And yet, he seems to have never been attracted to the big modular synths which in principle were the dream of any keyboard freak in the early 70's. No Modular Moog, no ARP 2500 or 2600, no modular PPG... not even a humble EMS Synthi A.

The relatively limited Minimoog seems to have been enough for his synth thirst until the late 70's when he embraced more advanced instruments such as the RMI Keyboard Computer (which in any case was not really a synth but a Rompler). Being considered as one of the world's top rock keyboardists and given his rather megalomaniac traits at the time, it's surprising that he did not feel like getting all those hi-tech gadgets. Pictures of keyboardists showing all their gear off were a sign of prestige, see Keith Emerson, Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze of Wakeman himself in the inlay pic of The Six Wives Of Henry VIII.

Anybody has ever heard any comments as to how did that come?

I always assumed that the Moog was named after someone but I never even bothered to look up the person until I came across a reference to them in a crossword puzzle a while back.

Shows my ignorance about that aspect of prog rock.

 

1. As a trained pianist (more so than Emerson) Wakeman prefered polyphonic instruments [there is an amusing anecdote that when he forst played a Moog he thought it was broken because it was monophonic]

2. Wakeman was more interested in instruments that you put on stage and rely on night after night - the Modular was too complex for that. [Great for studio work, not so great on stage].

3. Wakeman was a jobbing keyboard player in the early 70s and could not afford to buy a Modular 'C' series [his first Moog was a secondhand Minimoog]

 

...of course all those are pure speculation and guess work, as are everyone elses ideas.

I've read the funny thing about Emo's modular is Bob Moog built him a crude analog "preset box" which allowed him to change sounds without unplugging and replugging the wires and recalibrating the knobs.  Once he had this, the giant modular patch bay (and oscilloscope wave monitor) was really just for show...but what a show!

Ya that's an important point.  Banks especially would build compositions with sustained mellotron chords with vocals/solos on top where Emo created a more aggressive attack based on staccato chord stabs and flying riffs/scalar runs.  I love 'em both  

Agreed.

He left his experimenting at home and stuck to the music and its theory, though one should state that he played quite freely off that!

                                now  

I think Emerson had some "preset" modules but I don't know how flexible or successful they were

I gave favourable reviews to both albums so I wouldn't be averse to Rick completing a 'trilogy' as it were.

I'm guessing that 'symphonic' sells better when it comes to Rick's music. The Retro albums were actually not retro in style but rather in the use of old instruments to create new music. People really want the 'old' style ... and also perhaps less Ashley Holt

Frank Zappa had Don Pardo, Alice Cooper had Vincent Price, I'm afraid Ashley Holt will be forever connected with Rick Wakeman  

The organ used in 'Criminal Record' (and "Parallels" and "Awaken" on 'Going For The One' [GFTO]) was the real-deal:  a Swiss church-organ (as noted on the albums' program notes).  Not so familiar with 'The Remembering,' but Wakeman played the Mander on "Close to the Edge" when I saw them live at the Forum in LA during the GFTO tour in September 1977...

Love that photo and theres even a Curry Vindaloo hidden underneath the keyboards!

Yep, it's a site entirely devoted to Mander organs

Thank you for that clarification.  I had always thought Wakeman had used the Mander since CTTE, not just on the GFTO tour...

I mean at the end of the day, a great song on a beat up piano is still a great song, and a bad song played on minimoogs and mellotrons is still a bad song. I tend to prefer the analog synths and hammond and mellotron over the digital synth sounds, but that doesn't mean I'll like something just because it uses vintage gear, if the music itself doesn't appeal to me.

Retro 1 especially is one I like more than many of his more recent ones though.

tbh though, he has such a staggering number of albums out, he may have some gems I've not given a proper listen to.

I believe Moraz was a minimoog guy and his lead synth work on Relayer reflects that.  There's also a live Yes video from their 1975 tour called "Yes Live at Queens Park Rangers Stadium" and he uses one for his lead synth sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8XNBpIkQpU" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8XNBpIkQpU

Three Fates suggests that Emerson could hold a candle to Wakey. Wakeman was generally more fluid whihc was his appeal. Emerson loved the organ more than the piano and tailored his technique around that imo. Both are great although I think Moraz may have been better than  both as I mentioned before as he could cover all basses and seemed to have more interest in jazz than Wakeman. Jurgen Fritz and Eddie Jobson would be the next contenders in my book. Triumvirate first couple of albums were amazingly good (not a fan of anything after that though) while Jobsons work with UK and Curved Air stood out as well.

I've always been much more partial to organ (Cathedral, Church, Hammond, Farfisa, Vox, whatever) than acoustic piano so Emo has always ranked tops in my book.  I much prefer Moraz over Wakeman as far as Yes material goes, and I loved his work in Refugee.  

