Yes - Sounding Out - BBC 71/72 

I'm l9ß to m3

I think he said 15 years, not 50. Before that, he said 10, 12, 14... Little did he know, prog rock peaked in the early seventies, and never recovered. You're right, nothing has come close to Yes at their peak, with this lineup.

@@geoffwales8646 I sometimes cringe when people describe current musicians as being shadows compared to those from the past, because I actually like modern indie & EDM nearly as much as seventies prog stuff. But I gotta say, whenever I watch yes on stage I can't ignore the fact that no one, NO ONE... plays with such gusto on stage anymore. Just watch Yes blast through Yessongs & try telling me any band since has been able to match their mastery & intensity. Then watch Page & Zeppelin assault the stage with Achilles Last Stand on their 'DVD' release. The energy in that performance was absolutely remarkable & if you ask me, one of the most amazing performances in recorded rock history. So absolutely, no one has ever come close to Yes or Zep, diverse though they are.

R.I.P. Bill Bruford's drumming career

I cant hear those mistakes in Bruford’s drumming though

@@WhoisVinnie Why do you say that? Did he suffered an injury? Cheers

@@SDsailor7 No, he just doesn't wanna do it anymore for some reason since he thinks it's been 4 decades

@@WhoisVinnie Ah ok. I see. Thanks

He wasnt a wizard yet

No Audience. No wizard. It was a rehearsal or performance for the cameras only. You can hear the slight slap back of an empty 1,000 seater

@@brianloy7856 If it was a for the cameras Steve Howe wouldn't have asked the interviewer which parts of the performance they'd manage to get. If it was a rehearsal they wouldn't crowd noise in the middle. What you're probably just is the less than perfect acoustics of a largish venue.

If I recall correctly, Wakeman picked up the cape during his first US tour with Yes. He happened to spot one in a shop in New York, I think. He said that reaching with his arms and legs for all the different keyboards and pedals he used looked kind of weird, and the cape help cover up the contortions.

And sitting down with only five keyboards! LDR sounds much better on a Fender Rhodes than it does on an RMI 368!

Where? What's the timemark?

AGREED!!!

Chris Squire was incredible.

Yeah, that era between Yes Album and Close To The Edge may have been the best rhythm section ever, all due respect to Peart and Lee.

Yeah, it's too bad that Squire's perpetual lateness got on Bruford's nerves so much that they will probably never play together again.

Little did he know he was about to create in himself one of the most spectacular drummers of all time.

And yet, he still sounds snooty.

He can easily be a lead vocal also. Listen his Days of Wonder from Conspiracy album. Very powerfull.

He is the reason I had to buy a Ric Bass. My absolute favorite player.

@@lylesmith9547 Roundabout was THE song that prompted my to play bass, and collect RIC basses!

if your parents gave you such music, than you owe them a lot. more than you think Roswitha. :) (I had to explore it by myself, but it is a great luck in my life that I have discovered Yes, Floyd, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, ... when I was 13-14 years old. In a country where these records were banned, not existing, and about 20 years before internet and youtube.)

Me too.

Sure you found these bands on your own like many of us did then. It was truly revolutionary music and helped in listening to these bands open up the portals of culture and art and mind exploration. For me it caused me to move to San Francisco and study painting and live a life of music and art and hope. Saw all these bands you mention and still all that reverberates on high percolation. I say Yes!!

Yeaa me too..try my channel.. Yes,genesis,camel,pink floyd,king crimzon,elp,kanzas,led zeppelin,deep purple,uriah heep,supertramp,ufo,styx..and many more..go to my channel..bye.

@@laszlokovacs5885 what country if you don't mind me asking?

"I always loved the lyrics, the way they conjure up dreamlike scenes, moments and fragments of lives." Perfect, completely true.

I get stoned and listen to them every day. This line up of Yes is one of the best bands ever..

That's an excellent comment. I read years ago from one of his interviews that he would use certain words - not necessarily because they had any great meaning - but because he liked the sound of that word in the context of the musical phrase he put it in. I love that.

Coins and crosses (Turn round tailor, assaulting) Never know their fruitless worth (all the mornings of the interest shown, presenting one another to the cord) Cords are broken (All left dying, rediscovered Of the door that turned round) Locked inside the mother Earth (To close the cover, all the interest shown) They won't hide, hold, they won't tell you (To turn one another, to the sign at the time float your climb) Watching the world, watching all of the world Watching us go by...

