S'cuse me whilst I geek out on Yes...

[GRollins]

Once upon a time, there was a band called Yes. I discovered them through a rather unlikely chain of circumstance and they quickly took hold of my musical imagination. They were touring heavily in those days and I went to see them a number of times--one being the famous night in Savannah, Georgia, after which they blocked out the music that would later become Tales From Topographic Oceans. I didn't know that at the time. No one did. It was just one of those accidental things. According to one version of the legend, they ran onstage and stopped the roadies from breaking down the equipment, then stayed up all night, there in the Savannah Civic Center, working out the music.

 

Me? I was back across the border in Hilton Head with my girlfriend, getting busy. It's not as though they needed another bass player--they had Chris Squire.

 

But that tour was quite the beast. They were touring in support of Close To The Edge and played all three songs from that album, in addition to earlier works. The band had lost Bill Bruford on the very eve of commencing the tour, but gained Alan White. He had to learn the material they would be playing in something like three days. Remember that this is Yes we've talking about, so there were quite a few time changes to keep track of and some pretty fierce playing required even when they were in standard 4/4 time. But he was up to the challenge, bless his widdle heart, and they hit the stage running.

 

SO...

 

Here we have, arrayed from right to left across the stage, Steve Howe on guitar, Alan White in back on drums, Jon Anderson handling vocals, Chris Squire with his trusty Rickenbacker bass, and of course...Rick Wakeman testing the structural integrity of the stage itself with about 5 1/2 tons of keyboards on the extreme right. And out in the middle of the coliseum floor, a tape spinning away, recording.

 

After the tour concluded--just a few nights after I saw them in Savannah--everybody went home, washed their laundry, and set about selecting songs from the tour to be released as a triple album called Yessongs. As unlikely as it may seem today, the album went on to sell about a bazillion copies. Believe it or not, prog rock bands commanded respect in those days and could sell out arenas. We're talking wall-to-wall, capacity crowds.

 

Man, those were the days, eh?

 

I remember clearly bragging to my mother that the record club she and I were using for albums had made a serious error. You see, if you bought five albums, you could select a free album. I'd been on the verge of ordering Yessongs and paying full price for it. Being a three disc set, it was pricey. But I discovered that some nitwit had placed it on the list that you could choose as a free selection. All the other albums you could select as freebies were single discs. It was just Yessongs that was a triple. Well, hell, it didn't take long for me to reorganize my part of the order, sliding single albums into the five slots, and Yessongs into the free slot. And she sent off the order.

 

When the album came in, it immediately went into heavy rotation on my turntable. Okay, so the sound quality wasn't the best. Complaint noted. But the music was damned fine. Five guys at the peak of their abilities, playing Grade A material. Sign me up. It's a testament to the forgiving nature of vinyl that there are any wiggles left in the grooves on my copy of Yessongs. (Yes, I still have that exact [free] copy and I'm still smug about it.) Oh, and did I mention the expansive Roger Dean artwork? Whoa! Even if the music wasn't there, I'd still pay just for the art. (Yes, I have the Roger Dean art book from that period. Love it.)

 

Time passed. Lots of time. Decades. Several of them, in fact.

 

Tapes believed lost were found. Restoration attempts were successful. Rhino records released a massive 14 CD set of seven concerts from the CTTE tour. In a concession to those who weren't sufficiently captivated by Yes to buy the whole thing (aka wimps...), they also released a Highlights version with a mere two CDs; sort of an alternate universe Yessongs, if you will. Phooey. I wanted the whole lot. It was seven full concerts or bust. The name of the album was Progeny and the year was 2015. The problem was that I didn't find out about it until much too late. They were sold out. All of them. I wrote to Rhino asking if there were any to be had or if they were going to reprint. Nope. Nothin' doin'. So I ordered a set from Amazon, who claimed they had one to sell. It never arrived. After six or eight months I cancelled the order and started watching eBay, only to find that the full set, which had been available for $65-75 new, was going for $350 and up on eBay. And that's used copies, mind you. New copies were more.

 

Oi!

