Camel

[thatguy]

Does this need a thread...probably not. 

Camel: a British prog rock band that formed in the late 60's from the merging of a band named "Brew" and a keyboardist named Peter Bardens - who previously played in a band called "Shotgun Express" with Rod Stewart (and wikipedia says Mick Fleetwood, and Peter Green) and did a brief stint with "Them" (with Van Morrison).

Camel's proggy initial releases were really a showcase for Barden, with "The Snowgoose" concept album being one of the more approachable albums that met with some success, tho caused a copyright lawsuit as without permission, they based it on a short story by Paul Gallico. 

"Moonmadness" was the album that hooked me. Probably for the cover art. The original cover featured a Camel in a spacesuit on the moon and I was a moon-landing nerd, so I played that one a lot...They re-released that album years later and used the inside art instead. I thought that was a stupid decision...I remember hearing one of the songs as background for some San Jose auto parts store radio commercial. 



The bass player left after that album and on the next two albums they added a new bass player and Mel Collins on sax/flute. Mel is a session musician that you've heard on everything... These albums were a little jazzier, less heavy. On "Raindances", there's even a song with Brian Eno:



Andy Ward, the drummer is/was pretty amazing. This is a song from Moonmadness, with that post-Moonmadness lineup:



Peter Barden's left after those 2 albums. He did a few solo albums and also rejoined Van Morrison on the song "Wavelength" where his synth style is really recognizable. 



He died of brain cancer some time after that. 

I listened to a few more releases, but they lost me. It was the mid-80s and everybody was trying reinvent themselves and stay relevant. Camel continued flogging about with the guitar player and a changing lineup. Never having any hits or traction, but they have a following with prog nerds. 

I heard at some point that the guitar player was dating a woman that worked at KOME and he was actually living on the peninsula somewhere. 

Now you know!


Doom Recommendation: no, not really...

--tg

[King Bob]

I remember that I particularly like the beginning of Rain Dances and the long song at the end of I Can See Your House from Here. Until I listened to excerpts online today I hadn't heard it in years.

Funny that there's a local connection.