Alan White: news about his music & legacy
This page last updated: 18 Oct 2022
On other pages: Yes news
Alan White's official site: Homepage; News; Facebook page
Alan White passed away on 26 May 2022 after a brief illness. He
is survived by his wife Gigi and two children, Jesse and Cassi,
who announced the news. He
was a member of Yes until his death.
There was a fundraiser celebration
of White's life on 2 Oct 2022 in Seattle, WA, with proceeds
going to WhyHunger.
A live stream of the event is available
on Facebook. It was hosted by Bob Rivers. Performing were
Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison and Jay Schellen from
the current Yes, and (separately) former Yes member Trevor Rabin.
Also performing were White and guests
including Ryan
Rabin (Trevor's son; Captain Cuts),
Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, worked with Tony Levin,
The Sea
Within), Michael Shrieve
(ex-Santana), Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam,
ex-Soundgarden), Spike Edney (works with
Queen), Roger Fisher (ex-Heart),
Michael Derosier (ex-Heart, Heart by Heart),
Steve Fossen (ex-Heart, Heart by Heart),
Jeff Scott Soto (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Sons of
Apollo, ex-Journey), Fernando Perdomo (The
New Empire, worked with Dave
Kerzner), Dave Kerzner (Arc of Life, worked with Jon Anderson, Genesis,
Steven Wilson), Bernt Bodal (White Sox
All-Star Band), Mark Hudson (worked with
Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi), Reek Havok (worked with Alan White), Geoffrey Castle (worked with Alan White), "Downtown" Joe
Bryant (additional co-hosting) and Caspian Coberly.
The drummers were playing on two of White's Yes kits. The set was:
Arc of Life had also rehearsed an extended medley including sections from Tales from Topographic Oceans, Relayer, Going for the One and Big Generator, which had to be dropped because of time constraints. Rudess also uploaded a video of an arrangement of "To be Over" in tribute.
The tributes by Bruford, Anderson, R and O Wakeman, Howe and Dean
are available
here.
White's family said on
Facebook:
To all commenting on the lack of alumni participation for the tribute concert for Alan, we ask that you not speculate about why certain individuals will not be present.
All past and present members of YES are our family and we do not want any negativity directed towards anyone. That is not what this concert is about, and Alan would not want that either.
We put forward the message that if it’s in your heart to participate, all are welcome, and all were invited.
We have received video tributes from so many of Alan’s peers and will be sharing these at some stage.
We hope you will enjoy the music being shared, show your love for Alan, and support the charity effort behind this event.
The band White (with the addition of a brass section) also played
the day before, 1 Oct, at the
Salmon Days festival, with various guests, including Castle
(on Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)") and, playing
White's drum kit, Schellen and Joe Cass (Total Mass Retain;
on "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" and "I am Waiting"). The set
also included "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Changes" and The
Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", and had been expected to include
music by John Lennon and George Harrison.
Another tribute to Alan was on 10
Sep 2022 during the Newcastle Days festival, performed by
the Beatles tribute band Apple Jam, with whom he had played.
White had had
health problems limiting his ability to play live. On tour with
Yes in recent years, White had only played a minority of the set,
with Jay
Schellen playing most of the time. White first had problems
with his back in early 2016, with Schellen first filling in for
him in Jul 2016. In a Mar
2018 interview, White referred to his back surgery, saying,
"It's getting better, I had surgery on it and some fusion done, it
takes a long time to get over that kind of stuff but it's a lot
better than it was. I'm walking almost like a normal human being
again. Actually when I sit on the drum kit I never feel anything
at all, it's just kind of walking that gives me a little problem
but that's going away very quickly." He said the band have no
plans to retire, adding "It's just what I do. I've been doing it
all my life. We do work in bundles, we do a lot then rest for a
while." In a Feb 2019 interview from the Cruise to
the Edge, White talked of a two year recovery period from
surgery (an L3 to L5 lumbar fusion) and that it will be two years
for him in Jul 2019, but also that he will be 70 in 2019. In a Feb 2021
interview, asked about his back problems, White said that it
"never ever goes away", but that it "doesn't really affect me",
although he also said he gets "a bit stiff sometimes". However, he
appears to still have had health problems.
