* * * * * * * * * * ______ ______ ____________ _________ / \ | \ __/ \ __/ \__ _________ | \| \ / |/ _ \ _________ / | // _____ || / \_/ \ |NOTES \ // / \ \\_ \_ | |FROM \ || _____ ___\ \ \_ \_ | |THE \ || / ---/______| \ \_ | |EDGE ___\ || | | /______ __/ \ | |#19 ___/ \ \\ \_ \_ // | | \_____ / ___\ _/ \_ \ \_ _// | ______/ \__ \__/ ___/ \_ \____ | \_/ \__ ___/ \___ _/ \__ \__/ \ \_________/ \_____/ \_ \_____/ \ \_ | \_ | \__ __/ \_____________/ Notes From the Edge #19 August 29, 1991 * * * * * * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE... ================ Editorial Notes - A few things... The Return of Cath - She's back and better than ever! Discography Info - The latest version YesYears - Feelings about the boxed set Concert Reviews - The final dates of the tour Speak Up, Jon!! - Anderson's in concert mumblings 90126??? - A sly joke from ABWH Milking the Music For All It's Worth - Bill's percussive bottles Recent Magazine Articles - Sorry, no centerfolds... Comments About Notes #17 - Notes on Notes! Billy Sherwood's Other Work - More than "Love Conquers All" Notes on Rarity Recordings - Reviews and info on CD bootlegs Another Source For Those Imports - A mail-order address Yes-like Bands - Music Yes fans might like The Dan Hedges Biography? - How do you get it? Birthdays - Best wishes! Contributors - This Bud's for you! Those All-Important Addresses - Who, what and where * * * * * * * * * * EDITORIAL NOTES =============== Andy Warhol once said that everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame. Occasionally some of us get a second whirl. Once again, Cathy has let me have the editorial reigns for an issue. I don't really know why I volunteered, but it only seemed fair because her classes started this week and mine don't for another month. I have some time to kill, so I decided to help her out. Besides throwing the issue together, this gives me a chance to put in a snide remark or two. :-) Now that the summer's more or less over and many of our readers are returning to college life, an important issue needs to be addressed. Like any good newsletter, we have an archivist who takes care of requests for backissues and lyrics, and another individual who does the same for the discography. As I know all too well (since I used to hold two of these jobs), as the size of our readership and the amount of archived material grows, it gets harder and harder to stay on top of requests. Not that these people haven't done a fine job - we appreciate their effort - what I'm talking about is a way of making it easier for all of us. An automated archive for Notes has been an idea I've thrown around for a while. Unfortunately I don't have the computer resources to make it a reality. So this is my request: if anybody has access to a good sized amount of storage (say, at least 5 megabytes), the ability to set up userids on that system, and the desire to help out, let me know. If you work for a corporation, please get their permission first before you volunteer! When we have a definite site, I'd like to team up with a couple of list members who are good programmers to write the automation software. With a membership the size of ours (which is growing at a good rate) a centralized archive will be a must in a few months. So, if you can help, drop me a line. In the mean time, welcome back and enjoy the show! -Mike Borella msborella@ucdavis.edu (please note the new address!) * * * * * * * * * * THE RETURN OF CATH ================== Date: Sat, 24 Aug 91 00:38 EDT From: CATH Subject: I'm baaack!! As another summer runs down: If I had a permanent and stable e-mail address we wouldn't have to switch the address for Notes around so much! But alas...here we are again. Time to get out the ol' black books and jot down a new Notes address--well, actually, the old Notes address. For those new to Notes since this spring, I offer you a warm welcome! And to everyone else: I'm back! And hell, to those of you just returning as well, welcome back! :-) And what a great summer, it was: the Union tour, the greatest hits video release, the box set, Steve Howe's new album Turbulence, YesFest in Philadelphia...and still more to come! The YesYears video is set for a fall release, plus mention is made in the box set of an upcoming biography _Beyond and Before_. Those of us unlucky enough to get our hands on a copy of the Dan Hedges biography (like myself) await this one eagerly! I'm also anxious for release of the new Jon and Vangelis album, Page of Life, due this fall (finally). And Steve has suggested the possibility of touring for Turbulence! But anyway, before I ramble on anymore...it's going to be great to be back. Next issue will be my first since May, so remember, from now on *all* contributions should me submitted to me at: V111PBXX@ubvms.cc.Buffalo.edu Let the games begin... Cath [ A few more things from our Yes-men: Rick continues to be the most prolific keyboard player in rock music history, releasing 8 new albums already in 1991. Much of the