Shame Ian in his old age let his ego get out of control. Paid loads to get VIP tickets in Perth Western Australia, saw the fantastic show and waited with the other 10 people to meet and greet. Went into the room and went to shake his hand, he physically recoiled, “oh I just do elbows” , we then had to bump elbows. Talk about feeling like the great unwashed! Ian, mate, if you cant stand “common folk” don’t charge the $ for VIP.

@@elliepond5984 Ian?

Sophie Kuchinka Sorry my rant was about Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) got my Andersons mixed up, Im sure Jon if I ever him is a lovely guy. Thanks for picking up my error, stay safe in this time of trouble.

I still prefer them with Alan

Correct Laszlo. The best line up, including Bill.

Not just the best period of yes the best period of music.

@@hpatss4966 Respectfully disagree. Live, Alan was a powerhouse, but in the studio I don't know if it was the production, the brand of drums, or the way the songs were written, but the drumming post-Bruford sounds flat and uninspired. Compare the drumming on Close To The Edge with Tales From Topographic Oceans. On the latter there is simply no drive, no edge to the music. Lovely album with many beautiful moments, but the loss of Bruford's jazzy energetic drumming is a deal breaker for me. On Yessongs Alan plays Bill's songs with gusto and admirable energy, but without that unique nuance of Bill's that made, for me, Yes music constantly interesting. Rick Wakeman commented on the change of drummers thus: "Alan's drumming made a huge change in our sound; people either loved it or hated it." I definitely hated it, and still do. That all said, I attended a Bill Bruford Earthworks show at a small venue in Seattle years ago. Alan White was in attendance since he lives in Seattle. I got to meet both Yes drummers that evening, and Alan came across as a wonderfully warm and gracious man, while Bill - my hero! - was an asshole. Hah! C'est la vie!

BobHunter1977 I mean I know that close to the edges drumming is amazing. Huge mad props to Bill Bruford for making it sound awesome. But I say it’s hard to judge Bc their styles or so vastly and completely different. I really like how Alan plays his drums. TFTO has a lot of music padding. Whether it’s with the percussion or extra guitar or what, I still think it’s absolutely awesome. Listening to how closely knit Alan and Chris sound just gets me on that album. Take another listen to the ancient and the revealing and see if you get what I mean. I prefer some of Alan’s interpretations of bills parts when live. Alan is a solid rock drummer. Who happens to play a lot of proggy music. I’d say that Bill is polyrhythmic and Alan isn’t. And Alan doesn’t try to be. And In my opinion it doesn’t make him any less of a drummer because of it. I had the privilege to have a personal drum lesson with Alan earlier this year and that’s when I realized that his playing is sooooo solid. (I’m 15 btw so I don’t have as much experience with this music as you might) one thing he asked was if I could play the opening part to heart of the sunrise, and he meant the album. So I played it. And he said that it was exactly right, which shows that one of the reasons I think he’s an amazing drummer, is that he understands the music. And imo, more than bruford does. When I hear some of brufords interviews, he kinda treated yes music like any old band, yet Alan understood - and frankly loved- the music. That’s mainly why I prefer Alan over Bruford.

Yea, I was just going to post same comment, LOL.

Rotosound round wounds for Squire I do believe.

Yes, you're right Mark. Chris certainly used Rotosound Roundwounds in the early days. I don't know if he stayed with them in later years. A fantastic sound, ideally suited to the Ricky 4001 when they were fresh but in my experience they pretty much needed replacing before every gig because they lost their brightness after just a couple of weeks. Keep them on any longer and you might as well be using flatwounds on a P Bass. Just as well they were cheap! ☺

@@Raelscage Entwistle used to change them after every gig.

The idea was to have two contrapuntal pieces of music at the same time. The Yessongs version is my all time favorite Yes song.

@@markhunter8554 ,

CT😭🥳😭😭

I saw that first US tour also. Evansville, Indiana. The gig was supposed to be YES, Tull and Black Sabbath. Sabbath didn't show, which thankfully, gave more time for YES and Tull. After YES, when Tull came on, it was sadly anti-climactic and our group of YES geeks just had to leave. Alone, Tull is a Hell of a show, but YES had just redefined what virtuoso rock sounds like. Nothing would compare at that point.

