Inducted:
Jon Anderson
Bill Bruford
Tony Kaye
Trevor Rabin
Chris Squire
Rick Wakeman
Alan White

Hall of Fame Essay (pdf) by Ashley Kahn: [Link]

Ron Hart - New York Observer

Saturday, April 20, 2024 7:29 PM

5 Albums That Prove Why Yes Belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Ron Hart
New York Observer
April 5, 2017

We may never understand the disrespect Jann Wenner's shown for progressive and hard rock since he first began Rolling Stone 50 years ago.

In the words of Jason Lee's character in Almost Famous, Wenner ran the magazine "that trashed 'Layla,' broke up Cream and ripped every album Led Zeppelin ever made."

While the movie is based on director Cameron Crowe's own adventures as a tour correspondent, the fact Rolling Stone sent a teenager on the road with some of these massive bands only emphasizes how frivolous Wenner perceived them to be, despite Crowe's mastery of writing at such a young age.

One of the very first bands Crowe interviewed was his favorite at the time, English progressive rock icons Yes, for an underground newspaper based out of San Diego. When he began writing regularly for Rolling Stone, hitting the road with the English prog outfit was one of his initial assignments, an experience that would help fuel his creation of Almost Famous.

"We toured Southern California together," he wrote in the liner notes to the 2002 Yes box set In A Word (1969-). "It was the first time I'd truly seen how a band operated, the delicate chemistry of a group. There was an utter seriousness about their quest to be truly great, always combined with a humor that flashed just below the surface."

On Friday, April 7, Yes will finally be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Sadly, however, after all this time with all five members of the band's classic lineup alive and well and surely game for a reunion performance at the ceremony, the group will be going into the Hall without its intrepid original bassist, Chris Squire, who died of leukemia in June of 2015.

As of press time, the chances of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford and Rick Wakeman, along with past members Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin and Alan White performing at the Barclays Center this weekend in some capacity seem quite probable.

Yet the induction Yes' into the Hall is not without controversy--the powers-that-be are recognizing only the Union era of the band: Howe, Anderson, Squire, White, Bruford, Wakeman and Rabin. This means that, in lieu of the numerous other musicians who have been part of Yes through the years, two of its most important historical components--Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes of The Buggles--will not be accounted for.

It's a true crime, especially if you consider the Drama/90125 lineups of the group to be as important to its timeline as the band who gave us Fragile and Close to the Edge.

Nevertheless, what's most important to the surviving members of the classic Yes lineup and its legions of diehard fans is that they're finally being recognized in this dubious institution, for better or for worse.

"Their music still matters, year in and year out," Crowe concluded in his In A Word liner notes. "Whatever trend was in vogue, you could always still find Yes on any radio dial."

Here are the five most overlooked Yes works spanning the prime years for the band (1969-1989) that prove why they've always deserved a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whether its gatekeepers wanted to acknowledge it or not.

5) Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe (1989)

Unable to use the name Yes thanks to a legal entanglement with the 90125 lineup led by estranged bassist Squire and guitarist Trevor Rabin, original members Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe strung their four last names together and created their eponymous debut for Arista in June of 1989, with Bruford recruiting his King Crimson rhythm buddy Tony Levin for bass.

For fans who soured on the commercial maneuvers that dominated both 90125 and its even-more-mainstream follow-up, 1987's Big Generator, the return of the classic Roger Dean cover art and three- and four-part epics was indeed a most welcome one.

In a funny twist of fate, the album's first single, "Brother of Mine" became a hit on MTV for a brief time. And the thing about Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe is that listening to it nearly 30 years later, it holds up as the last truly great Yes album, even if it was contractually forbidden to call itself by that name.

4) Drama (1980)

"Yes is a pop band," asserts yesfans.com, one of the many fan blogs designed in honor of the group, championing the brief period where Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes--months removed from revolutionizing new wave as The Buggles--came in and reinvented Yes for the MTV age they ushered in with "Video Killed The Radio Star."

Drama marked the debut of this particular lineup, and served as the quintessential transition between 1979's Tormato, and 1983's commercial breakthrough 90125. It's a record very much in conference with a pair of other classic 1980 LPs--Duke by Genesis and David Bowie's Scary Monsters--in that Drama provided this sturdy bridge from prog complexity to pop sensibility. It's also the only album to feature Horn on lead vocals.

3) Bill Bruford, The Bruford Tapes (1979)

There was always an undercurrent of jazz flowing through the complex structures of Yes, an attribute we have the band's seminal backbone, drummer Bill Bruford, to thank for.