material was recorded at an earlier date, but at least 3 of them were completed this year. He also plans a Christmas show in Moscow of the new "Journey to the Centre of the Earth." Other keysman Tony Kaye has written material for a solo album, and former keyboardist Patrick Moraz has mentioned a solo piano tour of North America. Bill's Earthworks will be releasing their third album in a couple of weeks entitled, "When All Heaven Breaks Loose", and a tour will follow. Chris has hinted at his releasing of a new solo album next year and finally, Trevor currently has his hand in several collaborations, including one with his "new" friend, Rick Wakeman! Just because the tour is over and the reunion is old news that doesn't mean Yes fans have nothing to look forward to! - Mike ] * * * * * * * * * * DISCOGRAPHY INFO ================ Date: Wed, 31 Jul 91 14:01:37 EDT From: Mike Borella Subject: discography I just finished an update of the discography. It's available from Jeff Hunnicutt upon request (see the end of the issue for address info) and also from vacs.uwp.edu upon anonymous FTP, in the pubs/music/discog directory. If you don't know how to FTP anonymously or have no idea what FTP is, feel free to drop me a query. Again, I'm a bit between revisions and the discography is in a roughish format. Also, a warning - it's quite huge. Printed out it's over 80 pages. I'm working on a short version which hopefully will be ready in the next couple of weeks. I encourage everybody to grab themselves a copy. There's still quite a bit of "blanks" that need to be filled and who knows, you might be able to help out! -Mike Borella msborella@ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * YESYEARS ======== Date: Fri, 16 Aug 91 11:08:07 PDT From: rfish@verity.com (Rob Fish) Subject: YESYEARS Just found this set at Price Club for $39. Tower had it for $70. A couple of first impressions... The digitally remastered process has made a *world* of difference. I have some very nice equipment and some old B&W DM2000 speakers. I had given up on listening to FRAGILE a l o n g time ago. Here's my new favorite song list: 1) Close To The Edge 1) Siberian Khatru 2) Long Distance Runaround 3) The Ancient (* CTTE has over the years always been a philosophical influence on my inner reflections of my *oneness* with our universe. And You And I has represented the interaction of my outward self with someone else...*) Hopefully, we'll get another DR release someday as well... I'd love to hear Perpetual Change, Mood For A Day, Siberian Khatru, Turn Of The Century...... Cya, <>< +++ +++ +++ +++ Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1991 18:46 CDT From: RNT3515@TNTECH.BITNET Subject: More stuff on YesYears I just read NFTE 18, and I was a little shocked at how down folks were on the box set. Most of the problems that were presented about the set had to do with the fact that there was too much of stuff we've already heard, and that it didn't have enough rare stuff. Look at the title: _Yesyears_. What this implies to me is a collection of tunes that best typify the band's history. Sure, this means a lot of stuff had to be skipped over in order to remaster some old tapes (I still want "Siberian Khatru"!). But Yes' discography is probably way too expansive to remaster _everything_! They have what, 18 albums now? 19? That's a lot of dough to spend on remastering, especially since remastering those ancient tapes is costly anyhow. At least Atlantic is doing _something_. As far as I can tell, the box set is nothing to be ashamed of. It might be a lot of money to blow at one time for remastered versions of stuff you already have, but after waiting for four years for the next Yes album and having heard "It's supposed to be out next month" about 48 times, I am certainly not going to be pissed that Yes is releasing another album. The way i see it, if they put out the four discs separately, I'd buy them -- this way I'm doing it all at once. Also, I'm kind of led to believe that the target audience for _Yesyears_ might tend towards fans who own maybe four or five Yes albums, to get them to buy the set because it's Yes, then expose them to older stuff. But I could be wrong about this. Anyway, I can't wait till it comes out and I intend to enjoy it very much, no matter what's on it (so long as it's not "Arriving UFO" =) ). -- Robert +++ +++ +++ +++ Date: Wed, 07 Aug 91 03:30 EDT From: MCS Subject: YESYEARS I just picked up YesYears today (August 6th). I must say I am impressed. Someone at Atco did a damn fine job putting this package together. Excellent track selection. My criticisms though: 1. What the hell is with the Roger Dean artwork on the four CD's? A paint blotch does not great art make. (Turbulence also suffers from this phenomenon). [ Turbulence has computer generated art. But I see your point! - Mike ] 2. Why did they choose to use the new logo over the old one? The old logo appears at the lower left hand of the box cover and that's it. 3. Where the hell is "Give