Spotlights on: CRESSIDA

  Cressida were a British Progressive Rock (or Symphonic Prog) band who were active between 1968 and 1971. Their sound was an excellent sample of mellodic Progressive Rock, filled with Hammond organ and piano. In their short career they released only two albums which in our days are very rare to find and rather expensive.
   Their career started in 1968, when the guitarist John Heyworth answered to an advertisement in 'Melody Maker' magazine, and travelled to London in order to meet with the band. The band's first name was 'The Dominators', before changing it into 'Charge' together with a few members replacements. In their early days as 'Charge' they were performing live mostly in Universities and their setlist was including many cover versions (mostly Doors, Family etc) and a few songs of their own. A few months later, they changed their name once more
into 'Cressida' taken by William Shakespeare's play 'Troilus and Cressida'. Their first live performance as 'Cressida' was at the Star-Club in Germany, together with 'East of Eden' and 'Colosseum' in the Autumn of 1969. A little bit later in the same year they were the opening act for Black Sabbath, and also did a few gigs with Brian Auger and Barclay James Harvest.
  In 1970 they released their first self-titled album, which is a very good example of early British Progressive Rock, but failed to atract some attention. The band went into many troubles when they have to replace some of their members, and in 1971 with an almost new line-up they released their second album 'Asylum'. Now, this album is something that every Progressive Rock fan should have! (Asylum includes some excellent compositions with a very delicate sound and very good arrangements). A few months later the band disbanded for good.
 If any of you is interested about 'Cressida', the first thing you should do is to find 'Asylum', and if you like their style and sound, then continue with their first album. That's what  recommend at least...
  I will conclude this post by adding 2 videos: First comes the song 'To play your little game' from their first album, and 'Asylum' from their second one...
Enjoy the music and thanks for reading...