----------------------------------------------------- JULY 1, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: BBC Music Profiles http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/profiles/yes.shtml YES * Massively successful progressive rockers of the early 1970s. * The band were renowned for preferring a macrobiotic meal to the usual excesses. * Guitarist Steve Howe played on the psychedelic classic "My White Bicycle" by Tomorrow. * Before joining, Rick Wakeman had played on hits by David Bowie and Cat Stevens. * On tour, lancashire-bred lead singer Jon Anderson would sign into hotels as "Accrington Stanley". * "A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace and rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace…" - err, yes…the opening lyrics to Close To The Edge. * "That album almost killed me…I think there was the psychological effect of 'Oh, we're doing a double album now we can make things twice as long, twice as boring and twice as drawn out.'" - Eddie Offord on Tales From Topographic Oceans. More than any other prog rock act, the Yes men reflect the true lineage of the genre. Formed from the ashes of British psychedelia - with all it's attention to whimsy and edwardiana - it was only a matter of time before someone came up with the notion that, to be taken seriously, you had to play well, sing suitably mystic mumbo-jumbo and extend each track into a pseudo-classical masterwork. The two linchpins were Jon Anderson and Chris Squire. Anderson, a short and very determined Lancashire lad from a band called the Warriors ran into Squire (late of the Syn and Mabel Greer's Toy Shop) in swinging London. Sharing a love of the Fifth Dimension, Simon and Garfunkel and classical music wouldn't normally strike one as a route to mega-stardom, but this was 1968 and the air was ripe with new possibilities. Pulling in Squire's bandmate Peter Banks on guitar, Tony Kaye on keyboards and youthful jazz buff Bill Bruford on drums, the band immediately fell into the right company. Tony Stratton-Smith (manager of fellow classical fusionists the Nice) got the band a slot filling in for Sly and The Family Stone at the Speakeasy in London. In a flash Yes were supporting Cream at their farewell gig at the Royal Albert Hall, supporting Janis Joplin at the same venue, gaining a residency at the Marquee and being signed to Ahmed Ertegun's Atlantic records. They even had their own pet engineer/producer in Eddie Offord, who would follow them anywhere. It seems that the world really was ready for progressive rock. Following two disappointing albums - Yes (1969) and Time And A Word (1971) - the band was really itching to stretch out. They ditched Banks and hired another orphan of the sixties psychedelic set, Steve Howe - ex member of Tomorrow. His Chet Atkins inflections and tendency to change guitars at least three times in every song gave Yes that little extra push towards the huge multi-layered sound they'd been looking for. The stunningly titled Yes Album (1971) was a beautiful piece of work, though it contained all the seeds of the band's downfall. Dense harmonies, dazzling musical dexterity, complex arrangements, tricky time signatures and Anderson's almost indecipherable lyrics signalled that this was prog in excelsis, and the big time had arrived. Time for another line up change, then. In their never-ending quest for musical perfection Kaye was the next victim. Top session man and ex-Strawb Rick Wakeman got a call from Squire at two in the morning asking him to join. His reply does not bear repeating, but a more reasoned approach from the band's manager gained a positive result. Now they didn't just have a guitar virtuoso, they had a keyboard wizard - and he wore a cape, too. Two more cracking albums resulted - Fragile (1971) and Close To The Edge (1972) - both with covers by 1970s album sleeve guru Roger Dean. By the latter, the number of tracks had been cut down to three and the strain to go one step further had the band at each others throats. Robert Fripp of King Crimson, rather condescendingly, told Bruford that he was now "ready" to join his band instead and the drummer jumped ship. Alan White of the Plastic Ono Band filled the gap but time was running out. Following a live triple album (Yessongs, 1973), which documented their conquering of America, the sessions for the following album began in earnest, but things were beginning to get weird. After certain members complained that their studio lacked a suitably buccolic vibe, the space was filled with cardboard cows, picket fences and Wakeman's keyboards were balanced on bales of hay. The resulting Tales From Topographic Oceans (1974) contained four songs on one double album, based on passages from the Hindu Shastric scriptures. During the world tour to promote the album, Wakeman - rapidly losing interest and succumbing to alcoholism - would order curries to be consumed on stage during the lengthier passages. The other, more abstemious members, were not amused and Yes got themselves another keyboard wizard in the shape of Patrick Moraz. Relayer (1975) was an even denser journey into jazz-fusion territory and the band took a year off to make solo albums. Wakeman famously staged several spectacular concerts, climaxing with King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table…on ice. The late seventies were not a sympathetic place for progressive rock bands. Punk brought back the three-minute single and Disco claimed America. The band hired Wakeman again and regained commercial success with the poppier Going For The One (1977), but the laws of diminishing returns were in full effect. Line up changes beset the band at every turn and yet, bizarrely, by 1983 they were back in the charts following a glossy makeover from top 1980s producer Trevor Horn (who actually replaced Anderson on vocals for a spell). The decade continued to see more convoluted shuffling of personnel and much acrimonious legal wrangling over use of the band's name. A version of the band had to tour as Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford and Howe, but by 1991 it was all peace and love again. The Union tour saw the band presenting a gigantic show, which showcased all of their many line-ups. America lapped it up and, thus, the nostalgia industry of Yes was born. Still performing in one form or another to this day, the band continue to pack venues with fans who still remember a magical time when time signatures were most complex and a man could wear cheesecloth with pride. However, at their brief peak, Yes produced music that explored realms that no one else even dreamed about. Close to the edge, indeed. 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