and Take"!?!?!?! I can't believe they didn't include it! I Can't believe it, I JUST CAN'T!!!!!!!!!!!! I avoided buying the UK CD because I was led to believe that it would be on the box. Now I get to suffer with a godawful US 7". Oh well. [ And where the hell is "Vultures?" - Mike ] 4. They ended the box with a godawful rabin/sherwood/squire tune, the name of which escapes me at the moment. WHY? To show how bad Yes would have been had the Squire faction been allowed to continue on Atco? Hmm? Hmm? Talk about ending on a sour note. 5. This really isn't a criticism... but the I can notice many audio dropouts (particularly on Close To The Edge) on the box. Rather ann- oying. At first I thought I had a defective box or dirty CD's or my CD player was mistracking. Then for the hell of it, I went back and listened to my muddy, yet loveable, original CD and listened with a microscopic ear only to find that all these tape dropouts are indeed on the original as well and they are just VERY, VERY intensified by the remastering process. I guess that they chose not to fix them up to totally (mass) retain the original feel. You other ahem, err, sound chasers, (sorry) will notice these little things as well. Regarding other Yesstuff, I have some brand new Yes tour t-shirts for sale. They are all XtraLarge and are unworn and are official tour merchandise and are NOT bootleg shirts. There is but 1 of each: Red Big Generator Tour shirt, Big Generator logos all across the front and backwards design on the back. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe shirt. White with astonishingly fantastic dean lettering and abwh logo on front (like the tour book) and more nifty lettering on the back. ABWH White shirt with album cover on front and tour stuff on back. Interested? Email me at MCS@CARLETON.CA. I'm also looking for people with mega high quality copies of Union tour shows, and for that matter ABWH shows (the real Yes union in my not-so-humble opinion). - Neil Prasad * * * * * * * * * * CONCERT REVIEWS =============== Subject: Review of 8/6 concert:Pac Amp, L.A. From: eclipse@oxy.edu Date: 07 Aug 91 16:53:33 PST Went to the August Sixth concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre here in LA. It was decidedly the end of the tour. I love those guys like anyone who reads this newsgroup, but sheez they were having a bad night. Plagued with technical problems and a wicked case of fatigue, it was obvious that the tour would be over in another two performances. Rick had a spectacular MIDI failure on the opening chord of Yours is No Disgrace, summarily throwing the whole band off. Feedback was a big problem, throughout the show, the solo's didn't have any heart, and Jon's voice was in my range! They should've taken a break sometime in the past four months. It was cool to hear Steve record the end of part three of Tales, and some other stuff, and And You and I really was spectacular. I only wish that I could play that well on an off day. I've only seen them in concert four times total (Big Generator, Santa Barbara County Bowl; ABWH, same place [right by the sound board! ;-)]; and at the Great Western Forum, here in LA. This was by far the worst one. I only wish I'd been keyed to 90125 about two months before I was. timing is everything. Nous somme du soleil, Gwendolynn eclipse@oxy.edu +++ +++ +++ +++ From: Paul Zeman Subject: News Date: Thu, 22 Aug 91 11:59:56 PDT NEWS: A backstage radio interview was done with Steve Howe on the day of the final YES show at Mountain View. Significantly, he said that YES's current plans are to stay together in the present configuration and that they have already started material for another album(!). I did not hear the interview myself, but got the information from a friend who did. I've also heard that Steve plans to tour _Turbulence_ before doing another YES album or tour. Maybe the next YES album will be _Unified_. NOTE: Jon was truly in another world at Concord. His long, babbling, cosmic introductions (which I think are really great), were the most bizarre I have ever heard by a long shot. When he distantly introduced "Heart of the Sunrise" by saying at length that it was "time to wake up and dream" and referring to "the golden dust of wisdom from the wings of ...moths... ...moths..." many in the audience were turning to each other and saying "What? What? What is he talking about?". The whole situation was hilarious. * * * * * * * * * * SPEAK UP, JON!! =============== Date: 28-JUL-1991 20:39:13.59 From: "I want a pony." Subject: Re: Notes From The Edge #18 An idea struck me as I watched Yes perform at Great Woods, MA. Jon Anderson frequently fills the gaps between songs with rambling monologues that, between concert acoustics and his own soft voice, are completely inaudible. What I originally thought was, 'Gee, it would be great if we could hear what he was saying.' But then I realized, 'Gee, it would be just as good if we could read it!' So can anyone out there find some means of transcribing some of