  This
YES
WebRing site is owned by
Henry Potts. Want to join the YES WebRing? |
|---|
| [Skip Prev] [Prev] [Next] [Skip Next] [Random] [Next 5] [List Sites] |
Contents on this page
Authorship: This FAQ (version 1; 2 Feb 96) and associated pages were written by Henry Potts, with additions, corrections, help, moral support and suggestions from many others on alt.music.yes, particularly Steven Sullivan, Jeremy S. Weissenburger, Anthony Lawless, Tiz Hay, Jeff Hunnicutt, Paul Secord, Gerard Johnson, Ray Riethmeier, John Amick, Shoji Yamada, Wesley Miller, Matt Putzel, Mohallem, Yann Clochec, and Roy DeRousse but also many, many others. Finally, thanks to Adrian Wrigley for first introducing me to 90125.
Last updated 29 Mar 07
This FAQ is intended to cover basic questions about Yes and the
newsgroup.
I can't guarantee the accuracy of what follows, so please
e-mail
me with any corrections or additions! For up-to-date Yes
news, I suggest
YesWorld
or my own Where Are They Now?
pages.
The band consists of Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick
Wakeman
and Alan White.
Yes music is very varied and so are Yes fans' responses to the music. While many fans passionately love some Yes music, they may well passionately hate other Yes music (something is all the more disappointing when it fails to match our expectations) and everyone has their own views on which music falls into which categories. Some may follow Anderson's spiritual vision, others are concerned with how Squire gets his bass sounds. There will always be someone who shares your views somewhere on a.m.y., as well as many who don't!
Troopers? Generators? Panthers? What's going on?!? An overview of a.m.y. factionalisation now exists. There is a quotes page for the newsgroup, but I haven't had the chance to update it of late.
Note that every released Yes song is available on one of the albums, although there are a number of alternate versions of songs (especially by YesWest) that have not been and ABWH's "Vultures (in the City)" was only released as a b-side (although an alternative version, "Rare Birds", is on Steve Howe's Homebrew (demo) and Pulling Strings (live) albums). "Give and Take" was only on the European and Japanese releases of Union.
Chris Squire and Peter Banks first played together in a band called The Syn, but both later (and at separate times) joined Mabel Greer's Toy Shop. One night, Jon Anderson met Squire after a Mabel Greer gig and the core of Yes was born. Anderson sang with Mabel Greer's Toy Shop a few times and a new line up was to emerge of Squire, Anderson, Banks, Bill Bruford and Tony Kaye. Around August 1968, they changed their name to Yes (the name coming from Banks). As well as their own material, the early band also played numerous covers, some of which would later see release on Yes, Time and a Word or Yesterdays. This line-up released Yes (1969), which was well received in the music press. With the addition of a string section, the same line-up recorded Time and a Word (1970), although Banks had been replaced by Steve Howe shortly before its UK release. Eddie Offord was brought in by the producer as engineer, the beginning of his long association with the band. The cover art for the UK release of Time and a Word, featuring a drawing of a nude woman, was deemed too risque for the US and it was replaced by a band photo including Howe, even thought he had nothing whatsoever to do with the album. The US cover was preserved for the CD.
Now with Howe, the band recorded The Yes Album (1971). Kaye was the next to leave, forming Badger with David Foster, Anderson's partner in a band before Yes (The Warriors) and co-writer of two songs on Time and a Word. Both Kaye and Banks had had musical differences with the rest of the band and seem to have been sacked, although they were quite willing to go. Kaye was replaced by Rick Wakeman and the band recorded Fragile (1972). Fragile included solo pieces from each member, although, for contractual reasons, Wakeman was only able to contribute a 'cover' of a piece by Brahms as "Cans and Brahms". The same line up next recorded Close to the Edge (1972). Bruford left before the associated tour, to join King Crimson, feeling he could go no further with Yes. His replacement was Alan White.
The double album Tales from Topographic Oceans (1974) followed. Wakeman, publicly outspoken against the album and the direction the band had taken, left after the tour. Anderson, Howe, Squire and White started work on the next album, to be joined by Patrick Moraz. This produced Relayer (1974). At Anderson's suggestion, each band member then produced a solo album in 1975/6. Anderson made Olias of Sunhillow, a true solo album in which he played every instrument. Squire's Fish Out of Water saw the return of Bruford, plus Moraz on keys. Both also guested on Howe's Beginnings. For Ramshackled, White turned to an old band of his, though Anderson and Howe guest on one track. Moraz made i (also known as The Story of i). Some solo pieces were tried out on the subsequent Yes tour, but were soon abandoned.
Moraz then left the group (effectively sacked), clearing the way for Wakeman to return for Going for the One (1977). (Moraz would later record two albums with Bruford as Moraz - Bruford.) The line up remained unchanged for Tormato (1978). The band recorded the so-called Paris or Golden Age sessions after Tormato, but they were unhappy with the results. Anderson and Wakeman decided to leave; Anderson re-used one song from the Paris sessions ("Everybody Loves You") and two songs rejected for Tormato ("Some Are Born" and "Days") on his subsequent solo album Song of Seven. One other piece from the Paris sessions would be re-used, much changed, as "Run Through the Light" on Drama.
Squire, Howe and White continued as a trio. Meanwhile, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes were in The Buggles (best known for "Video Killed the Radio Star"). They approached Yes about selling them a song, but were invited to join the band instead. This new line-up released Drama (1980). The tour, which saw two further new pieces ("Go Through This" and "We Can Fly From Here"), ran into problems with resistance to Anderson's departure. Horn was very uncomfortable about live performances and having to fill Anderson's shoes, and retired to concentrate on producing. (He also finished The Buggles' second album, Adventures in Modern Recording, which includes a different version of Drama's "Into the Lens" as "I Am a Camera".) Yes went into dissolution.
Howe and Downes formed Asia with John Wetton (a former colleague of Bruford's in King Crimson and UK) and Carl Palmer (of ELP). Squire and White joined Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin to form XYZ ('ex-Yes and Zeppelin'). XYZ recorded some demos but the band folded before any releases. (One piece was recycled by Page in The Firm and another formed the basis to "Mind Drive" on Keys to Ascension 2.) Squire and White also released a single "Run with the Fox" (b/w "Return of the Fox", an instrumental version of the same piece), later released on YesYears. The duo were then joined by Trevor Rabin to form Cinema, with Tony Kaye later joining as well. Trevor Horn was originally to have been Cinema's vocalist, but he retreated to producing.
Cinema recorded some demos, re-using material Rabin had recorded as solo demos. Anderson then joined the band, leading to a name change (back) to Yes. Finally, 90125 (1983) was released, containing the hit single "Owner of a Lonely Heart".
Before 90125 was released, after most of the album had been completed, Kaye had left the band after falling out with Horn and Rabin. Before Kaye had first joined Cinema, Squire had tried to recruit Eddie Jobson. Jobson had refused then - busy with what became his solo album Zinc/The Green Album - but, approached again, agreed now to replace Kaye. Jobson jammed with the band a few times, although nothing was ever recorded, and appears in the video for "Owner of a Lonely Heart". However, after a few months, Kaye returned. A suggestion that Yes continue with two keyboard players was rejected by Jobson, who left the band and he was edited out of the "Owner of a Lonely Heart" video, although brief glimpses of him can still be seen.
Still with Horn producing, the band started on their next album. Horn soon left (possibly having been fired) and after ages of further production work, Big Generator (1987) eventually emerged. Anderson then left the group and attempted to re-form the Fragile band. The result was Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, or ABWH. Squire took out legal action over the use of the name Yes, further deepening the schism between ABWH and what is usually known as YesWest (Squire, Rabin, White and Kaye). ABWH released ABWH (1989), on which Downes also receives a writing co-credit for some Asia material re-used by Howe. Similarly, Vangelis' credit is for an unreleased Jon & Vangelis song that Anderson recycled. On bass, ABWH recruited Bruford's colleague from King Crimson, Tony Levin. On tour, Levin missed a few dates through illness and was replaced by Jeff Berlin. The one show released, as An Evening of Yes Music Plus, happened to be one of Berlin's few appearances.
