6 years, 11 months and 21 days ago Friday, April 7, 2017 Brooklyn, New York Barclays Center 19,000 capacity Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
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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.” |