Jon's anecdotes, stories and mumblings into comprehensible English? It'd be another fun dose of Yes trivia for us all. Chris * * * * * * * * * * 90126??? ======== From: Paul Zeman Subject: sly joke Date: Thu, 22 Aug 91 13:24:19 PDT For a sly joke, take a look at the catalog number of the US release of ABWH on CD: 90126. This was pointed out in the recent Goldmine issue with the YES cover story. * * * * * * * * * * MILKING THE MUSIC FOR ALL IT'S WORTH ==================================== Date: Fri, 16 Aug 91 14:44:31 EST From: Rob Petrone Subject: Milking the music for all it's worth Interesting fact I learned from an interview with Bill Bruford that was broadcasted on Philadelphia radio: When "Roundabout" was recorded, Bill Bruford did not own a percussion set, so, he filled about 20-30 milk bottles with varying levels of water and played *them* during the middle section of "Roundabout" as percussion instruments for the studio recording! Truth is stranger than fiction-- this is no dairy tale! Rob Petrone Temple University * * * * * * * * * * RECENT MAGAZINE ARTICLES ======================== Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1991 2:24:03 EDT From: TOMPKINS@SUNRISE.ACS.SYR.EDU (CATH) Subject: Magazine appearance I was scanning magazine covers the other day in the bookstore and saw a few familiar faces on one...Chris, Trev and Steve all graced the cover of _Guitar School_ (well, if memory serves, that's the name of the mag, I'd never heard of it, sorry). It was the September 1991 issue, and features a guitar transcription of, you guessed it, "Lift Me Up". Plus lyrics, for anyone interested :-) For those who notice these things and care, the photo's not all that great. The guys look beat, probably almost as bad as they do after a show... Don't know much about guitars and transcriptions, but if you're interested, check it out. Cath V111PBXX@Ubvms.CC.Buffalo.Edu Tompkins@Sunrise.Acs.Syr.Edu +++ +++ +++ +++ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 91 12:59:42 EDT From: halm@oceana.crd.ge.com (david b halm) Subject: KEYBOARD article The recently released August issue of Keyboard magazine has as its cover story a feature on the two current Yes keyboardists, Rick Wakeman and Tony Kaye. The feature contains a lot of interesting information, including interviews with Wakeman and Kaye, diagrams of their keyboard setups, and even a brief sidebar on Bill Bruford's electronic drum configuration. Wakeman's comments on the /Union/ album are especially revealing, and, as Mike Borella reported in his review of Yesfest, we'll see what Rick *really* thinks of the album. First, here's some random tidbits from the article. For the first US leg of the tour, Wakeman, who says he's fed up with air travel, drove himself from gig to gig in a 1985 Dodge conversion van he bought in Pensecola. He was planning on getting a camper for the second US leg. Rick and Trevor Rabin have become good pals. Rick has great respect for Trevor and has had fun reinterpreting the keyboard parts to /90125/ and /Big Generator/ material with Trevor. Bill Bruford had this wry response to the question of whether there will be another record and tour: "With this band, all we have to do is turn up onstage - and not fight - and people are thrilled. We don't even have to play a single note and they go absolutely wild. I'd say that's a way to make a living, eh?" As many people know, Kaye had been working on a solo album for the now-defunct Cinema record label. Whatever happened to that album? Apparently Kaye had the whole thing written but then got bored with it. It was supposed to be an instrumental album, but he felt that all of the tracks, as written, needed some vocals on top of them. So he scrapped the project but said in the future he might want to write an album of songs in collaboration with a vocalist. Most of the really good stuff comes during the Wakeman interview, like how does he feel about the /Union/ album? I find it hard to give honest answers on albums until at least a couple of years after, when I can look back on them in various guises, as to why they were done, how they were done, and all the factors that come into the picture. If you look at the reasons why the album was put together as it was, why it sounds like it does, why it's out now, and why there are certain unsatisfactory things on it, then from that perspective it's a bloody good album. ...On the other hand, if I looked at it as if there were no legal problems going on, and we had plenty of time, and everybody would have been available to do what they had to do, then I wouldn't be sitting here talking with you. I wouldn't be in the band, because I would have said, "If that's the attitude it's taken, then I don't want to know." I'm not talking about the band; I'm talking about the things the producers did with it. So what things did the producers do with it? Well, we know that ABWH had been working on their second album. When the word came that the Yes union would happen, Arista wanted