However, pulling double duty as the drummer for both Yes and King Crimson throughout the '70s was simply not enough to satiate his appetite for odd time signatures. In 1978, he set out to record his own proper fusion album under his own name, an instrumental-based extension of the work he was doing in the British supergroup U.K.

Rounded out by the mind-boggling lineup of Eddie Jobson of Curved Air on keyboards and violin, the late, great John Wetton on bass and lead vocals and guitar icon Allan Holdsworth, it's a side project that's far better than that term implies.

But the best way to hear Bruford's side project was to hear it live. The Bruford Tapes, recorded at the infamous Long Island rock venue My Father's Place and originally broadcast on the region's groundbreaking new music station WLIR, is an absolute whirlwind of heavy fusion featuring a scorching set by Bruford and his live band (bassist Jeff Berlin, keyboardist Dave Stewart and guitarist John Clark).

The performances on display prove he could hold his own as boldly as Howe, Fripp and Holdsworth combined despite his status as "The Unknown." In terms of instrumental music from the extended Yes universe, it doesn't get better than this.

2) Relayer (1974)

Following up on a magnum opus like 1972's Tales from Topographic Oceans was surely no easy feat, especially considering the departure of Rick Wakeman following the lengthy tour in support of the double LP.

But with the inclusion of keyboardist Patrick Moraz, the group followed up with arguably the most direct exercise in the concept of Yes as a hard rock band with Relayer. Featuring not only a grittier organ attack from their Swiss counterpart, the album also displays some of the most energetic interplay between Squire and drummer Alan White. Consider this album the Presence to Tales' Physical Graffiti.

1) Yes (1969) / Time and a Word (1970)

Another similarity between Yes and their fellow brothers of the belated Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entry Deep Purple is that the prog band's early, early days are often highly overlooked within the grand scheme of their catalog as a whole.

However, both their eponymous debut and its 1970 follow-up Time and a Word are both deft indications of the group's roots in The Byrds, The Beatles and British folk with a raw sense of purity that got lost in their collective imagination as the years went by.

These embryonic works, featuring original guitarist Peter Banks and keyboardist Tony Kaye, are well worth revisiting.

Marc Myers - Wall Street Journal

Saturday, April 20, 2024 2:47 PM

The Inspiration Behind 'Roundabout,' the 1972 Hit Song by Yes; Yes singer Jon Anderson recalls writing the lyrics to 'Roundabout' in a van traveling through Scotland

Marc Myers
March 7, 2017

Born in Britain with classical and psychedelic influences, progressive rock boomed in the early 1970s with the rise of FM radio and affordable stereo systems. One of the era's most popular prog rock bands was Yes, thanks largely to "Fragile," the group's fourth studio album, released in 1971.

"Roundabout," the album's sole single, climbed to No. 13 on Billboard's pop chart in early 1972 while "Fragile" reached No. 4 for seven weeks. On April 7, Yes will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Recently, "Roundabout's" co-writer and Yes guitarist Steve Howe along with co-writer and lead singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman recalled the hit's evolution. Today, Mr. Howe continues to record and tour with Yes, while Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wakemen, who recently released "Piano Portraits" (Universal), are members of the band Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman. Edited from separate interviews.

Jon Anderson: I began writing the lyrics to "Roundabout" while traveling with the band in a van through Scotland in late March 1971. Yes was on tour then, and we had just performed in Aviemore the night before.

In the van, we were heading south to Glasgow, about a 3½-hour drive. There were mountains and lakes everywhere.

I had smoked a joint, so everything was vivid and mystical. As we drove along, we encountered a fair number of "roundabouts," what you in the States call traffic circles.

At one point, the road dropped into a deep valley and ran next to a large lake. Low clouds covered the mountain peaks.

I took out my little notepad and started writing. I wrote the lyrics in a free form and didn't edit the lines much. I just loved how words sounded when I put them together:

"I'll be the roundabout / the words will make you out 'n' out" expressed how I felt as the song's words came to me fast, the way cars navigate roundabouts.

I expected to be in the van for several hours, so I was spending "the day your way, call it morning driving through the sound of in 'n' out the valley."

"In and around the lake" was the road winding through the region. Down in the valley, the mountains seemed to "come out of the sky and stand there."

I was married then, and I knew I'd see my wife in a day: "Twenty four before my love you'll see / I'll be there with you."

Steve Howe: In Glasgow, we checked into our hotel, and Jon and I got together in my room with a cassette recorder. Eventually we had this minor feel for the verse that resolved in a major key for the chorus.