I saw the same tour in Atlanta. I remember Jethro Tull being equally good though. Tickets were about six bucks apiece. SMH.

My Uncle Hank and Aunt Marianne saw them on that same tour on July 7, 1971, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Atlantic City Convention Hall, I think.)

Ian Anderson is one of the most charismatic performers I've ever seen. The only one to match (and even top) him is Todd Rundgren.

Catherine O'Driscoll yes were my first indoor concert early in 1973 they toured Australia for the first time I meet the band when they arrived and had them all sign close to the edge. Wonderful morning talking music with the guys

I saw them in at Festival Hall in Melbourne in '73 too. I'd never heard a note by them when I went with my best friend and fellow muso, who had heard them on the radio, and I had my 16-year-old-mind blown but the unbelievable musicianship and incredible audio quality. I stayed a fan until Topographic Oceans when they disappeared up their own arses :). BTW the my first concert was Led Zeppelin at Kooyong Tennis Courts in 1972.

WOW, that was great! And I was in my mother's womb... But in 1987 my older cousin gave me to hear this 'green album' called 'Close To The Edge'.... I got hooked by Yes until now. It was released in September of 1972... Same month and year I was born, hahaha!!! I always believed that there must be some kind of spiritual binding between Yes and me. I believe in reencarnation, but anyway! My favourite band, of course. Glad to know a fan of those years. Namaste.

KIsses !

tell me more from your first sexual experiences

you taught me how to play bass and always kept me on my toes!!! Love you Chris, now you can teach God how to play.

He was the very, very best rock bassist of the 70s. Without peer. This line up were all world class. But he was in a leauge of his own.

The best line-up, sadly lasted a little more than a year.

Speaking for myself that is how it was for me, as someone who thought a band was only as good as their drummer. I continued to listen after CTTE but something was lost that never came back. I know many loved Alan, I just don't have an ear for 4/4 bang away drumming.

Aye lad!

Bye gum that’s relight, proper talkin.

Li''le Northen Fella'!

Bruford once said that he couldn't even understand Anderson.

@@markhunter8554 When holidaying in the UK I could never understand anyone above London.

Yeah, I found that a pretty revealing statement. And I've known people that wrote whole college term papers trying to find the deeper meaning of Anderson's lyrics. Turns out he was choosing words to fit the music.

I know right!? They were blessed

It's nice to finally know that it's a waste of time trying to decipher his lyrics since they were chosen for their sounds, and not for their content. I wish I had known that as a teenager.

Rotosound round wounds (even if I'm not a chick).

You nailed it mate! I'm 67. In those days my mind was blown so many times per WEEK by bands I saw live, that I never got into drugs. Why bother? Oh, cheers! 🍷

Agreed! The loss of Bruford turned out to be huge. In so many ways Bill's jazzy nuanced drumming balanced the band's otherwise huge top-heavy sound created by Howe and Wakeman, to say nothing of Jon's weirdly wonderful lyrics. Bill kept it musically honest and interesting, another "lead instrument" in the band, whereas Alan's drumming was pretty much background time-keeping, flat and dull.

@@BobHunter1977 With you all the way here. I loved the attack of Bill Bruford's drumming. You can hear the jazz influences in him. This was the prime-time of Yes, for me. Is his Ph D in music or English? He is much, much more than just a drummer.

I thought the same thing! "How, after over 50 years, does this man's voice not change??" 😂 Voice of an Angel, though...what a gift. Glad my dad got me into this before today's pop music could swallow me up...😬 I'm 19, but I've never connected with a genre of music on such a spiritual and emotional level as I have with prog. It's such an overlooked gem...gosh🙏💙

Generally the best way to see a quality band and performance,... A small venue, without all the distractions of flashing screens and and huge riggings.

True

It seems he is an octave up from the standard male level.

yep! that's him. Can't be duplicated. Actually, some female covers of Yes songs come closer to Jon's voice, than his recent replacements. (I'm not bashing Benoit David or Jon Davison, they both did great jobs)

@@roboneil408 I don't know why, but when getting older, his vocals were just on a higher tone than he had back then.

