* * * * * * * * * * ______ ______ ____________ _________ / \ | \ __/ \ __/ \__ _________ | \| \ / |/ _ \ _________ / | // _____ || / \_/ \ |NOTES \ // / \ \\_ \_ | |FROM \ || _____ ___\ \ \_ \_ | |THE \ || / ---/______| \ \_ | |EDGE ___\ || | | /______ __/ \ | |#23 ___/ \ \\ \_ \_ // | | \_____ / ___\ _/ \_ \ \_ _// | ______/ \__ \__/ ___/ \_ \____ | \_/ \__ ___/ \___ _/ \__ \__/ \ \_________/ \_____/ \_ \_____/ \ \_ | \_ | \__ __/ \_____________/ Notes From the Edge #23 October 11, 1991 * * * * * * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE... ================ Notes From the Editor --that would be me. The Latest on Video --YesYears is here... Remarks on the Server --how to get lyrics, survey responses, discographies, rarities... Yes/Roger Dean GIFs --Any out there, other than Classic Yes? The Future of Yes? --wishes, hopes, desires... Yes Fans Poll --any additional category suggestions? to be conducted next issue Rick Wakeman --listing of his solo albums --further comments on Rick's vocalists --in defense of chosen vocalists Jon Anderson --looking for insight on "Song Of Seven"? --Page of Life as import only...:-( --commentary on Page of Life ABWH --Video version of "I'm Alive", and ABWH in general Bill Bruford --Earthworks: the third album is out King Crimson --King Crimson boxed set Emerson, Lake and Palmer --new mailing list Yes on tour --notes on the recent Union tour Bootlegs --looking for input on some bootlegs Prog Rock bands in last issue --comments on comments Anniversary Issue --a few additional comments... Birthdays --always creeping up on you, aren't they? Contributors --"thanks" just never seems adequate... Addresses --fewer addresses to remember, thanks to the server... * * * * * * * * * * FROM THE EDITOR: ================ Just modifying a few things this issue. You'll notice return addresses are reduced. I was told that including them the way my mailer lists them (from: IN%...etc) could screw up the mailing of the newsletter. So, to avoid any problems with that (which makes no sense to me, but hey :-), I chopped them up. Works just as well this way, I just have one more step to add to the editing process now...Also, I'm cutting down on the extra spaces between submissions, but not so much that things run together. This should save a little room in each file... The most disappointing news I've heard since the last newsletter is that Jon and Vangelis' _Page of Life_ isn't going to be released in the states, at least not for a while. You can get it on import, however. At the other end of the spectrum, the most exciting news is that the YesYears video is in the stores as we speak. I saw it last weekend, but unfortunately can't afford the $20 just yet. So...on with the show! Cath * * * * * * * * * * YESYEARS -- A RETROSPECTIVE: ============================ "AAVASQUEZ@stthomas.edu" 7-OCT-1991 I just picked up the long-promised Yesyears video. I'm sure the big question everybody has is: If I already own 9012Live, Yessongs, and Yes' Greatest Video Hits, is there really going to be much new on this Yesyears tape? The answer, given the name of the group, is Yes. Several shots are shown from the above mentioned videos, but each video presented is never shown in its entirety. And, more importantly, each video is carefully placed within its own historical context, with lots of commentary from everyone still with the band. This last statement means no comments from Peter Banks, Patrick Moraz, Trevor Horn, nor Geoffrey Downes. This documentary tape is also not just a retread of Dan Hedges' book. A much better attempt at dealing with Tony Kaye's departure is presented (the account in Hedges seemed to focus on dumb things, like the fact Tony only was playing with his right hand; in Yesyears they go to Tony, Chris, and Bill for a more detailed account). Yesyears also manages to document a rather extraordinary hypothesis of mine I don't believe I've seen discussed yet (somebody please feel free to correct me). I think that is Steve Howe's picture on Time and a Word; I think they just finished the tracks and were going to do publicity shots when Banks left. In the videos shown during the Time and a Word days, the videos go out of their way to not show a clear shot of the guitarist. I think that is also Steve in the videos. Yesyears covers none of that, however. I would like to see more about this and why the cover-up was done. Finally, there are lots of cool things thrown in for everyone. There is plenty of footage present from the solo album era--that means videos from Fish out of Water (!), Olias, Beginnings, and Ramshackled. There is also footage from the Tales of T.O. tour (!) as well as some footage from the Going for the One tour, and lots of other goodies. Our discussion about the Jonathan "The Enemy" Elias' production of Union is also hinted at in the tape--Steve is quite hostile in a couple places. And history is remade and