Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS
Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Ken Fuller, Wayne Hall and Jeffrey Crecelius
Contrary to what I said last week, we are going to continue with our Why did Yes want series this week as we turn back slightly in time to Oliver Wakeman after we inadvertently got Benoit David in the wrong order last time.
It was one of the most confusing periods of the band in terms of personnel so I have turned to interviews and accounts from those involved to try and get as close as possible to the truth – see if you agree with what Mark and I discuss in a few moments.
- Did Oliver know any of the band before he joined?
- How did they know he was any good?
- Was it just nepotism?
Let us know if you agree with us!
Available now!
YMP Patrons:
Producers:
- Joseph Cottrell
- Ken Fuller
- Jeffrey Crecelius and
- Wayne Hall
Patrons:
| Aaron Steelman | Dave Owen | Mark James Lang | Paul Tomei |
| Joost Maglev | David Heyden | Paul Wilson | Martin Kjellberg |
| Bob Martilotta | Lind | Michael O’Connor | William Hayes |
| Brian Sullivan | David Pannell | Lobate Scarp | Miguel Falcão |
| Chris Bandini | David Watkinson | Neal Kaforey | Rachel Hadaway |
| Craig Estenes | Dem | Mark ‘Zarkol’ Baggs | Paul Hailes |
| Doug Curran | Robert Nasir | Fergus Cubbage | Scott Colombo |
| Fred Barringer | David | Geoff Bailie | Simon Barrow |
| Geoffrey Mason | Stephen Lambe | Guy R DeRome | Steve Dill |
| Henrik Antonsson | Steve Perry | Hogne Bø Pettersen | Steve Rode |
| Declan Logue | Steve Scott | Todd Dudley | Jim |
| Jamie McQuinn | Steven Roehr | John Parry | Keith Hoisington |
| Alan Begg | Terence Sadler | John Holden | Barry Gorsky |
| Michael Handerhan | Tim Stannard | Jon Pickles | John Thomson |
| John Cowan | Tony Handley | Robert | Gary Betts |
| Jim Morrison |
Our (not really) new Facebook YMP Discussion Group is open to anyone to join but I’ll be adding rules and joining requirements when I have time (one day…). One of the advantages of the new format is that all members of the group have the same ability to post content, so it’s a bit more egalitarian, or somesuch. Please do search for the group and join in.
https://www.patreon.com/platform/iframe?widget=become-patron-button&redirectURI=https%3A%2F%2Fyesmusicpodcast.com%2Ftechnological-musical-magician-derek-dearden-585%2F&creatorID=3112762
Please follow/subscribe!
If you are still listening to the podcast on the website, please consider subscribing so you don’t risk missing anything:
Theme music
The music I use is the last movement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert – I put it together from: archive.org
2 replies on “Why did Yes want Oliver Wakeman? Part 1 – 589”
Oliver was the obvious choice to me to replace Rick in Yes in ’08, as he had worked with Steve, among others prior to that. Now if Patrick, Tony, Geoff or Tom were available and interested instead, it would have been quite an interesting period!
Oliver was a great choice. As well as having obvious similarities with his dad’s style, he is also able to replicate the styles of the other Yes keyboard players better than his dad. (Tom Brislin and Igor were also excellent like that.) From A Page also showed he could contribute with the songwriting, and he’s also an all-round very decent bloke, causing no friction within the band. All great reasons to keep him in the band. For me it was a travesty that he was let go. Yes would be a better band if Oliver was still there, in my opinion. And I like Geoff, but in terms of Yes music it’s Oliver who’s the better choice.