the album finished quickly. The problem was that Steve Howe and I had a lot of other heavy commitments, so a lot of our stuff was stuck in the computer [as MIDI data] and had not been transferred to digital tape. That, sadly, gave the producer a lot more carte blanche than he should ever have had in editing what I'd done, even to the extent of changing what I had played, because it was so easy: You just sit there, play with the little mouse, and things can come and go. ...But under normal circumstances, I would have been able to go in and finish off my own work. ...If I'd had my way, there would have been little or no reference to any sounds from the past. So why were there so many additional keyboardists on /Union/? Well, Jonathan Elias, who I wouldn't have trusted with a food mixer, was the producer. Basically, though, the whole thing got out of control. When I was unavailable, they just steamed away. The thing that annoyed me more than anything was that even if you're unavailable to come in and do things, there are such things as telephones for consultation on the pieces of music you're involved in. I want the next Yes production to be done in-house, or I'm out. If there's any talk from Arista that they want to give the producer license to do what he likes, they'll be one keyboard player short. That's very important: I want the next Yes album to be a Yes album. Rick goes on to say how his personal arrangements of the songs, such as his live version of "Shock to the System," bear no resemblance to what is actually on the record. Many of the keyboard sounds on /Union/ are also different than what he had originally intended. Again, some of those sounds came as a minor shock to me when I heard them, because they came out of the computer. Those are certainly not the sounds that I contributed. To be honest, it took me a long time to play /Union/ all the way through. The first cassette I received from Arista went out of the limo window after about 15 minutes. The next one went out of a hotel window. It's taken me a long time to calm down and be rational about it. In a nutshell, I am 100 percent unhappy with every piece of keyboard work that's on that album. There is not one piece on there that I can put my hand on and say to anyone who knows me as a player, "Listen to this." Rick also made an interesting comment that he feels /Union/ is the /Drama/ album of the 1990s. When /Drama/ first came out, he said that it "has nothing whatsoever to do with Yes." He later apologized for his remarks, realizing that he was very wrong. Without /Drama/, there wouldn't have been a /90125/, and there would have been no Trevor Rabin coming in to bring the band into the '80s with a whole new style of playing. ...it was an important catalytic element as to what happened in the '80s. I feel now that /Union/ will do for Yes in the '90s what /Drama/ did for us in the '80s. It's an album that's desperately needed. It's enabled us to play together, to get to know each other...in leading toward doing an album next year that - hand on heart - could be quite astonishing. We've been away from each other long enough to have gathered a nice arsenal of musical ideas and knowledge from playing with other people. All we needed was a catalyst that could hold us together, and that's exactly what /Union/ is. Interesting. Well I hope that the next Yes album really is a Yes album. The possibilities for songwriting collaborations are very exciting, and could easily lead to something "quite astonishing." Let's hope they can pull it off. ----- David [ I might add that at YesFest, Steve Howe also seemed very displeased with Elias's production on Union. - Mike ] * * * * * * * * * * COMMENTS ABOUT NOTES #17 ======================== Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1991 15:37 CDT From: RNT3515@TNTECH.BITNET Subject: stuff for Notes Hi again, I have a few things to ask, etc, from NFTE 17. _Tormato_ on CD I finally made it to Tower last week and picked up _Tormato_ on CD. It's excellent, for those of you who haven't gotten it yet. However, maybe this is just my system or something, but there seemed to be way too much bass (the bandwidth, not the instrument) in the mix. I have to EQ the lower frequencies down an awful lot in order for it to sound OK -- otherwise it sounds like it's being played through a subwoofer. Anybody else notice this? Also, I noticed that there are two different CD's of _Tormato_ -- a regular English version and a Japanese import version. The track order and all was the same, and I bought the English version because it was a few dollars cheaper. Did anybody get the import version? If so, how (if at all) is it different? [ It is the same exact recording. However, import collectors will argue that Japanese CDs are superior pressings, soundwise. - Mike ] _Yesshows_ on CD I also picked up a copy of _Pulse_ magazine at Tower, and according to their "new releases" list, _Yesshows_ is being released in the US on CD. It didn't say when it would be in