hamill collaborated with Jakko Jakzyk on some later stuff, that I was familiar with and have saved on a playlist. As I was listening, with headphones, mind you, I was mesmerized. Always looking for music that is new to me, even if it's 52 years old.
Much better live than recorded. I finally saw them in Milan two days ago. Nothing to share with the young bands. The magical Peter is 73 years old, Banton too, while Evans is 74. A concert like only VDGG can do, and fifty and more years lafer. Unbelievable! Forever young, forever love 🎶🎹💙💜
*A PLAGUE OF LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS* I. Eyewitness Still waiting for my saviour, storms tear me limb from limb my fingers feel like seaweed...I'm so far out, I'm too far in I am a lonely man...my solitude is true my eyes have borne stark witness and now my knights are numbered too. I've seen the smiles on dead hands, the stars shine, but they're not for me. I prophesy disaster and then I count the cost.... I shine but, shining, dying, I know that I am almost lost. On the table lies blank paper and my tower is built on stone I only have blunt scissors, I only have the bluntest onde I've been the witness, and the seal of death lingers in the molten wax that is my head. When you see the skeletons of sailing-ship spars sinking low You'll begin to wonder if the points of all the ancient myths are solemnly directed straight at you. II. Pictures/Lighthouse (Eddies/rocks/ships/collision/remorse.) III. Eyewitness No time now for contrition, the time for that's long past. The walls are thin as tissue and if I talk I'll crack the glass. So I only think on how it might have been, locked in silent monologue, in silent scream Anyway, I'm much too tired to speak and, as the waves crash on the bleak stones of the tower, I start to freak.... ...and find that I am overcome... IV. S.H.M. 'Unreal, unreal!' ghost helmsmen scream and fall in through the sky, not breaking through my seagull shrieks... no breaks until I die the spectres scratch on window-slits hollowed faces, mindless grins only intent on destroying what they've lost. I craw the wall till steepness ends in the vertical fall; my pail has sailed into the sea, no joking hopes at dawn. White bone shine in the iron-jaw mask lost mastheads pierce the freezing dark and parallel my isolated tower no paraffin for the flame no harbour left to gain. V. The Presence of the Night 'Alone, alone, ' the ghosts all call, pinpoint me in the light. The only life I feel at all is the presence of the night. Would you cry if I died? Would you cry if I died? Would you catch the final words of mine? Would you catch my words? I know that there's no time I know that there's no rhyme... (false signs find me) I don't want to hate, I just want to grow; why can't I let me live and be free? but I die very slowly alone. I know no more ways, I am so afraid, myself won't let me just be myself and so I am completely alone. VI. Kosmos Tours The maelstrom of my memory is a vampire and it feeds on me now, staggering madly, over the brink I fall. VII. (Custard's) Last Stand Lighthouses might house the key but can I reach the door? I want to walk on the sea so that I may better find ashore... but how can I ever keep my feet dry? I scan the horizon I must keep my eyes on all parts of me. Looking back on the years it seems that I have lost the way Like a dog in the night, I have run to a manger now I am the stranger I stay in. All of the grief I have seen leaves me chasing solitary peace but I hold experience in my head I'm too close to the light I don't think I see right, for I blind me. VIII. The Clot Thickens WHERE is the God that guides my hand? HOW can the hands of others reach me? WHEN will I find what I grope for? WHO is going to teach me? I am me/me are we/we can't see any way out of here. Crashing sea/atrophied history: Chance has lost my Guinevere. I don't want to be one wave in the water But sea will drag me deep One more haggard DROWNED MAN... I can see the Lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man; Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may? IX. Land's End (Sineline) Oceans drifting sideways, I am pulled into the spell I feel you around me, I know you well Stars slice horizons where the lines stand much too stark I feel I am drowning, hands stretch in the dark. Camps of panoply and majesty, what is Freedom of Choice? Where do I stand in the pageantry...whose is my voice? It doesn't feel so very bad now, I think the end is the start. Begin to feel very glad now: ALL THINGS ARE A PART ALL THINGS ARE APART ALL THINGS ARE A PART X. We Go Now Oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh...
This is what music is about - This is the base line of everything we are looking for in music - we are not alone, our solitude is shared ... we are one!
