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Gorilla Productions
Приєднався 12 лют 2023
Відео
Producer Dennis MacKay on the impact of Brand X
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Original producer who engineered BRAND X's first albums at London's notorious Trident Studios will reunite with them on film in Brand X: The Desert Years. Brand X was a Charisma Records recording band with John Goodsall (Guitars), Percy Jones (Bass), Phil Collins (Drums), and Robin Lumley (Keyboards). In this short excerpt, Dennis weighs-in on the reach of Brand X in the grand scheme of things....
Brand X 1975 - First recordings from Island Studio captured in 1975 from www.officialbrandx.com
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Brand X recorded an album which, to this day, has never been released. It features ALL the original band lineup plus percussionist and vocalist Phil Spinelli, saxophonist Jack Lancaster, and guitarist Pete Bonas. In this short clip made for the official Brand X website www.officialbrandx.com you can hear a few minutes of what fans will be able to discover fully in the future. This footage is pa...
Steve Hackett on Brand X and Percy Jones
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In this short clip from the upcoming feature film about the British band Brand X, "Brand X: The Desert Years (2024), Ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett discusses his long-standing interest in the band, going back to the 1970s, as well as his fascination for Phil Collins's ability to blend-in with a variety of styles. Hackett praises bassist Percy Jones and talks about working with him on Voyage...
Great band, I saw them with bill bruford on drums
Steve Hackett is incredible. A pioneer for the guitar, i see him more as a painter or sculptor on the instrument than just a guitar player.... Brand X crazy good....."Product" is a one of their best albums....
I hope Alphonso Johnson gets mentioned in this because all of the Canterbury fretless bass players knew who he was. I think he was more loved over there than in the U.S
The reason why Percy Jones is not famous is because Jaco pastorius was alive at the same time
It's more complicated than that. The reason why Percy is not as famous is that he didn't work for such high profile acts as Weather Report and Joni Mitchell, and others. Jaco was also quite a showman, fanciful and quite a ham when it came to showing off with solos, etc... whereas Percy Jones is understated, discreet and most definitely not a self-promoter. Also, the comparisons to Jaco Pastorius are generally the result of equivalencies made by non-musicians or people who don't really understand what they're hearing. For example, musicians in the UK knew about Percy before Jaco came into prominence and they understand that he wasn't at all influenced by him; they just both happened to play fretless bass and both began within a few years of each other, but their path never crossed. As Hackett points out in the video, Percy was trailblazing on his own and deserves full credit for his innovation. But American musicians were generally part of a promotion machine that was far move effective than British musicians. Brand X was just not as famous a band as Weather Report and just didn't play to such large audiences throughout the '70s. Percy has appeared on a lot of obscure, experimental albums largely because it is in his nature to pursue material that isn't concerned with popularity.
Wow, really looking forward to seeing this movie. I was already a bit of a jazz / fusion fan (and huge prog rock fan) when a mate played me Unorthodox Behaviour. Instant fan of Brand X and was lucky to see them live several times in the 70’s - incredibly talented musicians and such great music. We really were so lucky to have such diversity of musical genres in the 70’s.
In rock there don;t seem to be many 'gentlemen' but Steve is about as gracious yet down to Earth as they come and doesn't seem to quite realize how amazing or profound he is, class act!
WTF!! If that's a "TASTER"🤢....it doesn't pass the SNIFF test!! 🤧 It does live up to the title......"The Desert Years" where the tapes should have remained!!💩
Brand X made a mark on my soul. Played drums for 50 years so far. Love them, still.
ENO = mc²
Aaaaa Sir Percy as I like to call him. Love his playing
Can't wait for Brand X - the desert years film! When's it coming and how can we chip in to speed things up? GoFundMe?!
Ti voglio tanto bene Steve.
Totally agree with Dennis who is a legend in my book......
Steve Hackett= brilliant muso, and a true gentleman 😊. And, yes, Phil Collins is special, too.
Percy Jones was good, quite rhthmic. Jaco was more melodic.
Excellent document. Truly.
Steve loves Phil deeply, it always shows in interviews
I stole lots of ideas from Percy.
Side by side, I'd generally pick Percy Jones as more inventive and interesting than Jaco.