 

Well, I'm a patient and persistent little feller, I am. I've been watching eBay for, like, three years, and finally managed to score a copy of the full set for a mere arm and leg, rather than two arms and two legs, plus sundry other appendages that I'd rather not lose.

 

It came in today and I have to say that this is the most musical fun I've had in many a moon. Yep, it's seven times the exact same set list, but there are enough changes from one gig to the next to make it interesting to someone who's as heavily into early Yes as I am. Having every note of Yessongs imprinted into my DNA makes this a rather startling experience. The songs were evolving on a nearly nightly basis and it's a blast listening to the variations.

 

At one point you could listen to a fair selection of the tracks on YouTube. Give that a shot before dropping this much money; see if you like Yes sufficiently to "go on tour" with them, circa 1972.

 

For me, it was a no-brainer. I just wish Progeny was still in print so the confounded thing wasn't so bloody expensive. Still, if you're like me, it just might be worth it. I'm having a ball.

 

Grey

[ksoper]

According to one version of the legend, they ran onstage and stopped the roadies from breaking down the equipment, then stayed up all night, there in the Savannah Civic Center, working out the music.

 

I'm picturing the conversation between the tour manager and the shop steward.

[Baldwin Funster]

Scuze me while I miss Chris Squire. The heart and soul of Yes. No Chris, No Yes. Not in any interesting way at least.

[GRollins]

According to one version of the legend, they ran onstage and stopped the roadies from breaking down the equipment, then stayed up all night, there in the Savannah Civic Center, working out the music.

 

I'm picturing the conversation between the tour manager and the shop steward.

 

You'll also see versions of the story wherein the worked things out back at the hotel, but that leaves begging the question of the attitudes of the other guests to having a rock band setting up amps, etc. in a bedroom down the hall. The Savannah Civic Center version was the rendition in circulation back when the album was released. The hotel aspect has at least some truth to it. They'd been talking about Topographic Oceans for a month or so prior to the Savannah date while on tour, but that was concept and some lyrics. Jon apparently had some cosmic vision of the whole thing and had stars in his eyes about the whole project. The others...not so much. I think Steve Howe was on board, but the others had to be sold on the idea. In the case of Rick Wakeman in particular, it was a tough sell. All told, he left the band over the album. I've always thought his keyboard work on TO was rather subdued, mostly relegated to background stuff with very little pyrotechnics. I can see why he might feel frustrated.

 

Grey

[GRollins]

Scuze me while I miss Chris Squire. The heart and soul of Yes. No Chris, No Yes. Not in any interesting way at least.

 

Absolutely no doubt about it. Chris was unique and I found Billy Sherwood's bass and vocals in the Howe/White edition of Yes to be pretty weak tea by comparison.

 

However, I can assure you that Chris Squire was very much alive and kicking (and leaping and running and...) back in 1972 and his bass lines on Progeny are mixed with more low end authority. Speaking as a bass player, I approve. I still think the audio quality is less than other live albums I've heard, but that can't be helped. Eddie Offord was mixing the sound for the PA but was not, for some reason, in charge of the recording mix.

 

I'm currently listening to the Duke University concert from November 11, 1972. That would have been an easy show for me to hit, since I lived in Chapel Hill in those days (and on the side of town nearest Durham, so...less than ten miles away), but I was already scheduled to go down to see the Savannah show with my girlfriend later in the tour and I wasn't in the habit of seeing more than one show on a tour. In hindsight, I wish I'd made an exception and hit Duke and Greensboro in addition to Savannah, but I didn't and, well, it's too late now. One of those things that I look back on with regret.

 

I swear Wakeman just did an up- pitch bend in the Hammond solo on Roundabout. WTF? How did he do that? I thought you could only drop pitch on a Hammond (by power cycling the thing), not raise the pitch. It's the cape...the man's a wizard. All he needed was a pointy hat.

 

Grey

[PianoMan51]

Poor me, I only have the Highlights version! But IMHO, this is essential listening for Yes fans. I"m not talking about new live takes of familiar tunes. These cuts completely changed my idea of what the band actually sounded like without a heavy handed producer.

