Yes Adventures
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Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Live Performance Reviews
Forum Description: Performance Reviews by Members
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19885
Printed Date: November 23 2024 at 13:01
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Topic: Yes Adventures
Posted By: philhepple
Subject: Yes Adventures
Date Posted: March 06 2006 at 12:41
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Yes Adventures Besides Genesis we were also Big Fans of Yes. Things were much different in the 60's and early 70's than they are today. It was very costly for English and European bands to tour America, so they usually had two or three albums out before playing any concerts in the US. (Nowadays English bands make their own EP cd and they're doing shows in the US) Anyway Yes had 3 albums out in June of 1971 and we were especially crazy about their New Album, The Yes Album. But still NO word that they might be playing in Los Angeles any time soon. The afternoon of June 28, 1971 I got the shock of my life when my brother called to say that Yes were playing at the Whisky A Go Go that very night.( There was absolutely NO mention of this show whatsoever in the local papers. Yes had just started a US tour in support of Jethro Tull and these 2 Monday Tuesday night shows at the Whisky were added at the last minute), but most shockingly my brother said he was calling from Jon Anderson's and Tony Kaye's hotel room at the Hyatt on Sunset Blvd. I was just numb! I still was in disbelief and just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming I called the Whisky to check that it wasn't all a joke. A girl answered the phone and said that she had no idea who was playing and went to find out. She came back a few minutes later and said "Some band named Yes?". She obviously had no idea who they were. I hurriedly made some phone calls and BLASTED for Hollywood! I arrived and got to meet the band and road crew and listen to the sound check. They were all extremely nice and actually blown away to be playing in Hollywood. The Whisky in those days was a great place to see bands because they all had to play 2 complete sets, so it was like seeing 2 concerts for the price of one. It wasn't long before they started kicking everyone out after the first show. The concert was great! Yes sounded better live than I had hoped for. There weren't too many people there for the first night. The second night the word had gotten out and more people showed up. By the end of the second night we had become good friends with the road crew and had helped them pack up the gear. We were very excited when we heard that Rick Wakeman had replaced Tony Kaye. Tony was good live and did some nice sounding things on The Yes Album, but he couldn't hold a candle to Rick who was our Hero before we had even seen him live. Just from listening to the Strawbs albums. For those that don't have them "Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curios (Live)" and "From The Witchwood" are ABSOLUTE MUSTS! We didn't have to wait long to see the new Yes as they were opening their first US tour with Rick in November at the Whisky for 5 nights. That was like seeing 10 concerts in a row as we went every night. The afternoon of the first show I arrived at the Whisky to find Jon and Rick milling about and Jon introduced me to Rick. I was blown away, but tried to act nonchalant. The Whisky stage was pretty small, so they had to setup Rick's keyboards on an adjacent area next to the stage. "Fragile" had not been released yet at this time. Yes opened the show with "Roundabout". We were blown away. It was a very strange bill. Opening the show was Mary Wells a soul singer from the sixties who had had a number one single with the song "My Guy". So the audience was a bizarre cross between Prog Fans and Soul Fans. Just after Yes had annihilated the place with the first performance of "Heart Of The Sunrise", in America, a soul brother leaned over and said "What's the name of this group?" When I replied Yes, he said "Man They Is Yes!" I got to know the crew and band very well during this tour and the next tour in March of 1972. During my trip to England in the summer of 1972 I went to visit one of my friends in the Yes road crew. While at his flat he said that the band was at Advision Studios recording the next album and asked if I would like to comeby. I said are you CRAZY and asked if it would be all right to bring a friend along. My friend of course was Genaro Rippo. We arrived at Advision Studios to find Jon, Chris, and Eddie Offord working on the ending to "Siberian Khatru". Eddie had the volume GUNNED! We were in AWE just to be there. I had brought a tape along that my brother's band http://www.christophernorthmusic.com - http://www.christophernorthmusic.com had recorded at CBS studios in Hollywood. It contained three Prog Rock songs including a great extended version of "Feeling Good" by Traffic. Jon and Chris really liked it and couldn't understand why they didn't have a record deal at that time. We ended up going to a few more "Close To The Edge" sessions. One day I heard a little of "And You And I" I was numb and thought it was the best thing I'd ever heard. During this time Yes were on a very hectic schedule of recording and touring. They were finishing up the recording of "Close To The Edge" and also getting ready to tour the US again. Right before I left England Genaro and I were VERY PRIVILEGED to see the dress rehearsals for the "Close To The Edge" tour. Yes had rented out the Rainbow Theater in Finsbury Park for the rehearsals. We were VERY FORTUNATE to see something that no other Yes fans got to see, Bill Bruford's last shows with Yes performing the "Close To The Edge" tour set. He would leave Yes a few days after these rehearsals. We had such a great time in England that we returned the following summer. We went to a number of the sessions for "Tales From Topographic Oceans" at Morgan Studios in August 1973. I left England to travel around Europe, but Genaro stayed in England and began to go every day to the Yes recording sessions. One day Jon came up to him and said that because they were expanding their Live show that they would need a few extra crew members and asked if he was interested. Of course he said YES! Genaro was very friendly and easy going and got along well with everybody. Originally I think he was going to help with Rick's keyboards and the new stage props, but Eddie Offord took a liking to Genaro and asked him if he would like to setup his gear. They were planning to take Eddie's custom portable console on the road with them. Genaro said that he'd love to and ended up moving into Eddie's penthouse flat on Vauxhall Bridge Road near Victoria Station. Eddie had the console setup in the middle of his living room and trained Genaro on the use and setup of his sound equipment. Genaro then became Eddie's assistant on the road and also helped with all of his studio recording projects including "Relayer". http://www.connollyco.com/discography/yes/relayer.html - http://www.connollyco.com/discography/yes/relayer.html |
Replies:
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 06 2006 at 12:48
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Are you that guy with the website with loads of discographies? ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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