YesWest continued in name, although little was recorded. Rabin was busy with his solo career (releasing Can't Look Away) and was in and out of the band. Squire, White and Kaye demo'd some material with Billy Sherwood and Bruce Gowdy from World Trade. Demos with Sherwood handling lead vocals and Rabin involved were recorded, but the band did not have a firm plan as to an official future line up. Sherwood would later continue to have a peripheral involvement with Yes, while some Squire/Sherwood material eventually surfaced on World Trade's second album, Euphoria (1995). ABWH had, meanwhile, started work on a second album, to be called Dialogue. The record company being desirous of 'hit' material, Anderson approached Rabin to write some songs for the album. Thus was the Union born. Union (1991) consisted largely of ABWH material combined with a few Rabin tracks and one Squire/Sherwood track. Anderson added his vocals to the YesWest material and Squire added backing vocals to the ABWH material. The ABWH material had an extensive input from producer Jonathan Elias. He brought in session musicians to re-record many parts, much to the distaste of Wakeman and Howe. A tour followed, seeing all eight playing on stage together.
The Union soon revealed itself as a marketing ploy. Bruford left immediately after the tour and Howe soon followed. The record label wanted the YesWest line up and Wakeman was initially excluded from the deal. He was subsequently approached to guest on the next album, but his own solo career precluded any involvement by that stage. This left the same line-up as Big Generator to release Talk (1994). 1994 also saw Howe and Bruford, with Anderson guesting, work on David Palmer's Symphonic Music of Yes. Rabin and Kaye then left the band, clearing the way for Howe and Wakeman to return. The band recorded Keys to Ascension and Keys to Ascension 2, but Wakeman has since left again.
Sherwood, who was working with the band in a production role, has been promoted to being a full band member. The band released a further album, Open Your Eyes. Sherwood handles most of the keyboards on the album, but Igor Khoroshev plays on three tracks and on tour. With Khoroshev more fully involved, the band released The Ladder in 1999. After the tour for the album, Sherwood was out of the band. A summer tour of older 'masterworks' followed, after which Khoroshev left the band. The band worked with an orchestra for 2001's Magnification, touring with Tom Brislin on keys, before Wakeman returned yet again in 2002. Further touring followed, but new studio material was limited to a few bonus tracks on the compilation The Ultimate Yes. The band has been on an extended break since late 2004.
And where
are
they now? - this link updates on the recent activities of
Yes members
past and present outside of Yes.
Almost members: a number of people have been tangentially associated with Yes:
Will Alexander: Igor Khoroshev's keyboard tech and Keith Emerson's before that. He plays a small amount of additional keyboards on the 2000 Masterworks tour, something he did previously on ELP's last tour too.
Clive Bailey: was in Mabel Greer's Toy Shop with Squire and Banks. One Mabel Greer song ("Beyond and Before") was re-recorded for Yes and Bailey also receives a credit on another Yes song, "Sweetness". Anderson sang with Mabel Greer's Toy Shop and Clive Bailey may have played in the band after it had changed name to Yes.
Jeff Berlin: filled in for an ill Levin at the end of the US ABWH tour, he had previously been a member of the Bruford group and played on Patrick Moraz's Story of i solo album.
Tom Brislin: played keyboards on the Magnification tour. And now?
Matt Clifford: credited with arrangements on ABWH, Clifford is a colleague of Anderson's who also played some of the keyboard work on the album. He also worked on Anderson's solo album Change We Must and played keys live for GTR.
Phil Collins: had an 'audition' with Yes, but did not turn up, joining Genesis instead.
Jim Crichton: played additional keyboards on Union. He plays keyboards and bass player in Saga. And now?
Martyn Dean: with brother Roger, he worked on stage designs for the band in the mid-seventies.
Roger Dean: did cover art for Yes from Fragile to Relayer, Drama, ABWH, Union, YesYears and Keys to Ascension onwards, as well as for many other bands and people (notably Steve Howe and Asia). He also did stage design for the band with brother Martyn. And now?
Robbie Eagle: Tony Kaye's keyboard tech on the Big Generator tour, he also played some extra keyboard parts off-stage.
Keith Emerson: was considered as Wakeman's replacement after Wakeman's first departure. Emerson has been a leading figure in progressive rock in The Nice and ELP. Before Rabin joined Cinema, he also had the option of forming a bad with Emerson and Jack Bruce and, more recently, he was asked to join ELP, but was unable to find the time.
David Foster: before joining Yes, Anderson had been in a band called The Warriors with David Foster on bass. On Time and a Word, "Time and a Word" and "Sweet Dreams" were co-written by Anderson and Foster and Foster supplies some guitar work and backing vocals for the album. Foster went on to found Badger with Tony Kaye, their first album (One Live Badger, 1973) being co-produced by Anderson. (This is not the same David Foster who emerged as a producer in the eighties, who has also worked with Anderson.)
Robert Fripp: Fripp was considered for a place in the band after Banks departure, but he refused. Anderson had worked with Fripp, guesting on "Prince Rupert Awakes" on Lizard. Fripp later claimed to have coined the term "dinosaurs" to describe bands like Yes.
Nick Glennie-Smith: was considered as Wakeman's replacement after Wakeman's first departure. He also worked on the "Con Air" soundtrack with Rabin.
Colin Goldring: played recorder on The Yes Album. He leads the band Gnidrolog. And now?
Bruce Gowdy: guitarist in World Trade, he was associated with a Yes of Squire/White/Kaye with Sherwood after Big Generator. And now?
Tim Harries: bass on Symphonic Music of Yes, had worked with Bill Bruford before in Bruford's jazz outfit, Earthworks.
Jimmy Haun: guitars on much of the ABWH component of Union, Haun also played live in the Chris Squire Experiment band and on other projects with Billy Sherwood, Jon Anderson, Michael Sherwood and Jonathan Elias. And now?
Roger Hodgson: half of Supertramp with Davies, Hodgson left the band to go solo. Later, he and Rabin were working together between Big Generator and Union and Hodgson was even offered the lead vocalist spot in Yes, but refused. One song from those sessions made it to Yes's Talk as "Walls".
Andrew Pryce Jackman: keyboard player in The Syn with Squire and Banks, Jackman re-appeared doing orchestral arrangements and playing on Squire's 1976 solo Fish Out of Water. He receives further credits for directing the orchestra for Howe's "Double Rondo" and for arrangements on Tormato. He has also done arrangements for other bands, including Rush. Jackman died in 2003.
Eddie Jobson: first offered a place in Yes in 1974, replacing Wakeman, he refused then. In 1982, when Cinema first formed, Squire also sought to recruit Jobson, but he again refused. Between these two times, Jobson worked with Bruford in UK. In 1983, Kaye left the band and Jobson, having now completed his solo project Zinc/The Green Album, joined as his replacement. Kaye soon returned and Jobson was unhappy with the suggestion for the band to continue with both of them and soon left. Jobson was in the video for "Owner of a Lonely Heart"; he was edited out but can be seen fleetingly. He jammed together with the band only a few times and never recorded with the band. Extensive notes on Jobson's flirtation with the band can be found here, within the In the Dead of the Night UK mailing list homepage, and here in his forum. And now?
Kevin Kuhn: played bass with Steve Howe and Bill Bruford when they performed "Roundabout" on a TV show as part of promotion for Symphonic Music of Yes.
Dave Lawson: purportedly helped on Squire & White's "Run with the Fox". Also played on Anderson's Animation.
Donald Lehmkuhl: contributed poems to the liner notes of Relayer and to the concert programmes for the Tales and Relayer tours, as well as the introduction to "Views", a collection of Roger Dean's art.
Mark Mancina: worked with Rabin on his contributions to Union. Mancina played on Rabin's tour following his solo album Can't Look Away, while Rabin has played on film soundtracks written by Mancina. (Mancina also worked on ELP's Black Moon.) And now?