 

Put on headphones. Steve Howe is playing guitars and singing on the far left. Rick Wakeman"s keys are on the far right. Jon Anderson"s vocal is center. Chris Squire"s bass and vocals are halfway right and Alan White"s drums are panned around center. These positions stay fixed and most importantly stay mixed at the same level. You hear every vocal and instrumental part at the same level. There"s no 'fading".

 

And this is very different than the final production on the albums. On the albums, thanks to Eddie Offord, we get a guided tour of Yes. The production focuses our attention, now on the vocals, now on the guitar solo, now on the keyboard solo, and then back. On Progeny there is no focus. It"s like a play in which everyone on stage is explaining their own POV continually during a scene. And the listener gets to provide focus or not.

 

The result is not that polished product we know. It"s a whirlwind of fierce creativity more akin to SunRa than Zep. The keys and drums benefit greatly because they"re never turned down. In spots Where the guitar and vocals are 'featured" on the albums, now you hear the whole band. I"ll leave it to each of us to make their own judgements.

[GRollins]

Your point about each member of the band being present at all times is well-noted. Being able to choose an instrument (e.g. keyboards) that you want to follow...and being able to track that instrument throughout the entire song...is invaluable. I'm hearing things that I never guessed at. It's there. All of it. Even an occasional flubbed note. For all the fact that Yes was a very tightly prepared band, there's a surprising amount of improvisation. I had always assumed that they locked in a performance they liked and that was it, night after night. This is more like jazz in some ways.

 

I still hate having to pay so much to get a set, but I must say that at least I'm not having buyer's remorse. This is an embarrassment of riches and I fully intend to wallow in it at every opportunity.

 

I was telling my wife yesterday that I wished there was some way that I could take this music back to my younger self and just generally lose my/our collective mind/s over the music. I haven't been this giddy over a recording in years.

 

Grey

[KuruPrionz]

I'mma chime in!

I saw Yes twice - the second time was the Tales of Topographic Oceans tour. Not sure what the one a year or so before it was called. Both excellent shows, I was all in on symphonic and prog rock back then.

I doubt anybody would notice it today but Steve Howe was a huge influence on me. I've never been a note for note guy, more of a "row my own boat" guy but I remember vividly putting the Topo Ocean Lp on and jamming along with it on a Gibson L6-S (the only guitar I can think of that I bought new) with a Big Muff and trying to cop the feel and patterns of what Steve was doing. It changed the way I approached the guitar and the music that I emanated.

 

I was also smitten by his versatility - he had all those different instruments onstage and played them all well. That stuck with me and now that I have a humble home studio it has turned out to be a great thing to emulate - see attached photos for a "tour" of my Guitarsenal. There may be a few more but not many, note that they are all quite different, which was my takeaway from watching Steve Howe.

 

Since I am talking influences, now I can look back and have some perspective on the things that influenced Yes. Of course Steve Howe was interesting in just about everything, from Bill Haley and the Comets to classical guitar to Jimi Hendrix, "free Jazz" (more on that in a bit). It's hard to imagine a Chris Squire without John Entwhistle, but John influence just about every bassist who came after him - I saw the Who on the Tommy tour. Maybe in a small way The Who influenced Yes as a band? Listen to Happy Jack a couple of times, they are verging on getting kind of prog there. Just a thought.

 

I would go dollars to donuts though that the Free Jazz movement coming out of America freshened their ideas regarding what music was and provided a counterbalance to the classical influences. John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Rasaan Roland Kirk and others were creating a new form that was inescapable if one was seriously consuming music back then.

 

Besides Yes, I saw Emerson, Lake and Palmer on the Brain Salad Surgery tour, the Paul Winter Consort - who were quite different live than they were on their carefully curated albums, UK (the Eddie Jobson, John Wetton and Terry Bozio iteration) Jethro Tull, Kittyhawk, The Dregs, The Dixie Dregs, Herbie Hancock (Headhunters tour) and ended up in some insane bands that despite playing only bar gigs did not adhere to the dance music formula that was the key to success. We failed in a spectacular way, odd time signatures and changes, peculiar subject matter. At the same time, we had respect in our little Fresno CA scene because nobody else around sounded like us at all and we were pretty tight at our madness.

