Rock: well recorded bass...60s/70s

Ha---Blue Cheer! Considered the worst Group we had ever heard. Painfully poor musicianship, laughably bad, with no redeeming qualities to counter-balance that failing. The lamest version of "Summertime Blues" imaginable. The Who's wasn't very good either, the great version being by the unlikely original version of The Guess Who.

I loved (still do) Procol Harum, and what made their "Classical training" (mostly on the part of organist Matthew Fisher---responsible for the Bach motif heard in "A Whiter Shade of Pale, rather than pianist Gary Brooker) different from Progressive Groups ( I don't consider them as such), was that they didn't flaunt it. They used their knowledge of music theory to write their songs and create their parts, not performing Classical pieces as a Rock Band, a bad idea IMO. "Pictures at an Exhibition" performed by a Rock trio? No thanks, ELP.

One of the bands I had never heard of, that is considered "prog" is "Patto." The first self-titled was released in the U.S. on Vertigo and is pretty kick ass sonically and musically (in fact, the US pressing is a bit less 'polite' than the far more expensive UK pressing and that works very effectively with the music). Their second album, Hold Your Fire, has some wonderful music- Ollie Halsall was a gifted guitarist with a vibraphonist's touch. The UK pressings are now astronomically expensive but the US copy (on Paramount if memory serves) does not lack for bass.
Some of the prog 'folk' is also amazing- John Martyn's Solid Air, the Fairport albums during the Denny-Thompson years (3 in one year), i don't know what to label Roy Harper's Stormcock, but it is magnificent, and he was a huge influence on Ian Anderson, Zep, etc.
The first ELP album is one of the cheapest pink labels today and one of the last, before Island switched to the pink rim. It is a pretty cool time capsule when you are in the moo(d)[g], but does sound dated now.

Bdp - to remain cordial, we'll have to agree to disagree on a number of your points, I suppose. Not sure I find the verdict of your "we" about Blue Cheer compelling reason to change my own. Although the 2 songs you mention are probably the ONLY things they did that were half-way good. The Who's version on Live At Leeds is excellent in my view. Various covers of "Summertime Blues" exist and while Burton Cummings did have a great voice, so far as I know, the original was by Eddie Cochran. You don't mention MC5...what was the clique's take on them? In any case, I just mentioned those two groups (BC, MC5) to provide a contrast to the "art rock" I listened to.

Progressive Rock covers a lot of territory. Discussion at this link is interesting Definition of Prog. Let me close by saying that, depending on how you understand the genre, Cream is seminal to it. For me, bar none, they were and still are the ultimate rock band...which brings us nearly back to the origins of this thread as we pay homage to St. Bruce. Wish their recordings did full justice to his bass work. Even so, I've been listening recently to much Cream (Fresh Cream, Disraeli Gears, Live Cream and Live Cream II, Wheels of Fire, Goodbye) -ripped to hard drive. The sound is better than I recall (bass lines are clear and nicely detailed from nothing special CDs) and I'm recognizing and appreciating once again the formal classical elements in various of their songs. That trio had incredible talent - to restate the obvious. Jack's bass work and Baker's drumming provide one heck of a foundation for Clapton's improvisation. I can't say enough good about their music. So I've blathered on here...what's your ultimate?

Jack Bruce once said (on film) "Cream was actually an Ornette Coleman band, with Eric as Ornette--but neither Ginger nor I told Eric."

FWIW, I liked Blue Cheer but understand why they weren't everyone's cup of tea. Sort of proto-punk in a way.

slightly off topic, but i though i'd weigh in on bd's and ghost's missives. procol harum had certain prog-y elements (technical virtuosity, obscure lyrics, ambitious song structures), but at core were a pop band--their best stuff was very accessible and easy to play, even for a duffer like me. as for cream, i vacillate between loving 'em and having reservations--to my ears their forte was tightly-constructed studio pop, like disraeli gears--compared to, say, the allman brothers their jammy live stuff always sounded somewhat lumbering and not quite coherent to me--lots of soloing for soloing sake. plus they didn't really feel the blues, though many will credibly disagree