Milton McDonald: second guitarist on ABWH and tour. The first appearance of Mike "Milton" McDonald—"Milton" because he came from Milton Keynes—I can find is playing guitar in The Boomerang Gang, who appeared on the London scene in 1984. McDonald left the band in late 1986 and has continued with a life of session work (including for the Spice Girls, S Club 7, Take That, Robert Palmer, M People, Louise and Tina Turner) since. And now?
Tony O'Reilly: in 1968, Bruford left Yes to go to college and was replaced by O'Reilly, whose band The Koobas had just broken up. Bruford soon had a change of heart and returned to Yes. O'Reilly had been in The Thunderbeats, before joining The Koobas (originally The Kubas), a Merseybeat band. The Koobas toured with the Beatles and the Moody Blues in 1965 and were managed by Brian Epstein, then later Tony Stratton-Smith. O'Reilly plays on The Koobas, the band's one album, released in 1969 after their break up. O'Reilly went on to join Bakerloo, although I don't think he recorded with them. (Also see Dave Potts.)
Steve Porcaro: played keyboards on one track on Open Your Eyes, on Union, live with the Chris Squire Experiment, on Anderson's In the City of Angels and on Lodgic's (with Sherwood) Nomadic Sands. Porcaro is a very active session player and former member of Toto. And now?
Dave Potts (no relation!): Potts was living with Anderson when Bruford briefly left Yes in 1968. He rehearsed with the band for about a week, before Yes chose Tony O'Reilly instead. Potts later played in and then managed Praying Mantis. He described events in an interview thus:
I was actually with Yes for about a week. What it was, was they were looking for a drummer and I lived with Jon Anderson. I rehearsed with them for about a week. At the end of the week they had to make a decision about which drummer they kept and Jack Barry tells me that he suggested they keep this drummer called Tony Kelly [sic] that used to be with the Koobas. And although nobody knows about him being in the band, or me, but it was between the two of us. He was 22 and I was 18. And Jack said he suggested keeping Tony Kelly in the band because he was more level headed. If a 22 year old can be more level headed. So that was a little kick.Graham Preskett: played violin on 90125 and on "The Continental" on Steve Howe's The Steve Howe Album. And now?
Tim Reeves: Drummer with Mungo Jerry and The Old Spice Boys, Reeves reportedly auditioned as a replacement for Bruford in Yes, although it is unclear when this was: probably Bruford's first departure, but possibly his second.
Randy Raine-Reusch: Played various world instruments on The Ladder. He discusses his work on the album and other projects with Bruce Fairbairn here.
Jean Roussel: auditioned as Wakeman's replacement after Wakeman's first departure. He's worked with Keef Hartley Band, Donovan, Cat Stevens and The Police (on "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"), but may well have first met a member of Yes working on Claire Hammil's 1973 album October, on which Alan White drums.
Pete Sinfield: lyricist for early King Crimson and then ELP, Sinfield first became involved with Yes with Squire's Fish Out of Water. Squire thanks Sinfield for (presumably lyrical) help on the final track "Safe". During the hiatus between Drama and 90125, Squire and White released a single ("Run with the Fox") and Sinfield co-wrote the lyrics. Sinfield has also worked with Asia, although nothing was released. And now?
Ted Stockwell: engineer. As well as working as an engineer for the band, Stockwell plays keyboards in Treason. In case Khoroshev had immigration problems for the Japanese leg of Yes's Open Your Eyes tour, Stockwell was on hand to play with them. And now?
Steve Walsh: The lead singer in Kansas, he tried out in Yes between Big Generator and Union. He described events in a 1993 interview:
One time, Trevor Rabin from Yes called me. This was after Jon Anderson left, and they were looking for a replacement singer. I did go out there [to California in 1990] and jam with them—Trevor, Tony Kaye, Chris Squire, and Alan White—all real nice guys. At the first practice, we were already writing a new song. And that was a strange experience, not knowing these guys.John Wetton: Wetton has never been, even fleetingly, in Yes, but he has worked with numerous Yesmen: with Bill Bruford (King Crimson, UK); Geoff Downes (Asia); Steve Howe (Asia); Peter Banks (The Two Sides of Peter Banks); Alan White (Manzanera/Wetton); Rick Wakeman (abortive attempt at a supergroup with Wakeman, Wetton and Bruford; 'Everybody's Got a Crisis in Their Life' charity single); Trevor Horn (abortive project also involving Billy Liesegang); and Tony Levin (Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited).Q: How long did you work with them?
That day [laughs]. I think it turned out that the record company didn't want an American singer.
Vangelis: Jon Anderson and Vangelis first worked together on Vangelis' 1975 Heaven & Hell album. He was offered the keyboard job in Yes after Wakeman's first departure and played with the band a few times, but did not join. An unreleased mid-eighties album Jon & Vangelis spawned two later Yes songs: "Let's Pretend" on ABWH and "Children of Light: Children of Light" on Keys to Ascension 2. And now?
Ian Wallace: drummer in The Warriors, Wallace filled in at one show during Bruford's brief hiatus from the band (see O'Reilly). He later worked in King Crimson and on Anderson's Animation.
Casey Young: Tony Kaye's keyboard tech on the 9012Live and subsequent tours, he also played some extra keyboard parts off-stage.
I've detailed those family members with musical links here. More information about Yes men's families can be found at Yesman's site.
Damion Anderson: Jon's son. He is the small child on "Circus of Heaven" and has now become a rap artist. His band released 'Close 2 the Hype', based loosely on "Close to the Edge" and featuring Jon.
Deborah Anderson: Jon's daughter. Provided backing vocals on ABWH and a number of solo projects by Jon, including Song of Seven, The Best of South America 1993, Deseo, "Angels Embrace" on Angels Embrace and Toltec. Her own music career has developed in fits and starts along side work in the fashion industry. And now?
Jade Anderson: Jon's daughter. Provided backing vocals on Song of Seven and vocals on "Jingle Bells" on Three Ships, "Candle Song" on Change We Must and "Prayersong" on Angels Embrace. Now a solo artist, recording classic soul. And now?
Jane Luttenberger Anderson: Jon's (second and current) wife. Sang vocals on a number of Jon's solo albums, The Promise Ring, Earthmotherearth (also provided some poetry) and The More You Know.
Jennifer Anderson: Jon's first wife. Co-wrote "All God's Children" on Animation and did the photography for the cover of Song of Seven.
Nina (Wakeman) Carter: Rick's third ex-wife. Former model and lead vocalist on some of Rick's solo albums.
Sydney Foxx: stage name of Sidonie Jordan—see below.
Dylan Howe: "Clap" was written to celebrate his birth. Steve's son; a drummer, who appears on Steve's In the Grand Scheme of Things and Quantum Guitar and the two Howe/Sutin albums. Dylan now has his own jazz band and plays with The Blockheads. And now?
Georgia Howe: Steve's daughter. "Georgia's Theme" was, not surprisingly, written for her.
Janet Howe: Steve's wife. Wrote some lyrics for In the Grand Scheme of Things and elsewhere.
Virgil Howe: Steve's son. "Second Initial" was written for him, because he doesn't have one. He plays keyboards on In the Grand Scheme of Things, but also drums, guesting on additional percussion during "Roundabout" at the 8 Aug 98 Yes show. As The Verge, he was behind the Yes Remixes album.
Sidonie Jordan (a.k.a. Sydney Foxx): Peter Banks' ex-wife and lead singer of his band, Empire.
Pete Levin: Tony's brother. Keyboardist and composer.
Ryan Rabin: Trevor's son. Plays percussion on the "American Outlaws" soundtrack. And now?
Carl Saunders: Billy Sherwood's cousin. Jazz trumpet player.
Carmen Squire: Chris's step-daughter, Nikki's daughter from a previous relationship. Carmen works as an actress, primarily doing voice-over work. And now?
Nikki (Nicola) Squire: Chris's (first and ex-)wife. She supposedly had some input into Chris's music in the late seventies/early eighties, but is only credited with backing vocals on "Hold Out Your Hand". She later had her own band, Esquire, for whose first album Chris supplied production and backing vocals. And now?
