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Lead
singer Jon Anderson started out playing in various English 'beat groups'
before going solo in 1967, recording two singles on the Parlophone
label. He was making a meager living cleaning up at a London club called
'La Chasse' during June of 1968, and was thinking of starting a new
band. One night at the bar, he chanced to meet bassist/vocalist Chris
Squire, a former member of the band, the Syn, who had recorded for Deram,
the progressive division of Decca. They
recruited Tony Kaye formerly of the Federals, on keyboards; Peter Banks,
previously a member of the Syn, on guitar; and drummer Bill Bruford, who
had only just joined the blues band Savoy Brown a few weeks earlier. The
name 'Yes' was chosen for the band as something short, direct, and
memorable. The
group's big break came in October of 1968, when they, on the
recommendation of The Nice's manager, Tony Stratton-Smith, played a gig
at the Speakeasy Club in London, filling in at yet another missed date
by the declining Sly & the Family Stone. The group was later
selected to open for Cream's November 26, 1968 farewell concert at Royal
Albert Hall. This concert, in turn, led to a residency at London's
Marquee Club and their first radio appearance, on John Peel's Top Gear
radio show. They subsequently opened for Janis Joplin at her Royal
Albert Hall concert in April 1969, and were quickly signed to Atlantic
Records. Their
debut single, entitled "Sweetness," was released soon after,
and their first album, 'Yes', was released in November of 1969. The
record displayed the basic sound that would characterize the band's
subsequent records, including impeccable high harmonies, clearly
defined, emphatic playing, and an approach to music that derived from
folk and classical, far more than the R&B from which most rock music
sprung. Also present was a hint of the "space rock" sound (on
"Beyond and Before") in which they would later come to
specialize. Anderson's
falsetto lead vocals gave the music an ethereal quality, while Banks'
angular guitar, seemingly all picked and none strummed, drew from folk
and skiffle roots. Squire's bass had a huge sound, owing to his playing
with a pick, giving him one of the most distinctive sounds on the
instrument this side of the Who's John Entwistle, while Bruford's
drumming was very complex within the pop-song context, and Kaye's
playing was rich and melodic. The
group's fame in England continued to rise as they became an increasingly
popular concert attraction, especially after they were seen by millions
as the opening act for Iron Butterfly. It was with the release of 'The
Yes Album' in April of 1971 that the public began to glimpse the group's
full potential. Despite
the early success, Banks began a Yes tradition that would stretch for
two and a half decades: He quit the band. All told, the band received
eight letters of resignation -- one or more from every founding member
except Squire.
By
the summer, the band began work on their next album, but were
interrupted when keyboard player Tony Kaye left in August, to join Peter
Banks in the group, 'Flash'. He was replaced by former Strawbs keyboard
player Rick Wakeman, who played his first shows with the band in
September and October of 1971. Wakeman
was a far more flamboyant musician than Kaye, not only in his approach
to playing but the number of instruments that he used and the way he
played them. In place of the three keyboards that Kaye used, Wakeman
used an entire bank of upwards of a dozen instruments, including
Mellotron, various synthesizers, organ, two or more pianos, and electric
harpsichord. This line-up, Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman, and Bruford,
which actually only lasted for one year, from August of 1971 until
August of 1972, is generally considered the best of all the Yes
configurations, and the strongest incarnation of the band. The
group completed their next album, 'Fragile', in less than two months,
partly out of a need to get a new album out to help pay for all of
Wakeman's equipment. Released in December of 1971, the new album reached
number seven in England and number four in America. Its success was
enhanced by the release of an edited single called
"Roundabout", the group's first (and, for over a decade, only)
major hit, which reached number 13 on the U.S. charts. The single's
impact among teenage and college-age listeners was far greater than this
chart position would indicate. They simply flocked to the band, with the
result that not only did 'Fragile' sell in huge numbers, but the group's