But the song's biggest advance came that August in a London rehearsal studio, when keyboardist Rick Wakeman replaced Tony Kaye in the band. Rick was more interested in the technology direction we wanted to take.

Mr. Anderson: Rick revolutionized our sound. He added multiple keyboards, which gave us more textured possibilities.

At the rehearsal studio, I sat on a chair in the middle of the band and listened to what they were developing. If what they were working on wasn't happening, I'd make suggestions.

"Roundabout" wasn't difficult to sing. But as the band's vocalist, I needed to know where the song was going. They often looked to me to figure out what should come next so the vocal and instrumental worked together.

Mr. Howe: In September, when we went into Advision Studios in London to record "Roundabout," we used their 16-track tape machine, which let us layer the instruments. The song became pure magic.

Mr. Anderson: The rhythm track was recorded first, in segments. The band would rehearse one segment at a time and then record it. Then they'd move on to the next segment, always mindful of the song's progression and structure.

Steve planned to open the song by playing something of a Scottish jig on his acoustic guitar. He had played it for me earlier at our hotel.

Mr. Howe: My opening acoustic guitar part was played on my 1953 Martin 00-18. But we felt the song needed something more dramatic to start. We found it with a backward piano note. When you strike a single piano note and hold it down, the sound starts loud and then fades away. We wanted this to happen in reverse.

We recorded Rick holding down a piano note, and then we turned the tape reel over and started the song where the note was faintest. What you hear on the record is a note going from faint to loud, as if it's rushing toward you.

Rick Wakeman: For the piano-note intro, I simultaneously played the lowest E on the studio's grand piano and the E an octave higher. The octave gave the note a fatter feel.

Chris Squire wanted a funky sound on the bass, sort of a Sly and the Family Stone feel. I played organ arpeggios over the top with my right hand as my left hand played Chris's bass notes to add weight.

Mr. Howe: When we finished the rhythm track, Chris overdubbed his bass track using my Gibson ES-150 electric guitar, which had a Charlie Christian pickup. It wasn't terribly loud, but it was effective, giving him an eight-string bass sound.

On the organ, Rick was adventuresome, allowing the rest of us to see a wider sonic path and plenty of room for experimentation.

Except for my acoustic Martin at the start, during the ballad passage in the middle and at the close, I used a 1961 blonde electric Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster throughout.

Mr. Wakeman: On most of "Roundabout," I played a Hammond C3 organ. Later, I overdubbed a Minimoog when the song slows to a ballad about five minutes in and Steve plays acoustic guitar. I also added a Mellotron for flute sounds when Jon slowly sings, "In and around the lake." The Mellotron gave the passage a "Strawberry Fields" mood.

Mr. Anderson: Once the instrumental track was done, I went into the studio early one day with just the engineer and recorded my lead vocal while listening to the music through headphones. When the other guys came in, we recorded the harmonies.

Finally, we reached a point where the song had to end. I thought, let's do something totally different and sing harmony, like the Byrds or the Beach Boys.

I started singing "Dah dah-dah-dah, dah, dah, dahhh." Then we all started singing that in harmony. We added it onto the end of the song.

If you listen carefully, you can hear Rick singing three notes against the grain of what we were doing. They're the notes to "Three Blind Mice," and it sounded intriguing.

Mr. Howe: To close the song, I decided to mimic what I had done on my Martin guitar at the beginning. But I ended on an A-flat chord, which the ear doesn't really expect.

Mr. Anderson: A couple of days after we finished "Roundabout," the band went into the studio to listen to it on the big speakers. When the song finished, I thought, "Oh my gosh, it's so good."

I looked around at everyone. It was an interesting feeling. My conscious self was glowing. I thought, "I can't believe this is happening in my life at this moment in time."

Marc Myers is the author of "Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop" (Grove).

David Browne - Rolling Stone

Monday, February 19, 2024 9:05 PM

Yes’ Rick Wakeman on Rock Hall Speech: ‘I Just Wanted to Have a Bit of Fun’
Keyboardist talks comedy background, the true meaning of prog and why Friday's Yes reunion will never happen again

BY DAVID BROWNE

APRIL 11, 2017

Pearl Jam were the clear audience favorites at Friday’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, but no speech elicited a bigger response than that given by Rick Wakeman. The Yes keyboardist – on tour this year with bandmates Jon Anderson and Trevor Rabin – passed up the chance to run down the usual laundry list of thank-yous and instead opted for a mini stand-up routine, in which he cracked wise about losing his virginity, encountering his dad at a strip club and his recent prostate exam. We caught up with Wakeman backstage following the hilarious speech to discuss his background in comedy, the true meaning of prog and why he’ll never again take the stage with former Yes bandmate Steve Howe.