stores -- it wasn't there when I was there. (Now all I need is _9012Live_ on CD...!) [ It is on its way, as a Japanese import. - Mike ] Tony Kaye dead weight? Victor Kan did a great concert review of the Union tour last issue, but I must take issue with his evaluation that Tony Kaye is dead weight. He's no Rick Wakeman, or even Richard Clayderman for that matter, but I certainly don't consider anybody who can write stuff as cool as "Rhythm of Love" to be "dead weight". "Love Conquers All" I was thrilled to see the song list for _Yesyears_ in last issue! They could've dropped the cheezy "Going for the One" for "Siberian Khatru" though... =) Anyway, what is this tune "Love Conquers All"? I noticed it was the last song in the entire set... is it a brand new song that didn't make it onto _Union_? Is it going to be a single? [ It is a song recorded by Yes West with Billy Sherwood. See the following article for more. - Mike ] Remastered _Fragile_ To whomever was asking about the new packaging for _Fragile_ last time: I saw that CD, and as far as I can tell it's not remastered, just repackaged. If Atlantic remastered it, most likely they'd put something on the box like "Re-mastered 1991" or some such, much like the remastered King Crimson CD's or the remastered-plus-remixes Queen CD's were done. later, Robert * * * * * * * * * * BILLY SHERWOOD'S OTHER WORK ========================== Date: Tue, 20 Aug 91 16:22:06 EDT From: Mike Borella Subject: Billy Sherwood's other work. Billy Sherwood appears on the Yes box set on the song Love Conquers All. He was slated to replace Jon Anderson as lead vocalist in 89, but the deal fell through. If you're curious as to what else Sherwood has done, I did some research and came up with two other releases that he's played on. Lodgic - Nomadic Sands World Trade - World Trade I seem to remember World Trade having at least one more album out, but I'm not sure if Sherwood sings on it. I haven't heard either of these releases, so I don't know what they are like. Can anybody fill us in? -Mike Borella msborella@ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * NOTES ON RARITY RECORDINGS ========================== Date: Thu, 22 Aug 91 16:50:57 EST From: David Markfield Subject: Review A number of people have mentioned to me that since I keep the rarities list I should review various rarities...well I finally have decided to listen to them. :) YES - ROUNDABOUT ----------------- 1) Close to the Edge 2) The Revealing Science of God 3) The Ancient 4) Roundabout 5) Starship Trooper ROUNDABOUT is one of the string of "new" YES recordings to surface on CD within the last year. It is an audience recording from the TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS tour. It was recorded March 14, 1974, and features the classic YES lineup of Anderson, Howe, Squire, White and Wakeman. However, despite its somewhat recent release this is a recording that has previously seen the light of day. It can be found as SUPER MARVELOUS and also under the less imaginative title of LONG BEACH ARENA, CALIFORNIA. The first thing you tend to notice when listening to ROUNDABOUT is the clarity of sound. This is a nice surprise when you consider that this is an audience recording. Especially clear are Jon's voice and Steve's guitar. The true highlight of ROUNDABOUT is "Starship Trooper". The version featured here is truly one of the finest performances of the song. "Wurm" is especially strong with some tremendous improvisation on the part of both Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. Other items of interest include a great Wakeman solo leading into the "Seasons of Man" section of "Close to the Edge" and another great Howe solo during "The Solid Time of Change" at the start of "Close to the Edge". In fact this performance is also notable for the overall strength of Howe's solos throughout the entire recording. Finally, as this was the TALES....tour there are a couple of songs from that album featured, "The Revealing Science of God" and "The Ancient". Strong performances of each song with some nice improvisation that the band wasn't really allowed on the album. However, the band does show some tentativeness during "The Revealing Science of God". Additionally, there is some rather disturbing feedback during the song. Thankfully neither of these problems is persistent throughout the entire song. Overall ROUNDABOUT is a very strong recording both in terms of audio quality and general quality of performance. It is a recording which manages to overcome its few flaws and showcase one of the bands finer performances. -David Markfield +++ +++ +++ +++ [ The author of this article has requested to remain anonymous. - Mike ] DUPLICATE MATERIAL WARNINGS As was pointed out in an ancient issue, the live CD recording called _Siberian Khatru_ contains some duplicate material from another CD by the name of _Re-Evolution_. Although the first claims to be California '74 and the second claims (more likely true) to be a Boston show of the same