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This week Mark and I began a mini series on songs that appear on Yes members’ solo albums but could have been re-worked as effective Yes songs. It was interesting to listen to our first subject, Steve Howe’s first 3 solo albums, Beginnings, The Steve Howe Album and Turbulence back-to-back. There are plenty of differences to enjoy, plus some singing from Steve.
We compared notes on several songs and also assigned what we called a ‘Yesability score’ to each song. All will be revealed in our conversation.
- Which Howe solo songs did we choose?
- Is it easy to tell what could have been Yes songs instead of solo numbers?
- How does Steve’s music change over the years?
Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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12 replies on “Solo songs that could have been Yes songs – Part 1 – Steve Howe – 705”
When you get to Chris Squire, do please consider the second Conspiracy album with Billy Sherwood. “The Unknown” is exactly what I think Yes could have been doing in the noughties during the long hiatus between “Magnification” and the band’s return to activity in 2008.
Enjoyable episode on solo work that could have been Yes material. My favourite Steve Howe album is definetly Natural Timbre but I also enjoy his earlier work.
You were both very polite regarding Steve’s singing because in my opinion it is horriffic!!! and some of the tracks you chose are actualy difficult to listen too when the singing starts.
His singing has ertainly improved over the years but it was starting from a very very low base!
Keep up the good work.
I will forever return here to defend Steve Howe singing his songs. I don’t know why the world can accept Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Joe Cocker, refuse to give Steve a pass…. He sings his own music with passion and heart… whatever. Also, one small correction, the poet, Alice Meynell, only wrote the middle two stanzas of Doors of Sleep.
Agreed. I quite enjoy hearing Steve sing, and he sounds like he enjoys doing it when he does. I don’t really understand the criticisms.
Great show and great concept. Look forward to lots more. A few comments…
Mark laughed at the mention of Hot Food Studios … and actually I knew the answer to this one. A very famous “hot food” is, of course, a curry… and keyboards on the album were played by Ultravox’s Billy Currie. So, yes, Hot Food Studios was recorded at Billy Currie’s home studio! As an Ultravox fan I was familiar with the writing credits to Hot Food Music from the album sleeves!
Prior to Turbulence, Steve worked with Billy Currie on his first solo album, Transportation, which ended up being credited to Billy Currie with guest Steve Howe. If you haven’t heard it Steve makes some great contributions. It’s fairly easy to pick up a copy https://www.discogs.com/release/996880-Billy-Currie-With-Guest-Steve-Howe-Transportation?srsltid=AfmBOooObEUhmvIX0AmT7JRWIF60PQXK-2n43_KrjuMjKtAOU7YqmqvJ
Finally, I am a big fan of the YesEdits youtube site which throws up various Yes variations. I first became aware of their work with Heaven and Earth which included a number of edits, some clever techniques where various aspects (primarily keyboards) were boosted in the mix, and they replaced in the snare drum sound.
He also made an album called Talloplanic Views, made up from elements of the 75/76 solo albums as if it were a Yes album. It doesn’t include any Ramshackled elements but it’s an interesting listen if you are in this frame of mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGMRAS5iH7U
Funny enough, Mark said “6-7 minutes,” and on the same day my dad’s co-host on another show said the same thing. 6-7!
I’d written a longer post that somehow I must have deleted but … in answer to the question Mark poised regarding Hot Food Studios where some of Steve Howe’s Turbulence was recorded … think deeply … hot food … curry … keyboards played by Billy Currie! Yes Hot Food Studios is Billy Currie’s home studio. I knew this because as an Ultravox fan I know from the sleeves that his publishing is Hot Food Music.
British humour eh!
I wonder how many people are aware of the : Billy Currie with guest Steve Howe album called Transportation? It came out a few years before Turbulence and Steve’s contribution was significant enough to merit a co credit.
I enjoy both albums by Steve Howe and Billy Currie. I’ve long wished for a special release of them together as “Turbulent Transportation.”
Do you know there is one further collaboration between them on Currie’s The Keys and The Fiddle album called Sojourn?
Enjoyed the Steve Howe episode and just for fun poked around to see which Yes members contributed to the solo albums of others.
My possibly incomplete list goes like:
Six Wives – Bruford, White, Squire, Howe
Criminal Record – Squire, White
Both Beginnings and Steve Howe Album- White, Bruford, Moraz
Turbulence- Bruford
Dylan- Anderson
Ramshackled- Anderson
Fish Out Of Water-White, Bruford, Moraz
3 Ships- Rabin
Can’t Look Away- White
There might be others, thought it was an interesting search for what its worth.
Chip Palmer
I appreciated Mark asking for clarification on the hurdy-gurdy. I might have just smiled and nodded along but now we all get to learn.
Sorry for being late to the party with feedback on this older episode. You mention some tracks from Turbulence appearing on Union, but it’s not just Sensitive Chaos – there’s also The Inner Battle. Kevin, you give it a Yes-ability score of 7, but it actually deserves a 10, because it literally is a Yes song. Silent Talking from Union is pretty much part of The Inner Battle almost verbatim, just with new instrumentation. The track essentially has two parts: the instrumental section, which is lifted directly from The Inner Battle, and the vocal part penned by Anderson (as evidenced by the same melody appearing on “Opio Symphony” from Anderson’s The Lost Tapes of Opio, recorded around the same time in the lead-up to Union). So The Inner Battle didn’t just have Yes potential – it actually became a Yes song.