Gryphon: The 13th Century Magicians
HE medieval imagery is one of the most well-known and typical archetypes of progressive rock:
one can find bits of it in the old bands Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Caravan...) as well as in the modem ones (Marillion, Pallas, Deyss...) or in the French bands (Atoll, Ange, Carpe Diem, Ripaille...). For covers, lyrics or concepts, most of the progressive bands have used medieval clichés,
Paradoxically, the English band which used this appeal the most completely, Gryphon, still is largely unrecognized amongst the progressive rock fans. The name in itself was very symbolic: the gryphon, half eagle half lion, is a myth taken from the medieval religious bestiary, the king of the land and the air. For the band, it can certainly symbolize their great attachment to the Middle Ages and to the romanticism of those times, but also the diversity of their inspiration: drawing influences from renaissance, medieval, jazz and rock music, with a repertoire featuring folk songs, original compositions, Elizabethan jigs, traditional dances, they played on electric guitars, bassoon, recorders, synthesisers, harpsichord or… krumhorns! Gryphon was formed in the early Seventies by Brian Gulland (bassoon player and expert on the famous krumhorns), Graeme Taylor (guitarist) and Richard Harvey (multi-instrumentist and composer), who graduated from the Royal College of Musk, together with David Oberé (drummer). Their first album, simply called "Gryphon", was released in 1973. It was purely a record of medieval folk songs: six of the twelve tracks were arranged traditionals ("Pastime with Good Company' even dates of the Henry VIII era) and all the instruments were acoustic. Strangely enough, the album worked and the response in terms of publicity and acceptance was swift A band playing 13th Century dance music, which encountered a very good success? Well, the idea isn't very different with today's Dead Can Dance, when you come to think of it... Gryphon appeared on all British radios and TVs, they wrote TV music and jingles, they played everywhere even in the Victoria & Albert Museum, in the London's Shakespearian theatre Old Vic, and at the New York's Madison Square Garden), they supported YES in their American tour. One of the great achievements of the band, sadly unrecorded, was their music for Sir Peter Hairs production of "The Tempest". For a few years, the strange and delicate sound of krumhorns and recorders rivalled bands such as Led Zeppelin… Gryphon's second album was "Midnight Mushrumps", recorded in January 1974 and released shortly after. A fifth musician, the bassist Philip Nestor, joined the group and some electric instruments began to appear. Only six songs: the 20 minutes length suite "Midnight Mushrooms" occupied the A side, their first typically "progressive" track (crescendo/decrescendo/breaks/re-entry). Five shorter tracks appeared on the B side, amongst them the superb "Ethelion" and the only sang track of this album, "The Ploughboy's dream". Their third album "Red Queen to Gryphon Three" is recorded in August and released by the end of 1974. Although being purely instrumental it is without any doubt the best opus by Gryphon: four long track magnificently written and played, waving and evolving like a musical tapestry Still the same inspiration, plus a new maturity. The recorder, bassoon and krumhorn were still at the core of Gryphon's musik, being in turn nimble or solemn, but blended with the electric guitar Gryphon's music were never boring, being always very lively, full of energy, of gentle joy, sometimes of madness - particularly remarkable was Richard Harvey's work on the recorder, playing at a speed never heard before! In 1975, "Raindance" is released. All the tracks. are sang, the electric guitar is even more present, the bassoon and the krumhorn are more discreet. An attempt to find new ways of inspiration and to be closer to the successful progressive rock bands at that time? A turn of the mood of the time? Gryphon tried to move from acoustics to a heavier rock format end, despite come beautiful tracks, it unfortunately was almost a failure. Gryphon's last album, strangely titled "Treason", was released in 1977. Graeme Taylor was gone, to be replaced by a bassist, a guitarrist and a drummer. "Treason" presented the same mix-up of old medieval influences, progressive rock suites and mellow pop songs as in "Raindance" - and like "Raindance" wasn't very convincing despite a few good tracks with a very Camel flavour. Just as Gryphon was trying to develop into a fully fledged rock band, the scene underwent a drastic change: it was the start of the punk era… The sunny days were over, and Gryphon's with it. Gryphon sadly disappeared, like so many other bands of that time. No Gryphon albums have yet been reissued in CD form (I hope that it will come one of these days..) but a small British label, Curio records, released last year (1991) a very interesting CD compilation, titled "Gryphon The Collection", compiled by the ex-drummer David Oberlé. Fifteen tracks, all the beat Gryphon's tracks ("Kemps Jig", "Estampie", "Ploughboy's Dream", "Ethelion", "Raindance", etc.) and excerpts from some of their greatest suites "Midnight Mushrumps", "Lament", and "Ein Klein Heldenleben'). Of course, the progressive fans may regret a bit that no very long tracks have been included in full length, yet this compilation is a very good testimony of a unique band. If you are a lover of good old British progressive rock, you have no mare excuse ignoring Gryphon. André-François Ruaud |
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