Michael Sherwood: Billy's brother. He has worked with Billy in Lodgic, Air Supply and World Trade and sang backing vocals on the ABWH component of Union. His own solo album, Tangletown, came out in 1999. And now?
Bobby Sherwood: Billy's late father. Was an arranger and a guitarist with Bing Crosby among others and played trumpet with Frank Sinatra and others.
Adam Wakeman: Rick's son. A keyboard player, he has recorded a number of albums with Rick as Wakeman with Wakeman and as a solo artist, as well as playing numerous sessions. When Khoroshev was nearly delayed reaching the UK because of immigration problems at the beginning of the 1998 UK tour, Adam rehearsed with the band, ready to stand in. Although Khoroshev eventually made it, Adam joined the band on stage for their encore of "Starship Trooper" at the first gig. And now?
Alan Wakeman: Rick's cousin. A saxophonist, he was briefly a member of both Soft Machine and Gilgamesh.
Benjamin Wakeman: Rick's son. Another keyboard player.
Jemma Wakeman: Rick's daughter with Nina. A pianist and vocalist. And now?
Oliver Wakeman: Rick's son. Another keyboard player, with a couple of releases under his belt. And now?
Oscar Wakeman: Rick's son with Nina. A pianist and drummer.
Jesse White: Had his own band, The ELIZA Effect. And now?
E-mail lists &c.:
YesServices:
And
You and I has a comprehensive list of internet discussion
fora
for Yes.
Web sources:
The best WWW site for Yes is the band's official page, YesWorld,
which is linked to Notes from the
Edge,
the web-accessible (and former e-mailed) Yes fan newsletter. The
pages
include breaking news, discographies, tour details, lyrics,
images, sound
samples, links and much more. Also connected is the fan-driven YesServices
and Pete Whipple's Forgotten
Yesterdays.
For further links to all things Yes, go to Yeshoo!,
the premier Yes links site. Numerous a.m.y. inhabitants have their
own
pages, including Yesman's
extensive
site.
Fan clubs, 'zines &c.:
In the UK, there is the YES Music Circle, who publish an
occasional
newsletter. Yes Music Circle is run by Tiz
Hay and is represented at the Progressive~Spiral
website.
Let's start with live material that has been never released, as in songs that the band has never released live performances of by any line-up, but we do know they played them. This comes from the YesTours website. This does not include solos, for the most part:
If you have any additions, let Jeremy know.
The Ladder: New Language, Nine Voices
Open Your Eyes: Open Your Eyes, No Way We Can Lose, From the Balcony
Keys to Ascension: Children of Light
Talk: The Calling, I Am Waiting, Real Love, Where Will You Be?, Walls, Endless Dream
Union: Take the Water to the Mountain
ABWH: Bruford/Levin duet, Quartet, Let's Pretend
Big Generator: Almost Like Love, Rhythm of Love, Final Eyes, I'm Running, Big Generator, Shoot High Aim Low, Holy Lamb, Love Will Find a Way
90125: Hearts, Our Song
Drama: Does It Really Happen?, Into the Lens, Tempus
Fugit, Machine
Messiah, White Car
(Note: "Run Through the Light" has been said to
have
been played, but I have not gotten 100% verification on this.)
Tormato: Future Times/Rejoice, Circus of Heaven, Arriving UFO, Release Release, Madrigal, On the Silent Wings of Freedom, Abilene
1976 tour: Hold Out Your Hand/You By My Side, Cachaca, One Way Rag, Song of Innocence, Break Away from It All, Flight of the Moorglade
Relayer: Sound Chaser, To be Over
Tales from Topographic Oceans: The Ancient, The Remembering
Fragile: South Side of the Sky
Yes: I See You, Survival
Covers the band has performed: Eleanor Rigby (The Beatles), It's Love (The Rascals), Paper Cup (Fifth Dimension), Heaven is in Your Mind (Traffic), Wait 'Til the Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett), Gimme Some Lovin' (Spencer Davis Group), I'm Only Sleeping (The Beatles), Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix), Colors of the Rainbow (excerpt from "The Beautiful Land", from the musical "The Roar of the Greasepaint—The Smell of the Crowd"), "Bye Bye Baby Goodbye" (performed live w/ Iron Butterfly on 25 Jan 71). Anderson has also sung a number of Japanese folk tunes on Japanese legs of touring.
Original songs the band has performed live but not released:
Go Through This (Drama tour)
We Can Fly From Here (Drama tour)
Adventures (1970)
Continuing from the Yes Unreleased, here are demos we know that exist. I will also try to list what happened to these songs. All of these are songs that are on bootlegs of some form or another.
1) Montreux Sessions (1977)
We know that there are demos or songs in the works that were put together from the 1977 Montreux Sessions of all of the songs on Going for the One in one shape or another.
Songs: Going for the One, Wonderous Stories, Awaken, Parallels, Vevey, Montreux's Theme, Turn of the Century
What happened to these tracks?
"Going for the One", "Wonderous Stories", "Awaken", "Parallels"
and
"Turn of the Century" appeared on the album Going for the One.
"Montreux's
Theme" and parts of "Vevey" appeared on YesYears.
"Montreux's Theme"
and a different recording of "Vevey" appear on the Rhino remaster
of Going
for the One.
2) 1978 London Tracks
These are tracks the band put together for Tormato.
Songs: Picasso, Amazing Grace, Money, On the Silent Wings of Freedom, Richard, Untitled, Some are Born Pt. 1, Rail 14, Some are Born Pt. 2
What happened to these tracks?
"Picasso" was used by Jon in some form on his (as yet unreleased)
opera
about Marc Chagall. "Amazing Grace" and "Money" surfaced on YesYears,
"On the Silent Wings of Freedom" was on Tormato.
"Untitled"
and "Some Are Born" surfaced on Jon Anderson's second solo album Song
of
Seven ("Untitled" was "Days.") "Rail 14" had a riff
that was
later used for "Arriving UFO." "Richard" was released on In a
Word,
in edited form. "Picasso", "Money" and "Some are Born" appeared on
the
Rhino remaster of Tormato.
3) The Paris Sessions
Songs: Everybody Loves You, Flower Girl, Dancing Through the Light, In the Tower, Golden Age, Tango, Friend of a Friend
What happened to these tracks?
"Everybody Loves You" was on Song of Seven and "Dancing
Through
the Light" became "Run Through the Light" on Drama.
"Golden Age"
was used in "Maybe 80" on Rick Wakeman's Rock and Roll Prophet.
"Tango" and "Never Done Before" ("Flower Girl") appeared on In
a Word.
"Dancing Through the Light", "In the Tower", "Golden Age" and
"Friend of
a Friend" appear on the Rhino remaster of Drama.
4) The Drama Sessions
Songs: Tempus Fugit, Untitled I, Does It Really Happen?, Untitled II, Run Through the Light (all by Chris/Alan/Steve), We Can Fly from Here
What happened to these tracks?
"Tempus Fugit," "Does It Really Happen?" and "Run Through the
Light"
were all put on Drama, although "Run Through the Light"
mutated
a lot more before it went on the album compared to the others. "We
Can
Fly from Here" was never released. (There is supposedly a demo
with Horn,
Downes, Squire and Bruford, but the demo that is bootlegged has a
drum
machine feel, quite unBruford like.) "Untitled I", in a much
edited form,
appeared on In a Word as "Crossfire". "Untitled II"
appears on the
Rhino remaster of Drama as "Song No.
4 (Satellite)".
5) The XYZ Sessions
Songs: Instrumental 1, Instrumental 2, Can You See, Telephone Spies
What happened to these tracks?
The first instrumental became the intro to "Mind Drive," the
second
instrumental wound up on The Firm's "Fortune Hunter" on Mean
Business.
"Can You See" became "Can You Imagine" on Magnification.
6) The Cinema Sessions
Songs done pre-Jon.