Speaking of Moraz, I just read a fascinating interview with him yesterday where he discusses how he loved being in Yes and contrary to the PR story, did not quit but was "asked to leave" to make room for Wakeman's return in '77.  Disturbingly, he also describes never being paid for the 65 date Yes '76 tour and that even though he co-wrote "Parallels", "Going for the One", and "Awaken", he was never credited (or obviously paid).  To his credit, he doesn't seem at all bitter but was just setting the record straight.  I always wondered why he was never part of the Yes Re-Union tour?  Maybe it was his choice not to participate 'cause he figured he wouldn't get paid   

Anyway, you can check it out in his own words here: 

http://www.dmme.net/interviews/moraz.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.dmme.net/interviews/moraz.html

Interesting...for all their "cosmic good karma vibe" it's sad that Yes (and/or their management) chose to spin their PR machine this way against Moraz.  I obviously don't know for sure, but I can't see any good reason to withhold his 20% of the '76 tour net income or deny his writing credits on GFTO other than greed and spite (which seems all the more misguided since Moraz stepped in and saved their bacon after Wakeman left them high and dry, and Vangelis couldn't straighten out his foreign work visa mess)...and don't forget Moraz was tight enough with Howe and Squire that he handled most of the keyboard duties on their 1st solo albums.  He should have been treated much better. 

Ya, I bet things would've gotten pretty tense between Wakey and Moraz when they began to arrange "Awaken"..."this is my part"..."no, this is my part"..."I wrote it"..."no, I wrote it"...

I don't think Yes ever composed a movie score. I liked Vangelis' score for Conquest Of Paradise a lot more than Chariots. Hell I've run a 4 minute mile. Even the movie was sh*t. Just because Roger Bannister was the first guy to be officially recorded as running a 4 minute mile doesn't mean it wasa feat that was not previously achieved. I'm sure a Cheetah holds the land speed record for a living breathing creature. I'd like to see Roger vs  Cheetah. 

 

Wakeman has composed a few film scores, as has Patrick Moraz, (which was the point Rando was making). Anderson composed two original songs for the film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090729/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd" rel="nofollow - Biggles ... they were as bad as the film.

 

A cheetah cannot run a mile at full speed, It can accelerate from 0 to 60mph in 3 seconds but can only sustain it for a few hundred yards at a time and then has to slow down to cool off and conserve energy, it would cover the remaining distance at around 4mph. (the maths for this is trivial enough  - it would take at least 11 minutes to cover the mile if it were inclined to, however, they seldom are). A human can accelerate from 0-15mph in 3 seconds but can maintain that speed for a mile, also over the first yard or so the human is quicker because it is a biped (naturally unstable so has gravity-assisted initial acceleration). So, if Bannister wasn't an old man in his 90s he would win. But all this is not only completely off topic, it is completely irrelevent as Charriots of Fire was about Harold Abrahams and Eric Lidel winning gold in thew 1928 Olympics, not Roger Bannister and the sub 4-minute mile 26 years later. Nice try but no coconut.

 

 

But Yes have never collectively written a film score. Tangerine Dream have done a few so has Emerson on his own.

But I guess I have to do without my coconut. 

...and meanwhile Rick was so busy showing off his two fisted Vindaloo technique that it's left to Moraz to actually play the keyboard parts 

I never really knew about the Patrick Moraz thing. Yes were not an easy band to be part of. Vangelis did the right thing and said "I don't want anything to do with this conflagration", I'm sure that Wakeman returned with conditions.

Wow, did Vangelis actually say that?  Quite an astute observation...I wonder how long it took him to figure that out 

As far as Wakeman coming back, he tells a story that while still in negotiations with the band to return, he sees the latest copy of Melody Maker and splashed across the headline was "Wakeman Rejoins Yes!"  He asks Squire, "what would you have done if I hadn't agreed to come back?" and Squire says something like, "we both knew that wouldn't happen".  Yes is one bizarre organization 

In the silent media of Internet forums I have no idea what you sound like... 

However, I knew there was a story about Wakeman and the monophonic Moog just forgot the precise details.

 

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/may95/keithemerson.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/may95/keithemerson.html

On the 9 mini's he used to own...all were stolen. He had to buy new (to him) ones when he thankfully decided to start using them again instead of using digital synths to cover the old minimoog parts.

I do not believe the stories about him taping knobs in place and then buying a new one. Watch the original Journey to the Centre of the Earth concert and you will see he was very adept at making adjustments on the fly. There is a great scene of him playing Catherine Parr from 6 wives, with his right hand flawlessly at high speed on the Hammond, while looking at and totally focused on a minimoog to his left , making a full scale patch change on it.

There is also the story he tells about a show with an intermission. One of the moogs wasn't working. Bob Moog happened to be at the show and went backstage in the intermission, saying he thought he knew what the problem was and would like to take a look. So off Bob goes to look at the moog. Wakeman heads back on stage a few minutes later for the second half of the show, and Bob has the synth completely dismantled and is working away on it oblivious to his surroundings. Wakeman went on stage and finished the show, the whole time with Bob also within the keyboard rig tinkering away.  (no word on if the problem was curry in the moog works! )

That Bob Moog story is AWESOME!  Thanks for that!