PROG GUITAR LEGEND 1947-2013

Peter Banks was the first of the five original members of Yes to leave this earthly life. He was found dead in his home in 2013 after failing to show up for a scheduled recording session. This compilation was released in the same year as his death and features recordings from throughout his long career.

The first three tracks are early Yes recordings, but it is not the album versions of these songs but recordings from BBC sessions in 1969 and 1970. These are the same versions as on the 2CD compilation Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 which was first released in 1997 with supervision and lines notes from Banks. The performances are very good, but the sound quality is not.

Flowerman and Grounded are by the pre-Yes band The Syn which also featured Chris Squire. These songs were released as singles in 1967 and has since appeared on many compilations, including the 2CD Original Syn: 1965-2004 which was released to coincide with the recent reformation of The Syn (which initially involved Peter Banks).

Beyond And Before will be familiar to Yes fans, but the version featured here is a demo by another pre- Yes band called Mabel Greer's Toy Shop. This band too featured Chris Squire. Images Of You And Me is from the same source. Like the two The Syn songs, the two Mabel Greer's Toy Shop songs were also featured on the Peter Banks compilation album Can I Play You Something?

Knights: The Falcon/The Bear is from Banks' 1973 solo debut Two Sides Of Peter Banks. It is good stuff, but is better heard within the context of the whole of side 1 of that album (side 2, on the other hand, is considerably less interesting). Somewhat oddly there is nothing on this compilation from any of Banks' three 1990's solo albums.

The three albums by Flash are represented with one track each, the best by far of which is Small Beginnings from the self-titled 1972 debut (which also featured Tony Kaye). This album is Banks' best moment and an essential Prog album in its own right. In The Can was released the same year but is less interesting and is here represented by Monday Morning Eyes. Man of Honour (Knight) is taken from Flash's third album Out Of Our Hands, released in 1973. There is nothing at all here from Banks' post-Flash band Empire.

Fast forward to 2012 and the first The Prog Collective album. Social Circles is a song featuring Annie Haslam of Renaissance on lead vocals, backed up by Billy Sherwood, and with a superb guitar solo by Banks. It is a strong track that stands up as well or better in this context than in its original setting. (Banks also contributed to the second Prog Collective album shortly before his death.)

The final three tracks are covers originally featured on tribute albums. Eclipse is from the Pink Floyd tribute album The Return To The Dark Side Of The Moon and also features Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood. Magic Bus is from the The Who tribute Who Are You? and Give a Little Bit is from the Supertramp tribute album Songs Of The Century. That Banks was into Supertramp is a bit of a surprise.

Overall, while Prog Guitar Legend 1947-2013 is a better compilation than Can I Play You Something? and gives a decent overview of the career of Peter Banks, most of the songs featured here are better heard in their original settings.

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