The most interesting aspect of Hackett's career was his refusal/inability to embrace any regret over leaving Genesis. No looking back in anger over what might have been for him, financially speaking. He's done well for himself by not looking past his fans from 50 years ago. Guess I'm talking about me, but there must be those out there who feel the same. Likewise, Steve's comment about John Goodsall kinda fills me with regret, because Brand X was never more than a niche prog group. That core of Jones, Goodsall and Lumley was astounding in both the technical and composition areas. Then, they'd find a drummer nearly the equal of Phil Collins to carry on, e.g., Kenwood Dennard, Chuck Burgi, Mike Clark, etc. I'll close with the usual, "Oh, how great the music was back then." Of course, nothing lasts forever, or was meant to.
Cool video. love-em all.
When the 1st lp was released...i used to stay up all nite listening to it & marveling at it.
When the 1st lp was released...i used to stay up all nite listening to it & marveling at it.
I heard Nuclear Burn at a laser show at DeAnza College in San Jose area in the early eighties and a whole new world of music opened up for me. I still listen to Brand X 40 years later on a regular bases. I spread the gospel as much as I could but was largely alone in the fusion desert. I derived immense pleasure from those disks of vinyl.
Brand X - One of the greatest bands to ever grace this planet. Rip Goods! And Percy...., like Jaco, was lucky enough to be born with a mind that can musically construct in such a unique way. Others may copy and emulate but its very rare that one gets to pioneer such an enigmatic style.
Nobody goes to sweden!
There was such an amazing amount of talent in the Genesis family. Including the 'part-time' members Daryl and Chester. Every one of them in it for the music, not for fame, fortune or acclaim. I doubt we'll see bands like them again.
JACO AND PERCY THE BEST BASS POSSIBLE NONE BETTER…………
More-rock-an-roll
So glad this is still happening! I'd love it if there was a FB page to follow... Insta is too limited for me (can't post youtube links etc).
Gorilla Productions does already have a Facebook page ( facebook.com/gorillafilmcompany ) which you can start following for news about the project. Also, Brand X's Facebook account now run by Percy Jones will start giving updates as the film gets closer to release ( facebook.com/thebandbrandx ). Social media is such a time and energy vortex that it is difficult right now to run another dedicated page but as more information becomes available about release schedule for the film, it will happen, invariably. ;)
@@gorillaproductionslondon Thankyou! (Sorry for the 2 month delay... youtube stopped notifying me of replies)
Percy Jones is amazing. How he isn't a household name is beyond me.
He is amongst those who know. Not the “normies.”
Was in my household...also when I moved to nyc... he was a neighbor 🎸🏠
@@milo8796 I've been listening to him since Another Green World. Amazing bassist.
Percy Jones is one of the most talented bass players in the world ! 🫶🏻✌️
I had the good fortune of sitting stage side in front of Phil when he toured with Brand X and it is a concert I will never forget. Percy Jones is on my Mt. Rushmore of Bass players all time.
Brand X was always The Elite among Prog-Fuse aficionados. We all know Mahavishnu, Weather Report & Return To Forever for sure; but Brand X was right there as one of the Best there ever was.
I think you need to listen to more Canterbury prog. Surely, brand x was cool.. But...
Sylvain! Brilliant bit. Looks great as well with Steve's classical guitar in the background.
Cheers. Before we started, he played for us -- a classical improvisation that lasted about 10 minutes... I will use some of it in his introduction. He was testing a new tuning. He was generous with his time. We rolled for about 3 hours -- there's enough material to do a whole piece about Steve Hackett's own "desert years". Maybe I will someday... In our film, he also reveals some rather honest insights into what he really thinks of other Genesis members and what it would have required for him to wish to stay in the band. Spoiler: the differences weren't so much "musical" as matters of kindness and compassion. Steve is a great guy. He has always been. Jo joined in and offered her perspective on what made their recent success possible... I can't use all of this in the Brand X film, but I can find a way, at some point, to do something about Steve. I have an idea which I mentioned to him. Jo was all for it. :)
Time for a Brand X boxset with 5.1 mixes!!
Damn i said something about that with Percy as innovator and again and again lost the comments you're useless.
I could watch interviews with Steve all day. What a gentleman.
Saw him recently on his 2024 tour in Dallas. Still amazing. I had seen Martin Barre the night before. Martin is one of my favorite guitarists, but I was extremely impressed with Steve's work. I had never seen him live before.
@@moneyconceptsinc.-karldoug9751 That’s awesome, I want to see him someday. Would be the closest to seeing Genesis for me.
Very excited!
