During the golden age of progressive rock, there was a simple litmus test for the best song on a record. It was always the longest one. Something magical happened when a single track took up the whole side of an album.
An eight minute ditty like Don McLean’s “American Pie” is one thing, but 18:50 of “Close To The Edge” by Yes was an event. As it turns out, I have owned a fair amount of records featuring a single song on one side. In the case of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, one epic tune took up both sides of the LP.
Like so many worthy rock traditions, it all began in 1968, with Iron Butterfly’s immortal In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. The record contains six songs, five on side one, and 17 glorious minutes of the title track on side two. It became the template.
While the idea of a song stretching out over ten minutes was not unheard of in '68, devoting a full side to just one was definitely a new thing. The Grateful Dead’s Anthem Of The Sun came out that year, and contained the 15 minute “Alligator.” But it was followed by five minutes of “Caution,” which spoiled the whole marathon experience.
John Lennon was the only one who really got it right that year, with his horrid Two Virgins collaboration with Yoko Ono. The album featured two cuts: “Two Virgins Side One” and (you guessed it) “Two Virgins Side Two.” The music was bad enough, but the nude cover, sheesh! These are two people I never, ever needed to see naked.
Solo Beatles led the one-song per side movement in 1969. Not one but two Lennon/Ono “experimental” records came out that year: Life With The Lions, and Wedding Album. Two sides each, four terrible “songs” total.
But George Harrison came up with something fairly worthwhile. Electronic Sound contained “Under The Mersey Wall” on side one, and “No Time Or Space” on side two, and both are actually pretty interesting.
The early seventies was the era when the side-long song concept really took hold. Pink Floyd got it all started in 1970 with their 23 minute title suite for Atom Heart Mother. Deep Purple gave us the endlessly amusing Concerto For Group And Orchestra that year as well.
Article comments
1 - Triniman
Great article, Greg! I'm going to try to find some of those long tracks and give them a spin!
I'd love to see more articles on "prog-rock" as the genre has several newer bands carrying the torch.
2 - Greg Barbrick
Thanks Triniman, I have been thinking about doing another piece on newer Prog bands as well.
3 - KS
Love had a side long song called "Revelation" on DA CAPO, released in early 1967.
Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands" filled a (short) LP side on BLONDE ON BLONDE released in 1966.
But even before that, Sandy Bull was recording songs that filled up an entire sides of albums in 1963-1965. Good stuff too.
4 - Greg Barbrick
KS, I missed the boat on Love - "Revelation" would have definitely qualified. Technically, Dylan does too, but the song is so short comparatively speaking that I didn't mention it. Not real familiar with Sandy Bull...
5 - JANK
Very good essay and good reach to get most of the good ones. I will add one of my top 5; "Lizard" by King Crimson takes up most of side 2 of the album of same name. Does Chicago's "Ballet To A Girl In Buchanon" qualify?
6 - Greg Barbrick
JANK you are the second person to mention that Chicago song, and I have to plead ignorance for not knowing it. Which album is it from? I always dug them as a "radio" band, but never had any of the LPs, except Hits.
7 - JC Mosquito
If you count live albums you get Deep Purple's Space Truckin, Zep's Dazed and Confused and a whole other can o' worms to play with.