* * * * * * * * * * ______ ______ ____________ _________ / \ | \ __/ \ __/ \__ | \| \ / |/ _ \ | // _____ || / \_/ \ // / \ \\_ \___ \ || _____ ___\ \ \_ \ \ || / --/ ______| \ \ ___\ || | | - /______ __/ \ ___/ \ \\ \_ \_ // | / ___\ _/ \_ \ \_ _// | \__ \__/ ___/ \_ \____ | \_/ \__ ___/ \___ _/ \__ \__/ \ \_________/ \_____/ \_ \_____/ \ \_ | \_ | \__ __/ \_____________/ N o t e s F r o m T h e E d g e #70 (c) THE Internet Magazine For YES Fans 6/3/93 * * * * * * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE ============= Rick Wakeman Live - - At The Stone Pony In NJ - - A Second Opinion Billy Sherwood - - Just Say No - - Some Background Rick Wakeman - - Classic Connection II Info Steve Howe - - Transcriptions Yesoteric - - Adds Another Volume! - - Jeremy Says Goodbye... Rick Wakeman - - Classic Tracks Review * * * * * * * * * * WAKEMAN IN N.J 5/22/93 ====================== From: IN%"dic5340@hertz.njit.edu" I saw Rick and Adam Wakeman performing in Asbury Park, New Jersey at "The Stone Pony" last week (May 22, 1993). It was one of the best shows I have ever attended. Here is a description of the night: Before the show, one opening act got my attention: "Curious Works". They had a very professional sound to them. I don't know if they're touring with Rick or if they're strictly a local band, but I liked them a lot - they have a Rush-like sound to them. Anyway, at 11:30 (after two opening bands), Rick and Adam came on. The stage was just the two of them, a bass player and a drummer. Being a musician, I took note of the eqipment they were using. For those who care, each was playing four keyboards as follows: Equipment: Rick : Korg O1/W Pro/X Ensoniq SD-1 Something by Kurzweil systems One I couldn't see Adam : Korg T1 Korg M1 Korg wavestation Something by Rhodes In addition, both had walk-around MIDI controllers (more later) The entire evening was composed of non-stop hard rock compositions that they had done. Adam's keyboard playing was every bit as good as his father's and (in some cases) even better. The track list is as follows: Lair (Lyre? Liar?) of the wild. This track was the only one I didn't have on album, so I really can't critique it that well. It reminded me strongly of "Custer's Last Stand" from the "Time Machine" album. Catherine Howard. This standard Wakeman track (from "Six Wives") was played in an extremely powerful form. Elanore Rigby. This McCartney song was done in an all-synth arrangement, with a Prokofiev-like solo in the middle of it. If you don't already know the Beatles tune of the same name, you might easilly mistake it for a Wakeman original, it was embellished so much. Adam's solo. At this point, Rick left the stage and Adam played alone. He's going to be amazing. I distinctly recall hearing someone in the audience call him "son of god" after this piece. Excerpts from King Arthur. Three "King Arthur" tracks were played. They opened with the short "Lady Of The Lake" motif, segueed into the main "Arthur" melody, and ended with "The Last Battle". All lyrics were replaced with appropriate synth work. Catherine Parr. Probably the best "Six Wives" track on the album. Played to perfection. What more can I say? Journey To The Center Of The Earth. They played the _entire_ album of it. As with "King Arthur", vocals were replaced with synth material. Merlin the Magician. Always a crowd pleaser. During this track, Adam and Rick strapped on their portable MIDI-controllers and jammed face- to-face like guitarists often do. Painted Black. This encore track will be released on a new album that is expected in July. After the show, I stayed around to get autographs. Adam emerged from the dressing room after about 15 minutes and talked with all of us for quite a while. After an hour, Rick came out and gave autographs and answered questions. Nothing spectacular was said that we (on the list) don't already know about, so I won't go into the questions. As a side point, when I handed him my copy of "Time Machine" to autograph, he commented that this was the first time he had ever seen that album in the USA. I guess it pays to buy imports! * * * * * * * * * * WAKEMAN IN N.J. =============== From: IN%"wrw@hrmso.att.com" "Wayne Wiebalk" I just saw Wakeman at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park (5/22). Thought I would add my .02 to the comments I have seen so far. I won't comment on the music (although I really enjoyed it) 'cause other people covered it pretty well in NFTE #69. I can tell from what I read that the show is basically the same, right down to the McCartney reference. (Except that Rick said "the doors are locked" as soon as he mentioned McCartney....pretty funny) Rick mentioned that he *hopes* to have the CD with Paint It Black released here in the July time frame. I don't know if this means he is any closer to getting a distributor. Dan Gilliam mentioned that Adam Wakeman is 19. That is interesting considering he had his share of Budweiser's during the performance..... About a half hour after the show, Rick came out and spent *a lot* of time with the fans who waited in the bar to meet him. Signing autographs non-stop. I was surprised he didn't decline considering he just got done playing for 1 hr. 40 min. Also had a chance to say hi to Adam. He spent even more time with the crowd. Also chatted with the bass player (forgot his name). He roamed around the bar for a long time. Kind of felt bad for him because most people didn't even recognize him.....and this was only minutes after he walked off the stage! * * * * * * * * * * BILLY SHERWOOD, JUST SAY NO =========================== From: IN%"mcmahan@cs.unca.edu" "Scott Mcmahan" Once upon a time, Jon Anderson quit Yes for the second time, after/during/around the Big Generator album. (The reasons had something to do with the color yellow, I believe :)) No, seriously, with Jon out, it looked a lot like Cinema again -- four guys and no vocalist. Of course, Trevor and Chris can both sing, and Chris sings *great*, but he for some reason doesn't like doing it all that much. Billy Sherwood was in some Yes sound-a-like band, and he does sound vaguely like Jon Anderson. Not particularly, but you could see a similarity. So somehow Billy & Chris get hooked up. (I've never heard the story behind how that happened!) They write songs together, including The More We Live -- Let Go and Say Goodbye. Billy sings on these. During all this time, Billy was pretty much the new vocalist for the group. From 88 until the Union, not much happened. No real Yes, as in Squire, Rabin, White, Kaye, albums. Trevor did a solo thing called Can't Look Away, which is a *fantastic* album (the leftovers and outtakes from that were on Union :)) There were rumors that an album was completed but rejected by whatever label Yes was on (were they still on Atco?). I find that hard to believe myself. So here comes Yes again, but this time there's a Union. Which meant that Jon Anderson came in and sang on all of Sherwood's songs! You can still hear Billy on Live Let Go. Say Goodbye wasn't even *on* Union, an it's the best track of them all. The demo version of Say Goodbye and Let Go are on the Yesoteric tapes, and I encourage you to get them and listen to Sherwood. Once the Union is over, and Steve and Bill have enough cash to blow off Yes for a while and do solo albums, Squire and White -- the best rhythm section in history -- put together a band called The Chris Squire Experiment. The band plays some west coast tour dates, in an attempt to get a record deal. *Why* no one jumped at this music is a mystery, cos it is *great*! The band looked like: Chris Squire: bass, vocals, 8 string bass Alan White: drums Billy Sherwood: coval, guitar, bass Jimmy Hahn: lead guitar Steve Porcaro: keys Mark Williams: percussion Luckily for 99.9% of Yes fans, there's at least one pretty good audience bootleg of this set of club dates, which is on the Yesoteric tapes too. The songs on the ones I have (I have a bootleg and the audio track of a video bootleg) include: Open Your Eyes The Lonesone Trail I've Got To Find My Way One World Going 'Round Days of Wonder Follow Our Dreams Say Goodbye Encore: The Fish Open Your Eyes As you can see, Say Goodbye isn't finished yet! Transcriptions: All of Howe's Yes guitar pieces are in Yes Complete, the sheet music compendium for the beginning to 1980. Also, this will be of interest to readers: I have obtained a copy of the Roy DeRousse discography from Paul and uploaded it to the musical FTP site cs.uwp.edu, for all the people who can FTP to get it. It's called "yes-roy" and ought to be in pub/music/discog some place. It would be beneficial to all of Yes fandom to merge these two discographies together -- Roy's and Mike Borella's. I may work on doing that, if anyone wants to help me out. * * * * * * * * * * BILLY SHERWOOD INFO =================== From: IN%"hallg@egr.msu.edu" "Greg Hall" I recently received this reply to my inquiry about Billy Sherwood in the last NFTE. I thought that I would forward it to NFTE for everyone to read. Special thanks to Barry Greenberg for this Billy Sherwood bio. > I've know Billy for about 15 years (we're friends from Las Vegas where we > both grew up). Billy's first group was a band called Lodgic which was > formed in Las Vegas and then moved to LA in about 1980. Members > of the group included Billy on Bass and vocals, Michael Sherwood, > Billy's older, brother on keyboards and vocals, Jimmy Haun in Guitar, > Guy Alllison on Keyboards, and Gary Starns on Drums. Their first (and > only) album, Nomadic Sands, was produced by Toto's David Paich and Steve > Porcaro. It was a good album but wasn't promoted because A&M (their > label) didn't think it had much potential. I thought it was an excellent > album. That album came and went in 1985. Then came World Trade which > you probably know about. Following World Trade, Billy started working > a lot with members of Yes, especially Chris Squire who was his childhood > idol. Billy actually had more involvement in the Union album than his > credits would lead one to believe. Apparently he had a falling out with > Jon Anderson and the whole Union experience was not a good one for Billy. > By the way, Billy told me that Jimmy did about 80% of the guitar work on > the Union album. He was brought in to redo Steve Howe's guitar work after > Steve came in and "just solo'ed over everything." Jimmy's style is very > much like Steve's - like Billy, Jimmy idolized Yes since he was very young. > > Billy was asked to join Yes after Jon departed for ABWH - Billy would > do vocals and Chris would continue to play Bass. I recall that fell > through due to some rediculous personality problems involving Trevor > Rabin. Anyway, after that, Billy formed a band called the Key. They > did an album for a small label but was dropped just before it was due > to be released. I've got a tape of the album and I was not terribly > impressed. It was a trio with Billy, Jimmy Haun, and Mark William. > I believe these three are still working together - mostly writing and > doing studio work. I haven't talked to Billy in a couple of months so > I called and left a message yesterday. If I hear anything interesting, > I'll let you know. > > Barry Greenberg > SunSoft * * * * * * * * * * WAKEMAN INFO ============ From: IN%"ronc@cogs.susx.ac.uk" > From: IN%"AACUNZO@ccmail.sunysb.edu" "Andy Acunzo" > He also said, "We wanted to do some surprises for you, so this next piece > is one that's not written by me. It was written by Paul McCartney. (mild > applause, some laughter (!)) It's called Elanor Rigby. One of my favorite > loves, though, is Russian music, especially Prokofiev (huge response from > crowd!), so what I've done is I've arranged Elanor Rigby in the style of > Prokofiev. (lots of laughter) We've locked the doors, so you can't get out. > (audience in hysterics)" I wish I taped this - it was hilarious! In the I think that is an excellent arrangement, too, though I didn't find it hilarious. It is available on the classical Connections II CD. To answer what someone asked before: Alan Thompson was the bassist on the CCII tour. * * * * * * * * * * MORE ON TRANSCRIPTIONS ====================== From: IN%"John.McCartney@EBay.Sun.COM" The other existing book of transcriptions is Steve Howe's "Steve Howe Guitar Pieces". It's subtitled "A collection of original Steve Howe guitar solos with notes from Steve and Mick Barker, who transcribed the pieces, on exactly how they should be played. Titles include Clap, Mood For A Day, Sound Chaser and Ram." Here's the details: published by Warner Bros., book number is GF0213. List price was $8.95. Copyright 1980 by Wise Publications (Wise is the big songbook publisher in the UK.) Titles: Clap, Mood For A Day, The Ancient (4 page excerpt), Sound Chaser (5 page excerpt), Ram, Meadow Rag, Surface