Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Doug Curran and Jeffrey Crecelius
Richie Castellano, with Jon and flagGoodnight Vienna! – No, Birmingham.Phil Castellano – multi-instrumentalistJon with hand on heartRichie getting into the grooveNice, green Rickenbacker!Awaken, all yeMax and some other blokeJon…Tambourine manBass gizmosYes(ish) KitSymphony Hall, packed for the concertWatching the flags that flyThe new axeman, Angus ClarkIn full flowAndy AscoleseRichie and ChrisGary Andrews, Mark Lang and some other blokeJon!The Legendary Dave Watkinson and some other blokeThe harp stays sharp to the bottom of the glass (one for the British)
Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Doug Curran and Jeffrey Crecelius
This week, Mark and I spoke to Chris Clark, thanks to YMP Patron, Mark Lang who put us in touch with him. We asked Chris about his experiences working with Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks live and in the studio. Now a veteran of approaching 100 concerts with the Yes co-founder, we were keen to know what it’s been like, how it came about, how the first album, True, was born and what the future might hold for the collaboration. If you listen carefully, I think you might be able to pick up some tantalising clues as to what the forthcoming second album might be like and we had a great time getting to know Chris. I will be seeing him with Jon Anderson and the Geeks in September so I am looking forward to that.
How did Chris become involved with the Band Geeks and then Jon Anderson?
Has it been fun?
How has the band evolved?
Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Doug Curran and Jeffrey Crecelius
This week Mark and I listened to 2 medleys – the Big Medley from the The Word Is Live box set, recorded on 5th October 1978 at The Forum, Inglewood and a recording of Jon Anderson and The New Life Band playing their Yes medley in 1980 at The Royal Albert Hall from a BBC recording broadcast the same year.
It was a very entertaining process and, as you’ll hear, Mark has a particularly interesting reaction to the rather different style of the New Life Band’s interpretations, on a tour that Jon Anderson arranged to promote his recently-released second solo album, Song of Seven. Having just left Yes for the first time, he ended up being out on tour at the same time as the Yeggles version of Yes, who boasted Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn as part of their (fairly hastily assembled) lineup. For his part, Anderson collected together brilliant musicians but with a rather different instrumentation to the classic rock band arrangement.
The Big Medley wasn’t played on The Drama Tour (unfortunately, some would say) so we can’t compare these two performances directly, but they are very close in time.
What songs were included in each medley?
How does the New Life Band instrumentation work?
Which ends up being a better Yes medley (and do we even make a decision on that)?
Do take a listen to the recordings I have embedded into the show notes for this week and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Mark Lang’s photos:
Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Doug Curran and Jeffrey Crecelius
It’s the 50th Anniversary of Jon Anderson’s masterpiece, Olias of Sunhillow this month, so it was highly appropriate that we spoke to the album’s biggest fan, David Watkinson, this week. Dave helps us plot the musical development of Yes’ co-founder to the point at which he felt able to create his first solo album – entirely on his own. We also discuss the amazing packaging and the album’s influence on Anderson and Yes.
Do watch Dave’s interview with artist, Jeff Cummins, which is embedded into the show notes below and check out the photos of my copies of the album and a small selection of Dave’s memorabilia collection.
Was Jon Anderson ready to create Olias?
Did he play everything on the record?
Why isn’t Roger Dean the artist?
Please do add your own comments below.
Kevin’s LP and CD
Some items from Dave’s Olias collection
Those involved in the recordCD8-track, cassette, badgeThe teamOriginal Olias drum stick, cuttingsYes solos poster with Olias pendentSigned Olias promo card
Yes – The Tormato Story & Tales from Topographic Oceans – Yes Album Listening Guide
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius
This week, Mark and I continue our mini series about solo songs that could have been Yes songs and this time it’s Jon Anderson’s turn. As we did last week with Steve Howe, we listened to Jon’s first three solo albums – Olias of Sunhillow, Song of Seven and Animation. We chose just one song from each record that we think could have worked on a Yes album and discussed our reasons. It was very interesting, once again, to note the dramatic differences in approach that Jon went through from 1976 to 1982. In some ways, I think Anderson went the opposite direction to Howe, as you’ll hear.
How does Jon Anderson’s solo approach change over the years?
How easy is it to spot songs that could have been on yes albums?
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