Songs: Warm Up, You Know Something I Don't Know, Jamming I, Take It Easy, Open the Door, Jamming II, Telephone Lines, Baby, Sorry
What happened to these tracks?
"You Know Something I Don't Know" was performed in an instrumental
version by Rabin live in '89. "Take It Easy" became "Make It
Easy", released
on YesYears. A riff on "Jamming II" became the "Hearts"
riff. The
riffs for "Baby" wound up on "Our Song."
7) The Big Generator demos
Songs: Love Will Find a Way, Big Generator, Rhythm of Love, Final Eyes, I'm Running, Shoot High, Aim Low (2 versions)
What happened to these tracks?
These songs are just very primitve versions of the album tracks.
"Shoot
High Aim Low" has two different versions, one sung by Rabin one by
Anderson.
8) ABWH: Pre-Kimsey demos
Reportedly, the album as first presented to the record company.
Songs: Themes, Fist of Fire, Brother of Mine, Birthright, Distant Thunder, Quartet, Teakbois, Order of the Universe, Let's Pretend
What happened to these tracks?
The only song that didn't make the album was "Distant Thunder,
which
became "Children of Light" on Keys to Ascension 2.
9) ABWH: Second album demos
Songs ABWH were making for ABWH II.
Songs: Instrumental Intro, Hold You in My Arms, Watching the Flags that Fly, Make Believe, Is It Love, Untitled Instrumental, Untitled, Santa Barbara, Touch Me Heaven, Axis of Love, Untitled Instrumental 2, After the Storm, Prelude, Tall Buildings, Take the Water to the Mountain, To the Stars, God with a Southern Accent (vocals: Howe), Without a Doubt (vocals: Howe), Big Love (vocals: Howe), She Walks Away (2 instrumental versions), She Walks Away (vocals), It Must be Love, Shot in the Dark
Up to "To the Stars" are demos by Jon Anderson (with assistance from some roadies) that he recorded for the second ABWH album. There are numerous takes of these songs. These demos were released by Anderson in 2006 as Watching the Flags That Fly. "After the Storm" and "Take the Water to the Mountain" have versions which (supposedly) have Steve Howe soloing on them, presumably post-dating these sessions. "God with a Southern Accent" to "Big Love" seem to be demos by Steve Howe. The remaining tracks appear to have more of the band together.
What happened to these tracks?
Of these, only "Take the Water to the Mountain" survived to Union.
"Axis of Love" was considered for Keys to Ascension 2 (but
it is
unclear whether it was recorded). An instrumental version of "God
with
a Southern Accent" was recorded for Howe's Quantum Guitars.
The
solo for "Big Love" was used on "I Would Have Waited Forever" on Union.
"It
Must be Love" wound up on Union as "Without Hope You
Cannot
Start the Day"
10) Union demos
Songs: I Would Have Waited Forever, Dangerous, Holding On, Take the Water to the Mountain, Lift Me Up, The More We Live—Let Go, Say Goodbye
There are a number of boots of different versions of these songs, mostly from The Perfect Union. An alternate "I Would Have Waited Forever" appeared on In a Word.
What happened to these tracks?
All except for "Say Goodbye" wound up on the album. "Say Goodbye"
was
on the second World Trade album, Euphoria, and Conspiracy.
11) Talk Demos
Songs: The Calling, I am Waiting, Where Will You Be?, State of Play, Real Love, Walls, Endless Dream
Although many of these are on the CD-ROM, there are different demos of "Where Will You Be?", "I am Waiting" and "State of Play".
What happened to these tracks?
All featured on the album.
12) Demos not found on bootlegs, and not as of yet released, but we know supposedly exist.
90125: "Time", "Red Light, Green Light"
"Cinema" is the intro to "Time", said to be a 20-minute piece.
This was the first Yes 'biography', but is now out of print. It
was
written just after Drama.
Welch, Chris (1999). "Close to the Edge - The Story of Yes" Omnibus Press. ISBN 0 7119 6930 2
A very recent and very detailed new biography of the band, by
former
Melody
Maker journalist and a long-time friend of the band.
Mosbo, Thomas (1994). "Yes - But What Does It Mean?"
This book is more about the music of Yes and concentrates on the
more
'orchestral' pieces. The book can only be obtained from Thomas
& Coral
Mosbo (mailto: mosbo@wyndstar.freeserve.co.uk),
who
have a small number of copies left.
Morse, Tim (1996). "Yesstories" St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0 312 14453 9
Published in the US only, this is a collection of interview
quotes.
Martin, Bill (1996). "Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock" Open Court Publishing Co. ISBN 0 8126 9333 7
Also only published in the US.
Loeslin, Clifford (in preparation). "Beyond and Before"
Mentioned in the booklet for YesYears, Loeslin is still
working
on the project.
Wakeman, Rick. "Say Yes!"
Wakeman's autobiography: despite the title, it does not cover any
of
his times in Yes is much detail.
Wooding, Dan (1979). "Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader" Panther Books (Granada Publishing Ltd.). ISBN 0 586 048553 7
This is a much earlier book (Tormato-era) about Wakeman,
but
with much more reference to Yes. The 1979 edition included an
additional
chapter to the 1978 edition published by Robert Hale.
Howe, Steve with Bacon, Tony. "The Steve Howe Guitar Collection" GPI Books. ISBN 0 8930 290 9
Pictures and details of Howe's massive guitar collection, with
occasional
anecdotes. The full text of this book is included in the "Steve
Howe Interactive"
CD-ROM.
Gallant, Dave (2001). "Heat of the Moment"
New biography of Asia.
In no particular order...
Steve Howe had a successful career in a number of bands in the 1960s prior to joining Yes. These early appearances were typical of the pop of their day and have been released as Mothballs (1994). The most successful was Tomorrow, a psychedelic outfit who had a minor hit with "My White Bicycle" in 1967. Howe's next band, Bodast, was to demonstrate a slightly more progressive direction. Although they recorded an album, it was not released at the time, but has since emerged on CD under Howe's name as The Early Years: Steve Howe with Bodast (a.k.a. The Bodast Tapes; 1981). Tomorrow's Tomorrow (1968) has also been released on to CD. A follow-up to Mothballs, Homebrew, contains demos from later in Howe's career.
Howe's 1975 solo album Beginnings and his 1979 The Steve Howe Album concentrated more on acoustic guitar, with similarities to Howe's solo pieces within Yes. Various Yesmen guest on both. Following Yes's demise after Drama, Howe formed Asia with Downes, John Wetton (formerly of King Crimson) and Carl Palmer (formerly of ELP). Although Howe is quite prominent on their first release, Asia (1982), by their second, Alpha (1983), he had become little more than a session man and subsequently left after a rift with Wetton. He has since returned to guest with Asia various times. His next project was GTR (1986), with Steve Hackett (formerly of Genesis), with Downes now producing. Hackett left after one album and GTR mutated into 'Nero and the Trend' with Robert Berry (formerly in 3, with Emerson and Palmer). Demos were recorded, but no release ever came. Some material was later re-used for Berry's solo Pilgrimage to a Point and Max Bacon's The Higher You Climb (1995).
Howe returned to solo projects, releasing the instrumental Turbulence (1991; with Bruford), a more progressive rock work than his earlier acoustic material. Some of the material on Turbulence was also used in Union as, at the time, Turbulence securing release had seemed unlikely. Following his departure from Yes after Union, Howe embarked on solo tours and another solo album (In the Grand Scheme of Things). The album saw a return to a more pop style, while the tours included material from Yes, GTR, Asia and even Tomorrow. Two live albums, Not Necessarily Acoustic (1994) and Pulling Strings (1999), resulted. Further solo releases have followed since Howe returned to Yes, including Portraits of Bob Dylan (1999), an album of covers with Downes and Anderson guesting. Howe has now formed a band, Steve Howe's Remedy, to play his work, including his sons Dylan (drums) and Virgil (keys).
