Home Is Where I Belong

from the LP Home Is Where I Belong, Dawn Records, 1973



Next to my love for early ‘80s modern soul/funk (“boogie”), I take more shit from people for my enjoyment of all things prog rock than most other genres; I do think the scene gets a bad rap in general, thanks to a couple of the more, shall we say, over-the-top prog rock acts (i.e. “…come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me…”), which I readily admit cross the line from being entertaining to being garish & kinda ridiculous. Those acts, although played to infinity on classic rock radio, are really the exception to the rule and represent only one type of sound within the greater umbrella of progressive rock. The only rules of thumb in prog rock are that the musicians be highly proficient at whatever instruments they play, and that an organ/keyboard is firmly at the center of all goings-on. The relatively obscure Quicksand hailed from the south of Wales in the UK, opening concerts for the upper echelon of progressive rock bands, like Yes, Jethro Tull, or Gentle Giant. Creating an amalgam of jazzy prog with the sounds of California-based, early ‘70s rock, Quicksand made music that isn’t easy to label actually---this may have unfairly doomed them to virtual anonymity within the history of prog. This song, the title track from their only album, gives us some very heavy vamping care of a circular chord progression which they really hammer out hard; the rhythm section, Anthony Stone on drums and Phil Davies on bass, are super-tight. All four band members share the lead vocals on this track with some nice harmonies, and the lyrics reflect the song’s title, feeling like a big homecoming party or something. This whole album is an outstanding and mature-sounding piece of work, and I can’t help but assume their locale proved to be the most limiting factor in their brief career; had this same album been released by some band in Laurel Canyon, at the same time, it would have attracted much more attention. Gotta love how stoned they all look on the album cover too!