smoothed over as Bill's departure is glossed over and Rick's final departure which made Chris seethe with anger for years is calmly dealt with by a wave of Rick's hand. In short (a bit late for that, I know), Yesyears is certainly a must for die- hard fans, and even the not so die-hard. They have crammed a lot into 2+ hours, and the fact most band members are articulate (Rick especially) helps the production roll right along. (Heck, the footage from Fish out of Water and Nous Sommes du Soleil is virtually worth the $17 by itself) * * * * * * * * * * THE LATEST ON THE ARCHIVE SERVER: ================================= "borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis.edu" 11-OCT-1991 The Yes Archive Server is coming along just fine. Mike has implemented a way to request survey responses by an individual's first or last name and the rarities list is available. He's divided the list into two parts since the file is rather large, so you can request it without having to worry about running out of quota. The next step is GIFs. Write me if you have some. So far the number of requests to the archive has been reasonable, so thanks for being considerate. We still encourage you to try out the server, but please don't request files you don't "need". Also, in a nifty bit of programming, Mike has made it so that when you request lyrics to an album, the album's discography info is included. In other words, if you request the cosmic words to Fragile, you'll get Fragile's release info, musician list and track listing, then the lyrics. This doesn't add too much to the size of your request and it ties things together real nice. As of right now we have almost all Yes lyrics, and most of them online. If anyone has America or Dear Father, those are still missing. And we're also more than happy to include any Yes-related lyrics, so if you have some typed in please send them. If you have free time and want to help out, request an index to see what we already have, then if you can find something we don't, go ahead and type them up! Speaking of the discography, I managed to lose part of the main Yes file right after the 3rd disc of YesYears. This is no major problem since I still have all the info to rebuild, but it'll be a pain to get all those singles in again! In any case, the discography is always in a flux state (it's been like that since I started the thing) so when you notice the inconsistencies keep in mind that I'm working on them. ;-) Don't be afraid to send me updates and stuff to the discog. There's still quite a few albums that I have very little information about. The more detail you can provide, the better (look at the main Yes section for a template) but I'll take anything I can get! And finally, if anybody has complete track listings and release info to the Yes videotapes (there's 4 of them now) please send them to me. I'd like to stick them in the main discography. Thanks! -Mike Borella borella@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * YES GIFS: ========= "mikesch@wam.umd.edu" "Mike Scheinberg" 8-OCT-1991 Hey everyone. Our school (University of Maryland at College Park) has just updated to the wonderful world of NeXTstations, which are very powerful and neat. They also have gotten me more acquainted with GIFs and TIFFs, and have enabled me to display them easily on my monitor. (This is a big feat for me as I am not very UNIX literate.) Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any YES or Roger Dean art in GIF or TIFF form? I have a GIF of the Classic Yes album cover courtesy Eric Adams at the University of Illinois (a subscriber and major YES fan...). If we could get together as many of these graphics files and possibly put them on the archive server, we would have a nice sized collection. Roger Dean artwork makes a nice background. -- Mike mikesch@wam.umd.edu ***please note Mike Borella's request for GIFs for the server, as noted above. --ed. * * * * * * * * * * WHAT'S NEXT FOR YES? ==================== "richichi@lamar.ColoState.EDU" 3-OCT-1991 While all the events of the past 8 months or so have been really exciting for your average Yes fan (like me), now that the tour's died down and we got our box set (you know, the yellow is really classy overall, when you think about it), the question is: what happens now? You've got this loose conglomeration of 8 musicians with all sorts of little subgroups (Squire/White, Bruford/Howe, Rabin/Wakeman), who had an album together essentially only in name, and a tour that was something incredibly awesome, but now that project is over and they've got to do something else. Union was a good album, and I think my opinions on it agree perfectly with Wakeman's ideas about it. While we can appreciate the music, Union was more important as a creative catalyst. It got the band together, it gave the idea for a larger unit to compose and create music. However, it was flawed (for me, at