|
|
|
||
|
THE
YES STORY |
|
|
|
|
Founded in 1968, Yes
proved to be one of the longest lasting and the most successful of the 1970s'
progressive rock groups. The band overcame a generational shift in its
audience and the departure of its most visible members at key points in its
history, to reach the new millenium as the definitive progressive rock band.
Their audience remained huge because they've always attracted younger
listeners drawn to their mix of daunting virtuosity, mystical lyrics, complex
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. In March of 1980,
Yes' line-up changed yet again, as Wakeman and then Anderson walked out after
an unsuccessful attempt to start work on a new album. Two months later,
Trevor Horn (vocals, guitar) and Geoff Downes (keyboards), formerly of the
British band, 'Buggles', joined the Yes line-up of Steve Howe, Chris Squire,
and Alan White. This configuration recorded a new album, 'Drama', which was
released in August of 1980. Rather ominously, Finally, in April of
1981, the total break-up of Yes was announced. Geoff Downes formed 'Asia'
with Steve Howe, which went on to some considerable, if short-lived success in
the early '80s, and the rest of the band scattered to different projects. For
a year-and-a-half, the group seemed a dead issue, until Chris Squire and Alan
White announced the formation of a new group called 'Cinema', with original
Yes keyboard player Tony Kaye and South African guitarist Trevor Rabin. The
line-up failed to gel, and Squire soon called his old friend, Jon Anderson to
join. It was about then that everyone realized that they'd reformed virtually
the core of the Yes line-up, and that they should simply revive the name. In late 1983, this
Yes line-up, with guitarist/vocalist Trevor Horn serving as producer,
released an unexpected chart-topping hit single (number one in the U.S. in
January of 1984) in "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", displaying a stripped-down,
modern dance-rock sound unlike anything the group had ever produced before.
They also released a successful dance-rock style album, '90125', under Horn's
guidance, which sold well, but also proved a dead-end, with no follow-up,
when Horn chose not to remain with the group. Yes was fairly
inactive for nearly two years after that, until the late 1987 release of 'The
Big Generator', which performed only moderately well. Meanwhile, in 1986,
Steve Howe re-appeared as a member of the quintet 'GTR', whose self-titled
album reached number 11 in America. The proliferation of
ex-Yes members gathering together in various combinations led to an ongoing
legal dispute over who owned the group name, which came to a head in 1989.
Luckily for four of them, the name "Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe"
was recognizable enough to reach the fans, which sent the resulting album
into the US Top 30 and the British Top 20, more or less handing them a
victory by acclamation (later supported by court settlement) in their dispute
over the name. By touring with "An Evening of Yes Music," they
presented their classic repertory to sell-out houses all over the country. With their success
re-kindled, the four sued the other various members who had toured as 'Yes',
over the legal use of the name. Happily, in 1991, the legal battles where
settled when the foursome kissed and made up with Squire, White, Rabin and
Kaye (all of the key past members except Peter Banks) before launching a
successful world tour. The accompanying album, 'Union', which displayed
somewhat tougher sound than they'd been known for, debuted on the British
charts at number seven and reached number 15 in America. This tour, which
allowed the band to showcase music from all of its previous incarnations and,
in the second half, featured each member who wished it in a solo spot, broke
more sales records. These mammoth three-hour shows and the resulting
publicity only seemed to heighten interest in the four-CD boxed set,
'YesYears', which was released by Atlantic in 1991.
The group continued
to sell CDs in large quantity, and in 1995, Atlantic Records issued upgraded,
remastered versions of the group's classic 1960s and '70s albums, even as the
work of many of their one-time rivals are consigned to the discount bins. In 1997, Anderson,
Squire, Howe, Sherwood, White and Khoroshev hit the studio to record an album
of new material, titled 'Open Your Eyes', and launch a nationwide tour. Their periodic show,
as well as numerous solo albums (especially by Wakeman, and later by Anderson
and Howe), are taken very seriously by fans and critics. The band's music of
almost every era is regarded with undiminished enthusiasm, and by their
critics as respectable attempts at doing something serious with rock music. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIVEMUSICMAGAZINE.COM2007 |
|
|