Trevor Horn: with Geoff Downes, formed The Buggles, famous for their hit "Video Killed the Radio Star" from their first album The Age of Plastic (a.k.a. The Plastic Age, 1979), prior to which he had worked mainly as an in-house producer, largely for punk bands. A second Buggles album (Adventures in Modern Recording, 1982) was completed after Yes's dissolution. Perhaps so traumatised by his experiences playing live in Yes, Horn left performing for producing. He has been very successful as a producer, defining the early eighties style for many. His credits include, apart from 90125, ABC, Art of Noise, Grace Jones, Propaganda, Pet Shop Boys, Paul McCartney, Seal and, most famously, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Although the basic music for Frankie's first album had been written by the band, Horn was unhappy with their performing abilities, so only the two vocalists would actually have anything to do with recording their first album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984), which included the third biggest ever UK single, "Relax". Among the replacement session musicians are Trevor Rabin, Steve Howe and Horn himself. As well as producing, Horn has continued to perform (e.g. with Seal, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner and the Pet Shop Boys) and compose (e.g. for Dollar, Cher, Betsy Cook, Malcolm McLaren), and he is now returning to centre stage with a reformed Art of Noise (The Seduction of Claude Debussy, 1999) and live performances at a tribute concert to his work in late 2004. The concert and an associated compilation Produced by Trevor Horn are in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the release of The Age of Plastic.
Geoff Downes, with Trevor Horn, formed The Buggles, famous for their hit "Video Killed the Radio Star" from their first album The Age of Plastic (a.k.a. The Plastic Age, 1979). After Drama, Downes formed Asia with Howe, John Wetton (formerly of King Crimson) and Carl Palmer (formerly of ELP). Downes and Wetton were the main writing team behind Asia, who released three and a half studio albums (Asia, 1982; Alpha, 1983; Astra, 1985 and Then & Now, 1990; the last being half old hits and half new material) before Wetton left seemingly forever; Downes was to choose John Payne to replace him. Downes and Payne have headed several further albums (including Aqua, 1992, with Howe guesting), but Downes has also collaborated with Wetton since. Downes has also released a number of solo albums; his third Vox Humana includes a cover of "White Car".
Patrick Moraz had, before Yes, replaced Keith Emerson in The Nice, forming a band called Refugee with Jackson and Davison (Refugee, 1974). He also did four film scores in the early 1970s. His solo career has been consistent in style and his Yes-associated album i (1976) is typical. He has also released two albums of improvisations with Bruford (Moraz - Bruford, Music for Piano and Drums, 1983 and Flags, 1985). He later joined The Moody Blues (Long Distance Voyager, 1981, ff.), although he was little in evidence there. Now, he is working solo again. Improvisations have remained to the fore and his tours have included improvisations based on "Awaken" and "Soon".
Peter Banks had been in Syn and Mabel Greer's Toy Shop with Squire prior to Yes starting. After leaving, he formed Flash (Flash, 1972, ff.), which has some similarities to early Yes (Kaye guests on the first album). A solo album followed: The Two Sides of Peter Banks (1973). Here, Banks worked with Jan Akkerman (from Focus) and John Wetton, Steve Hackett and Phil Collins all guest. With some of the musicians on The Two Sides of Peter Banks, Banks formed the group Empire, who failed to obtain a record contract at the time, but two posthumous albums have now been released. Banks returned with three solo albums, Instinct, Self-Contained (1995) and Reduction. These are instrumental guitar albums, progressive in style but absorbing nineties elements, closer perhaps to Fripp and King Crimson than his earlier work in Yes. After staying out of a Flash reunion and a short stint in a Syn reunion, Banks is working on a new band project, Trio.
Jon Anderson had minor success in The Warriors (with his brother and David Foster) and as Hans Christian Anderson before joining Yes. Before his departure, Anderson managed to guest on King Crimson's Lizard (1971) and Vangelis' Heaven and Hell, as well as releasing his 1976 solo Olias of Sunhillow. After leaving Yes, Anderson released several further solo albums, the first being Song of Seven (1980), which included material originally intended for Yes and Animation (1982), which heralded a new sound, full of energy, perhaps most similar to ABWH. He also worked with Vangelis as Jon & Vangelis. The duo enjoyed some success, although their "State of Independence" (on The Friends of Mr Cairo, 1981) is best known from Donna Summer's cover.
Since re-joining Yes (and re-leaving, re-joining etc.), Anderson has also released a Latin music album (Deseo, which has had an ambient remix done as The Deseo Remixes, 1995), a more orchestral work (Change We Must), Irish folk (The Promise Ring) and more. Further guest appearances include with Tangerine Dream (Legend soundtrack, 1986) and Kitaro (Dream).
Chris Squire's first release was two singles with Syn. Very little else has emerged from him outside Yes. He guests on Wakeman's The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973) and Criminal Record (1977) and he, White and Kaye play on one side of Eddie Harris' E.H. in the UK (1974). His Fish Out of Water (1976), with Moraz and Bruford guesting, is often regarded as the best of the solo albums, but, despite promises, a follow-up has never appeared. He did produce and provide backing vocals for his then wife, Nikki Squire's band, Esquire. After Union, he formed a band, The Chris Squire Experiment, with Billy Sherwood, Alan White, Jimmy Haun and Steve Porcaro, who played live a few times. His work with Sherwood has led to him guesting on World Trade's second album, Euphoria (1995); he also sings uncredited on one song on their debut album World Trade.
Work with Sherwood as The Chris Squire Experiment was eventually released by the pair as Conspiracy and the Conspiracy band have released a second album, The Unknown. Squire has also joined a Syn reunion.
Billy Sherwood's first release was Lodgic's Nomadic Sands (1985), with elder brother, Michael, Jimi Haun and others. His band, World Trade, have two albums much in the YesWest style: World Trade and Euphoria (1995). Work with Squire has been released as Conspiracy and, more recently, Sherwood released his debut solo album, No Comment. He has also worked extensively as a producer and session musician on various projects.
Tony Kaye formed Badger, with David Foster, after leaving Yes. Their first album (One Live Badger, 1971, co-produced by Anderson) has similarities to early Yes, but later albums were more mainstream. He did some work with 'Legs' Larry Smith of the Bonzo God Doo-Dah Band, co-writing a song on their last album Let's Make Up and Be Friendly (1972) and playing on Smith's first single ('Witchi Tai To', released as by Topo D. Bill). Later work included Detective (Detective, 1977, ff.), a mainstream seventies band, and Badfinger. He also toured with David Bowie. Around and after 90125, Kaye recorded a solo instrumental album which was very nearly released. However, Kaye was unhappy with the end result and set about re-recording it with vocals. Nothing has been heard since. Following his last stint in Yes, Kaye largely retired from the music business.
Alan White first found fame playing with John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band. He was at the famous Canada gig (Live Peace in Toronto, 1970) and plays percussion on Imagine (1971) and Sometime in NYC (1972), as well as on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass (1970). A failed attempt at a new progressive band, Balls, preceded his joining Yes. For his 1976 album, Ramshackled, he returned to an earlier, unrecorded band that he had been in (including Peter Kirtley on guitar); White wrote nothing of the music thereon. Subsequently, White's time has largely been taken up with Yes. He has released a CD-ROM of drum samples and recorded some solo material since Big Generator, although we still await a release. However, White now heads up a new band, also called White.
Rick Wakeman has had an extremely prolific solo career. He began work as a session musician, most notably with David Bowie. His earliest solo albums (The Six Wives of Henry VIII, 1973; The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,1975) rivalled Yes in their success. The music is, naturally, keyboard dominated and very similar to Wakeman's solo spots with Yes or his work on Tormato.
Wakeman has become even more productive over time, although many of his later albums are hard to obtain. He has tried various styles - e.g. mainstream pop on Time Machine, 1988; ambient/New Age on Country Airs, 1986; soundtrack to Lisztomania, 1975 (he also played Thor in the film); religious on The Gospels, 1987; even an arrangement of "Eleanor Rigby" in the style of Prokofiev on Classical Connection II- but all with the distinctive Wakeman style. He has also worked with his son, Adam, as Wakeman with Wakeman (e.g. Wakeman with Wakeman).