Van Der Graaf Generator - A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers (1972) Live for Belgian TV, March 21st 1972 Drums, Percussion - Guy Evans Keyboards, Backing Vocals - Hugh Banton Saxophone, Flute, Backing Vocals - David Jackson Voice, Piano, Electric Piano, Acoustic Guitar - Peter Hammill
Jackson and Banton aren't singing any backing vocals, ya fule - they don't even have vocal mics! Peter is singing and playing a Hohner Pianet N - no piano, no acoustic guitar. Guy is playing a drum kit. :)
I saw 3 quarters of them live in Birmingham 2 days ago and of course they didn`t play it , but I will never forget the experience of seeing one of the greatest groups ever -better late than never. An absolute masterpiece of an album ,hairs on the back of the neck.
"If you were after a girlfriend, by the time you’ve got ten minutes into A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers she’s usually jumped out the window." Bruce Dickinson on his prog heroes VanderGraafGenerator
I'm a guitar player and total guitar geek or dork or whatever. For me to dig a band that so little of their output contains any guitar shows how badass these guys are. I know they had Robert Fripp on a couple of their things but I bet some Steve Hackett or Howe would sound amazing.
from Wikipedia entry on this piece: Robert Fripp provided a cameo appearance on electric guitar, which can be heard from 8:10-10:20 into the song and near the end of the song. // not shown in this video as David Jackson plays the guitar solo notes on his sax.
Such an adventurous time for music it was. While bands like King Crimson and Yes were filling arenas, music of such audacity as this was also being made. I'm not sure anyone ever combined piano and organ to such dramatic effect since Benjamin Britten. The periods of glorious chaos in this piece have me laughing hysterically, only to stand in awe at its glorious conclusion.
@@dihh7230 Not at all! Yes and King Crimson were the moon and the stars of my youth. But they managed to succeed in the all too fickle world of the music business. Too often, the truly great are overlooked and forgotten.
I sense this TV broadcast was in proximity to Genesis playing at the same venue. Perhaps the Belgium TV station contracted the two Charisma label bands for showcasing their unique talents. VDGG was so original as was Pete Hammill's vocal. When I think of the prog years, Pete had the most unique vocal style of them all.
Sadly very few people listen to prog rock anymore. At 41 I feel like I’m alone talking about this. Luckily my husband is likeminded, and our son is growing up listening to our collection.
I am all over Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Genesis, Marillion (sorta), Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Brand X, UK, Brian Eno, Del Amitri, Husker Du, Sugar -- all kinda things Bob Mould, David Bowie, Todd Rundgren, Earthworks, Urge Overkill, Frank Black and the Catholics, Uriah Heep, Tim Thompson, The Roches, Insiders -- and a ton of other bands nobody has ever even heard of. How could I get to be 67 years old and have never heard of this unreal band?!?
it's fascinating to know, they were highly influenced by an alternate state of reality when composing this masterpiece, infact the whole of "pawn hearts". a true "one off" classic.
@@Katehowe3010 If I'm not mistaken I'd say that this emanated from a conversation with Neil in The Great Frog in London in the mid 1970s, in fact, if I found the right diary I would have written this down.
@@Katehowe3010 è palese sia così continua a guardare altro dei vdgg se non ne sei sicuro qui c'è una quadratura del cerchio impressionante. non lasciarti ingannare dal fatto che non abbiano fatto brani più in linea con i tempi. ovviamente nessuno vuole né può parlare negativamente di neal peart sarebbe un ignorante o un idiota comunque io amo il jazz rock ma non penso sia la sede di parlare di peter erskine con gli steps ahead né di phil collins con i brand x o di chuck burgi....
What a Group. Easily should have been bigger. They were on Charisma records in the early 70’s with Early Genesis and Barclay James Harvest..., What a trio just for Fog on The Tyne and The Musical Box. VDGG are on another planet and so damn good. It so touches me. Awesome band and Peter Hammil is incredible as are the whole group( Jackson, Banton & Evans ).
FANTASTIC...Im so grateful... I wasted 3 minutes before listening to a bass player from some worthless death metal band that was completely forgettable. Found this by accident to save me from being annoyed by a no-talent nobody.
Un gruppo che si discosta da tutti i loro contemporanei il non perseguire il commerciale dona una libertà di ricerca unica e impareggiabile volutamente rumorosi caotici connessi nella trama
quelle epoque fantastique je suis ne trop tard (1965 ) cette musique me le rappele cruellement j adore ce "rock progressif" j ai ete fan de uk king crimson mais ce groupe inconnu avait l air d etre vraiment en avance.....
