Spock’s beard

Wait WHAT? Spock had a BEARD? Uh yeaheahuh. Anyone born in the 50’s knows that! There was a Star Trek episode (the original Star Trek…in the mid-late 60’s <—thank you so much, LUCILLE BALL!! Fun Fact…Desilu Studios (owned and sanctioned by Lucy) put up the money for Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek. Just a fun fact. And there was an episode within those 3 seasons called “Spock’s Beard”. That’s the back story for the name of this prog band. Look them up on Wikipedia. I’m too tired. Lol. Another band similar to YES in that they morphed and morphed. But the original lineup featured Neal Morse (and get this, when Neal performed, his keyboard was center stage - name another band that did that). His brother, Alan Morse, played guitar.

HOW did I find THESE guys? I didn’t. I have a friend (yea, even me) that I met at my club, Tennaqua. It started with platform tennis. I was wondering “who is this jamoke?” they paired me with for that evening’s match in the dead of winter in Chicago. He sucked. But I figured I could train him. So we got to know each other. And later that year, in the summer, after a tennis match, we’re all hanging around, having some dinner and a music discussion comes up. Out of nowhere, Mike (now you know his name), says he likes YES! Wait, HUH? Dude. I pull him aside. It has been 30 years since I’ve found ANYONE that likes YES. “Well I do”, he fires back. “And so do my 4 high school buddies. Want to come with us to the next YES show?”. I checked my pulse, had i died and gone to heaven? “Oh HELL YES!!”

Fast forward a few years, a few YES shows, and we’re sitting around after pummeling the other team in a paddle match. Yea, Mike was teachable. “Dude.” “Yea dude.” “the boys and I have been going to see Spock’s Beard when they come to town”. “WHO, Dude?” “Never mind, check out this CD…it’s their fifth”. “FIFTH?” Now I’m wondering where have I been. No matter. On the way home, I throw the CD into the player in my car and put it on FULL BLAST! Did you remember that I am half deaf? Let’s keep moving. How could I ever forget the opening number…”At The End Of The Day”. Wow. I think I’ll go listen to it now. BRB.

I’m back. Awesome tune. Like I said. Their FIFTH album. And in the prog world, when you find a band, you go back and listen to all of the previous albums! What a TREAT! But let’s face it, even back then (way beyond the 70s when prog was born…we’re in 2002), prog was as big as, well, nothing. In fact, come to think of it, side 2 of V is a 30 minute gem called “The Great Nothing”. Stay with me. It gets righteous, so to speak. Shortly thereafter, the “Beard” release their sixth album (no, it wasn’t called VI, it was called “SNOW”. It was a double CD and EVERY song was accessible. Better yet, it was a concept album, like Tommy or Quadraphenia. It tells the story of “Snow”, an albino kid with a gift to see/feel humans. The inspiration was the movie “Powder” <—check it out.

Now that you’ve seen the movie, you’ll have a better understanding of SNOW. Again, we’re in 2002 and I am wearing this CD out. One day, I get a call in my car. “Dude”. “Yea dude”. “Did you see the news about Neal Morse? (he’s the guy that literally wrote SNOW). “No dude”. “He’s gone born again. WTF.” (<-this from a Jew). “Wait, WHAT, DUDE?”

The Dude sends me an article (on the internet…it was just getting going) written by Neal explaining what had happened. Neal had got “the calling” as they say. It’s a long story, but Neal says that it began to happen during V and he brought it full circle in SNOW (there are underlying spiritual nuances in the album) and that he felt he had to leave the band. I guess he didn’t feel like he had a lot of support in the Christianity regard from the band, not for me to say. But Neal had made his decision, rather, Jesus had made his decision, I guess. Can you IMAGINE?? He calls a band meeting and basically tells them that he needs to leave? They are PEAKING as a band! Now what? First things first, SNOW is one of the best damn albums I have ever heard, it never gets old. And even at the end, the last tune, Neal is basically singing goodbye to the fans. Wow. Selfish? Not for me to say. I guess when you get the calling, well, you’re taking direction from someone/something else, eh?

So a period of time goes by and sure enough, Neal has gone solo in you-know-who’s name. But once again, killer music. And it’s like my dude said, “I don’t listen to the lyrics, I’m in it for the music”. Thank you, wise dude.

Btw, the BEARD survived, put out some more albums, morphed a bit and recently announced their first album in SEVEN years. Talk about hanging in there! It’s called the “The Archaeoptimist”. We shall see.