How long did it take you to write that speech? What made you take that angle?
Well I’ve got loads of stuff because I do a lot of corporate … I do a lot of TV stuff in England. I do a lot of comedy stuff. So I’ve got a huge pool of one-liners and general stories and you can just weave them into what you want. I don’t like self-gratification so I didn’t want to go “Oh, how great the band has been” and all that kind [of thing] because people are very kind. People have said that anyway, which is really very nice. So I just wanted to have a bit of fun, really.

So this was like the greatest-hits of your speeches?
Far from it. That’s just … I was part of a huge comedy show in England called Grumpy Old Men. I was in every one for seven years plus. … I do a lot of comedy [appearances] – half stand-up and half music and I’ve enjoyed doing it. For an event like this I thought long and hard: Do I go on and thank all the different guys in the band that I’ve played with? Everyone is going to say that. A lot of it is understood so I thought I’d just have a bit a fun, but I’m never blue. I never do that.

Did the other guys know your speech beforehand?
No, they didn’t know what I was going to say, but they know what I do. We had one breakdown on the ARW tour, so Jon just threw me the mic, so I did a 15-minute standup. So they know what I do.

So how does it feel to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?
It’s wonderful. It’s really, really nice. I mean it’s for the music. It’s Yes’ music that’s been inducted. I mean I know for a fact that, thankfully, Yes music has influenced lots of bands and lots of people, which is lovely. I was influenced by lots of bands and people, and if other people have created their own music and we’ve helped a little bit along the way by influencing them then that’s what it’s all about. That’s how music moves forward. So it’s lovely to be inducted in. I have a daughter who lives in Cleveland so it gives me another excuse to go and see.

So Rush got into the Hall of Fame, now you guys. Do you think prog is finally getting its due?
You know the thing I’ve said for years, all prog is, is knowing the rules and breaking them. It’s breaking the format. I mean, when prog started, 90 percent of records were made to a format. You know, intro, verse, chorus, chorus, solo, intro out, verse out, whatever. What prog did was break that mold and said, “No, it doesn’t have to happen like that.” The interesting thing that I think is absolutely wonderful is you can pretty much tune to any station in any city and hear the records that run through and none of them have got a format; they’ve all got a style of their own and that’s thanks to prog breaking the mold and saying, “You don’t have to do that. Do what’s in your heart and your musical brain. Don’t do it because it’s a format.” So I think there’s hardly a record that you hear on the radio or hear playing that hasn’t got a small percentage – even if it’s two or three percent – of prog in it.

Absolutely. It’s become a big influence.
Yeah. I think it’s settled down now and sort of sorted out the wheat [from the chaff]. I mean all of us in prog bands got accused of overblowing or getting too pompous or too much, which we all did, but that’s only because we’re trying to explore to see how far we could go. And I think when [it], I don’t want to say comes to an end but reaches the end of that race like, “OK, we’ve taken prog in this level and this technology as far as we can go,” then I think you can look back and go, “OK, these are the pivotal moments musically within the career of a band.” But you can’t find that out until you’ve been there and done it.

What was it like playing with all those guys again tonight?
Well, I play with Trevor and Jon all the time so …

When was the last time you played with Steve?
Oh, I haven’t played with Steven for 12 years. I was just up there playing music. We didn’t rehearse too much.

I was going to ask, was there any rehearsal?
No, there was a little bit of a rehearsal but not a lot. But because the way Jon, Trevor and I play with Lou [Molino, drums] and Lee [Pomeroy], we played a lot different than the other guys did. … So we didn’t really want to take too much notice on that. It was a one-off. Never to happen again.

One last question: What is the state of your album with Trevor and Jon?
Oh, we’re doing well. We’ve got three pieces that are well down the line that we’re really pleased with and which we’re working on. Hopefully by summer we should have them there. But we’re not going to rush – we want them to be as good as we possibly can make them. That’s the crucial thing.

Jon Wiederhorn - Yahoo Music

Tuesday, October 17, 2023 6:55 PM

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Jon Anderson and Trevor Rabin on the Many Faces of Yes

Jon Wiederhorn

April 6, 2017

Augusto

Thursday, April 13, 2017 7:10 AM

The conflict between Steve , and Jon, and Chris was Brian Lane's(manager) work.Steve and Rick were never friends.Their only affinity was musical .End of the story.

Anon.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017 4:39 AM

Yes (line-up: Steve Howe, Alan White with Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin) performed "Roundabout" (full version) with guest Geddy Lee on bass, followed by "Make It Easy" (excerpt)/ "Owner of a Lonely Heart" with Steve Howe playing bass.