least) by too many fingers in the pie. Not only did you have an essential outsider (Jonathan Elias) producing the songs, there was a backing cast of about 20 people playing synths and guitars on the album, and many of the songs were also co-written my non Yes people. So, sure, you can listen to the album and hear riffs and structure that say to you, "This is Yes," but overall the album is watered down. What's my point? Well, what I want to see happen is this: I want the band to make another album. I want the only people who work on the album to be the 8 Yes people (and Tony Levin too, if he wants to, his work with ABWH was too inspiring to exclude him) and Eddy Offord if he still wants to produce with them. All 8 people at this point have had varied and exciting solo careers (well, maybe not Tony Kaye), and those influences can and should show up in the new material. However, every note of that material should be written by the band, and no one else. They all don't have to write every song, but they shouldn't find other people to work with. That's what solo albums are for in my opinion, and I want to see that work there. When Yes makes an album, though, it should only be Yes. I know this sounds harsh, but I think it's really what the band needs to do to produce a musical masterpiece for the '90s (which I easily think the band has in them). They need to find whatever they had from 1971--1974. Not that I want the same music, but that interplay of writing and performing should return. The band needn't be an octet, either, if one or two people don't want to be involved, that's fine; but I'd like to see them stick it out together. They seemed to enjoy performing together too much for the new project not to succeed incredibly. So, kick everyone else out of the recording studio, guys; sit down together with some good food and good beer (well, you can pass on the beer, Rick), and write some music, and perform it with everything you've got, and get it down on tape in a beautiful way! ------------ Mike Richichi, Dept. of Physics, Colorado State Univ. richichi@lamar.colostate.edu mrichich@drunivac.bitnet * * * * * * * * * * AN INTEREST/OPINION POLL: ========================= "BERCOW@AppleLink.Apple.COM" 4-OCT-1991 I've been an avid reader of NFTE for the past 4 months. I especially enjoyed the NFTE anniversary issue and the dual celebration of: (a) NFTE and our collective enjoyment of YES and (b) this informal, nationwide network of YES fans. As an inducement to greater "audience participation", would it be possible to run a straw poll among our readers for various categories as they pertain to YES. I've listed some of mine below. I suggest getting input from others and developing a 20-30 category contest that we could vote on in an upcoming issue. I'd be happy to do the tabulation work. Some ideas... Favorite Long Song (12 minutes or more) Favorite Short Song (5 minutes or less) Favorite Song Favorite Album Favorite Guitar Solo in a Song Favorite Bass Solo in a Song Favorite Drum Solo in a Song Favorite Keyboard Solo in a Song Favorite Song to "Crank Up the Volume" Favorite Song to "Drive To" Favorite Song to "Dance(?) To" Desert Island Album (Mix and Match Any Song, Must fit into 90 Minutes) Doug Bercow ***Well everyone knows I'm game when I don't have to commit myself to helping tabulate (not that I wouldn't offer to help...) :-) And it is about time we did a little bit more interpersonal interaction with this group...last time we did something like this was when Dori and Gary made up that lyrics quiz way back when...Of course, everyone keep in mind that this is the YES newsletter, so answers should come from the pool of Yes songs and solo efforts (and when I say Yes I imply ABWH as well). If you have an idea for another category that should be added, please write Doug with your suggestion. We'll post the final categories next newsletter, and then you can send in responses. Please, don't respond to the categories just yet! :-) I'll add a couple categories of my own... Favorite song to mellow out to Favorite spine-tingling vocal (hundreds of 'em! :-) Least favorite song Favorite album cover (borrowing from a thread that tried to get started, many newsletters ago, but sputtered out) * * * * * * * * * * A LIST OF RICK'S SOLO ACCOMPLISHMENT'S: ======================================= "borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis.edu" 8-OCT-1991 This has to be done every so often, so here it is...a "complete" to date version of Rick Wakeman's solo releases. You'll notice that he's released 11 albums just this year! But this is a bit deceptive... while they were released this year, many were written and/or recorded at an earlier date. And for "In the Beginning," I remember this album being talked about but as far as I know it still isn't out yet. "Private Collection" just showed up in the stores about 2 weeks ago so I don't know much about that