На заре ютьюба было это же видео с гораздо большим числом просмотров, снесли зачем то. А тут за 9 лет не слишком много просмотров набралось. Мы уходим: кто уже совсем, кто в силу возрастных изменений, кто что-то полегче выбирает. У новых поколений своя музыка. Неизбежный эволюционный процесс. А жалко до невозможности. Эталонная группа, эталонная музыка, эталонные музыканты. Сколько хватит лет, столько буду слушать.
I. Eyewitness Still waiting for my saviour, storms tear me limb from limb; my fingers feel like seaweed... I'm so far out I'm too far in. I am a lonely man...my solitude is true my eyes have borne stark witness and now my knights are numbered too. I've seen the smiles on dead hands-- the stars shine, but they're not for me. I prophesy disaster and then I count the cost.... I shine but, shining, dying, I know that I am almost lost. On the table lies blank paper/my tower is built on stone/ I only have blunt scissors/I only have the bluntest home.... I've been the witness, and the seal of death lingers in the molten wax that is my head. When you see the skeletons of sailing-ship spars sinking low You'll begin to wonder if the points of all the ancient myths are solemnly directed straight at you... II. Pictures/Lighthouse (Eddies/rocks/ships/collision/remorse.) III. Eyewitness No time now for contrition: the time for that's long past. The walls are thin as tissue and if I talk I'll crack the glass. So I only think on how it might have been, locked in silent monologue, in silent scream Anyway, I'm much too tired to speak and, as the waves crash on the bleak stones of the tower, I start to freak.... ...and find that I am overcome... IV. S.H.M. 'Unreal, unreal!' ghost helmsmen scream and fall in through the sky, not breaking through my seagull shrieks... no breaks until I die: the spectres scratch on window-slits-- hollowed faces, mindless grins only intent on destroying what they've lost. I craw the wall till steepness ends in the vertical fall; my pail has sailed into the sea: no joking hopes at dawn. White bone shine in the iron-jaw mask lost mastheads pierce the freezing dark and parallel my isolated tower.... no paraffin for the flame no harbour left to gain V. The Presence of the Night/Kosmos Tours 'Alone, alone, ' the ghosts all call, pinpoint me in the light. The only life I feel at all is the presence of the night. Would you cry if I died? Would you cry if I died? Would you catch the final words of mine? Would you catch my words? I know that there's no time I know that there's no rhyme... false signs find me I don't want to hate, I just want to grow; why can't I let me live and be free?..but I die very slowly alone. I know no more ways, I am so afraid, myself won't let me just be myself and so I am completely alone.... The maelstrom of my memory is a vampire and it feeds on me now, staggering madly, over the brink I fall. VI. (Custard's) Last Stand Lighthouses might house the key but can I reach the door? I want to walk on the sea so that I may better find ashore... but how can I ever keep my feet dry? I scan the horizon I must keep my eyes on all parts of me. Looking back on the years it seems that I have lost the way: Like a dog in the night, I have run to a manger ...now I am the stranger I stay in. All of the grief I have seen leaves me chasing solitary peace; but I hold experience in my head.... I'm too close to the light I don't think I see right, for I blind me.... vii. The Clot Thickens WHERE is the God that guides my hand? HOW can the hands of others reach me? WHEN will I find what I grope for? WHO is going to teach me? I am me/me are we/we can't see any way out of here. Crashing sea/atrophied history: Chance has lost my Guinevere.... I don't want to be one wave in the water But sea will drag me deep One more haggard DROWNED MAN... I can see the Lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man; Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may? viii. Land's End (Sineline)/We Go Now Oceans drifting sideways, I am pulled into the spell; I feel you around me...I know you well. Stars slice horizons where the lines stand much too stark; I feel I am drowning...hands stretch in the dark. Camps of panoply and majesty, what is Freedom of Choice? Where do I stand in the pageantry...whose is my voice? It doesn't feel so very bad now: I think the end is the start. Begin to feel very glad now: ALL THINGS ARE A PART ALL THINGS ARE APART ALL THINGS ARE A PART. Source: LyricFind Songwriters: David Jackson / Hugh Robert Banton / Peter Hammill / Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill
Uno dei loro CAPOLAVORI!!!!!! Tratto da PAWN HEARTS del 1971 !!!!!!! Qui riproposta versione LIVE !!!!!! Colgo poi occasione per Fare gli auguri a PETER HAMMILL che Oggi 5 Nov 2022 compie 74 anni!!!