Tension, & Diary Of A Man Who Vanished. There is a 1-1/2 page introduction by the transcriber, with notes on playing. The contents page has notes by Howe, here transcribed: The Clap: After writing songs for two years, in 1969 I wrote my first instrumental, Clap. Around this time I had been re-listening considerably to Chet Atkins and waiting for my first son to be born. Soon I joined Yes and have performed this at almost all of our concert appearances but in the last two years I have played it with a much more relaxed finger technique which helps keep the speed up and also smooth control. The Yes album recording was made on a Revox at the Lyceum Ballroom on my Martin 0018 which I still use for concerts now, aided by a Barcus Berry pickup. Mood For A Day: At the time of recording 'Fragile' I finished Mood For A Day. Some new interests gave this piece a rather special quality. The changing passages gave space for a little flamenco influence and cycles of simplified guitar performed on a Conde flamenco guitar. The Ancient: In the midst of the controversial' Tales From The Topographic Oceans' this excerpt from The Ancient was a formidable challenge although I have prepared the piece whilst working with Johnny Harris who was to have arranged it.This piece was recorded on my Kohno concert guitar and must be played lightly with a little zest. Sound Chaser: To write a cadenza for the electric guitar with synthesizer and percussion accompianment called for a short composition that the group could work from and inject into a song. In this excerpt from Sound Chaser the song goes at a high speed and the guitar has to lead off from this. Until the bass enters the feeling is of tension and uncertainty but from then thereon we devised a slightly 'Hammer film' quality. This piece was played on a Fender Telecaster and recorded live with the group. Ram: I wanted my first solo album Beginnings to contain a ragtime guitar piece so Ram was the basis for this and after recording the Dobro guitar I added various typical street instruments. Meadow Rag: It was with children's help that I completed Meadow Rag, after the bent notes appealed to the little one's imaginations. Whilst practising it I also imagined a sleepy clown wandering aimlessly about the countryside. Once again the Martin 0018 footed the bill. Surface Tension: My style of playing Spanish guitar with my finger-tips runs through all the nylon-strung pieces and concludes with Surface Tension. This seems to me to be a London theme and needs a similar approach to The Ancient, gentle but positive. Before settling for a studio recording this piece was recorded in a London church but unfortunately the English weather didn't allow for a warm interpretation, although my Kohno guitar eventually let me play it without squeaks. Diary Of A Man Who Vanished: It's always nice to write tunes which have built- in sections for free-form playing and Diary Of A Man Who Disappeared is one of these. I found that it builds towards the C minor improvised section then eases through the repeat of the A section on to the end. On the 'Steve Howe Album' I played this piece on a Fender Stratocaster. The transcription here is of a solo version and played on an acoustic guitar at the Montreaux Festival. Anyone know if Steve's appearance at the Montreaux Festival was recorded? * * * * * * * * * * ONE MORE YESOTERIC AND JEREMY "SAYS GOOBYE" =========================================== From: IN%"07822@brahms.udel.edu" "Jeremy Weissenburger" Sorry, I couldn't get this out last time for you all, but the big crunch to graduation is a-coming... Announcing: one more volume of Yesoteric! