Socrates Drank the Conium
| Socrates Drank the Conium | |
|---|---|
 Socrates performing live at the University of Patras (2008) |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Athens, Greece |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues-rock, progressive rock, heavy psychedelic rock |
| Years active | 1969 – present |
| Labels | Polygram Vertigo Virgin |
| Members | |
| Yannis Spathas Antonis Tourkogiorgis Makis Gioulis |
|
Socrates Drank the Conium, known also as Socrates is a Greek rock band that formed in 1969[1] and achieved succes in the 1970s. Infuenced by heavy blues and rock bands like The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream, the band melted the unorthodox time signatures and orchestration of Progressive rock and the intensity of Blues and Hard rock music, creating a unique sound that distinguished them from other greek rock acts of that period. Outside Greece Socrates is known for their 1976 landmark collaboration album with Vangelis entitled Phos,
The group would go through many lineup changes throughout the years, but the two core members have remained: guitarist Yannis Spathas and bassist/singer Antonis Tourkogiorgis.
Contents |
[edit] History
Socrates (as the somewhat ponderous name is often abbreviated) began its career in the clubs of Athens. Most prominent of these was the popular Kyttaro.[2] They were present at a number of other locations in and around Victoria Square in Athens. Apart from playing many original songs at gigs, Socrates often covered Jimi Hendrix songs, none of which were featured on any studio releases. However, a thirteen-minute cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones found its way onto their 1972 album Taste of Conium. The guitarist, Yannis Spathas, favored two sunburst Fender Stratocasters, a Candy Apple Red Roland GR-505 guitar synthesizer, a black Gibson Les Paul Custom and a cherry sunburst Les Paul Standard as his instruments, Antonis Tourkogiorgis played a mid-1970s natural ash-bodied Fender Jazz Bass, a Warwick Corvette Double Buck bass and sang, while several drummers were used throughout the live shows and recording sessions. As a whole, the three-piece outfit resembled that of Cream: counterparts Spathas and Clapton, singer/bassists Tourkogiorgis and Bruce and drummers Boukouvalas and Baker.
In 1975, Socrates went through a change in stylistic direction with Phos which released in 1976 and was produced by Vangelis and featured his contribution on many tracks.[3] Phos was mostly reworkings of older songs by Socrates. Both LPs On the Wings and Phos were issued in the USA via Neil Kempfer-Stocker's Prog imprint Cosmos.
During 2002 Socrates reunited in an extended form (featuring keyboards and a second singer) to do several shows around Greece.
[edit] Current Members (2002 to present)
- Antonis Tourkogiorgis - Bass guitar, vocals
- Yannis Spathas - Lead guitar, Roland guitar synthesizer
- Makis Gioulis - Drums http://www.myspace.com/makisgioulis
- Additional Musicians:
- Asteris Papastamatakis - Keyboards
- Markella Panagiotou - Backing Vocals
[edit] Past members
- Elias Boukouvalas - Drums
- George Trantalidis - Drums
- Nikos Antypas - Drums
- Yiorgos Zikoyiannis - Bass
- Pavlos Alexiou - Keys
- Leonidas Alachadamis - drums (1975)
- Kostas "Gus" Doukakis - Guitar (1973)
[edit] Discography
- (Appears on) Live at Kyttaro[4] - 1971
- Socrates Drank the Conium - 1972
- Taste of Conium - 1972
- On the Wings - 1973
- Phos - 1976
- Waiting for Something - 1980
- Breaking Through - 1981
- Plaza - 1983
- Live In Concert - 1999
- The Original Singles - 2005 (compilation)
