Whether you're a lover or a hater it seems like everyone comes to progressive rock with the same prejudices. First, prog rock groups are expected to be British — or, at the very least, they're made up of London-based exiles originally from other parts of Europe. Second, their records by and large should be made up of a combination of complex, classically-derived arrangements, virtuoso soloing and lyrics centred around Norse mythology. Finally (and this is probably a consequence of the second one), band members must be as highfalutin as possible.
Yet, the first two prog groups to make it to number one on Canada's RPM hit parade were Mashmakhan and Sugarloaf. Both hailed from different parts of North America and, while their arrangements and playing were first rate, their songs were sadly free of references to Odin and the Bifrost and Stormbreaker (sorry, my knowledge of Norse myth is entirely dependent on the MCU's Thor movies) and they all looked like either apprentice pipe fitters or those weirdo career students you used to encounter (you know, back when higher education wasn't prohibitively expensive).
Yes, the members of Sugarloaf unknowingly bucked a number of trends that hadn't even become trendy by 1970. And while largely a British concern, the other traits are exaggerated anyway. Sure, Rick Wakeman of Yes would prance around in a blend of silks while playing mammoth church organs that were no doubt designed by Joseph Casavant and his progeny but he was more of an exceptional case. Meanwhile, Keith Emerson was hardly one to concern himself with how he looked while members of the prog-adjacent Supertramp proved that their name was all too fitting. Prog rockers were as likely to look like complete dirtbags as any of their contemporaries from such traditionally unwashed genres as folk and hard rock.
As for its lyrical content, "Green-Eyed Lady" could practically be dedicated to Sif. Well, perhaps not quite but there's plenty of mysticism present to make it close enough. The Eagles were by this point still a glint in Gram Parsons' eye and, thus, we were still a couple years away from the terrifying enchantress "Witchy Woman". Luckily, its counterpoint had already been written and recorded by the members of Sugarloaf. Rather than floating through life tripping on absinthe, however, the damsel in this narrative exists on a natural high. While the extended organ solo and overall sinister vibes suggest that something more untoward may occur, we are not privy to it. (I gave the extended version on their self-titled debut album a listen and musicianship is further fleshed out but not the story of this "child of nature, friend of man"; it doesn't appear they ever wrote a sequel about her either: how un-prog of them!)
While I can't quite say that I love it, "Green-Eyed Lady" is the sort of thing I'm grateful to be encountering while doing this blog. It's cool to think that prog rock was just about accessible to the wider public during its infancy. The members of Sugarloaf could really play but they seemed to also have an eye on hooks and engaging with listeners. Call me a biased Canadian but Mashmakhan's "As the Years Go By" is the stronger single, though maybe not by much. That said, I suspect that the band formerly known as Chocolate Hair — I can't decide if this name is brilliant or utterly hopeless but maybe it's both — would not go down as one-hit wonders. (They would have a second and final RPM/Hot 100 Top 10 hit with "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" in the spring of 1975) They may not have ultimately cut it as prog rock royalty but they had the chops and could even look the part even if their nationality got in the way.
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