...I shook Steve's hand after a Defector concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, 4 Dec '80 Asked me what a yank was doing in the U. K. on Independence Day! I was stationed there but said I was there to see you, Steve. Smallest hands I ever saw : ) Also saw Brand X at the Venue. Awesome times in Great Britain 🎉
4 Jul 1980 😊
Put this film out, YESTERDAY !!!!😄 The mark of a really good band is to enjoy success with just word-of-mouth advertising. Their were NEVER any huge promo campaigns for these guys. The MUSIC, along with people spreading the word, was their advertising. RIP, John & Robin.
I understand the frustration from fans who feel impatient but believe me, making this film is taking everything I've got. People who aren't in the business of making movies have no concept of how expensive it is to pay a full crew, insurance, travels, hotels, equipment rentals, broadcast rights, etc., all the while having no film studio, or distribution structure footing the bill. It's unimaginably difficult. On the other hand, even if I have felt the pain of lack of money, and two years of interruption during the Covid crisis, I have to admit that time has been my best ally. While time passed, we were able to record new music with Percy, John, Robin, Kenwood, Jack(Lancaster), Danny (Wilding), and we found tapes of never before heard Brand X's first recordings at Island Records. Finally, we were able to document the sunset of the band in depth. There's no way such a film could have been made well in a few months. When it does come out, it will all be worth it because it will be a full account of the band's history in the musicians' own words. Just remember: money is the key. If people could come up with 10K donations for every instance of frustration they feel, we'd be in better shape. ;)
I love Brand X. It is good to hear Steve went to hear them fairly often. Such great musicians, but then we would expect Phil to associate with the best. Zeppelin meets King Crimson is an inspired idea. It is always good to hear from Mr. Hackett.
Can't wait for the feature film!
Duh, I'm missing an opportunity - what was I thinking? If you like progressive +/or fusion, check out Greg Howe, Scott Henderson & Tribal Tech, Andy Timmons from TX, Alex Sill, Victor Wooten, and Simon Phillips' Protocol - check out their '17 CD Protocol 4 first. There's also a keyboard cat (Valeriye?) from Moscow who does some pretty good live classic-style fusion videos. Keep the fu-faith & spread the word against musical BANALITY, HA!!!
The REAL problem, always, has been the music industry itself AND most of the lackey "writer/reviewers" in the press-media. By and large, many of them disliked progressive and jazz/fusion because they were difficult to easily categorize and review - it took a certain amount of musical perspicacity and insight which many of them sorely lacked, making too many predisposed to being nastily dismissive in their reviews, often resorting to journalistic cliches such as 'bombastic' or 'pretentious', etc. Ultimately, especially w/the Brit press, they had WAY too much power and influence over what got played on radio, who got signed to record contracts, etc. Here in the US, the record companies virtually controlled the radio content and EVERYthing was geared to manufacturing 'stars', hits, and/or 24-7 hyping up of mass market megatrends such as moronic disco. Thank god for the alternative press and college DJs, or I likely never would've heard of Brand X, Ultravox 1, Isotope, Visage, Ian Dury, John Foxx, Bruford/UK, etc. Even with today's Net it's actually more difficult now to even know when a band might be touring & playing locally let alone out with a new album. It's become a constant search-struggle to find relevant info for what relatively little is left of good music. E.g., I only discovered that Simon Phillips' Protocol was playing an obscure venue in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 2018 because a drum store I happened to drive by while heading from Mass. to Maine had a message on its billboard for his player's instructional clinic. I ended up meeting him (he's surprisingly tiny for such powerful sound, ha) & getting his autographed CD. Talk about esoteric luck - I would've missed it (and only around a hundred people showed up to see one of the greatest drummers in the world play). Meanwhile, hype-manufactured 'stars' like Taylor Swift sell out stadiums to the sum of a billion dollars. It just AIN'T RIGHT!!!!!! How about some looong overdue FAIRNESS, CONSIDERATION, and BALANCE for actual ADULT intelligent instrumental music & we fans, ya know?? Rant off. 😊 RIP to one of the few truly innovative & BEST bassists EVER.
Thanks to newer rock groups, like black midi, who are open about their influences and recommendations, Brand X's legacy will soon be renewed in good faith.
The only one who stayed in 100% prog it's a fact and his choice
Steve is humble but he is the best : classical guitar, fast licks, sustainer, what else ? tapping which inspired EVH what else lol great impro player complicated licks
Ready when you are! Gimme gimme gimme! Ready to purchase!!
Given the class of Brand X and the outstanding talents of its individual members, it surprises me that they get barely mentioned. Phil has very little to say in his autobiography. Steve’s generous words here are about the most I’ve heard. And very good to see.
Great speaking voice too.