Various Yesmen have guested on Wakeman's work. One track from Wakeman's Family Album (1987), "Nina", gained lyrics from Anderson to become "The Meeting" on ABWH. Wakeman brought out a double album Greatest Hits, one album of which includes his interpretation of classic Yes hits.
Tony Levin has worked as session player with vast numbers of people: from Paul Simon (One Trick Pony, 1980) to John Lennon (Double Fantasy, 1980) to Pink Floyd (A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987). He is perhaps best known as Peter Gabriel's bass player (Peter Gabriel [1], 1977, ff.). He joined the third incarnation of King Crimson (Discipline, 1981, ff.), working with Bruford. He has released a solo album (World Diary, 1995), which includes, as a duet with Bruford, a further developed version of their piece on Union, "Evensong". He is currently back for his third stint in King Crimson.
Trevor Rabin had local success in South Africa with his band, Rabbitt. He also wrote, produced and arranged for others (e.g. Margartet Singana's Where is the Love, 1976). Solo work (Trevor Rabin, 1978, ff.) and Yes followed. More recently has come Can't Look Away (1989; White guesting). The following solo tour, Rabin also played some of his songs from 90125 and Big Generator and some pieces tried by Cinema/Yes, but not used. His solo albums are similar to his work within Yes, but he has now moved into soundtrack work ("Armageddon", "Enemy of the State", "Jack Frost" et al.).
Bill Bruford left Yes after Close to the Edge to join King Crimson, which has remained his favoured band ever since. His first period with the band saw complex, often improvised, often raw music. Albums included Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973) and Red (1974).
Fripp was to call this era to an end and Bruford embarked on a period working as a session player. This led him to playing with Genesis on tour (as can be heard on some of Seconds Out, 1977 and Three Sides Live, 1982) to free Phil Collins to sing. He also became involved in the 'Canterbury scene', playing very briefly with Gong and with National Health (Missing Pieces). He was also involved with the initial creation of Brand X with Phil Collins and others, although he never recorded with the group. An attempt to form a supergroup, British Legion, with Wakeman and Wetton failed, but Bruford's planned material for this he converted into his first solo album, Feels Good to Me (1977). Bruford and Wetton did re-unite in UK, with Eddie Jobson and Allan Holdsworth. Bruford and Holdsworth left after the first album (UK, 1978) to form Bruford the band (One of a Kind, 1979, ff.), with Dave Stewart (who had played on Feels Good to Me too; not to be confused with the other Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics).
A third era of King Crimson saw Fripp, Belew, Levin and Bruford (Discipline, 1981, ff.) together. After this, Bruford again appeared on many albums (e.g. Kazumi Watanabe's The Spice of Life, 1987; David Torn, Door X, 1990) and formed a new band, Earthworks (Earthworks, 1987, ff.), playing modern jazz. Bruford has since been in and out of King Crimson. He plays on an EP ('Vrooom', 1994), album (THRAK), live album (B'Boom, 1995) and improv album (THRaKaTTaK, 1996), but has since left the band again and is concentrating on a new Earthworks line up.
The Yes albums from Yes to Big Generator have all been remastered in HDCD format and released in Japan in reproduction mini-LP cardboard sleeves. These are different remasters to the previous remaster series released worldwide and are recognisably distinct in sound (and you do not need an HDCD-compatible player to hear the differences). It is a matter of taste whether you will prefer the Japanese remaster or the earlier remaster for each release, but general opinion favours the Japanese versions of The Yes Album, Yessongs, Tales from Topographic Oceans, Relayer,Drama, 90125 and Big Generator, but the earlier remasters for the others. Since these were released, Rhino has re-released most of these albums and their remastering is considered by many to be superior.
Whatever happened to Eddie Offord?
After working with Yes and ELP (their piece "Are You Ready, Eddy?" was named after him) in the seventies, Offord was working with more mainstream acts in the eighties and nineties, notably 311, before largely retiring from the music business by the end of the nineties. He has occasionally worked with local bands since then and remains in touch with members of Yes.
What was the "Colors of the Rainbow" song that Anderson sang live in 1977?
[From Steven Sullivan] The song is called "The Beautiful Land" (see lyrics), but Anderson only sang the first few verses. It comes from a 1965 Broadway musical called "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd" by Anthony Newley & Leslie Bricusse.
What does Anderson sing at the end of "To Be Over"?
Anderson has said that he was just singing nonsense syllables that sounded right for the music.
What does Anderson sing at the beginning of "The Ancient"?
[From Steven Sullivan] There are the words for "sun" in different languages: sol, Latin; dhoop, Hindi; sun, English; ilios, Greek; naytheet, ?; ah kin, Mayan; saule, Gothic, Lithuanian etc.; tonatiuh, Aztec; qurax, Somali; gunes, Turkish; grian, Old Irish; surya, Sanskrit; ir, possibly a mistake (Ir-Shemesh = city of the sun god); samse, Babylonian (shamash).
What is the garbled conversation in the middle of "It Can Happen"?
This is John Gielgud speaking in an extract from the play 'The Importance of Being Earnest'.
Which of the 1975/6 solo albums are available on CD?
All five albums are available on CD. Howe's Beginnings is widely available in a remastered form. Anderson's Olias of Sunhillow, Squire's Fish Out of Water and White's Ramshackled are all available on CD in Japan and Europe. A US release for the three was promised, but never materialised. Moraz's i is also available on CD.
What is the title of "5% for Nothing" about?
Originally "Suddenly It's Wednesday", it was retitled to refer to a pay off to their old manager, Roy Flynn, of 5% of future royalties.
What overlap is there between Yessongs, the album, and "Yessongs", the movie?
[From Jeremy Weissenburger & Steven Sullivan] The album is not a soundtrack to the movie. Yessongs, the live album, is taken from two different tours (Fragile and Close to the Edge) and different shows throughout the tours. "Yessongs", the movie, was taken from concerts performed at the Rainbow Theater in London, UK, on the Close to the Edge tour. However, there is some overlap, with "Close to the Edge" and "Starship Trooper: Wurm" being common to both.
How can any REAL FAN not like "Awaken"? Isn't it their bestest song ever??? Doesn't it epitomise everything that is great about Yes???
[From Steven Sullivan] Easily. No. No.
What is the poem at the end of "Angkor Wat"?
Written by Anderson, this piece was to have been read in English until a late decision to have it in translation. The English version goes roughly like:
With the Drama band failing to convince fans, Chris Squire and Alan White decided to leave Yes. Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin were in disarray following the death of John Bonham. As it happened, Plant and Page lived close to Squire and the idea of a new supergroup was born: XYZ, or ex-Yes and Zeppelin.
Squire and White set to work with Jimmy Page on guitar. Robert Plant was meant to become involved as the lead singer, but never did: in one interview, he says he found the music too intricate.
While the idea sounds great, it is apparent from listening to the sessions that Page never integrated with Squire and White. Squire has said he wrote all the material they played; White has said he and Squire wrote it all—either way, Page clearly did not have any significant compositional input and his playing is nothing impressive either.
The bootlegged sessions include four pieces (although interviews suggest there may have been a bit more material). One of these was eventually recycled as the rhythm riff in "Mind Drive" (Keys to Ascension 2); another became "Fortune Hunter" on the second Firm album (over which Squire said he would have sued for not being credited, had it actually ever made any money); and a third became "Can You Imagine?" on Magnification. One of the other pieces had first been played by the Squire/White/Howe trio between Anderson and Wakeman's departure from and Horn and Downes' arrival in Yes.
XYZ soon fell apart: Squire has blamed Page's drug problems and it also seems as though it was simply too soon after Bonham's death. Squire and White hooked up with Trevor Rabin, who has said that the first thing he did in the band was to try re-working some of the XYZ material, although none of it seems to have survived long. As a postscript, Jimmy Page did join Yes on stage at a German show during the 9012Live tour: they played "I'm Down" together.
