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Yes Authenticity – 685

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

It was great to think a little about what might make up Yes’ authenticity this week. Is it possible to define what makes the output of a band – or any kind of artistic endeavour ‘authentic’? Rather than try and come up with a definition of authenticity (which is probably a loftier aim than we had time for this week), Mark and I discussed what the rather nebulous concept means to us, in the context of Yes music.

We each came up with examples of what we consider to be authentic aspects in the 50+ year history of the band and how they support our ideas of what ‘authentic Yes’ is.

As always, we would be fascinated to hear what you think of this concept – please leave your ideas in the comments below.

  • How can you tell if a band like Yes is ‘being authentic’?
  • Is authenticity more than simply ‘sounding like the same band’?
  • Beyond music, are there any other aspects that might contribute to a feeling of authenticity?
House of Yes!

Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide

Available now!

YesMusicBooks.com


YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

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Episodes

Yes Time Machine – Support Bands Edition – 684

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week Mark and I set off once again in our YMP Yes Time Machines, this time to visit Yes concerts that also featured fascinating support bands, or bands on the same bill that we would loved to have seen.

According to the essential Forgotten Yesterdays website, there have been 599 bands who have either supported or played alongside Yes since 1968 so there was plenty of choice for Mark and me. Before we begin, have a think which shows you didn’t manage to attend and would like to go back to in a time machine to experience for yourself.

I wonder if you will pick any of the occasions Mark and I did. Let us know in the comments in the show notes below.

  • When will we travel to?
  • What will we see?
  • What other bands will be playing?

Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide

Available now!

YesMusicBooks.com


YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

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Episodes

Fragile Solo Songs Revisited – 683

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week, Mark and I discussed the ‘solo’ songs on Fragile. Each band member contributed an individual project, some with more success than others. The style and approaches used by Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe and Squire are very different and they certainly prompted an interesting discussion as you’ll hear.

Drama and Fragile Live!
Drama and Fragile Live!

With Yes soon to embark on playing the whole of Fragile live for the third time, we also touched on how these songs come over live – and if it’s even a good idea to include them alongside the 4 ‘proper’ songs.

  • Which of the solo songs is the best?
  • How do they differ in approach?
  • Should they be played live?

Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide

Available now!

YesMusicBooks.com


YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

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Episodes

Are there any short Yes epics? – 682

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week Mark and I had all sorts of fun thinking about whether there are any short Yes epics – or if this idea is even possible. We set ourselves the restriction of only choosing Yes songs less than 6mins in duration so can you guess what we came up with and how we justified our choices?

It was sad to hear that Ozzy Osbourne died this week, only a few weeks after performing his last ever concert with his Black Sabbath bandmates. I can’t say I was a dedicated fan of Ozzy or Sabbath but my introduction to heavy metal was when a friend of mine took me up to his room in a slightly creepy Victorian mansion and played me the self-titled album by the Birmingham band. How appropriate the setting was. I also learned to play Paranoid on the drums when I was a teenager and my younger son taught my daughter, when she was a toddler, to sing the alphabet to the riff from War Pigs. My elder son was a true fan so he was upset when we heard the news. 

As you know if you’ve read the new Tales book or get your information from many other sources like Matthew Paine on Facebook, Rick Wakeman was a huge fan of Ozzy who he met at Morgan Studios while Yes were recording Tales. He ended up playing keys on 2 songs on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath which was being recorded over the road in another Morgan studio at the time. Eventually, Ozzy returned the favour by singing on Rick’s “The Return to the Center of the Earth”, as pointed out by Paul Graf also on Facebook.

Our own Doug Curran interviewed Ozzy for his radio show in 1981 so do make a point of reading his reflections on that on the YMP Facebook discussion group

Rest in Peace Ozzy.


https://www.quora.com/What-makes-epic-songs-epic


Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide

Available now!

YesMusicBooks.com


YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

Become a Patron!
Categories
Episodes

Six reasons why 90125 is a great Yes album – 681

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week, Mark and I returned to the show to talk about the Yes classic album, 90125 from 1983. It is clearly, we believe, a great album but what makes it a great Yes album? It wasn’t originally going to be a Yes album at all and only became one at the last possible moment when Jon Anderson arrived on the scene. The band Cinema, consisting of Tony Kaye, Alan White, Trevor Rabin and Chris Squire had basically finished the record with Trevor Horn but, as you can read in full detail in Stephen Lambe’s excellent book about the album, there were several reasons that band was ultimately replaced by the name and the aura of Yes.

What do you think Mark and I came up with for our 6 reasons and would you have chosen the same features? Let us know in the show notes for this week’s episode.

  • Is this a real Yes album?
  • What makes it great?
  • Who makes it great?

Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide

Available now!

YesMusicBooks.com


YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

Become a Patron!