one (nor do I have the $25 for it!) If anybody knows of something that should be on this list, please write me. -Mike Borella borella@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) The Six Wives of Henry VIII 1973 2) Journey to the Centre of the Earth 1974 3) The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the 1975 Knights of the Round Table 4) Lizstomania 1975 5) No Earthly Connection 1976 6) White Rock 1977 7) Criminal Record 1977 8) Rhapsodies 1979 9) 1984 1981 10) The Burning 1981 11) Rock -n- Roll Prophet 1982 12) Cost of living 1983 13) G'ole' 1983 14) Black Nights in the Court of Ferdinand IV 1984 15) Silent Nights 1985 16) Live at Hammersmith 1985 17) Country Airs 1986 18) Crimes of Passion 1986 19) The Gospels 1987 20) The Family Album 1987 21) Zodiaque 1988 22) A Suite of Gods 1988 23) Time Machine 1988 24) Sea Airs 1989 25) Night Airs 1990 26) Phantom Power 1990 27) Aspirant Sunrise 1991 28) Aspirant Sunset 1991 29) Aspirant Shadows 1991 30) Suntrilogy 1991 31) The Classical Connection 1991 32) 2000 A.D. Into the Future 1991 33) African Bach 1991 34) Beyond the Planets 1991 35) Softsword (King John and the Magna Charter) 1991 36) Private Collection 1991 37) In the Beginning 1991?? * * * * * * * * * * RE: BEYOND THE PLANETS: ======================= "borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis.edu" 29-SEP-1991 >"PGR@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU" "Patrick Robinson" 20-SEP-1991 > >I am curious about Wakeman's _Beyond the Planets_, which is supposed >to be Rick's rendition of Holst's _The Planets_. Specifically, does >the album contain ... "singing"? As much as I like Wakeman's music, >I would usually prefer be spared his choice of vocalists... ;-} > >-Patrick Robinson Well Patrick, Beyond the Planets is all instrumental except for a few spoken parts, so I don't think you'll have a problem with Rick's choice of vocalists. But you may have a problem with the fact that Wakeman only composed one of the tracks, and that he only plays on a few. Kevin Peak did most of the work for this one. It's actually a three-man work with equal credit given to Jeff Wayne, Peak, and Wakeman but Wayne and Wakeman have very little to do with it. Also the CD copyright says 1985 which makes it 6 years old even though it came out this summer. Go figure. I know what you mean about vocalists, though. As Cath pointed out, Ashley Holt can make one's hair stand on end at times. I've gotten used to him over the years but I'll never be able to listen to a certain song from "Time Machine" with a straight face. Holt sings the chorus in his trying-to-be-emotional baritone: " Make me a woman... Oh, make me a woman... Make me a woman... For all to see! " Of course there's 2 ways of taking this, but I always take it the "other" way and crack up. Actually, I usually just skip the whole song. :-) -Mike Borella borella@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * IN DEFENSE OF RICK'S VOCALISTS: =============================== "dbreiden@mentor.cc.purdue.edu" 28-SEP-1991 A couple of people have been questioning Rick Wakeman's choices for vocalists on his albums. I can see why people may be surprised that such a damn fine musician would pick such *ahem* interesting voices to sing his work. I have had _Journey to the Centre of the Earth_ for several years, and I recently (this summer) picked up ..._King Arthur_.. (which holds the record in my collection for the longest album title I've ever seen :-) and I have noted the quality of voice on both of these. For those who wonder at this strange choice Rick seems to make, I claim that the style of voice he picks to sing his stuff is as much a part of his music as how he programs his synthesizers and his overall orchestration. The vocalist is one of many voices in the total work. One may cynically quip that Rick just lets a nephew sing as a favor to relatives, but I sincerely doubt that he could ever be cavalier in any of his scoring. If you sit back and scrutinize the singer on these albums, you will find the voice less than pleasing. But if you take the voice as part of the total piece of music, I think you will appreciate the whole piece much more. I can't imagine anyone relegating _King Arthur_ to the archives of an album collection! The music is simply too damn beautiful! Oh, and when we criticize these vocalists -- take note of the fact that their singing is musically and technically quite good -- it's just not as smooth as a Robert Goulet *ack*. Sorry if I sound preachy. --Danny * * * * * * * * * * SONG OF SEVEN... ================ "jrjones@gmuvax2.gmu.edu" 9-OCT-1991 Hi, my question for the group: Does anyone know the significance behind the title (and title cut) of Jon Anderson's 'Song of Seven'? The song has grown on me as is typical of his work, but I don't really know what it's about or what may have inspired him. thanx, jimmy jones * * * * * * * * * * JON