Thanks Enidi for your wonderful story! I can imagine there must be some frustration for not seeing Happy The Man when you could. Well, hopefully the Nearfest-crew might consider releasing their 2000-show as they are currently releasing other recordings from this festival. I was so lucky to visit this concert; still one of the best I've ever seen and heard. Hopefully Oblivion Sun will go back to stage again, as they're planning shows including songs from Happy The Man.

B.t.w. did your band become a recording-band? In other words: are there LP's, CD's or whatever so we can hear what the Kit Watkins-influence did to your music?

I didn't play in bands that were signed to major labels. I traveled with Progressive Rock cover bands performing 5 to 6 nights a week in the 70's to make a decent living. I worked on original music with them in recording studios in P.A., N.Y., AND N.J.. Back in the 70's, Classically trained musicians who had already played Jazz..were joining/forming Prog cover bands to play in N.Y. and other important cities , making good profit, taking a few days off and recording original material, attempting to get booked in original clubs, making close to no profit and working their way up to the corporate level. Many of them that I met developed a mentality that would be described as holding commercial music as not much value, refusing to play it..and decided that Prog was at least interesting to them personally and they could profit as well. Bands would invest in their career from the profit they made playing Progressive Rock or traveling mainstream showbands.

When I played a kind of corporate theatre circuit in the early 80's , the remains of the original marketing aspect to booking shows still existed and for a brief time. Nothing about Prog was compartmentalized as it is today. Today with it's cult following and Prog fests, it's demand remains mostly within that circle of people...but in the 60's 70's and very early 80's, bands were booked in three's. The opening act would be a showband or tribute that had played Penns Landing in front of 50 thousand and was now opening for acts who had played larger venues and stadiums in the early to mid 70's, but had been dropped down to the theatre circuit because the industry was not promoting them as much. The second act would be a Progressive Rock band that maybe formed in 75' or slightly earlier and the headliner would usually be a Rock Star from the mid 70's. Other crowds like Mainstream Rock music fanatics, "Top 40" fans, Jazz and Classical fans would be in a position to experience exposure to a Progressive Rock band and they were not at the theatre to see that specifically , but in the end learned to enjoy it. In point, by conducting business in this way, Prog was easily appreciated through it's media exposure and because society thought different about music during that time, It was a good life for a serious musician and a good time for people in general who bought the albums and supported the bands.

I released a cd about lighthouses that was reviewed in Progression magazine which was compared to Hackett, Phillips, and Oldfield. It was an album I wrote over a 10 year period during road travel and on beaches, rocks, and by lighthouses. It has a little influence of Happy The Man. My other 2 cd's were sold and distributed through some vendors and both were influenced by the chord voicings chosen by Kit Watkins. It was strange. He really had what I was looking for ...which was somewhat distant until I actually heard him for the first time. I didn't want to steal his ideas. I wanted to be influenced by him in the writing department. I mention steal because I've just seen 1 musician after the other stealing someone's signature line and perhaps reversing it or taking notes from it and applying it to their own agenda. Classical music has often been lifted over decades. I played Classical guitar for years and became more interested in the type of chord voicings that a modern day composer like Kit Watkins would produce. His voicings are like music for theatre/plays , instrumentally, and it relays a special vibe/sound within Prog. Unlike early Genesis or any of the early Prog bands for that matter. Kit Watkins chord progressions are very original sounding and innovative.

One of the most original sounding guitar solos is by Stanley Whitaker on "Mr. Mirror's Reflection On Dreams". His guitar sings! It's very complex, very precise, but gives off a universal feeling or expression. Frank Wyatt is an outstanding multi-talented musician/writer. I love Happy The Man!

I never introduced myself to the members of this forum. I am truly sorry for that ignorant vibe. What cracks me up is how some articles written about Happy The Man place emphasis on 1 particular point about them being less known or somewhat obscure. To an extent..this may be true. However, when I traveled the road in the 70's during my teens and early 20's, I worked for/with musicians 10 years older than me who were master players, taught me music, and the ropes of the music business. They were like older brothers and sisters to me or even parents. Don't doubt for a second that they werent raving over Happy The Man in the dressing rooms and buses. When Happy The Man hit the music scene and played outstanding shows, musicians were so hyped up about it and the impression the band made on traveling road musicians was extremely vast.