@Rob ONeil I don't know why, but when getting older, his vocals were just on a higher tone than he had back then.

That is the range known as "alto". I have the same range. I have been singing as Jon Anderson 4 over 35 years.Jon "taught " me how 2 sing.If U listen closely to Chris Squire's harmony voice,U will notice it is higher than Jon.This is the range known as "mezzo soprano ".Steve Howe takes the lower register of the "tenor"range.This completes the 3 part harmony.Sometimes Chris will take the "high tenor"range just below Jon's alto. The vocal virtuosity of those two gentlemen is staggering.

Any relation to Jon? 😉

They were magic indeed, not the original lineup, though the most celebrated.

@@trinitylutheranchurch5512 True. Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Banks.

KISS has talked about touring with Rush. While KISS were all out looking for p*ssy after the shows, Rush were in their hotel rooms, reading, relaxing, etc. Gene & Paul thought it was hilarious.

yes thats why they are still playing and influencing young people today in their 70s the wild ones have mostly passed on years ago

Because being cool and sexy wasn't part of the act... They were far more cerebral than corporeal. It was all about the music

If you were in their shoes, would you have retired to your hotel room to read another chapter of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with a nice mug of hot chocolate, or shared a beer or three in the dressing room with a pretty groopie?!

Be honest with yourself, there's no doubt, no doubt..

Me, too, Butler Crow. I bought my first Yes album (Close to the Edge) in 1973, just turned 14. It was my first prog album (I was listening to Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Wishbone Ash up to then). I don't know what caused me to buy CTTE, but I know I loved it and played it to death. Then bought all the others of course and saw them in concert in '74 and '75. Yes bring back more memories for me from the '70s than any of the other bands I was listening to. On this video here for Seconds Out, the boys were having a real jam on Yours is no Disgrace. Best wishes.

And what does it mean?

How's about every time he uses the word "round"...You'd listen to Tomato and get smashed!!!

Rickenbacher 4000s I believe.

I know your comments a bit old, but can you recall where you remember seeing more "snippets" of this concert released over the years? From what I was aware this episode was all that still existed of this footage so I'm interested in viewing more of it.

And then he went to King Crimson with its substantially different audience..

@@Drkemps I had to laugh out loud. It's funny how long the whole identity politics thing has been going on.

@@Drkemps up67d

I think more people are still listening to these albums than most of the old punk ones, despite the popular idea that punk never dates. To me, this is timeless and punk seemed a flash in the pan thing.

@@IThinkYouLookLarvely I find punk really outdated to be honest

Progressive rock is timeless, it took the best of music and shuffled it all together

IThinkYouLookLarvely punk, or most of it, is fuckin awful, progressive rock lives on and has been brought to the fore again by bands like porcupine tree, tool, dream theatre etc.

There’s so much good progressive rock being released, you just have to search a bit deeper. JYOCHO is an example ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sYqyLwLz1SY.html

RomblöSylvestevez So true! I just started listening to Tales and Gates because I want to hear more Yes.

RomblöSylvestevez White was stepping into some big shoes and I think he gets a bad press because of it. Love Bruford myself but props to Alan White as well because he’s no slouch.

RomblöSylvestevez Sound Chaser is a lot of noise. Anyway your first comment was fine. I wouldn't retract it.

He's alright . I agree with your comment. Bill Bruford defined Yes with his funky, jazz influenced style. He's the drummer for all the Yes recordings that matter. The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge. I liked how well he left space in his drumming. Much more expressive than Alan White.

I'd argue it's their best "short" song. Brilliant use of voice to imitate instrument. Brilliant manipulation of real time slow down riffs (as well as pitch shift down to the associated frequencies . . . again in real time!) for a different take on the riff. Wakeman is a maestro of ornamental scalar embellishments, but Patrick Moarz's Moog work on Relayer -- specifically the triumphal theme at the denouement of Gates of Delirium and his solo in Sound Chaser are superb . . . absolutely superb. He was a masterful composer and synthesist with a very fluid Jazz/rock fusion aesthetic. I would rank "Relayer" and "Close to the Edge" a dead tie for the pinnacle of Yes creativity. @@stretch54