AND VANGELIS' LATEST: _PAGE OF LIFE_: ========================================= "STOREYR@Venus.YCC.Yale.Edu" 8-OCT-1991 It now appears that the Jon and Vangelis project "Page of Life" will not be available in the United States after all. Fortunately, the import shouldn't be much over $20. I'm not sure what happened; perhaps the record company realized that they couldn't really sell it. :-( In any event, at least it is available. Ross Storey StoreyR@Venus.YCC.Yale.edu +++ +++ +++ +++ "COLLIN@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu" 8-OCT-1991 I just broke down and bought _Page of Life_ (the import version for $23.00). I've been debating this for 2 weeks or so. Only one record store in town had it, and they only had the import version. No one had even heard of it (I had to spell out J-o-n and V-a-n-g-e-l-i-s for them--the geeks). Anyway, I'm writing to say that if you happen to be in a similar situation (i.e. holding your breath for the domestic version to come out) then its probably worth it to hold your breath a while longer. Even though I love Jon Anderson ("the Messiah" is what I used to call him), and I like Vangelis a lot too, I must say I'm a bit disappointed with this cd. (Perhaps if I had paid less for it I would like it better--in spite of the fact that this flies in the face of cognitive dissonance theory, right?). I guess that I'm disappointed because there are very few pieces like the ones I like from previous albums (e.g. "Horizon"; "I'll find My Way Home" "Mayflower"and "He is Sailing"). I've only listened to it twice, so perhaps it'll grow on me. (I hope so). Bye for now, Collin. * * * * * * * * * * VERSIONS OF "I'M ALIVE" ======================= "rawdon@cs.wisc.edu" 27-SEP-1991 Gee, my first submission. :-) >REGARDING THE VIDEO VERSION OF "I'M ALIVE": >=========================================== >"AAVASQUEZ@stthomas.edu" 16-SEP-1991 >If any of you obtained ABWH's "In the Big Dream--A Video Compilation," you >would find an absolutely beautiful extension of the last movement of Quartet >(I'm Alive). Question: Is this extended version available as a CD single, >or for that matter, ANY single? Watching that video, then watching the Yes >Greatest Hits video, you realize that Yes-men have come a long way in video >production. I heard the extended version frequently on the radio when ABWH was released, and it was probably that more than anything else that prompted me to get the album. Boy was I disappointed when I heard the album version! So anyway, I'd be surprised if there weren't SOME copies out there. I was generally nonplussed by ABWH at first in general, actually. However, it's grown on me over time, and it's really an outstanding album, with an impressive sense of unity. In fact, both ABWH and _Big_Generator_ rank among my favorite Yes albums because of the strong melodies, performances, production work, and consistency of the tracks, something neither _90125_ nor _Union_ (both of which I was initially really enthused about, but now find somewhat bland) can lay claim to. (On the other hand, "Lift Me Up" and "It Can Happen" are easily my favorite post-_Drama_ *tracks*. But hey...) -- Michael Rawdon rawdon@cs.wisc.edu * * * * * * * * * * EARTHWORKS' NEW ALBUM: ====================== "STOREYR@Venus.YCC.Yale.Edu" 8-OCT-1991 I've been told by the manager of Cutler's Records here in New Haven that the 3rd Earthworks album IS out, even though distribution is spotty. If I remember right, that's how it was with the last one; I couldn't consistently find it in the stores until about three months after it's initial release. Ross Storey * * * * * * * * * * KING CRIMSON BOX SET: ===================== "STOREYR@Venus.YCC.Yale.Edu" 8-OCT-1991 There will be a King Crimson box out in October. Apparently, it will be a four disc set with the first three being from the three major Crimson periods and the fourth consisting of unreleased/live stuff. Also, I've heard rumors about a limited edition CD5 that will contain some sort of 20 minute edit/medley of a lot of different Crimso classics. Ross Storey StoreyR@Venus.YCC.Yale.edu * * * * * * * * * * AN ELP MAILING LIST: ==================== "borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis.edu" 9-OCT-1991 Here's the announcement in case you missed it. -Mike ------ Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends... This is to announce the creation of an ELP mailing list. This mailing list will provide an easy way for people interested in Emerson, Lake and Palmer or their related bands to communicate with each other. The list is unmoderated though we ask your discretion in sending messages that are too long or too pugnacious. And for those of you who aren't ELP fans, this list should serve to relieve some ELP-related traffic from your regular Usenet traffic. To subscribe/unsubscribe to the list or for discussion with the list administrator, please send to the following