Happy The Man were influenced by Gentle Giant, Yes, King Crimson,...Mahavishnu Orchestra...but clearly had a voice of their own. I don't think a high percentage of Prog bands can do that. That's what makes Happy The Man so special. It is most difficult to form a original sound within a style of writing and playing. You either naturally have the perfect chemistry for it within the role playing position of band members, or you, yourself are the writer searching for an idea person. Happy The Man have the perfect chemistry and that is rare. All the musicians are impeccable and they naturally flow with each other. My sister once stated that Happy The Man put her into a dream. She would play their first 2 albums while doing housework and allowing the music to affect her emotions and inner desires, she would drift off somewhere in the house, with her eyes open and in a daydream. I love Happy The Man for that same reason. They sometimes place me in a dreamworld of fantasy. This is a magical band.

Thanks for your interesting view-point on the 70's and early 80's music scene. I guess it was more an American way of programming concerts. When I saw Genesis in 1977 in The Netherlands they just had a lame acoustic trio who were boooed away after just a couple of songs.
Great to read how HTM also made an impression on musicians. Still, they didn't sell that many albums to satisfy Arista...

I can give you a little more insight on the popularity of Happy The Man in 79". Loads of Progressive Rock cover and original bands traveling up and down the east coast were overwhelmed by Happy The Man. The media support for Prog had been slowly fading away. It first began in a subtle way in 1975. I looked upon this realization as a slow but devious plot designed by record companies to gamble on other styles of music to replace Prog. Happy The Man felt most popular after the release of Crafty Hands and by 81'when I opened for Dixie Dregs...people were still talking about them. They definitely left an impression on Progressive Rock musicians and fans , above and beyond. I don't know the history on the label that signed them.

I feel the same way about HTM's music, which can put you in a special state of mind. Fantasy or whatever you will describe it - a sort of music-meditating-state. Remembering having the first HTM and Crafty Hands recorded on the same cassette, I flipped it over and hit play as fast as it was ended. Also remembering that the first album was cut at the end of New York Dream's Suite. Obviously it stretched over the 45 minutes that was the time space on the cassette.

Great reading that Happy The Man was loved among musicians, understandable that is with music and bands who has that special musicianship ..just like HTM.

Great to read your post on H.T.M. There was something special about the way Crafty Hands was produced and Ken Scott was amazing at production...especially in 75' when he produced Supertramp's Crisis What Crisis? The sound of Ron Riddle's drums are very different and I've never heard anything like it. tHE way he plays flams, triplets, and accents cymbals is very unique sounding on that record. "Service With A Smile" is such a monumental Prog anthem. It's the perfect introduction to someone who has never heard Prog. It's complex and melodic. I've never heard anyone come close to writing a piece of music like that. Although there are several amazing progressive instrumentals derived from the Canterbury period, this particular piece exceeds above and beyond.

I was listening to "3RD Better Late" today and the Frank Wyatt piece titled "At The Edge Of This Thought" took over my life for 5 minutes and 16 seconds. The piece is surreal and the music drifts. Frank Wyatt is beyond some of the levels many soundtrack composers will ever reach. He not only understands how to conceive the piece in it's entirety prior to recording it, but produces music that is timeless and not predictable. He's one of those composers that comes along once in a lifetime. I realize that may seem extreme to a majority of people, but I am not being an extremist by stating that he is different from everyone else . Okay..every composer/musician is different ...an individual..but that is general knowledge and doesn't justify Frank Wyatt's timeless writing. He's so unique that he remains naturally above and beyond many composers and that is based on his natural ability to write a piece of music that differs from various repeated structures from many other artists in time.

Here I go again....I personally love Stanley Whitaker's improvisation on the guitar. First of all, he is a monster guitarist that will only play fast when he feels it. And that said, it explains my observations of his beautiful playing over the last 40 years. When he is playing fast note passages, it's impeccable playing and after he finishes his solo...I sigh in amazement over the realization that he is a universal player. A universal player is someone who can take a music influence from any country, understanding it's origin, conceiving the musical concept..(maybe primitive), understanding the science behind it and can adapt their own voice to it, producing a fluent sound within it. When Stanley Whitaker plays guitar with his own voice, it's an education to musicians in the audience.

I guess you're looking foreward to listen to his EP too which he's recording right now!