------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 1, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------- Source: Hard'n'Heavy CD Reviews http://www.hardnheavy.com.au/artist.asp?BandID=236 Steve Howe - Bio For someone who’s been at the cutting edge of British and world rock music for some three decades, guitarist Steve Howe is a remarkably normal guy. His relationship with wife Jan is almost as long-lived as his spell in the spotlight (their sons Dylan and Virgil are also musicians), while instead of jetting from gig to gig he makes it a policy to drive, enjoying the countryside around him. ("I’ve got terrific ears," he says, "and they don’t like going up and down in a plane.") He even once took to running a health-food business, but music called him back. Now, to celebrate the new millennium, this ‘ordinary guy’ has produced an extraordinary record. ‘Natural Timbre’ is nothing less than "the album I always wanted to make," notes Howe. It’s a bold statement from a man who’s been there and done that with Yes, Asia, GTR and ABWH to name his four best-known group ventures, as well as enjoying a solo career of repute. The opportunity to record totally acoustically, he explains, had never been there "and I’d almost given up hoping." The result "is my most personal and private album ever, because I didn’t get together with a group and work the song through – I damn well played it on my own and only recorded it when I was really finished." The need to make ‘Natural Timbre’ became evident to Steve a long time ago, specifically after his first two solo albums, ‘Beginnings’ and ‘Steve Howe’, in 1975 and 1979. "When I did those I was having fun showing what I could do in so many different fields of music. But even then I wanted to make a stylish record, one that had a continuity within itself. I like a record that’s streamlined, to be a set of recordings, and the acoustic parameter made that quite easy." Howe, of course, remains a mainstay of Yes, the progressive supergroup he joined in 1970. "I was looking for credibility, a certain way of breaking through and when Yes came along I knew that was it, I just knew. It wasn’t so much that we were about to be mega successful, but I knew it was right because we were all equal: there was an equality of musicianship, talent, songwriting. That was a marvellous feeling." Yes’s achievements with Howe at the helm with Jon Anderson and Chris Squire are well known: the ‘Yes Album’/‘Fragile’/‘Close To The Edge’ trilogy, recorded in two prolific years and released in 1971-72, set the agenda for the decade’s progressive movement, as well as winning multi-platinum acclaim in the States. Born in 1947, Steve Howe considers it a privilege "being born in London, where it was all happening", and took full advantage of the musical opportunities the 1960s would offer after picking up the guitar at age 12. His first two albums purchased, by Elvis Presley (featuring Scotty Moore) and Django Reinhardt, gave an early clue to his eclecticism, while further jazz and classical input came from his brother and sister. He first recorded with local group the Syndicats, whose claim to fame was working with the legendary Joe Meek. "It was a big step up for us to go to a top producer’s studio – even if it did have egg boxes on the wall! – but he was a little bit wacky and the things that happened were quite intense." Three singles resulted. Then came Tomorrow, an outfit that evolved from R&B covers band the In Crowd to become leading lights in the burgeoning psychedelic scene. Though the group, also featuring Keith West of ‘Teenage Opera’ fame, is best remembered for the classic ‘My White Bicycle’, issued in May 1967 as the Summer of Love exploded, Steve recalls the B-side catching the ear of a very famous fan. "Frank Zappa told me in 1968 he thought the guitar solo in ‘Claremont Lake’ was amazing, and hearing that from him was the kind of encouragement that helped me along." Bodast, his last stop before Yes, was the right group at the wrong time. "There was an electricity in the band. Some of the guys had a lot of experience, more than I’d had, but we were all learning the pitfalls of being a songwriting band, in 1969, and unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of luck." Clive Maldoon, the late lead singer whom Steve recalls as "a great talent" had his ‘Sepheryn’ recently revived by Madonna as ‘Ray of Light’. Yes, of course, have enjoyed a long and celebrated history both in Steve’s first spell (1970-80) and the Union after he rejoined around 1990. In between times he played on the first two multi-million-selling albums by Asia, the supergroup formed with John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes ("it was so good it just couldn’t last"), as well as linking with ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett in GTR. The Asia relationship continues, though on Howe’s own terms. "I recently joined them for their new album (‘Aura’), just for two tracks. It’s an interesting line up so I’m able to hop on and off. I like Asia but my Yes roots are so much deeper." Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com