address: elp-request@xero.cbm.dec.com After you have subscribed (to guarantee that you get responses and that everyone on the list gets to see them as well), you may post messages to the list by sending mail to the following address: elp@xero.cbm.dec.com If either of these addresses seems to fail you after a few attempts, please contact John Arnold at arnold@decvax.dec.com and he'll try to help. Thanks! We look forward to your participation. - John Arnold & Jim Smith - * * * * * * * * * * NOTES ON THE UNION TOUR: ======================== "spw@bu-conx.bu.edu" 7-OCT-1991 I don't know if the Yes community is aware of these facts - perhaps you might find these things interesting: I saw Yes three times on the last tour - Worcester, Ma., Montreal, and Lake PLacid. Worcester, from seeing what people have said on Alt.rock-n-roll, was a standard concert. In Montreal, things of note include Bill Bruford addressing the audience in French (I don't speak French so I have no idea what he had to say), and at the end of the show, all hell broke loose - the audience didn't leave after the second encore and after a half hour of pandemonium the band came back and did a cover of 'Good Lovin'. Lake Placid is notable for the disappointing audience - less than 2000 I'd say. They played at the Olympic Ice Arena (small to start with) and the place was about half full (or half empty). Of note - they played three songs off the new album, recorded All Good People (I understand they did that at a lot of places), and played Close to the Edge before intermission. For Close..., Anderson, Bruford, Squire, Howe, and Wakeman were the only ones on stage. I hope these things are interesting to someone. I am certainly interested in what others have to say about the tour and albums, so I look forward to receiving Notes... Thanks! Steve Weibel * * * * * * * * * * COMMENTS ON THESE BOOTLEGS? =========================== ***posted anonymously at reader's request. --ed. Recent listing of YES boots at the CD Exchange, from ads found in Goldmine Magazine: 1. Roundabout (Calif., 1974) 2. Looking Around (BBC, 1969-70) 3. Looking Around (Europe, 1970-71) 4. Looking Around (Europe, 1990-91) 5. They! (Canada, 1983) 6. Revolution (Boston, 1974) 7. Amsterdam 1972 8. Sound Chaser 9. London 1975 10. Quebec 1979 11. Resurrection Dragons (1986) 12. Domino (Calif. 1988) Numbers 1, 6, 9, 10, 11 are discussed in Notes From The Edge #19. Does anyone have opinions regarding the others? Namely I'm interested in a) the sound quality, b) the quality of the performance, and c) the song list. I was considering buying "They!" at a record show, since it looked like it contained all of "90125 Live -- the Solos", but I couldn't be sure, and the price was $50. The ads in Goldmine list it for $30 (plus significant postage...). * * * * * * * * * * RE: HAPPY THE MAN ================= "JTULL@vms.cis.pitt.edu" "Rick Meyer" 28-SEP-1991 On the subject of the progressive bands listed in the last issue: First of all, I disagree about the comments made about Happy the Man. Granted I've only heard two of their albums, but the song "Wind Up Day Doll Wind" is one of the strongest songs I've ever heard. It really grabs you. Secondly, Thijs Van Leer is a satanist??? Interesting. Later, Rick +++ +++ +++ +++ RE: NEKTAR ========== "david@ait.com" 27-SEP-1991 Zog writes: Nektar: England (?). Well done progressive rock, 20 minute songs, titles like "Journey to the Center of the Eye". A prototypical early seventies progressive band. Not nearly as good as Yes, though. Their technical skills are much better than their song-writing abilities. And DON'T buy their later stuff unless you like Procol Harum. I have to take exception to this. Their early stuff sounds like it was lifted right from Ummagumma By Pink Floyd (very spacey, lots of echoed slide guitar). Their later stuff (which I like a lot better [not that I don't like Ummagumma]), sounds more like Genesis (mid-period) than anything else, especially Magic is a Child and Recycled which I think are their two best albums. BTW, they were from Germany. And now on to some Yes related stuff. I just got the Boxed set as a gift. All I can say is I'm glad I didn't have to buy it. Good but disappointing. I agree with everyone else, why not more unreleased stuff? David Kuznick david@ait.com * * * * * * * * * * EXTRA ANNIVERSARY-RELATED COMMENTS: =================================== "slewis@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu" "Sarah L Lewis" 4-OCT-1991 And thanks for sending out all the remarks on people's memories of Yes and the list. Indeed my first recollection of Yes was back in high school, when I was still addicted to MTV and faithfully sat through all 18 versions of "Leave It" just for the novelty of the thing. And of course most of the videos were upside down, so I had a large headache afterwards... -Sarah +++ +++ +++ +++ "burley@gnu.ai.mit.edu" 3-OCT-1991 Great