ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the compositions and performances of Status Quo during the late 1960s when they emerged as a successful psychedelic pop band and live touring act. The practices of 1970s music journalism are also discussed, and the band’s first album releases on Pye, Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo and Spare Parts, are examined in relation to the social and musical cultural trends of the times. Specific electronic effects and instruments, such as phase, flange, reverb and the combo organ, are explored in the context of late 1960s psychedelic music and the work of seminal bands such as the Beatles and Pink Floyd. Late 1969 to early 1970 was the period when Status Quo transformed from a psychedelic, singles-driven pop group to a serious, hard-rock album band. Their new compositional style focussed on a unique development of 12-bar devices to drive their exciting and kinetic stage shows. The small concert venues of the era were crucial to that process as the band and fans became united in an immersion of pulsating sound, rhythm and movement. Thus, the phenomenon of the Status Quo concert was born.