year, the tracks of "And You and I" and "Close to the Edge" are certainly the exact same performance and it is possible that other such duplicated material exists between these two discs. They do contain somewhat different track listings. The sound quality of the two discs is the same: very very good for an audience recording of that era. Even more worthy of caution is the fact that some live CD's are exactly and entirely the same as others of differing names. Here are two examples which cost a pretty penny to buy TWO TIMES: _Siberian Khatru_ is exactly the same as _Roundabout_. They both have the same tracks, orderings, times (almost to the second), and sound quality of very very good. _Live in Quebec 1979_ is exactly the same as _Rehearsal Tales_ with the tracks re-arranged and a much less elegant editing job. _Rehearsal Tales_ is a bit better sounding too. If you have knowledge of duplicates like this, would you please post your knowledge to this newsletter? We can pool our knowledge and save each other vast sums of currency. When I read the rarities list and see "same as ..." I am not sure if this means same concert or same recording. Also it is really nice to know if one sounds better than the other. [ There is another CD bootleg called "Sound Chaser" which is from the same show as "Re-evolution" and "Siberian Khatru". - Mike ] BEST SOUNDING ONES ARE FROM RADIO SHOWS Usually when you listen to a 'live' concert on the radio, it is not live in the sense of taking place at that very second. What happens is that the concert is taped by real recording engineers and producers, usually from a combination of the soundboard for clarity and microphones to interject audience ambience for that concert feel. The resulting tapes are then engineered and mixed as they would be if destined for a live album. The master is then replicated (onto LP in the old days and onto CD now) and distributed to radio stations. I've sometimes wondered if the mixing of the dynamic and frequency range of the music is done with the limitations of FM broadcast in mind. Often, ads are right on the distribution media. The media which I have seen display messages printed on them stating that they are not to leave the radio station premises. They do leave anyway and end up in the hands of collectors and yet another layer of informal reproduces. If you are a collector in search of a distribution disc, be aware that buying one will leave a vast and endless chasm where your wallet used to be. Here are some recordings from radio shows: _Live in Quebec 1979_ is a CD offered by a label called Super Golden Radio Shows, which is a reasonably good indicator that the material was originally taken from a radio show. As you can see discussed in no detail at all above, it is the exact same recording as found on _Rehearsal Tales_. _Live in London 1975_ falls into this category too. I've not heard it, but know it is a CD from Super Golden Radio Shows and strongly suspect it is the King Biscuit Flour Hour show that was recorded in London '75 and not aired until 1988. _Resurrecting Dragons_, a double CD, contains the Big Gen tour plus parts of a radio show called YES Chronicles I and II, which highlights the activities of the members at the time it was made (they were in different bands, hence King Crimson with Bruford, etc.). I recall somebody wondering aloud why that track was tacked on there. I think that this too is KBFH material. The professional intervention makes radio shows the BEST sources, so I would tend to reserve the sound quality rating of 'excellent' for these professionally produced live recordings or others that come from soundboards. BTW aren't most concerts still recorded by the sound crews? I wonder where all those tapes are now? COVERS AND LINER NOTES I've learned to think of the cover "art", track listings and liner notes to most YES rarity CD's as either a form of absurdly esoteric humor or the product of deeply fevered minds. Many of them are amazingly wrong and contain song titles that do not even exist, songs that are not really on the disc, out of order, pictures of horsefishman creatures with vacuum-cleaner mouths, silver space suits and so on. It challenges the boundaries of art and imagination because it is absurdity by accident: "Yours is On Disgrace", "Sound Chasero", etc. KINDA MISSING PERIOD: Where and what are the live CD recordings from the periods of Going for the One and Drama? How about a really good-sounding live Tales? The LP's of Tales known to me stinketh of manure in terms of sound quality. * * * * * * * * * * ANOTHER SOURCE FOR THOSE IMPORTS ================================ Date: Thu, 01 Aug 91 09:12:31 EDT From: Jim Ennis Subject: YES contribution Hello, I have a business card for a record shop which can order imports and take phone orders. Two of my friends who are not on the net have successfully used this shop to get some YES import CDs. They are pleased with the store's service and recommend it to the YES list as an option. The address is: For What It's Worth Records and Tapes John C. Gregos - owner 12795 S.W. Canyon Rd Beaverton, Oregon 97005 (503) 644-7505 * * * * * * * * * * YES-LIKE BANDS ============== Date: Tue, 20 Aug 91 23:55:27 EDT From: Mike Borella Subject: Yes-like bands A few months back someone asked what other bands do readers of Notes From the Edge listen to. This is sort of a belated response, but it might help to answer the question. Around last Xmas I compiled a list of reader's faves from the responses to the surveys that Cath sent to everyone. The results didn't surprise anybody... Rush, ELP, Genesis, Marillion, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, King Crimson, Vangelis and a few others ranked very highly. But I seem to remember this person implying that he wanted to know about some of the lesser known bands that float around the music scene. Many of these bands are very difficult to track down, even at the best music stores. What I'll do is list a few of the more recent bands that have come along that either sound similar to or influenced by Yes. If this sparks any interest, maybe some more people will post their suggestions in the future. Dream Theatre: A heavy progressive band from New York. Yes is their major influence, but their music shows signs of Rush and Queensryche. The guitarist and keyboard player are both quite talented and their rhythm section has the potential to be one of the best of the 90's. Their only album is out on Mechanic (in the US) and they are currently recording their second after recruiting a new singer (the word on the street say's he's fantastic). The new album will feature among other things, a 20 minute song. Aragon: Here's a band that's had some talk around the net. But when it's all over and done, they're a pretty good band. Of the Genesis/ Marillion sound alikes that pop up every so often, Aragon holds their own. Their debut release, Don't Bring the Rain, is too keyboard heavy to sound like Marillion and too well refined to resemble Genesis. Their music is written around simpler patterns than Yes, but interesting melodies are woven through each song. The singer takes some getting used to, but my immediate dislike of his voice has disappeared. A very promising to a very promising career. The album is only available from Progressive Records, a rather obscure US label (that also does retail mail order). Step Ahead: Good luck finding anything by these guys. Their self titled album is available on Japanese import but very difficult to track down (its not listed in most import catalogs). From France, Step Ahead reminds me of Drama era Yes, but with Anderson-like vocals. Alternating guitar/keyboard leads and frequent time changes guide a busy rhythm section. The music moves in not only timing but in melody and feel as the band switches quite often from acoustic to electric instruments and back again. This is one of my best finds of the last few months and I cannot recommend it enough! So when you've finally played out Close to the Edge, Relayer leaves you wanting more, and Fragile seems all too familiar, give one of these bands at try. You won't regret it. -Mike Borella msborella@ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * THE DAN HEDGES BIOGRAPHY? ========================= Date: Wed, 31 Jul 91 11:57 EDT From: Data Communications/Hardware Support Subject: Yes biography Does anyone where the Yes biography by Dan Hedges can be obtained? The book stores in my area are a clueless lot. If anyone knows where I can order by mail please email me. Thanks. --jeff * * * * * * * * * * BIRTHDAYS: ========= August ------ 29 Andy Will 29 Diane Westerfield 31 Shri Krishnan 31 Tom Erkenswick September --------- 2 Jeff Manny 13 Daniel Brown 14 Dori Kelly 15 Tony Vasquez 17 Joe Shelby 18 Joe Pizzirusso 27 Haym Hirsch 30 Corey McKinnon * * * * * * * * * * CONTRIBUTORS: ============ Three cheers for the following people: Rob Fish, Robert Talbert, Gwendolynn Tanner, Chris Foster, Paul Zeman, Rob Petrone, David Halm, Dave Markfield, Jim Ennis, Jeff Hunnicutt, and Neil Prasad. Many thanks! [jeez, thanks for leaving me out Mike! --Cath (ed.) * * * * * * * * * * THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT ADDRESSES: ============================= For New Subscribers, Contributions, Questions/Comments/Criticisms: Cathy Leak V111PBXX@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU For requests for Back Issues, Lyrics: Christian Walters CWALTERS@DUCVAX.AUBURN.EDU For Survey Responses (submissions and requests): Dave Scidmore DAVES@HEURIKON.COM For the Yes Discography: Jeff Hunnicutt HUNNICUTT@VXC.UNCWIL.EDU For the Rarities List (Additions and Requests): Dave Markfield ILWN500@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU For Import CD's (last resort): Joe Pizzirusso JOEP@CBMVAX.CBM.COMMODORE.COM ******************************************************************************** --< END OF NOTES FROM THE EDGE #19 >-- ********************************************************************************