White official website; Facebook page
White was Alan (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Karl Haug (guitars, backing
vocals), Steve Boyce (ex-MerKaBa, Two Sheds Jackson;
bass, guitar, backing vocals), Robyn Dawn (worked
with the White Sox All-Star Band, Black Sabbath tribute band Supernauty, ex-Yes
tribute band Parallels,
worked with Ajalon;
vocals) and Jonathan
Sindelman (The
Bird Brain, ex-Parallels, worked with Ajalon, Neal Morse;
keys, vocals). The remaining members of White performed at
1 and 2 Oct 2022 shows in tribute to Alan: see above. They had
been continuing with occasional live performances around Seattle,
WA before the pandemic. In a Feb 2019 interview from the Cruise to
the Edge, Alan said he was looking to record with the band
in his time off from Yes in 2019. He said, "we're piecing together
an album right now [...] It's coming to the stage where
everybody's got the pieces that will fit. We've just got to fit it
together and rehearse it well. And then go in there and
slam it down." They played Newcastle Days, WA in Sep 2019, with
White, Boyce et al. (I haven't been able to confirm the
rest of the band); set: "Tomorrow Never Knows", unidentified,
"Owner of a Lonely Heart", "I am Waiting", unidentified,
"Changes", "Hold On", "Instant Karma", "Roundabout", "Imagine",
"Gimme Some Lovin'".
In a Nov 2014 interview with YesFANZ,
Alan said: "I have been writing material already with [...] the
White Band [...] we have come along with it and I'll probably will
venture out into recording something kind of heading towards
Spring [2015] time or something like that. Do some more writing
and get in the studio and it will be interesting." Alan White said
in a late
Mar 2017 interview that he and the band "[a]re looking
forward to writing more music together and coming out with another
album in the near future." More broadly, he said:
I have many ideas for music. A lot of the stuff I write is in collaboration with other artists including the members of YES. [...] I have things in my mind and demos I’ve recorded. I have a couple of songs that I did with Chris that we’re never released that I was thinking about reviving. It’s an excellent piece of music. Chris came up with certain chords and I wrote the melody. So, I’ve got some interesting stuff like that around. [...] in the back of my mind I have some music hanging around that I want to eventually record. I’m also getting new musical ideas all the time.
In an interview
published Jun 2017, but seemingly conducted around Mar, Alan
said: "we're talking about doing another [album]."
In a Q&A
for YesWorld in Apr 2013, Alan said "We've started writing
and working on a new album but it's taking time due to my
commitment to YES." In another
in Jul 2013, he said, "Obviously my time commitments with
YES are pretty strong right now [...] but I meet with the White
band and we've been rehearsing for an upcoming show [...] We've
written and recorded some new music in demo form, and hopefully we
can find time to record it properly later this year [2013] or
early next year [2014]." In an interview
published early Nov 2011, he said:
While I had a month off [from
Yes], or so, we got into writing some new stuff. We’re working
on a lot of new material right now. It’s refreshing. You feel
like you are getting a bunch of music out there. Of course, Yes
is everybody’s main project.
In Jun 2013, responding to a question about plans for a new
studio album, the band's Facebook account said, "We do have some
new music in the works. With everyone's various schedules it's
been a little slow-going, but we are working on it". In a Feb
2014 interview, asked about doing a new White album, Alan
said: "We've been writing some new material but I've been doing
these things with Yes. I've been trying to fit it in between and
record new stuff, but I have a lot to do with Yes [in 2014]". In a
Mar 2014 interview by Brian Neeson of the Scottish
Yes Network, White expressed similar sentiments: "With the
Yes schedule it's hard to fit anything in there. We've been
talking about doing another [White] album. A couple of the guys
have been writing and I've got some stuff to present [...] it's
getting the time to do it."
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Other projects & appearances Asked about a new solo album in a Jan 2000 interview, White said: "I've got tons of material, I just need the time to do it. [...] I've had the material hanging around for a long time". In a Nov 2001 interview, he said: "I've actually had a lot of material, collected over years and years, but I use some of it in every Yes album. However I'm collecting some other pieces and maybe my second album will come out someday." In a Dec 2003 interview with Delicious Agony, he said, "I have stockpiles of material," but that he wanted to take his time over any project to "make sure it's right." In his 2004 MSN Chat, White said, "I have a home studio and I'm working on some solo projects as well [as the White band]." In an interview for Rolling Stone published Nov 2012, Jimmy Page (ex-Led Zeppelin) said that he has multi-track recordings from the 1981 XYZ sessions with Chris Squire and Alan White and that he would like to see these released at some point: see under Squire for details. In a Feb 2017 interview, White indicated he was doing an autobiography or biography: "A few people are wanting to do a book, but one guy in particular has some good ideas, so we'll see. I'll go back through the John Lennon days and Joe Cocker and all kinds of stuff." A Jun 2018 interview described him as writing a memoir and quotes White: "I usually try to tell people to get the book. It will be out soon". In a Jan 2020 interview with Yes Music Podcast, asked about writing an autobiography, White said "I eventually will", but did not give the impression that he had yet begun. |
Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts.
Thanks.