----------------------------------------------------- MARCH 30, 1972  ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Rolling Stone Magazine The Great Yes Technique Debate By Steve Turner LONDON -- "I tell you this much," said the studio doorman, "it's been a real eye-opener working here. See, my generation don't really appreciate how hard these lads work. Some of 'em come here and put in as much as 18 hours a day. Eighteen hours! I think if only people knew how much work they put in they'd be much more appreciative. See, I play the accordion so I know how hard they work." The hard-working lads of that particular night had been Yes, who, after running through 12 hours of studio time, had about three minutes of uncertain tape to show for it. "Sometimes we can just sit here for 12 hours," said vocalist Jon Anderson. He was sharing the control desk with engineer/producer Eddie Offord while the rest of the group went through the repetitions behind the double-glazing. "Sometimes we're here even longer and still don't find what we want." The number causing such pain was Paul Simon's "America," which is being included by Yes on an upcoming Atlantic sampler album. Although they've performed it on stage, this was the first time a studio arrangement had been worked out. "You've got to get into that . . . that hemisphere of hearing," said Jon when the others came in to hear the playback. "You've been in it for the last two years." Bass player Chris Squire seems to take charge of the four musicians when they're in the studio and his persistence with an idea wins out more often that the others. "I'm possibly more . . . I wouldn't like to say aware, because Jon and Steven are aware . . ." explained Chris. "Bill and Rick aren't so interested in the production too but I'd say the other three stay more with it. Possibly I say more than anyone else. One could basically say that Jon and I tend to run the group because we were behind it in the beginning. The decisions have fallen on us more than anyone." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The beginning was back in 1968 when the manager of the Marquee Club introduced Chris and Jon. "It's a well known story," laughed Jon. "We were introduced at the bar and Chris asked me what kind of music I liked. I looked at him and thought, " ' He's a Simon and Garfunkel type.' So I said, ' Simon and Garfunkel, ' and he said ' Yeah, that's what I like too.' " Later that same night, or Chris thinks it might have been the next day, they went back to Jon's place and wrote "Sweetness" together. Later, through an advertisement in a pop paper, they acquired drummer Bill Bruford, who now admits his playing experience up until then had only been six months on the road. "I'd been in Savoy Brown for a short time. Three gigs in fact," he said. "It was then that they decided they didn't like my Chinese drumming." Two other members, Tony Kaye on organ and lead guitarist Pete Banks were recruited at the same time and rehearsals began in a Soho cellar. Much of the appeal behind Yes -- their album, "Fragile" has reached as high as fourth on American charts -- must come from their careful use of arrangements. It's nights such as this particular one in the studio that get them there. "Fragile" took five weeks and $30,000 to make and yet Jon is already feeling that it's their next album that's going to be the "steamer of 'em all." This music is a direct evolution from their tastes at the time of the band's formation. Jon had been impressed by the Nice and what he terms their "arranged excitement." There's a lot of arguing within the ranks of Yes, especially when they're working together on new material. Even organist Rick Wakeman wasn't quite sure what to make of it all when he first joined the band. "Rick had been with us a week," said Jon. "He'd given up the Strawbs, left everything behind and he thought we were breaking up. He came to me after a rehearsal and said: ' I don't want to say anything . . . but . . .er . . . is everything OK? ' I had to tell him we were like it all the time and that he'd soon become like it himself. You become so energetic with your own ideas that you punch everyone else's away. You throw each other's ideas around so much that you kinda squeeze them all into what comes out in the end, and it's what you wanted, although it wasn't what you wanted in the first place -- if you sees what I mean." Rick Wakeman, the tall blond organist, is one of the two replacements Yes have acquired since their formation. The other is lead guitarist Steve Howe, now two years with the band. Tony Kaye and Pete Banks have now come together and formed their own band, Flash, which is currently working its way around the club and dance hall circuit. Their departures from Yes are explained by Jon: "They didn't leave -- we decided to get someone else. It doesn't help them to say that. We've always said that Tony decided to leave the band because it'd get him a better situation. The truth is that we blew them out because they weren't really into what we were trying to get together . . . Peter was a bit lazy, that's why. He liked his clothes a bit more than his music. Tony had a marvelous mind, he was a great guy to talk to, but he didn't have so many ideas. He wasn't willing to expound himself." Pete Banks still doesn't quite see that things happened the way Jon described. "I decided to make a move more than anything," he explained one evening, sitting on the floor of his basement flat. On the walls were reminders of his stay with the band -- posters, photographs and an album sleeve. "I only made the decision though after I'd given it a lot of thought. Luckily Yes were strong enough to get a new guitarist, rehearse and get it back on the road." From his point of view Yes had become a mechanical band producing music that was less than human. He remembered the times when he and Bruford had gone through the motions of clocking in and out on live performances, and how it [was] really only half a joke for them. "We'd go on each night knowing we'd go down well," he said. "We'd got things worked out to that degree. Yes always went for the technique approach, whereas with Flash we're going for the feel. Yes tends to lack feel. Sometimes it's good to make mistakes to show you're human and that it's not being made by a machine. I don't think ' Fragile ' was human. You couldn't fault it in any other way though." Yes have become accustomed to the criticism that Banks expressed, but producer Eddie Offord believes that people who feel this way are usually those who go for funky music anyway. "You obviously go through that kind of thing where some people are willing to criticize it rather than listen to it," said Jon. "I'm as bad. I heard this album by Jonathan Edwards, who's an American singer, and said he sounded like Steve Stills. I just walked through this room where the record was playing and said,  'Who's that?' and this chick said, 'Jonathan Edwards,' and I said, ' Oh, he sounds like Steve Stills.' Two months later I met Jonathan Edwards, saw him on stage and was absolutely knocked out. He's nothing like Steve Stills. So guys'll come along to us and say, ' Oh, it's too mechanical,' or, ' They're being intricate for the sake of intricacy.' You know, we're only trying to create entertainment musically." Either way, Yes are very much a product of technical advancement. Sounds that were once confined to the studio are now portable. "It makes it more exciting when you go on stage," said Jon. "You've learned all these new things that've been built up together in the studio but when you come to play it all together it's very different. It's like the Beatles going on stage and doing ' Sergeant Pepper.' They could have gone on stage and done that but it would've taken them a long time . . . maybe that's why they didn't want to go on stage. I don't know. It can be done nowadays though. You can have Moogs on stage, you can have mellotrons on stage. So all the things you develop in a studio, very usual studio sounds, you can now perform on stage." Another project which was waiting to be recorded when "America" finally reached the can was a 60-second commercial for Faberge. "Put a little music on and hear it play/ Put a little music on from Faberge." They'd even got a nice little arrangement for the band to set the lyrics to, but Jon wanted to do it his way. He decided to use the same technique he used on "We Have Heaven" on the "Fragile" album, where they overlay vocal tracks from their own music. "I think it's worth it," said Jon. "Not for the money we're getting, but because it'll be a nice little song when it's done the way I want it. I didn't want a dinky little song. Anyway, the more people that hear our music the better." Three days after the first attempt at "America," Yes returned to complete it. The members drifted in at various times with tales of traffic jams and other delays. A TV crew were down to film a clip for the BBC program, "The Old Grey Whistle Test." An American column of one of the music papers that had arrived on the newsstands that day said that Yes were the biggest thing to land on the shores of America since the Beatles. No one seemed particularly impressed. After all, they were the group of the year in Britain three years ago, at a time when no one even knew who they were. "I think every dog has its day," said Jon without too much enthusiasm showing through. "It's our turn I suppose. After that the next thing'll jump up." Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com