The five Yes musicians that performed all gave speeches. Bill Bruford joined them, but did not speak. Chris Squire was represented by his widow Scotty Squire and their caught Xilan Squire. Tony Kaye was not able to attend, due to health reasons, and was not acknowledged.

The other members of Yes (Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison) were in the audience along with Steve Howe's eldest son, Dylan and also ex-Yes member Patrick Moraz.

On the 5th of April, Yes (Howe, White, Downes, Sherwood, Davison) appeared live on SiriusXM radio, performing acoustic versions of "Leaves of Green", "Clap" and "Roundabout".

On the 6th of April, Patrick Moraz performed a concert at which Downes and Sherwood made a guest appearance, performed "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" as a duet in tribute to the late John Wetton.

On the 8th of April, the day after Yes' Hall of Fame Induction, Steve Howe celebrated his 70th birthday with fellow Yes members White, Sherwood and Davison, his son Dylan and also Bill Bruford.

Whitney Johnson

Sunday, April 9, 2017 5:44 PM

Moraz rules!!! I know it would be daunting,but since all his tours involved playing hockey areanas and stadiums, he Might have played in front of more people than any Yes keyboard player!

augusto

Monday, February 6, 2017 10:49 PM

Rick and Steve! Its time to bury the hatchet and play together for the last time!

Wurm

Thursday, January 12, 2017 7:19 AM

I agree, the right individuals are being inducted. The only problem is where is Patrick Moraz. He should be on the list. The 1974,1975, 1976 era with Moraz was beyond the point of amazing. Maybe since he is only on 1 album, Relayer. But that album is better than every YES album with Trever Rabin put together.

Jenelle Janci - LNP Always Lancaster

Sunday, October 16, 2022 7:41 PM

Tait Towers founder thrilled about Yes' induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

JENELLE JANCI | Staff Writer Apr 28, 2017

Before his company built a runway for Taylor Swift, a set for Kanye West and a stage on which Michael Jackson would moonwalk, Michael Tait was the right-hand man for the progressive rock band Yes.

Yes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7 during a ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. For those who were unable to attend, HBO will broadcast the ceremony at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tait, the founder of Tait Towers, the Lititz company that is the live-event industry’s biggest provider of staging, says his relationship with Yes began in 1968 in a London bar. Tait was working as a bartender when he met the band’s manager, which led to a gig as the band’s driver.Before his company built a runway for Taylor Swift, a set for Kanye West and a stage on which Michael Jackson would moonwalk, Michael Tait was the right-hand man for the progressive rock band Yes.

Yes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7 during a ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. For those who were unable to attend, HBO will broadcast the ceremony at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tait, the founder of Tait Towers, the Lititz company that is the live-event industry’s biggest provider of staging, says his relationship with Yes began in 1968 in a London bar. Tait was working as a bartender when he met the band’s manager, which led to a gig as the band’s driver.

During the first show he drove the band to, he saw — or rather, heard — an opportunity to help improve the band’s live sound. He worked with the band for 13 years as its tour manager, sound engineer and lighting designer. Tait was the mastermind behind the band’s frequently copied rotating stage.

Tait says the band’s induction is well-deserved.

“In that genre, in the kind of music they were playing with the likes of King Crimson and a few other prog rock bands, they were one of the best,” Tait says. “There’s no doubt about it.”

He just wishes the band’s late bass player, Chris Squire, who died in 2015, was still alive to see it.

“Chris Squire’s passing is a terrible shame,” Tait says. “He is the bass player’s bass player. If you ask any bass player in any band, give us your top favorites, Chris is going to be in there, because he had his own sound.”

Tait says he spoke to Yes vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe about the induction. He says Howe was “absolutely thrilled.”

Currently, there are two different version of the band that are touring. One features Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood and Jon Davison. The other features Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin.

“Steve comes to Lancaster a lot, so I see him a lot… Steve’s Yes band was in Hershey… for a week or so before the last tour,” Tait says.

Tait was unable to attend the induction ceremony in Brooklyn but has his TV set to record the ceremony this weekend. Tait says much of his career can be traced back to that job as the band’s driver.

“That chance meeting with Yes and getting to work with them all those years gave me the experience and the knowledge to eventually come here to America through Clair Brothers (the Lititz-based sound company) because that was our sound company,” Tait says. “(I) was able to start Tait Towers, which was originally a lighting company, since I was a lighting guy for Yes at the end, and it led on to the whole thing, to Rock Lititz.”