During the time following the British and American folk revivals (c. 1955-1975) and at the height of the progressive rock movement (early and mid-1970’s), Gryphon entered the musical scene with its self-titled debut album, Gryphon (1973). The freshman album contained folk songs and arrangements of traditional tunes that highlight the Early Music influences of the founding band members. In 1974, Gryphon released its second and third albums, Midnight Mushrumps and Red Queen to Gryphon Three. While Midnight Mushrumps is still a showcase of the band’s Early Music influence, the addition of electric bass and studio recording effects began to push the band in a more progressive direction. Red Queen to Gryphon Three, with its heavier synthesizer use and electronic processing, is admittedly aimed at a more American audience (with some pressure coming from the record company and management) and was released during a major American tour with one of progressive rock’s most successful bands, Yes. This album increased the use of studio recording effects and introduced more electric instruments.
A slight shift in band members set the tone for Gryphon’s fourth album, Raindance, released in 1975. This album is heavily influenced by electronic instrumentation and the “rock” influence of the progressive rock scene at the time. By the release of Gryphon’s fifth album, Treason, the original band lineup had been irrevocably altered. The guitar and bass players had been replaced, an additional percussionist was added, and the band had signed to a new record label and had been given a new producer. All of these changes produced an album unlike any of Gryphon’s first four albums.
Gryphon began as a trio, with members Richard Harvey, Brian Gulland, and Graeme Taylor. The diverse background of these three founding members is an important precursor to the music that they produced in the 1970’s. Richard Harvey was trained in clarinet, theory, harmony, and choral singing at Tiffins Grammar School and studied clarinet, on a scholarship, at the Royal College of Music. Through recorded broadcasts of songs by David Munrow, Harvey became reacquainted with the recorder and, from there, other early instruments. In 1969, before forming Gryphon, Harvey was involved with a folk band named Cherry Wood, which was influenced by the Incredible String Band (a British folk-rock ensemble that was formed in the 1960’s). In addition to playing with Gryphon, Richard Harvey played recorder and crumhorn with the group Musica Reservata, an early music ensemble that featured both instrumental and vocal performances. Musica Reservata was founded by Michael Murrow in the 1950’s and by the 1960’s was focused on creating a more historically accurate manner of performing early music.
Brian Gulland studied bassoon, singing, and piano both privately and at the Royal College of Music. Although trained as a classical musician, Gulland is quoted as saying that he became disinterested in the career path due to the “extremely narrow lives that so many classical musicians live, both socially and musically.” Karl Dallas writes that it was in Brian’s first year at college that he began to entertain the thought of joining a rock band. These statements reinforce an opinion of Graeme Taylor that, “Richard was more classically [driven], while I was more into the rock side, and Brian was somewhere in the middle.”
The only member of the original trio not to attend the Royal College of Music is guitarist Graeme Taylor. Taylor studied piano for two years at Tiffins Grammar School but is self taught on guitar. In an article by Chris Welch, Taylor is also credited with “Form[ing] one third of the Gryphon recorder ‘choir’ when featured.” From this look at educational background, there appears a definite connection of the members with both the Royal College of Music and Tiffins Grammar School. There also appears a mix of professional training and self teaching. The background of this original trio will serve a later purpose in the description of stylistic progression throughout Gryphon’s four main albums.
David Oberle, an important addition to the band, joined prior to the recording of its first album Gryphon. From the age of 14, Oberle played in pop/rock bands, beginning with Barbarian. He later joined the band Powerloom, which eventually changed its name to Juggernaut. In an interview with Melody Maker, Oberle mentions the latter band’s connection to another progressive rock band, Egg. Oberle also mentions that he met Richard and Brian at a Juggernaut concert in Surrey while opening for Egg (at this point he mentions that Richard, Brian, and Graeme were still performing under the name Spellthorne [sic]). Although his rock background is less influential in the first album, subsequent releases enabled him to tap into it more substantially.