 

Meanwhile, back to now. As much as I loved the music back then, I have a hard time listening to much of anything for the past several years. I don't know if that's the toll playing gigs constantly extracts from one or not. In the end, I don't particularly care for the sound of Jon Anderson's voice or the obscure lyrics. I guess I need to spin Siberian Khatru or something, that one rocked!!!! Cheers, Kuru

[KuruPrionz]

One more photo...

[Joe Muscara]

Maybe in a small way The Who influenced Yes as a band?

Isn't that considered a fact, that from A Quick One (While He's Away) to Tommy that The Who make it okay and even cool to have songs in rock that were more than three-minute singles?

[KuruPrionz]

Maybe in a small way The Who influenced Yes as a band?

Isn't that considered a fact, that from A Quick One (While He's Away) to Tommy that The Who make it okay and even cool to have songs in rock that were more than three-minute singles?

 

I hadn't considered that aspect but I would agree with it.

 

Happy Jack has some unusual timing quirks in it - at least they were unusual for a song on pop radio. Add in the vastly different role that bass and drums held in The Who, which influenced countless musicians in many different ways.

 

Legend is that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page wanted to steal John Entwhistle and Keith Moon to start Led Zepplin. I'd say they did well with John Paul Jones and John Bonham, so it goes.

[Iconoclast]

While it might be heresy, I'd have to say that ARW was one of the best shows I've seen in the last decade. They had the temerity to play The Fish but Lee Pomeroy is no slouch and did a great homage to Chris.

 

I absolutely love Yessongs but Yes kind of lost me in their middle period and then regained me around Drama timeframe. As much of a Steve Howe fan I am, I'm even more of a Trevor Rabin fan.

[drawback]

My roommate/bass player/best friend and I used to walk over town to band rehearsal every day we weren't gigging, and some point on the walk back to our place we'd decide which variety of hash to smoke, and which player"s track on the title song on 'Close To The Edge" we'd pay full attention to that night. This went on for at least a year. Far as I'm concerned, it's as far as Rock got. Lately after watching an episode of The Queen's Gambit, I've had a "Your Move" earworm.

 

There's an amazing homage over at Band Geek.

 

But I just discovered this for all you CTTE freaks:

[GRollins]

I was also smitten by his versatility - he had all those different instruments onstage and played them all well. That stuck with me and now that I have a humble home studio it has turned out to be a great thing to emulate - see attached photos for a "tour" of my Guitarsenal. There may be a few more but not many, note that they are all quite different, which was my takeaway from watching Steve Howe.

 

Since I am talking influences, now I can look back and have some perspective on the things that influenced Yes. Of course Steve Howe was interesting in just about everything, from Bill Haley and the Comets to classical guitar to Jimi Hendrix, "free Jazz" (more on that in a bit). It's hard to imagine a Chris Squire without John Entwhistle, but John influence just about every bassist who came after him - I saw the Who on the Tommy tour. Maybe in a small way The Who influenced Yes as a band? Listen to Happy Jack a couple of times, they are verging on getting kind of prog there. Just a thought.

 

I'm in the final stages of a build on a through-neck Les Paul-ish sort of guitar with some L-5s DNA and some...never mind...it is what it is, as they say. That's a large part of why I haven't been as active in this thread as I'd intended; I don't have a spray booth and try to shoot lacquer outside. I've been going at it hammer and tongs, trying to get to the point where I could shoot the color coats (3-tone sunburst planned), a layer of shellac, then at least a couple of top coats of lacquer. Sadly, t'was not to be. I kept losing days for one reason or another, then the rain came in, and now it's getting cold.

 

Crap.

 

As to John Entwhistle: Chris Squire said on many occasions that he was a huge influence. As to whether The Who as a band were an influence for Yes as a band...it's inevitable that they were aware of each other, but I don't know that there was all that much cross-pollination going on.

 

Grey

[GRollins]

Oh, and I've finished University of Georgia (11/14/72). Still absolutely gobsmacked by the differences from night to night. It is SO much easier to hear the individual instruments on these recordings than on Yessongs. Even the exact same performances used for Yessongs sound different. Two more concerts to go, but I'm having to fit the music in betwixt and between everything else that's going on.