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yesoteric Volume XVI: Yescellaneous IV ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Side One: Yes live: Gimme Some Lovin' (Montreal, 1991) (5:08) Final Eyes (9:07) I'm Running (10:00) (taken from Detroit, MI, 11/21/87) Asia (unplugged from Rockline): The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2:49) The Buggles: Technopop (4:05) Eddie Harris (w/ Chris, Tony, Alan): I Waited For You (5:48) Lou Reed: (w/ Steve Howe): Rise Into The Sun (3:13) (w/ Rick Wakeman): Ocean (5:04) Side Two: Rick Wakeman: "Then And Now" Then: "Temperament of Mind": 7/11/70 solo with the Strawbs (4:27) Now: 1991 solo on the Union tour (4:22) GTR: The Hunter (promo remix) (4:45) Steve Howe: Sharp on The Attack (live) (3:14) (taken from Night Of The Guitar) Steve Howe: New Orleans 1986 ---------------------------- (both Howe and Hackett performed acoustic sets before GTR performed. Here is one such set.) Surface Tension (3:10) Mood For A Day (3:25) Ram (2:20) Second Initial (2:55) Country Medley (3:55) Clap (3:00) From A Place Where Time Runs Slow (3:00) ---------------------------------------- GTR (live in LA, 1986): Pennants (4:20) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The duplicators should have it by the end of June. Now, there are still a few rarities out there which didn't make it to the collection (as we saw by the last NFTE). Some of the ones that come to mind: --GTR: "Prize Fighters" a track only done live, never before recorded. I have a poor copy, cut off in the middle of the song, so I didn't think it'd be fair to include it. --Asia (live): "Little Rich Boy"/"Aqua I" I was planning on including these tracks, since the first can only be found (studio wise) on the import disc, and because I LIKE Aqua I. However, I couldn't fit them in. --ABWH: "Second Attention" This is the album ABWH originally had planned to release. But, the record execs wanted to make it more "radio friendly." Many of the songs are supposedly very different versions than the ones which made it to the ABWH album... --Yes jams with Iron Butterfly In 1971 the two groups played together at a concert. --Jon Anderson live in South America, as mentioned in a recent NFTE --The 1979 "super medley". I just couldn't fit it anywhere! (For those of you who read the Alan White about medleys, this is an interesting bit of history. They actually DID do a medley!) The medley is: Time and A Word Long Distance Runaround The Fish (A few other song licks are thrown in, such as Ritual and Survival) Perpetul Change The Gates Of Delirium (the Soon section) This is somewhat abundant on boots, and most of the recordings I've heard are GREAT quality. --The infamous XYZ sessions (like WE'LL ever see them...) But seriously, I welcome people to continue this collection. There's much more stuff out there, I'm sure. And now, on a sad note... I am graduating, and therefore losing net access. Unless a miracle occurs, I will never again contact anyone via e-mail. I usually don't like to say long sappy goodbyes, but I feel that because of all I've done here, I must. When I first found out about NFTE, I didn't know what to expect. I had very little knowledge of electronic mail, but I decided to check into it anyway. I was not disappointed. Every NFTE uncovers another aspect of the band I didn't know about. I have found many collectable items that I've traded for, and have filled my tape collection (yes, TAPE collection) to over 500 tapes or so. At least 1/6 of these are... well, slightly illegal tapes. (We could call them SITs from now on? B) ) When I first introduced the concept of Yesoteric, I thought that someone would have loved the idea so much that he/she would do it. The problem was, everyone loved the idea, but no one wanted to do it! :) So, the ball landed in my court. I was happy to put together a few tapes for all the Notes members. Then it turned to... 16 TAPES!! Whenever I explain this to people, they freak out. It is inconceivable that so many rarities are out there! Of course, there are still a few more floating out there (i.e. the XYZ sessions, which Alan White seems to be the sole possessor of), but this collection is as comprehensive as possible (that is, until the new album comes out...). It has been a long and hellish road for me to put this thing together, but it was worth it. I now have over 24 hours of Yes music I could listen to straight through, and hopefully many of you will too. One thing I want to make clear is that because I am leaving does NOT mean Yesoteric will no longer be available. The duplicators are still merrily copying the set for people, and hopefully there won't be a major catastrophe. I am keeping the master tapes, rather than giving them to someone else, since... I WORKED FOR 5 MONTHS ON THIS THING AND... I deserve to keep them, I think. If more rarities pop up, please feel free to compile more