Beggars Opera from Glasgow, Scotland's only Classical Progressive Rock Band ever!
In the early 70's they recorded 4 albums for the now legendary Vertigo label.
Their electrifying and unforgettable live performances at home and abroad, earned them major success in Germany, with the super hit Time Machine from their Waters of Change album of 1971.
BEGGARS OPERA
1969: Martin Griffiths-vocals, Ricky Gardiner-guitars, Alan Park-keys/organ, Marshall Erskin-Bass, Raymond Wilson-Drums.
1971: Martin Griffiths-vocals, Ricky Gardiner-guitars, Alan Park-keys/organ, Virginia Scott-Mellotron/cello, Gordon Sellar-Bass, Raymond Wilson-Drums.
1972: Pete Scott-vocals, Ricky Gardiner-guitars, Alan Park-keys/organ, Gordon Sellar-Bass, Raymond Wilson-Drums.
1973: Linnie Patterson-vocals, Ricky Gardiner-guitars, Alan Park-keys/organ, Gordon Sellar-Bass, Colin Fairley-Drums.
1974: Pete Scott-vocals, Ricky Gardiner-guitar, Virginia Scott-Keys/Mellotron/Synths, Clem Cattini-Drums, Mike Travis-Drums.
The Present Day: Ricky Gardiner-guitar/bass, Virginia Scott-keys/vox with Tom Gardiner-drums.
The slide show below is dedicated to our singer Linnie Paterson ( Get Your Dog Off Me ) who also sang in Writing on the Wall, legendary Scottish band.
Influences
Life and King Crimson, Robert Fripp, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Average White Band, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Mountain, John Cage, Schumann, Wagner's Ring, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Frank Sinatra, Iggy Pop, Tangerine Dream, Edgar Froese, Maggie Bell,Tony Visconti, Ed Ruscha, Patti Smith, Blondie, Nico, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Withers, Rainer Burke, ALASDAIR GRAY writer/artist LANARK and POOR THINGS, David Bowie, Iron Butterfly,Tin Machine, Dracula, A.L.Kennedy,Stockhausen's Mantra, Piobaireachd, Hank Marvin, Shirley Bassey, Different Trains, Martha Argerich, Keith Jarret, Dave Brubeck, Bob Dylan, Dr Angus MacDonald, The Lament for Viscount Dundee, Colloseum, Pete Brown, Jeff Beck, Heimat/Edgar Reis, Glenn Gould, Dante's Inferno, Messiaen/ Quartet for the End of Time, Ratcatcher,Pink Floyd, Roy Wood Electric Light Orchestra, Franz Von Suppe, William Seward Burroughs, Astrology, Charles Dickens, Aldous Huxley, Yngwie Malmstein,Carlos Alomar, Joanna MacGregor, The Battle of Waterloo, The Italian Campaign WW2, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, D H Lawrence, Janice Galloway /CLARA, Sandie Shaw, David Lynch, Dusty Springfield, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Eric Satie,The Shadows,Tina Turner, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, William Makepeace Thackery,Lon Cheyney, Always Crashing in the Same Car, Vladimir Horowitz,Mo Tucker,Michael Landy's Breakdown,Bram Stocker, James Brown, Cardonald, Tamla Motown, The Beauties of Scotland /RO Forsyth, Bob Dylan, Peggy Lee, Steinway Pianos, Johannes Brahms, Rolling Stones,
Sounds Like
Miss G: After reading an article recently in Wire about Sonic Youth, they explained that they were uninterested in pushing a sense of 'newness' in their albums, yet still being explorative. How important is it to push 'newness' whether it is re inventing the wheel or appropriating old for new the post-modern way? What is the Beggars Opera standpoint on that notion?
Virginia: In 1962, when Ricky Gardiner and I were musically conjoined in our first ever band The Vostok's, the notion of musical collaboration was inevitable.He to me was a cool slick guitarist, who could play 'Mystery Man' better than Hank Marvin of the Shadows. What was I to him? A singer with dark long black hair and blue eyes who could play anything, jam and hang out with guitars, keys and the vinyl of the day through Scottish dawns and gloamings? I was studying classical piano in Italy when Ricky formed Beggars Opera and on my return was appointed composer in residence. I still am.
The art/Dadaist link you refer to, and therefore the use of said as a means of producing the 'new' or the 'less predictable', does not apply to a 'reinvention' but to a 'revivification from cryonation' for Beggars Opera, or a link in the concatenation of retrospective musical aspirational energies invested in Beggars Opera's identity as a postmodern structure, which kept evolving subliminally.
I know little of Sonic Youth's music except through the 'Trainspotting 2' cd and an interesting track called 'Atmosphere'.I am more aware of Kim Gordon their bassist through her 'Her Noise' installation at the South London Gallery, which I read about in Modern Painter's. But I see what you mean by asking this interesting question.
Kumara Confluence
Beggars Opera alt.
Ricky Gardiner and Virginia Scott with Trevor Stainsby.
'My idea for Kumara was to bring five different elements together, allow the elements to co-exist simultaneously while not necessarily depending one upon the other.
After a reasonable time had elapsed I found one of the elements brought forth nothing and one of the other elements struck me as unsuitable for the project but had a lot to offer for another time and another project.
That left three, myself, Virginia Scott and Trevor Stainsby.
The process was quite simple. Virginia recorded seven pads made up mostly of strings. They were very slow moving with no absolute pulse. I selected four of the passages for further work.
These four were duplicated and I worked on one lot and Trevor worked on the other. Trevor had the midi information which was driving the original string parts and substituted his own sound as he saw fit.
He also added ad lib 'one of' sounds.
He then added percussion in such as way so as to blend with the synth part.
I worked on the original and added guitar.
On White Spring this turned out to be regular electric and I improvised a melody on top of the strings.
On the other three pieces I used a sustaining device called an E BOW to elicit the 'bowed' effect from the electric guitar
After editing the guitars which meant eliminating the redundant sections , Virginia then recorded her voice on top.
She paid particular attention to making her voice sound like one of the instruments.
Trevor and myself then got together, amalgamated our equipment and started playing back everything together .
By retaining the elements that we agreed worked musically and rejecting everything that did not, we arrived at what became Kumara - Confluence.
My choice of the Kumara name comes from Sanat Kumara which translates as the 'Spirit of the Earth' or the 'Inhabitant of the Earth'
Confluence was chosen to reflect the converging of the quite separate streams to form the one entity.
Is not all music like this ?'
Beggars Opera - Official Page's Friend Space (Top 27)
Hi! Thanks for the friendship, my first album with you was the Pathfinder and I got stuck directly, I think your music is super cool, just say a thousand thanks for the wonderful music, it has and gives me great pleasure. / / Lill
Hi Beggars Opera - Official Page, Crash Kelly's CD, "One More Heart Attack" is in stores and on itunes now, please help spread the word and if you haven't already pick up your copy today - for a listing of U.S. store locations, check out the "Where Can I Get My Crash Kelly CD" blog on the MySpace page!!!
http://www.warriorrecords.com/crashkelly
Also, get back to your rock roots with Crash Kelly's label mates, Saints Of The Underground in stores and on iTunes now! Please help spread the word and pick up your copies today.
I MUST BE DREAMING... YOU GUYS WRITING A COMMENT IN MYSPACE... BEGGAR'S OPERA HAS SUCH A UNIQUE LOVING PLACE INSIDE MY SOUL SINCE... WELL, YOU KNOW HOW LONG THIS TRIP HAS BEEN...
Hi Beggars Opera - Official Page, Crash Kelly's CD, "One More Heart Attack" is in stores and on itunes now, please help spread the word and if you haven't already pick up your copy today - for a listing of U.S. store locations, check out the "Where Can I Get My Crash Kelly CD" blog on the MySpace page!!!
http://www.warriorrecords.com/crashkelly
Also, get back to your rock roots with Crash Kelly's label mates, Saints Of The Underground is in stores and on iTunes now! Please help spread the word and pick up your copies today.
Thank you for connecting! If you're interested, I'm offering one free original MP3 download to my new MySpace friends, just go to my profile and let me know the name of which track would you like to get and I'll tell you where to download it for free.
North Atlantic Oscillation's "Hollywood Has Ended", from the forthcoming album Grappling Hooks, is featured in this month's Police Box compilation from TenTracks. It's here:
In case you haven't heard, TenTracks is a new music delivery service where you can buy exclusive 10-track compilations for £1, i.e. a mere 10p per track.
This month NAO are in the illustrious company of the excellent Found, Orkestra Del Sol, Fence Collective luminaries James Yorkston and King Creosote and exactly 5 others. Once again, that's £1 for ALL TEN TRACKS. Not bad, really.
Packing me boots, stringing me guitars and getting ready for the next two weeks. Don't be frightened to shout out any songs off the album you want to hear and don't forget the crazier you are the crazier we are.
Look forward to seeing you in the asylum at the end of the tour.
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