- 4 years 8 months ago
- Posts: 709
Hi,
How many people here remember the band Kansas?
The band's origins go back to 1970, when founders Kerry Livgren (guitars and keyboards), Dave Hope (bass guitar) and Phil Ehart (drums) formed a band along with members Lynn Meredith (vocals), Don Montre (keyboards), Dan Wright (keyboards) and Larry Baker (saxophone).
A year earlier, Livgren, Meredith, Montre, and Wright had performed in a band called Reason Why. The group changed its name to Saratoga and began playing original material written by Livgren, and added members Scott Kessler on bass and Zeke Lowe on drums. The next year the group changed its name to Kansas and added members from another group called White Clover. However, the group disbanded in 1971, when Hope and Ehart left to reform White Clover.
Ehart was replaced by Lowe, and later by Brad Schulz. Hope was replaced by Rod Mikinski, and Baker by John Bolton, who also played flute. This collective was refered to as Kansas Mark II, and would reform three decades later as Proto-Kaw.
When Phil Ehart returned from the U.K. (the place where he'd gone looking for other members) in 1972, he and bassist Dave Hope once again reassembled White Clover, featuring violinist/singer Robby Steinhardt, singer/keyboardist Steve Walsh and guitarist Rich Williams. The following year they drafted Livgren from Kansas Mark II, which then disbanded, thus forming the version of Kansas we all knew and loved. They signed a record deal with CBS Records through Don Kirshner's label, and released their self-titled debut album in the spring of 1974.
Even at this early stage, the band's trademark mix of guitars, keyboards (piano, organ and especially synthesizers), vocals and Steinhardt's violin was evident here, which melded American Southern rock with British progressive rock, and featured complicated symphonic arrangements and varying time signatures. Their debut didn't fare well on the charts, but the band nonetheless supported it by means of a dedicated fanbase and non-stop touring.
Their second album, Song for America, was released in January 1975. The title track, along with "Lamplight Symphony" and the closer "Incomudro: Hymn to the Atman" further showcased the band's trademark sound because of their running times. Their third release, Masque, was their record company's attempt for the group to make shorter, radio-friendly songs, including the opening, Motown-styled "It Takes a Woman's Love (To Make a Man)." However, Livgren's prog-rock epics, including "Icarus (Borne on Wings of Steel)" and "The Pinnacle," still prevailed on this album. Even Walsh and Steinhardt made a ballad out of the song "All the World."
Their fourth release, Leftoverture, in which nearly all eight songs were written by Livgren (Walsh was suffering writer's block during recording, and would make up for it on Point of Know Return), finally got the band Top 40 radio airplay, by way of the opening song "Carry on Wayward Son." Still, a few prog-rock songs could be had, such as "Opus Insert" and the multi-part closing track "Magnum Opus," the only song written by all six members of Kansas.
Steve Walsh finally had more songs of his to deliver, on the 1977 album Point of Know Return, a hit on the strength of the title track and most notably, the group's lone Top 10 single, "Dust in the Wind," an acoustic ballad with a beautiful Steinhardt violin solo during the interlude. This song, written by Livgren, reportedly angered Walsh, who threatened to quit the band if the song were included on the album (a similar happenstance occurred in 1979 with the band Styx; in which their lone #1 single, "Babe," threatened Tommy Shaw to quit the band). Point's other highlights included "Paradox," "The Spider," "Portrait (He Knew)," "Nobody's Home" and "Hopelessly Human."
The success of both Leftoverture and Point produced a live album, Two for the Show, released in the fall of 1978. One song, "Closet Chronicles," was deleted from the original CD release of this album due to time constraints.
The group's sixth studio album, Monolith, released in the late spring of 1979, began the band's downfall. The Livgren-penned single "People of the South Wind," a reference to the Kansa, a Sioux Indian tribe that provided the etymology of the band's name and home state, was a Top 40 hit. Other highlights included "A Glimpse of Home" also written by Livgren.
Another song recorded during the January-March 1979 sessions, "No One Together," didn't appear on Monolith (Steve Walsh suggested his "How My Soul Cries Out for You" instead) but rather on the group's 1980 release, Audio-Visions, their final album to both go gold in sales and feature its original lineup. This album's most successful single was "Hold On," another acoustic ballad written by Livgren, who during the summer of 1979 had found Jesus Christ, along with bassist Dave Hope. Earlier in 1980, Livgren released his first solo album, Seeds of Change.
After the Audio-Visions tour ended, Walsh left as he felt Livgren's new Christian lifestyle and lyrics didn't fit in with his musical side of the band; Walsh then formed the band Streets. John Elefante was drafted to replace Walsh, who first appeared on the 1982 album Vinyl Confessions, which was a hit on the strength of the single "Play the Game Tonight." However, after the end of the tour for this album in 1983, violinist Robby Steinhardt followed Steve Walsh out the door. That year witnessed the release of Drastic Measures, in which most of the material was penned by Elefante, including "Fight Fire with Fire." This marked the end of the classic Kansas period, as both the Christian converts Livgren and Hope left the band, effectively dissolving it.
One new Elefante song, "Perfect Lover," appeared on the band's first anthology, The Best of Kansas, released in 1984; it was deleted from the 1999 reissue and three older songs added, including "The Devil Game" (from Song for America), "The Pinnacle" (from Masque) and the live version of "Closet Chronicles" that was missing from the original CD version of Two for the Show.
Kansas reformed in 1985 with Steve Walsh, Rich Williams and Phil Ehart plus Billy Greer on bass (another ex-member of Streets) and guitarist Steve Morse (who later played in Deep Purple, replacing two-time guitarist Ritchie Blackmore). This lineup released the album Power in 1986, followed in 1988 by In the Spirit of Things. Two years later, a German promoter made a deal to reunite all six original members of Kansas, less Steinhardt, for a European tour. Greer agreed, along with keyboardist Greg Robert, who initially joined Kansas live on tour in 1986. Morse initially quit the band in 1989.
Original bassist Dave Hope again quit the band, although Livgren remained until 1991. A violinist was added again, thanks to David Ragsdale (who rejoined Kansas in 2006 after Robby Steinhardt's recent departure). Morse then rejoined to replace Livgren again, but left to join Deep Purple and Ragsdale doubled Rich Williams on guitar. The new lineup of Walsh, Williams, Ehart, Greer, Ragsdale and Robert lasted six years, witnessing the 1992 live album Live at the Whiskey and the 1995 studio album Freaks of Nature.
Both Robert and Ragsdale quit in early 1997, and Robby Steinhardt rejoined Kansas to replace Rags. In 2000, the original 1973-81 Kansas lineup (Walsh, Livgren, Williams, Hope, Ehart and Steinhardt) plus Greer recorded Somewhere to Elsewhere, with all songs on the album penned by Livgren. Steinhardt said goodbye to Kansas for the last time in 2006, and the man that replaced him before, David Ragsdale, replaced him again in response, although Rags also doubles Rich Williams on guitar. Four of the five current members of Kansas had recently formed Native Window.
~Ben"I am such a purist for old information on anything '70s and '80s."Are you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No 
- 4 years 7 months ago
- Posts: 52
I love Kansas. I have every album they've ever released, including a bootleg recording of "Vinyl Confessions" that was recorded with Steve Walsh before he left the band (it also had some completely different tracks on it). Are you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No
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