British progressive rock band Greenslade was formed in 1973 by two former Colosseum musicians, keyboardist Dave Greenslade and bassist Tony Reeves. The line-up was completed with the addition of keyboardist and vocalist Dave Lawson and drummer Andrew McCulloch.
Their first album “Greenslade” was well received. The dual keyboards, mixing symphonic rock and jazz fusion, and the Roger Dean graphics gave the band a unique sound and stage presence.
The following three albums were also well received by critics and fans: Bedside Manners Are Extra (1973), Spyglass Guest (1974), which made the album Top 40 in the UK, and Time And Tide (1975) .
Greenslade disbanded in 1975, but started working again in 1999. In November 2000 the band released Large Afternoon. The album featured Dave Greenslade alongside bassist Tony Reeves and John Young (former Asia musician) on keyboards and vocals.
In 1979, Dave Greenslade released a book + 2LP set called The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony (EMI Records), a stunning sci-fi illustrated hard cover book illustrated by fantasy art graphic illustrator Patrick Woodroffe with music composed by Greenslade.
The story and artwork within ‘Pentateuch’ concerned the discovery of an abandoned spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter, and the project to decipher the ideograms in the pentateuch ‘document’ discovered within. Most of the book is a retelling of the document, in much the same way as a modern translator might retell the contents of a Babylonian tablet or Egyptian papyrus scroll. Particularly remarkable is the combinatorial ideographic script created by Woodroffe and used throughout the artwork.
Dave Greenslade contributed the 74 minutes of music as his second solo project, enlisting Phil Collins amongst others to help.
Discography:
Greenslade (Warner Bros. K 46207, 1973)
Bedside Manners Are Extra (Warner Bros., 1973)
Spyglass Guest (Warner Bros., 1974)
Time and Tide (Warner Bros. K 56126, 1975)
Large Afternoon (Angel Air, 2000)
Live, recorded in 1973-75 (2000)
Greenslade 2001 – Live The Full Edition (Angel Air, 2002)
Live In Stockholm – March 10, 1975 (2013)