 

No, the Progeny set is not going to be everyone's cup o' tea, but I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

 

So there!

 

Grey

[GRollins]

I'm currently listening to Yours Is No Disgrace from Knoxville, TN, (11/15/72), which is the same performance that's on Yessongs and...it's really different. I'm beginning to think that I'm going to want to go through and do a one-for-one comparison between Yessongs and the equivalent tracks on Progeny. Are certain guitar riffs just mixed lower on Yessongs or were they edited out completely? Given the jazz-like improv nature of large parts of the songs (jeez, my respect for Steve Howe has increased tremendously--very different solos from night to night, yet all coherent and "right" taken on their own), it's clear that it is, in fact, the same performance, yet...there are things that will take further study.

 

Man, for a Yes fanatic this is like being in a candy store. YUM! I'll take one of those and one of those and two of those and...

 

Grey

[KuruPrionz]

I was also smitten by his versatility - he had all those different instruments onstage and played them all well. That stuck with me and now that I have a humble home studio it has turned out to be a great thing to emulate - see attached photos for a "tour" of my Guitarsenal. There may be a few more but not many, note that they are all quite different, which was my takeaway from watching Steve Howe.

 

Since I am talking influences, now I can look back and have some perspective on the things that influenced Yes. Of course Steve Howe was interesting in just about everything, from Bill Haley and the Comets to classical guitar to Jimi Hendrix, "free Jazz" (more on that in a bit). It's hard to imagine a Chris Squire without John Entwhistle, but John influence just about every bassist who came after him - I saw the Who on the Tommy tour. Maybe in a small way The Who influenced Yes as a band? Listen to Happy Jack a couple of times, they are verging on getting kind of prog there. Just a thought.

 

I'm in the final stages of a build on a through-neck Les Paul-ish sort of guitar with some L-5s DNA and some...never mind...it is what it is, as they say. That's a large part of why I haven't been as active in this thread as I'd intended; I don't have a spray booth and try to shoot lacquer outside. I've been going at it hammer and tongs, trying to get to the point where I could shoot the color coats (3-tone sunburst planned), a layer of shellac, then at least a couple of top coats of lacquer. Sadly, t'was not to be. I kept losing days for one reason or another, then the rain came in, and now it's getting cold.

 

Crap.

 

As to John Entwhistle: Chris Squire said on many occasions that he was a huge influence. As to whether The Who as a band were an influence for Yes as a band...it's inevitable that they were aware of each other, but I don't know that there was all that much cross-pollination going on.

 

Grey

[KuruPrionz]

Been there, done that on the lacquer thing. In Fresno it wasn't about the temperature so much as either the wind (we had filthy air) or the particular bugs that were in season.

Some insects are attracted to the smell of lacquer and will land right in your finish, thinking they are getting the good stuff.

 

If you notice in time, you can pick them out before the paint dries. If not, the joys of having to carefully remove an insect from the clear coat on an otherwise nearly finished instrument are hard to describe.

It was not enough for me the that the bug died a horrible death, all the work that ensued should have caused a karmic devastation of the entire species.

 

Somebody earlier pointed out that the Who's penchant for relatively long and sometimes meandering compositions may have influenced prog rock in general but I am not sure about that.

I'd have to go back through there catalog and date match with other bands that played longer, flowing versions. The Grateful Dead come to mind and Cream. Of course, jazz had long since established that concept as a normal compositional factor and certainly Steve Howe at least was influenced by jazz music forms from America. So I'd question that idea. I'd still rate Happy Jack as one of the most musically progressive hit singles of it's day. It's mundane by what became typical prog rock standards but I can't think of a precedent, at least not at the moment.

[Tusker]

As to whether The Who as a band were an influence for Yes as a band...it's inevitable that they were aware of each other, but I don't know that there was all that much cross-pollination going on.

 

Brother Grey, it appears that Yes were denied the 7th floor because of the Who....

 

 

[video:youtube]

[GRollins]

Been there, done that on the lacquer thing. In Fresno it wasn't about the temperature so much as either the wind (we had filthy air) or the particular bugs that were in season.

Some insects are attracted to the smell of lacquer and will land right in your finish, thinking they are getting the good stuff.

 

If the bugs are giving you fits, aim an ordinary box fan at the guitar from, say, ten feet away. The air current will keep the fumes away from you--without being so strong that it will disrupt the lacquer from the spray gun--but it will be strong enough that it will push all but the strongest fliers away.

 

Then snatch your guitar down as soon as you're done spraying and take it inside, open the windows, and let it spend the first hour or two of drying time on the other side of a screen.

 

Against all odds, I got two of the three colors for the sunburst started today. As soon as I get the third down (hopefully tomorrow morning), then I'll sand the thing down to enhance the grain and do it all again.

 

Grey

[GRollins]

As to whether The Who as a band were an influence for Yes as a band...it's inevitable that they were aware of each other, but I don't know that there was all that much cross-pollination going on.

 

Brother Grey, it appears that Yes were denied the 7th floor because of the Who....

 

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

See? Told you they were aware of each other!

 

Grey

[KuruPrionz]

Been there, done that on the lacquer thing. In Fresno it wasn't about the temperature so much as either the wind (we had filthy air) or the particular bugs that were in season.

Some insects are attracted to the smell of lacquer and will land right in your finish, thinking they are getting the good stuff.

 

If the bugs are giving you fits, aim an ordinary box fan at the guitar from, say, ten feet away. The air current will keep the fumes away from you--without being so strong that it will disrupt the lacquer from the spray gun--but it will be strong enough that it will push all but the strongest fliers away.

 

Then snatch your guitar down as soon as you're done spraying and take it inside, open the windows, and let it spend the first hour or two of drying time on the other side of a screen.

 

Against all odds, I got two of the three colors for the sunburst started today. As soon as I get the third down (hopefully tomorrow morning), then I'll sand the thing down to enhance the grain and do it all again.

 

Grey

 

I am long since done spraying finishes. I will do the occasional rattle can thing on my back deck but not often enough to make an event out of it.

I may have one or two custom builds left in me yet but I'll send the parts down to a good friend in Fresno who has a booth and is really great at it.

[David Emm]

I'm one of the oddly blessed. I got to see Wakeman do "King Arthur" as a solo live show, Yes with Patrick Moraz and then Moraz on a duo "Flags" tour with Bill Bruford. That was my first exposure to a Kurzweil 250. After getting to lay hands on one in a store, I confirmed my belief that Moraz had massive brass ones to solo with it. Years later, Jordan Rudess wowed me by playing a Kurzweil Orchestral block like a proper Julliard whiz. If I'd landed a K before some of the other things I played, I'd still be living there above anything else.

[GRollins]

I saw Moraz with Yes on the Relayer tour. I remember being of two minds about him vs. Wakeman--I was okay with when he played the Relayer material (i.e. his own parts), but wasn't entirely happy with his interpretations of the older songs.

 

And, to be honest, I found all the fiberglass doo-dads on stage distracting. I know others go for that sort of thing, but for me it took away from the music...which is the entire reason I go see a band like Yes.

 

Grey

[KuruPrionz]

I am not good at comparing different players of similar instruments.

 

If somebody is excellent, they are excellent. At the same time, there can be a subjective pinnacle.

 

Ray Charles was not a virtuoso on keys but is was wonderful to hear him. Herbie Hancock, Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, Eddie Jobson, T. Lavitz, I've seen all of them and they all moved me in different ways. Certainly all of them are virtuosos in their own right. I don't know the name of the player who held down Hammond B-3 through a stack of Leslies for BB King but he was impressive as well.

 

Hard to say one was better than the others.

 

For all that, when I was well under 10 years old (6-7-8?), Mom took the kids to see Artur Rubenstein perform solo on grand piano. A small, perfectly dressed gentleman sat calmly with perfect posture and his fingers danced.

He became a giant, it sounded like thunder, hit us like lightning and then, delicate flowers began opening their petals in the morning dew, only to lead to another fierce crescendo.

 

Probably due to it being my first concert and certainly as good as one will ever hear, Mr Rubenstein takes the Imperial Throne.

[Docbop]

I saw Moraz with Yes on the Relayer tour. I remember being of two minds about him vs. Wakeman--I was okay with when he played the Relayer material (i.e. his own parts), but wasn't entirely happy with his interpretations of the older songs.

 

And, to be honest, I found all the fiberglass doo-dads on stage distracting. I know others go for that sort of thing, but for me it took away from the music...which is the entire reason I go see a band like Yes.

 

Grey

 

That's the Yes tour I was on the crew for. I just remember Steve Howe getting upset with Moraz and keeping him after soundcheck to go over parts. Steve was upset Moraz was forgetting things. It was a short tour only six week and a lot of work we jumped about 500 miles a night on average zig zagging around the country.

 

Those fiberglass things were a pain for crew too. They would crack and break in the trucks during travel so we had a small repair booth we had to carry to fix and repaint them. Mainly they were on stage to hide cables, bass pedals for Squire, and some pedals for Howe. I was the biggest tour I worked Yes and Ace were the package so we had four semi's of gear to load/upload daily. The two bands plus Eddie Offord, managers, PA, lighting, truck drivers and loaders and roadie we had about forty people on the road. With some much gear to load you could practically set your watch according to what song they were playing. I you looked closely we were packing things up as the show was going on, anything that was no long to be used we were pulling down and packing. The first few days of the tour were hectic as we figure out how to load things and organize the behind the scenes work, but it got to be a fine tuned machine doing that show. It was a really good time and they treated the crew great.

[GRollins]

Um...Yes, Relayer tour was Greensboro, NC, for me, I think. That was my usual venue to see big acts, as Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh had sufficient fans to make it worthwhile for any large band to play the area, but no place to play unless they wanted to do an open-air show in one of the football stadiums (take your pick: UNC, Duke, NC State). So by default the big acts went to Greensboro, which was an hour away, but had the Greensboro Coliseum.

 

I used to roadie and do sound when I couldn't find a band to play with, but only small local bands. Thankless job. I gave it up after a while. I did hook up with an excellent guitar player that way, though. Wish I knew where he was now...

 

Grey

[eric]

This thread has inspired me to digest and learn more about early Yes.

 

To share a vulnerable perspective, most of my exposure to Yes did not start until the era of 90125 and Big Generator. I went to see them in concert on the Big Generator tour. I'm familiar enough with the "hits" from the early era, though other than reading all the various Keyboard Magazine articles and geeking out over Rick Wakeman's keyboard rig, I will admit to having limited exposure to the earlier era. I was sucked into the '80s Yes vortex via MTV and "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and totally loved that era...though I realize it's a bit akin to my other vulnerable admission that my Genesis experience is more steeped in Phil Collins than Peter Gabriel.

 

Thanks for this thread! For someone like me that needs to learn more about the earlier scene, is YesSongs the best vehicle?

[drawback]

For someone like me that needs to learn more about the earlier scene, is YesSongs the best vehicle?

 

To really hear the progression of Yes, I think it's better to go with the trilogy of "The Yes Album," "Fragile," and "Close To The Edge." in that order

[GRollins]

Yessongs is somewhat like a greatest hits album for the early years. It was pretty much the perfect time to record a live album for them, as they'd just released Close To The Edge, which many regard as the ultimate prog album, ever, and they were psyched. The downside is that the sound quality isn't as good as I'd like, but it's good enough and the band was on fire in those days.

 

Some like Tales From Topographic Oceans, but for me it was a sharp step down from CTTE, and Yessongs drew a definite line between the early stuff and Topographic Oceans, etc; pre and post.

 

Me? If you want to go the studio route, I'd say listen to Close To The Edge, all three tracks, and see how that strikes you, because that's some pretty powerful stuff and if it doesn't move you, then it's likely that you've saved some time not going through the other albums. If, on the other hand, CTTE grabs you, then work on the predecessors. If you're still on board, try Relayer, then back up and hit TO. Moving forward from Relayer, things get progressively more pop-oriented, which didn't work for me, although it clearly struck a chord with others.

 

Note that Close To The Edge didn't get any love on the radio in any market that I know of, because the tunes were too long. Because of that, you're not likely to be familiar with those songs the way you'd recognize Roundabout or I've Seen All Good People or whatever. I (and many others) think it's their best album, though.

 

Grey