Nirvana (1960s band)

:For other uses of the name, see Nirvana (disambiguation).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nirvana was a British rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in 1966 in an era where melodic pop music with baroque arrangements and instrumentation were highly-prized - the band, consisting of Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons, produced a number of singles (notably "Rainbow Chaser", "Pentecost Hotel", and "Tiny Goddess") for the fledgling Island Records, following them with the concept album The Story of Simon Simopath. The album was one of the first concept albums ever released. Musically, the group mixed together myriad musical styles including rock, pop, folk, jazz and bossa nova augmented by chamber-style arrangements to create a unique entity.

Related Topics:
British - Rock band - 1960s - 1970s - 1966 - Baroque - Alex Spyropoulos - Patrick Campbell-Lyons - Island Records - Concept albums

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next year 1968 their follow up, All Of Us, featured a similar range of musical styles. Their third album To Markos III was released on the financially-strapped Pye label in 1969.

Related Topics:
1968 - 1969

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By 1971 the band had split, with only Campbell-Lyons contributing to their two later albums, Local Anaesthetic 1971, and Songs Of Love And Praise 1972. Campbell-Lyons later used his own name to issue three further, low-selling, albums... Me And My Friend 1973, Electric Plough 1981, and The Hero I Might Have Been 1983.

Related Topics:
1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1981 - 1983

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band briefly reunited in 1985, successfully touring Europe, and releasing a compilation album Black Flower 1987 containing some new material. "Black Flower" had been the original title for their third album. In the 1990s two further albums were released. Secret Theatre 1994 compiled rare tracks and demos, while Orange And Blue 1996 contained previously unreleased material recorded for Island Records in 1968 and 1969 plus one new recording, a tongue-in-cheek cover of the song "Lithium" originally recorded by the American rock band Nirvana who had been recording music since 1988, and who the band had successfully sued over use of the name Nirvana. The undisclosed terms of the settlement has apparently allowed the original Nirvana to continue using its name and issuing new recordings.

Related Topics:
1985 - Europe - 1987 - 1990s - 1994 - 1996 - Island Records - 1968 - 1969 - American - Rock band - Nirvana - 1988

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One Nirvana song "Rainbow Chaser" is thought to be the first-ever recording to feature the audio technique known as "phasing" throughout an entire track as distinct from occasional usage within a song such as The Beatles' usage in their song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and the Small Faces usage in their single "Itchycoo Park". Phasing was heavily identified with the musical style known from 1967 onwards as psychedelia and as "Rainbow Chaser" was the only Nirvana single to achieve significant radio airplay in the UK - the band were invariably tagged as a "psychedelic" band implying associations with so-called druggy music. A tag that has stayed with the band ever since. In fact "Rainbow Chaser" was the only recording that Nirvana produced that had any phasing or any other element of so-called "psychedelic" music. Apart from being seen on the cover of their first album wearing the flower-power style clothes common to pop musicians in 1967, the band actually had no other associations with that style of music.

Related Topics:
Phasing - The Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - Small Faces - Itchycoo Park - 1967 - Psychedelia - Flower-power

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The group regarded itself as being in the school of baroque-flavored, melodic pop-rock music as typified by the Beatles of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver", the Beach Boys of "Pet Sounds", the Procol Harum of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" and the Kinks of "Waterloo Sunset". The majority of the tracks on their first three albums fall into that category of popular music.

Related Topics:
Beatles - "Rubber Soul" - "Revolver" - Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds" - Procol Harum - "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" - Kinks - "Waterloo Sunset"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~