issue! Good, fun stuff! Actually, now I'm very annoyed with myself for not getting my act together when my wife and I were heading down to Philly for the Saturday YesFest and concert, by contacting the NFTE list so we could meet some of you! We didn't arrive in Philly until around 3, and were in YesFest proper only for 10 or 15 minutes a couple of times, including the very end when the gang was improvising some 12-bar blues. (In case you were there at that point, I was the yo-yo who, when the Yes gang was trying to figure out what to play, rather sarcastically suggested "Supper's Ready" from the back -- and I wore a very old Relayer T-shirt I had made myself.) We did meet Suzanne Cerquone and a couple of other people from Wonderous Stories, though I forget their names (you'd think I'd remember the name of the beautiful brunette just inside the door across from the table, but no... :-), but it'd have been much more interesting to meet people with whom I can communicate on a more frequent basis. (We did sit in the YF section, too, which was lots of fun, especially when Jon addressed us during the concert!) Fortunately, I had the good fortune of having lunch with Mike Stok the other day, as it turns out he works about 3 miles from where I work, and he saw my incredibly bad Yes puns on rec.music.cd and emailed me! Now I see he's started up the Yes server. The anniversary issue brought back many memories of my introduction to Yes and my conversations with other Yes fans I met via my interest in computers back in the mid-'70s. I can even remember hacking at MIT one night while a couple of Yes fans were in the same terminal room, and banging the opening theme from "Close to the Edge" into the music composition program I was modifying, and watching the reaction when it played over the speakers in the room -- really cracked those two guys up! One of them still lurks on the net (though back then it was Arpanet). It also has been great to find people really being fanatical about Yes songs and albums I'm somewhat lukewarm about, so I can dig deeper into them and get more satisfaction. It never occurred to me somebody could be absolutely nuts about "South Side of the Sky", "Drama", or "Big Generator", but the latter one now is a complete joy for me to listen to, and I hope to delve into the others (especially Drama, which I don't have memorized yet) soon. Anyway, hope we can all meet face-to-face someday! tq vm, (burley) +++ +++ +++ +++ "greywolf@unisoft.com" 4-OCT-1991 Well, I can't say a whole lot; I joined for the information as I don't get it any other way. I see a lot of folks contributing their experiences, as well as the information they get from the music mags and the other stuff. My radio is down, I have no TV (let alone Cable/PPV). This is it. Except, of course, from the Sunday edition when the concerts are listed. I've only been joined since the summer, lemme introduce myself: Name: Roan Anderson Explanation for name: Chose it for myself in 1982, *before* I had ever heard of "Going for the One". Honest, it's coincidental. DOB: 11 Nov 1965, 11:52 pm for those who care Description: 5'10" (1.778m), 134# (60.78 kg), long wavy brown hair, green eyes, slight build, male... I've been into Yes since the summer of 1981, when I kept hearing the (atrociously chopped version of the) song "Roundabout" on the jukebox at the local Pizza pub (the Marin Pizza Pub -- RIP 1985 -- again, for those who know/care), and I figured, "Gee, this sounds fairly recent, I wonder who it is." Imagine my surprise when I saw the label, and it said ">>>HIT OLDY<<<". "Come on," said I, "three years isn't *that* old!" (they don't put the date on the jukebox label). So I went down to the (then) Record Factory and bought a copy of _Fragile_, and brought it home. Shortly thereafter, I discovered my brother's (ex-) wife's copy of _Yessongs_ and fell in love with "Siberian Khatru" and "And You and I" (got turned off by the live version of "Roundabout", tho -- the best it was ever done was during the ABWH tour where Tony Levin (actually Jeff Berlin, cos Tony was ill) was maintaining the bass part and not changing it the way Chris does...). My next purchase was _Tales from Topographic Oceans_ (meanwhile my mom gave me _Drama_), and being a neophyte to these new sensations, my mind did some contortions and said, "Let's put this away for a while and forget about it", and I invested in _Close to the Edge_ instead. Much better; stuff my ears were a bit more able to cope with. A year later, out came _Tales_ for the hell of it, and I dug it! That was just *wild* stuff. I began to look at each Yes album as a course in music appreciation and, believe it or not, composition. Having played piano since I was three, and having been exposed to all aspects of music since then as well, I find quite a lot of joy in listening and picking up themes & variations (Siberian Khatru seems to have quite a