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YES Legacy – 50th Anniversary Plaque unveiling – 347

Dr. Bill Bruford
Dr. Bill Bruford

Produced by Jeffrey Crecelius, Wayne Hall, Preston Frazier and Bill Govier

I report back from the amazing YES 50 Plaque unveiling ceremony in London where I met Bill Bruford, members of Chris Squire’s family, Chris Welch and many other Yes fans.

Mark and I chat about the significance of he event and there’s a 2 pence about the Patrick Moraz Relayer rumours and how Yes could perform and record as a collective in the future.

  • How did the plaque unveiling go?
  • Who turned up?
  • Should we expand the idea of what Yes is?

Listen to the episode then let us know what you think!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEGTNj-WyCU[/embedyt]

Simon Barrow’s photos:

Henry Potts’ photos:

Gary Andrews’ photos:

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Show notes and links

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Yes Music PodcastYMP patrons:

Jeffrey Crecelius | Preston Frazier | Bill Govier | Wayne Hall |

Robert Nasir | Joseph Cottrell | Michael O’Connor | Paul Tomei | Geoffrey Mason | Lobate Scarp | Fergus Cubbage | Steve Dill | Steve Scott | Peter Hearnden |

Paul Wilson | Jamie McQuinn | Miguel Falcão | Ken Fuller | David Pannell | Brian Sullivan | Joost Doesburg | Jeremy North | Tim Stannard | David Watkinson | Steve Roehr | Geoff Baillie | William Hayes | Terence Sadler | Neal Kaforey | Simon Barrow | Dave Owen |

Robert


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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 the following two creative commons sources: thanvannispen and archive.org

9 replies on “YES Legacy – 50th Anniversary Plaque unveiling – 347”

Another cracking episode. Not least for the juicy Relayer rumour. A Relayer / Fly From Here / Yesterdays tour remains very high indeed on my Yes bucket list. A Relayer / Tormato tour not so much!

I really wish I had been able to get to Shaftesbury Avenue and the audio of Bruford’s speech reminds me how great his autobiography is. I would make it required reading for every young man or woman about to sign up for a career in music. If the regular meet-ups happen I’ll definitely drop in.

The podcast opening comments were also interesting as I have also been juggling Proms and rock shows the last few weeks and there have been a fair few occasions at the Royal Albert Hall when some fragment of music from the 19th or early 20th century has had me thinking “that’s very Yes”. That Yes incorporated those influences so much more subtly than the likes of The Nice and ELP is a major element in what I think makes them special. I wish they (and ARW) could find a way back to that kind of complexity.

Very cool Kevin,
To be able to meet with all those wonderful people just absolutely amazing.
Bill seems like areal nice human being as well as Chris’s brother very kind of him for sure and of course Dave for his never ending care he has for this great band.
Wow Relayer would be amazing since that was the first Yes show I was able to attend,however I believe this to be a very huge undertaking to say the least however if anybody could pull it off it would be the band called Yes.
I would love to see a real UNION album where they all contribute and not one or two peoples idea’s
But after all is said and done it’s just a real joy to know that this band broke all barriers of progressive music and did not care what other bands were doing and did what they wanted. I don’t believe for a moment that a band like Yes would be able to survive in the music industry today.
Great show as always thank you Kevin and Mark for all the hard work as always!

Thank you for recording the event …what a fantastic day it was great to meet you and Simon and chat with Henry again it did go past so quickly. Chris Welch was lovely, Tony Squire and his sister were so nice…As you said in the podcast Bill Bruford was simply wonderful…very kind and witty , but incredibly supportive of the Yes legacy. …I have met him many times over the years mainly through Earthworks but he is such a good bloke and so friendly.My goodness it was hot on that day…itmadeit all a bit more dreamlike. David did a fantastic job and we are in debt to him.As for my Yes stories Ithink Henry knew them all and they were mostly quite fun.

Gary, Thank you. I am over the moon with the outcome.

It wasn’t easy to get Bill, but how amazing was he, quite brilliant. So privileged to have the Chris Squire family and Chris Welch.

Now of course we have a meeting point to talk about Yes.

Yes doing Relayer with Patrick Moraz? Just make sure to bring it to the Pacific Northwest; I’m in.

After listening to the two cents, I wonder whether a Yes Collective would be the best way to keep the band’s legacy powerful into the future — musicians who’ve been with the band joining with new musicians to play the catalog, rework it depending upon who was on stage, as well as improvising and jamming (Bill Bruford would approve), and extending the legacy with new music along multiple dimensions. Just my own two cents!

What a great show, Kevin. Hearing Bill Bruford’s clip for YMP, as well as the entire event (and of course thanks to David W for making it happen) — an all around positive experience for a far-away listener.

Thanks so much, John. It was a blast, as you can imagine! I look forward to lots more activity with Yes alumni – on stage and on record (hopefully!)

Thoughts on YMP 347:
By gracing the unveiling of the plaque with his presence, Bill Bruford earned his place as Yes’ alpha and omega man. YMP 347 achieved a similarly broad scope, touching on the band’s very beginning and looking to its next steps all in one edition, and zooming in from this grand perspective to the extreme close up of Bill tapping away on the table. A fantastic, memorable edition!

Thoughts on guest spots for Yes alumni on tour and on record:
I think that Yes’s open door for alumni shows a flexibility and openness that ARW’s promotional stance prohibits. By boldly declaring ARW to be quintessential version of Yes, they lock themselves into this one configuration. A cynical interpretation might see official Yes’s current and planned guest slots as an attempt to legitimise themselves by, specifically, taking an original member out on tour for the fiftieth anniversary, and reminding their public that there have been many keyboard players in the band. But I think they’re doing it for all sorts of honourable reasons, and feel more like a living band as a result.
My best guess for alumni spots on the next studio album is that some of Chris’ unused recorded parts will be incorporated and that others from the past will contribute, but in the same working way that Billy solicits contributions from around the globe for his solo and tribute albums. I don’t think that, say, Patrick or Tony will sit in on the album sessions.
Is this a good idea? Yes, probably. I’m believe completely in the current band’s identity as a legitimate Yes, and will continue to follow them as the line-up renews itself. But there is a less fully-devoted audience for whom the presence of as many familiar names as possible will not only edge them in to listening to the music, but keep their faith in this band as Yes.

Thank you, Dave, for your very kind comments. I think you are right about the motivation for the guests. It feels like they are just enjoying playing with some of the legends fro Yes’ past – and we are the lucky recipients of their open attitude! I do hope they will welcome alumni into recording…who knows? Anything is possible in the crazy world of Yes.

Thank you Kevin for this brilliant episode. Thanks too, to Dave for all of his passion and hard work.
Bill B was so good. His Yes Music Podcast bit is the best of them all. It was really good to hear him talking about those early days as if it were Yesterday without any pomposity.
Thanks too, Kevin for explaining the master drumming on the table, I had wondered what was going on.
Awesome. A real classic episode.

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