That the material was for so long unavailable meant it acquired something of a mythic status—the actuality is rather disappointing in comparison. These are four rather rough demos of songs very much in Squire's usual style: a treat for Squire fans, but don't get your hopes up if you're a LZ fan.
What Yes songs have never been performed live by the band?
[From Jeremy Weissenburger et al.] From Yes: "Yesterday and Today", "Harold Land", "Survival" (much abbreviated form played during the medley of 1978-79). From Time and a Word: "The Prophet", "Clear Days". From The Yes Album: "A Venture". From Fragile: "Five Percent For Nothing". From Drama: "Run Through the Light". By ABWH: "Fist of Fire", "Vultures". From Union: "I Would Have Waited Forever", "Without Hope You Cannot Start the Day", "Angkor Wat", "Evensong", "Dangerous", "Holding On", "Miracle of Life", "The More We Live—Let Go", "Give and Take". From YesYears: "Vevey", "Montreux's Theme", "Money", "Run with the Fox", "Make It Easy" (aside from the live intro to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" based on this piece), "Love Conquers All". From Talk: "State of Play". From Keys to Ascension: "Be the One", "That, That Is". From Keys to Ascension 2: "Mind Drive", "Footprints", "Bring Me to the Power", "Sign Language". From Open Your Eyes: "New State of Mind", "Fortune Seller", "Universal Garden", "Somehow..... Someday", "The Solution", "Man in the Moon", "Wonderlove". From The Ladder: "Can I?", "If Only You Knew". From Magnification: "Spirit of Survival", "Give Love Each Day", "Can You Imagine", "We Agree", "Soft as a Dove", "Dreamtime", "Time is Time". From In a Word: "Richard", "Tango", "Never Done Before", "Crossfire", "Last Train".
What does "I am a camera" mean?
This lyric by Trevor Horn comes from the writings of Christopher Isherwood (1906-1986). Isherwood wrote two semi-autobiographical novels in the late thirties: "Mr Norris Changes Trains" (1935), "Goodbye to Berlin" (1939). These were then turned into a play entitled "I am a Camera" (1952) by John Van Druten, which in turn was made into the film of the same name (1955). The musical "Cabaret", based on the same source, followed in 1966, and that was then also turned into a film (1972). The apposite quote comes from the second paragraph of "Goodbye to Berlin": "I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking."
When did a.m.y. begin?
Usenet itself began in 1979 and Yes was being discussed at least as far back as 1982. Google's archive, which includes some newsgroups back to May 1981, shows that Yes were mentioned in lists of people's favourite albums in 1982 and there was some heated discussion about progressive rock and the new style seen from many prog artists at the beginning of the 1980s with bands like Asia and the new line-up of King Crimson. However, the earliest post that could be said to be about Yes that I have been able to track down in Google's archive is from 15 Apr 1982:
Message-ID: <anews.Apyuxjj.149>
Newsgroups: net.music
X-Path: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxt!pyuxjj!rlr
From: pyuxjj!rlr
Date: Thu Apr 15 16:44:07 1982
Subject: Vangelis
X-Google-Info: Converted from the original A-News header
Vangelis Papathanassiou (his full name or very close to
it),
is
a Greek composer noted for his ethereal keyboard oriented
spacey
music.
As already posted here, he wrote the "Cosmos" (i.e., "Ladies
and
Gentlemen,
It's the Carl Sagan Show!!!"), as well as several
collaborations
with Jon
Anderson, former lead singer of Yes (two "Jon and Vangelis"
albums,
plus
his own RCA album "Heaven and Hell", which contains "So Long
Ago,
So Clear"
sung by Anderson).
Some hitherto unmentioned facts about Vangelis:
1) He was originally associated with Demis Roussos,
Greek
"pop star"
(?) in the group Aphrodite's Child. One
song
off of their album
"666" was played often by Allison Steele,
the
night bird of WNEW-FM
(New York City metro area), for those from around here.
("They'll no more suffer from hunger, they'll no more
suffer
from thirst")
2) When Rick Wakeman left Yes, Vangelis was the first
one
considered
as his replacement. Legal hassles
(visas,
work permits) and
perhaps other things prevented this.
3) His relationship to Yes goes back even
further. Those
of you who
saw the "Topographic Oceans" tour concerts
might
remember some
strange eerie music immediately preceding
the
concert. NOT the
closing moments of the Firebird Suite that
opened
all of their
concerts for years, but a series of slow,
spacey,
echoey string
chords (simulated violin sections). I
suddenly heard that same
piece on a college radio electronic music
program,
remembered it
instantly, and found out that it was
written
by Vangelis.
"Creation du Monde" from the (hard-to-find) album "Le
Apocalypse d'Animale", which is a score for a French
film.
Well, enough obscure data on Vangie. I, for one,
was
extremely
glad that he won the Oscar for his "Chariots" score.
Perhaps
this will
open up the world to heretofore (or is it hitherto? no, I used
that already)
unknown (to the world at large) electronic artists. (But
hopefully not so
much as to cause overkill. Though, given the foresight
and
musical vision
of record companies...)
Rich Rosen
...!pyuxjj!rlr
It appears that Yes was also being discussed on net.records around the same time, but sadly the early archives do not include that group. As new albums were released, they all prompted discussion. For example, this is the first mention of Cinema I could find:
Message-ID: <bnews.mhtsa.289>
Newsgroups: net.music
X-Path: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhtsa!bso
From: mhtsa!bso
Date: Tue Mar 8 07:44:57 1983
Subject: "Re: Tony Kaye"
References: <bnews.pyuxjj.433>
X-Google-Info: Converted from the original B-News header
Posted: Thu Mar 3 13:28:37 1983
Received: Tue Mar 8 07:44:57 1983
I understand that a band called "Cinema" has formed; it
features
Chris Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye: all (obviously) former
Yes
members. I believe the singer/guitarist is Trevor
Rabin.
Looking
forward to a record from these guys....
Bert (mhtsa!bso)
Alt.music.yes was created several years later. Yes discussion was dominating alt.music.progressive (which subsequently moved to rec.music.progressive) and it was felt that a separate Yes newsgroup was appropriate, following the existing model of groups like alt.music.pink-floyd and alt.music.marillion. The idea was raised at least as far back as Feb 1992, but the newsgroup was only formally created in Jun 1994. This is the original cmsg creating the alt.music.yes newsgroup:
Newsgroups: alt.config
Subject: cmsg newgroup alt.music.yes
Control: newgroup alt.music.yes
Date: 24 Jun 1994 23:40:06 GMT
Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont CA
Lines: 6
Approved: chris@muddcs.cs.hmc.edu
Message-ID: <2ufqsm$svs@jaws.cs.hmc.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: muddcs.cs.hmc.edu
Keywords: newgroup
Xref: uunet control:1022812
Alt.music.Yes was discussed on alt.config and
alt.music.progressive
with
nothing but support from people wanting a newsgroup devoted to
the band
Yes, and from people wanting Yes discussion moved out of
a.m.p.
The oldest message to be found in Google's Usenet archive follows, although this may have been several days into the newsgroup's life:
From: simon roberts (spxscr@thor.cf.ac.uk)
Subject: Tour
Newsgroups: alt.music.yes
Date: 1994-07-19 06:33:48 PST
I got wind that Yes were back on the road. Could
someone please
send me
a list of UK dates.
From what I've read about "Talk" I've completely given up on
studio
Yes,
but to see them live is another kettle of triple-fretboard
basses.
My
favourite albums are the live ones (Yesshows coming top of the
heap)
because they produce so much more energy live than they do in
the
studio. I hope they rework some of the songs for live
performance
-
like Ritual off Yesshows. They couldn't touch the
perfect
"Heart of the
Sunrise", but it would be good to hear something simpler, like
Wonderous
Stories, played in a different style.
Simon
| This
YES
WebRing site is owned by
Henry Potts. Want to join the YES WebRing? |
|---|
| [Skip Prev] [Prev] [Next] [Skip Next] [Random] [Next 5] [List Sites] |