bit of that -- it carries over just one riff into The Ancient, but it was noticeable to me). I wish I could find some way to get in touch with Jon or Steve somehow. I have a tape I want to give them in appreciation... Not having had a band to play with -- at least not one which understood Yes and their complexity -- I learned quite a few of their songs on piano, fully orchestrated (as fully as two hands at five fingers apiece can do), including Close to the Edge, The Gates of Delirium and Turn of the Century (the last one was such a joy to learn!). I felt as though I had lived that song, when I first heard it in 1983. I don't think I'd ever felt a piece of music move me as much as that one did... I've heard tell that some students at the College of Marin (Kentfield, CA campus) made a video to that tune which, to this day, I have never seen. (MTV has a copy, WB has a copy, each student who produced it has a copy, and somewhere at COM, in the TV department, is a copy...go figure.) I've followed Yes in retrospect as far as I could, then _90125_ came out and I was -- enthused, to say the least. Not as eccentric as their older stuff, but I saw it as more a survival move, one that would allow them to continue R&D (as it were). A lot of people seemed very disappointed, but that didn't phase me one bit. _Big Generator_ followed, and they did some (initially) interesting stuff there... Then I heard about the big squabble between Chris and Jon after that, and _ABWH_ released an album. I figured that Chris was just being a legal dick about things. Probably was, but that's life. I figured that Yes would never release another album. When _Union_ came out -- wow! That was something. Hadn't expected this in the least! I mean, yeah, I had seen the adverts showing that all eight (major) members would be playing on stage at once, but that doesn't mean that they're gonna do an album! I listened to it once, and it sounded kinda funny, kinda sappy, but it grew on me. One song, though, which caught my attention at first (and hasn't let go): "The More We Live -- Let Go". That song strikes up so much energy. Everything about that song is fantastic, except the fact that it's still too short, and the ending is just a bit too abrupt (should have held that sustain a bit more). You know a song is good when it has the capacity to capture your train of thought when you're making love to the girl of your dreams, which I was at the time :-). I was quite impressed with the way that tune was handled. A close second is "Take the Water to the Mountain". You folks want a good mix for that? try following it up as soon as possible with "South side of the Sky". They go *great* together. There, again, not having heard the rumored extended version, "Take the Water..." is too short. The three songs I wish I could file requests for them to do in concert: Siberian Khatru Turn of the Century The More We Live -- Let Go -- I want to thank everyone who's contributed to this newsletter for making some of the most interesting reading I get every month or so. Kudos especially to Cathy Leak for having gotten the ball rolling. I never knew there was a collection of computer-connected people interested in all this. Thankx all, and I look forward to reading more. I'll input what I can when I can. Yours, Roan Anderson (The Grey Wolf) "Did her eyes, at the Turn of the Century/Tell me plainly How we'll meet, how we'll love? Oh, let life/So transform me..." * * * * * * * * * * BIRTHDAYS: ========== October 25 marks Jon Anderson's 47th birthday (and I'm experiencing serious deja vu by mentioning this...I've done this before!! Oh, say a *year* ago...of course he wasn't turning 47 then...:-) October ------- 13 John McLachlan 14 Jeffrey Moore 17 Steve Boswell 17 Eric Olson 20 George Frichter 21 Sarah Lewis 21 Bill Barnes 24 Ron de la Cruz 25 *Jon Anderson* * * * * * * * * * * CONTRIBUTORS: ============= Mike Scheinberg, Mike Richichi, Doug Bercow, Danny Breiden, Jimmy Jones, Collin, Michael Rawdon, Steve Weibel, Rick Meyer, David Kuznick, Sarah Lewis, Burley, Roan Anderson, Tony Vasquez, Mike Borella, Ross Storey. Encore!! * * * * * * * * * * THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT ADDRESSES: ============================== For New Subscribers, Contributions, Questions/Comments/Criticism: Cathy Leak V111PBXX@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU NFTE Server (Lyrics, Backissues, Discography, Rarities, Surveys): Automated. For help send subject line "send main help", or refer to NFTE #21 YES-ARCHIVE@MEIKO.COM NFTE Server problems: Mike Borella BORELLA@TOADFLAX.EECS.UCDAVIS.EDU Mike Stok MIKE@MEIKO.COM For Import CD's (last resort): Joe Pizzirusso JOEP@CBMVAX.CBM.COMMODORE.COM ******************************************************************************** --< END OF NOTES FROM THE EDGE #23 >-- ********************************************************************************