Out East

Head East went through several lineups and musical approaches before consolidating in St. Louis in the early '70s as a hard rock quintet consisting of John Schlitt (vocals), Mike Somerville (guitar), Roger Boyd (keyboards), Dan Birney (bass), and Steve Huston (drums), all alumni of the University of Illinois. They recorded their debut album, Flat as a Pancake, independently and released it on their own Pyramid Records label in early 1975…

East of Eden's debut LP is one of the hardest-rocking albums to come out of the progressive rock movement, and maybe the best non-Rolling Stones albums issued by English Decca label during the late 1960s. It's also one of the most daring debut albums of its period, less tightly focused than, say, King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King, but otherwise equally bold and maybe more challenging. The whole record is eerie - coming from a pop culture where most psychedelic rock tended toward the light and airy - East of Eden use high-impact bass, drum, and guitar parts mixed with the distinctly Oriental and Central/Eastern European classical influences…

East of Eden's second album had to be one of the least commercial albums ever to enter the British Top 30, as well as one of the most stylistically diverse. The term "progressive rock" fit as well as any, yet much of it was rather along the lines of early jazz-rock fusion, with lengthy hard-to-hum instrumental passages. But there was a lot of Eastern influence as well, especially on those pieces that highlighted Dave Arbus' violin and flute. Some of the absurdist humor along the lines of Frank Zappa and the Soft Machine makes itself known too, though East of Eden were more serious than Zappa and less whimsical than the Softs. Indeed, it's a rather sober affair that sometimes approaches gloominess, and like the late '60s/early '70s Soft Machine, it's more oriented toward virtuosic instrumental sections than vocals and lyrics…

East is one of the most beloved prog acts from Hungary (if not the most). While the rest of the world was into New Wave, Marillion carried the prog torch for Great Britain and points west. Guitarist János Varga, keyboardist Géza Pálvölgyi, singer Miklós Zareczky, bassist Péter Móczán and percussionist István Király decided to pick up the prog banner for Eastern Europe. In 1981, they released their debut album "Játékok (Games). It was a well-received debut, and is still highly regarded. However, it is the sophomore effort, 1982's "Hüség" (Faith), that seems to capture more hearts. The first two albums were more symphonic inspired, but they felt the need (or perhaps pressure) to pursue a more mainstream approach. This led to replacing lead singer Miklós Zareczky, with József Tisla on "Rések a Falon" (Cracks in the Wall). While the third album is not the darling of prog fans, it was a great commercial success.

One inspiration for the title of bassist Nathan East's second album for Yamaha – third if the Grammy-nominated Bob James collaboration The New Cool is counted – was the passing of Maurice White. The Earth, Wind & Fire leader is twice paid explicit tribute on Reverence. First, there's a faithful version of "Love's Holiday," featuring Philip Bailey in support, with East's bass in White's lead role during the verses. A slick "Can't Hide Love" fake-out and some other references are in the mix, too. Additionally, "Serpentine Fire" gets an ornate update with Bailey and EW&F partners Verdine White and Ralph Johnson. Phil Collins' drums and Eric Clapton's guitar are dredged from the master recording of an abandoned project, lost for 25 years, that was found in Patti Austin's basement by East's engineer.

Criminally overlooked in the psychedelic scene of the early '70s, East was a Japanese band that made music seemingly right at home in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Despite the usage of traditional Japanese instruments such as the koto, biwa, taisho-goto, and the shakuchi, they sounded more like authentic West Coasters than a quintet born on the Land of the Rising Sun. Performing lyrics in perfect English, and with enough of an Americana influence to sound at times like the Flying Burrito Brothers – at other times, more like Love or Jefferson Airplane – the five bell-bottom- and paisley-clad lads put out only one self-titled album in 1972 before disbanding. In 2007, Fallout Records, the accomplished crate-diggers that they are, reissued East on CD.