volumes. Most of them are done, so I assume people can put togehter a few loose volumes every now and again. Well, I have rambled along for quite some time now. I just wanted to thank all of you who contributed to the collection, the duplicators, as well as the two editors of NFTE who helped make this possible: Mike B. and Jeff H. Those of you who still wish to keep in contact, I can be reached at this address: Jeremy S. Weissenburger 60 Dacotah Avenue Rockaway, NJ 07866 Phone #:(201) 627-2509 Some time in the '94 summer, I will be going cross-country (hopefully), and I'd like to stop and visit with many of you. So, please drop me a line if you want me to visit, or just to chat about anything... Jeez, I miss this already. --Jeremy "Have I wasted a lifetime waiting for the sun, thinking that I was the only one? I've seen all my dreams come crashing down, and now it's time for me to say... say goodbye." Yes Union Demo "Say Goodbye" * * * * * * * * * * RICK WAKEMAN - "CLASSIC TRACKS" REVIEW ====================================== From: IN%"71221.2364@CompuServe.COM" "Damien DeSimone" RICK WAKEMAN - CLASSIC TRACKS (DSB 3145-2) 1) Journey To The Center Of The Earth 31:56 2) Catherine Howard 9:14 3) Merlin The Magician 6:45 Well, I held off buying this one at first, as I thought, given the title, it might be another useless compilation. Well, I'm glad I got it, because it's not! These tracks were rerecorded last year by Rick along with the American Rock Ensemble. The musicians that comprise the American Rock Ensemble are the guys that played with Rick at the charity show he did (along with Patrick Moraz and others) in Orlando, FL on September 22, 1991. Anyway, these versions are definitely very much rock-based, as opposed to Wakeman's tendency to go a bit overboard with choirs, orchestras, etc. :-> These tracks also feature a vocalist, and I actually like the vocals on this album a lot, and I normally don't care for Wakeman's choice of vocalists (except for Chaka Khan on 1984!). I recommend this album to any Wakeman fan, especially those that like his more rock-based work. Oh, and don't let the horrible cover deceive you: there's some killer music on this album!! * * * * * * * * * * FROM THE EDITOR =============== I think we should all give Jeremy a collective Notes thank you for his efforts with Yesoteric. He really took the bull by the horns and got it off the ground. By doing this he's enabled many of you to listen to music that would have never reached your ears. If you want to thank him personally I encourage you to send him a note..email may not work but you can stay in touch. As editor I thank him. He's provided Notes with great commentary and made us think with his opinions and observations. Notes needs more readers like him. * * * * * * * * * * THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT ADDRESSES: ============================== New subscribers, contributions, questions/comments/criticism: Jeff Hunnicutt (Editor) hunnicutt@vxc.uncwil.edu NFTE Server (lyrics, backissues, discography, rarities, surveys, GIFs): Automated. For help send mail with subject line yes-archive@meiko.com "send main help" to NFTE Server problems, additions/corrections to the lyrics & GIFs, and additions/corrections to the rarities list: Mike Stok mike@meiko.com NFTE backissues, lyrics, etc, via anonymous FTP: cs.uwp.edu Directory: /pub/music/lists/yes Contact for helping out with transcriptions: Greg Utas utas@bnr.ca For Import CD's (last resort): Joe Pizzirusso joep@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com The Yesoteric Tape(s): United States ============= East Coast: R. uS. Hartnett (hartnett@ocpt.ccur.com) New England: Matt Boyd (st403637@brownvm.brown.edu) Central US: William H. Stoner III (bilbo@cis.ohio-state.edu) Southern US: Jeff Mason (jrm@elm.circa.ufl.edu) West Coast: Don Tyler (dtyler@us.oracle.com) Canada ====== Mike Hackett (hackett@gaul.csd.uwo.ca) Europe ====== UK: David Owen (dro@dsbc.icl.co.uk) Europe (besides the UK): (blok@astro.rug.nl) Australia ========== Andrew Studer (studer@physics.su.oz.au) Asia ==== Atsushi Shionozaki (shio@mt.cs.keio.ac.jp) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ --< END OF NOTES FROM THE EDGE #70 >-- vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv