Socrates Drank the Conium, known also as Socrates, was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

rock band that formed in 1969 and achieved success in the 1970s. Influenced by heavy blues and rock bands like

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

, the band melded the unorthodox time signatures and orchestration of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

and the intensity of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

music, creating a unique sound that distinguished them from other Greek rock acts of that period. Outside Greece, Socrates is best known for ''Phos'', their 1976 landmark collaboration album with

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

. The group has gone through many lineup changes, but the two core members remained: guitarist Yannis Spathas and bassist/singer Antonis Tourkogiorgis. Spathas died in 2019, aged 68. Nikos Antipas died on January 31, 2022, from complications related to stroke, aged 68.

History

Socrates began its career in the clubs of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, most prominently the popular Kyttaro. They were present at a number of other locations in and around Victoria Square in Athens. In addition to performing originals, Socrates often covered Jimi Hendrix songs, none of which were featured on any studio releases; a thirteen-minute cover of "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff is w ...

" by the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, however, found its way onto their 1972 album ''Taste of Conium''. Yannis Spathas favored two sunburst

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

s, a Candy Apple Red Roland GR-505

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnership) such as ...

, a black Gibson

Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body, a ma ...

and a cherry sunburst

Les Paul Standard The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...

. Antonis Tourkogiorgis played a mid-1970s natural ash-bodied

Fender Jazz Bass The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to "J-Bass") is the second model of Bass guitar, electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Fender Precision Bass, Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midra ...

and a

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

Corvette Double Buck bass and sang, while several drummers were used throughout the live shows and recording sessions. In 1975, Socrates went through a change in stylistic direction with ''Phos'', which featured

' production and contributions on many tracks. ''Phos'' was mostly reworkings of older songs by Socrates. Both LPs ''On the Wings'' and ''Phos'' were issued in the USA via Neil Kempfer-Stocker's Prog imprint Cosmos. In 1999, Socrates reunited in an extended form (featuring keyboards and a second singer) to do several shows around Greece. In 2009, Yannis Spathas, Antonis Tourkogiorgis and Makis Gioulis started making a new album. Recordings ceased due to a serious health issue Tourkogiorgis faced in 2010. This material was salvaged and released in September 2023 under the title ''Last Forever (Neradou)'' by EMI/Universal, mixed by

Kostas Bigalis Kostas (or Costas) Bigalis (Greek: Κώστας Μπίγαλης, born 15 March 1953 in Athens) is a Greek composer and singer. In 1994, Bigalis and The Sea Lovers represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994. Biography He began his ...

. Yannis Spathas died on 6 July 2019, aged 68. Antonis Tourkogiorgis died on 5 May 2024, aged 73.

Band members

;Last lineup (2010) * Antonis Tourkogiorgis – lead vocals, bass (died on 5 May 2024) * Yannis Spathas – lead guitar (died on 6 July 2019) * Makis Gioulis – drums ;Past members * Markella Panayiotou – backing vocals (reunion 1999–2009) * Asterios Papastamatakis – keyboards * Elias Boukouvalas – drums * Kostas "Gus" Doukakis – guitar * George Trantalidis – drums * Nikos Antypas – drums * Costas Karamitros – drums * Costas Triantaphyllou – guitar * Yiorgos Zikoyiannis – bass * Pavlos Alexiou – keyboards * Leonidas Alachadamis – drums

Timeline

Discography

;Albums *'' Socrates Drank the Conium'' – 1971 *''Taste of Conium'' – 1972 *'' On the Wings'' – 1973 *''Phos'' – 1976 *''Waiting for Something'' – 1980 *''Breaking Through'' – 1981 *''Plaza'' – 1983 *''Live in Concert'' – 1999 *Last Forever (Neradou) – 2023 ;Singles *"My Only Fellow / Friends Blues" – 1971 *"Live in the Country" – 1972 *"Starvation / Queen of the Universe" – 1976 *"Justice (Live)" – 1999 ;Compilations *''From Persons to Socrates Drank the Conium – The Singles Collection'' – 1996 *''The Complete Polydor Years'' – 1997 *''The Original Singles'' – 2005 ;VA *''Live at Kyttaro'' – 1971

References

External links

* {{Authority control Greek rock music groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups from Athens 1969 establishments in Greece