earlier records (especially The Yes Album) were suddenly in demand
again. Their
next recording session produced 'Close to the Edge', in the late spring
of 1972 and released in September of that year, consisting of only three
long tracks. The fans and critics alike loved 'Close to the Edge', full
of rich harmonies and keyboard passages of astonishing beauty and
complexity, powerful guitar, and precise drumming. The album reached
number four in England and number three in the United States without
help from a hit single (though an edited version of "And You and
I" did reach number 42 in America). By
the time of the record's release, however, Bill Bruford had left the
band to join King Crimson, and was replaced by Alan White, a session
drummer who was previously best known for having played with John Lennon
and Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band. The group then went on tour behind the
new album to massive audience response and critical acclaim. As an added
bonus for fans, Rick Wakeman had completed his first solo LP, the
instrumental concept album 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII', which was
released by A&M Records in February of 1973. (Wakeman had played
excerpts from it during his featured solo spot during the previous Yes
tour)
The
group spent the second half of 1973 trying to come up with a follow-up
to four successive hit albums. The resulting record, a double LP
entitled 'Tales from Topographic Oceans', was released in January of
1974 with such high expectations, that it earned a gold record from its
advanced orders. The album took critics and fans by surprise with its
long, psychedelic medleys. Apparently out of line with Rick Wakeman's
vision, the 1973 album drove a wedge between him and the rest of the
band, prompting a hasty departure and an even hastier replacement by the
classically trained Patrick Moraz. Three
months later, the group's new album, 'Relayer', was released, reaching
the British number four spot and the American number five position.
Moraz proved an adequate replacement for Wakeman, but lacked his
predecessor's gift for showmanship and extravagance. The group toured in
the wake of Relayer's release in November of 1974, and in March of 1975,
gave their fans a collection of their early music entitled 'Yesterdays',
drawn from the first two albums and various singles, which rose to
number 27 in England and number 17 in America. Amid
a series of solo projects, the group's line-up changed once again, as
Wakeman announced his return to the fold in late 1976, while Moraz
exited. Wakeman's original plan was to assist the group in the studio on
their new album, but the sessions proved so productive that he made the
decision, fully supported by the band, to return permanently. Wakeman
spearheaded a new movement toward tighter, shorter song structures on
the band's next effort, 'Going for the One'. The album topped the
British charts for two weeks and reached number eight in America, while
the singles "Wonderous Stories" and "Going for the
One" rose to numbers 7 and 24, respectively. The group embarked on
a massive tour shortly after the album's release, including their most
successful American appearances ever, playing to record audiences. The
badly named 'Tormato', released nearly a year later, heralded by the
single "Don't Kill the Whale", made the Top Ten in both
England and America in the fall of 1978. Once again, after finishing the
tour behind the album, the group members began working on solo projects.
ALBUMS 1969 Yes 1970 Time and a Word 1971 The Yes Album 1971 Fragile 1972 Close to the Edge 1973 Tales from Topographic Oceans 1974 Relayer 1977 Going for the One 1978 Tormato 1980 Drama 1983 90125 1987 Big Generator 1991 Union 1994 Talk 1996 Keys to Ascension 1997 Keys to Ascension 2 1997 Open Your Eyes 1999 The Ladder 2001 Magnification SINGLES 1969 "Sweetness" "Looking Around" 1970 "Time and a Word" "Sweet Dreams" 1971 "I've Seen All Good People: Your Move" "Roundabout" "America" 1972 "And You and I" 1973 "Roundabout" (live) 1975 "Soon" 1977 "Wondrous Stories" "Going for the One" 1978 "Don't Kill The Whale" 1980 "Into The Lens" 1983 "Owner of a Lonely Heart" "Our Song" "Leave It" 1984 "It Can Happen" "Changes" 1985 "Hold On" 1987 "Love Will Find A Way" "Rhythm Of Love" "Shoot High, Aim Low" 1988 "Final Eyes" 1991 "Lift Me Up" "Make It Easy" "Saving My Heart" 1994 "The Calling" "Walls" 1997 "Open Your Eyes" 1999 "Homeworld (The Ladder)" 2000 "If Only You Knew" 2001 "Never Ending Story"
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