Yes
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Progressive rock, Symphonic rock, Pop-rock, Art Rock
Years active	1968-1981 1983-Present (On Hiatus)
Associated acts	Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Asia, Cinema, XYZ, Circa:, The Buggles
Website	YesWorld.com
Members
Jon Anderson Steve Howe Rick Wakeman Chris Squire Alan White
Former members
Bill Bruford Tony Kaye Trevor Rabin Peter Banks Patrick Moraz Trevor Horn Geoff Downes Igor Khoroshev Billy Sherwood

Yes are an English progressive rock band that formed in London in 1968. Their music is marked by complex classically-influenced arrangements, unusual time signatures, virtuoso musicianship, dramatic dynamic and metrical changes, a blend of musical styles, and oblique lyrics. Despite the many changes to its lineup, the band has continued for nearly 40 years and retains a strong international following.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years (1968–1970) 1.2 1970–1974 1.3 1974–1981 1.4 1983–1988 1.5 1988–1992 1.6 1992–2000 1.7 2000s 2 Discography 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

History

Early years (1968–1970)

Yes was formed in 1968 by vocalist Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire. Anderson had already recorded a single in 1964 as a member of The Warriors, a beat band formed by his brother Tony, and later sang on a couple of 45s for Parlophone Records under the pseudonym Hans Christian. He was also briefly a member of the group Gun. Squire had been a member of The Syn, a flower-pop outfit who had recorded a couple of singles for Deram Records (one, "14-Hour Technicolour Dream", celebrating the "happening" held at Alexandra Palace on April 29/April 30, 1967). After the breakup of The Syn, Squire spent a year developing his bass-playing technique, strongly influenced by The Who's bassist, John Entwistle. In May 1968, he met Anderson in a London Soho nightclub, La Chasse, where Anderson was working. The two had a common interest in vocal harmony and began working together soon afterwards.

Yes was previously known as the psychedelically named Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, and the band had been formed by composer-singer-guitarist Clive Bailey and drummer Bob Hagger early in 1966. Chris Squire and Peter Banks joined in 1967. Jon Anderson followed in April 1968. Bill Bruford replaced Bob Hagger in July 1968 and Mabel Greer’s Toyshop became Yes.

Drummer Bill Bruford was recruited from an ad he had placed in Melody Maker. A jazz aficionado, Bruford had played just three gigs with Blues revivalists Savoy Brown before leaving.

After a short stint away from the band, Peter Banks returned and organist/pianist Tony Kaye also joined. The classically trained Kaye had already been in a series of prior groups (Johnny Taylor's Star Combo, The Federals, and Jimmy Winston and His Reflections).

Banks came up with the three letter name, with the rationale that it would stand out on posters.

The last gig for Mabel Greer’s Toyshop was May 2, 1968 in Highgate, London. The line-up was Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Peter Banks, Clive Bailey and Bob Hagger.

Yes played their first show at East Mersey Youth Camp in England on August 4, 1968. Soon after this, they opened for Cream at their 1968 Farewell Concert from Royal Albert Hall. Early on, influenced by bands like 1-2-3 (later Clouds), the group earned a reputation for taking other people's songs and drastically changing them into expanded, progressive compositions. In September, they subbed for an absent Sly and The Family Stone at Blaise's and as a result of that appearance gained a residency at The Marquee club. Soon after, they made their second radio appearance on John Peel's programme (after previously having played the show as Mabel Greer's Toyshop) and, when Melody Maker columnist Tony Wilson selected them and Led Zeppelin as the two bands "Most Likely To Succeed" (as he states on the liner notes of the band's debut LP), it appeared that their future was assured.

Their eponymous debut album was released on July 25, 1969. The harmony vocals of Anderson and Squire were an immediate trademark of the Yes sound. The band's optimistic, vaguely futuristic outlook on the world was delivered with a combination of melody and virtuosity. Standout tracks were a jazzy take on The Byrds "I See You" and the album closer, "Survival", which displayed the band's vocal harmonies and deft song-construction. Notably, the album was given a favourable review by Lester Bangs in Rolling Stone magazine, which described the band as promising, the album displaying a "sense of style, taste and subtlety".

In 1970, the band released their second album, this time accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. Time and a Word featured mostly original compositions and two cover songs, Richie Havens's "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed", and "Everydays" by Stephen Stills, originally recorded by Buffalo Springfield. The reworking of Havens' song also included excerpts from the theme song of the movie The Big Country. Although musically exceptional in terms of melody delivery, the orchestra (and keyboardist Tony Kaye) overpowered Banks and much of the vocal work, leaving Time and a Word somewhat uneven. Before the album's release, guitarist Peter Banks was asked to leave and ex-Tomorrow guitarist Steve Howe was hired. Howe was included in the front cover photo of the American release despite not having played on the album.

1970–1974

Songs often exceeded the standard three-minute pop-song structure with lengthy multi-part suites sometimes lasting 20 minutes or more, making the band a leading 1970s progressive rock group. Vocal verses alternated with atmospheric instrumental interludes, frenetic ensemble passages and extended guitar, keyboard and bass improvisations. The signature sonic features of this 'classic' period are Jon Anderson's distinctive high-register lead vocals, the group's strong vocal harmonies, Rick Wakeman (and Patrick Moraz) and Steve Howe's respective keyboard and guitar solos, Bill Bruford's and later Alan White's polyrhythmic drumming and Chris Squire's highly melodic and discursive bass playing, enhanced by the sound of his Rickenbacker model RM1999 bass.

Chris Squire was one of the first rock bass players to successfully adapt electronic guitar effects such as tremolo, phasing and the wah-wah pedal to the instrument. Central to Squire's sound was his ingenious exploitation of "dual-amping" or "bi-amping" technique. Squire split the output from his bass, feeding the treble range output through a lead guitar amplifier, while the bass range output was fed, undistorted, through a regular bass amplifier. This gave his bass sound its unique "sandwiched" character, with bright, growling higher frequencies and clean, solid bass frequencies. This technique allowed Squire to utilise harmonic distortion on his bass while avoiding the flat, fuzzy sound, loss of power and poor bass response that typically occurs when bass guitars are overdriven through an amplifier or put through a fuzz box. The rhythm section of Squire/Bruford and Squire/White is considered by some to be one of the best in rock music of the period and exerted a strong influence over many later groups.

The first two Yes albums mixed original material with covers of songs by their major influences, including The Beatles, The Byrds and Simon & Garfunkel. The departure of Peter Banks in 1971 and his replacement by guitarist Steve Howe gave Yes a new cutting edge. The group's emerging style coalesced on their next LP, the critically acclaimed The Yes Album, which for the first time consisted entirely of original compositions by the band. It was also the record that united them with long-serving producer and engineer Eddie Offord, whose studio expertise was a key factor in creating the signature Yes sound.

In 1971, original organ/piano player Tony Kaye left the band, and though some reports attest that he was fired, others indicate that he left voluntarily, but it is typically reported that the decision had to do with this unwillingness to use modern keyboard technology, as he considered himself to be simply an organist. Kaye was a talented player who contributed memorable chord passages on the Hammond organ, particularly on "Everydays" and "Yours is No Disgrace". He soon formed the group, Badger.

Kaye was replaced by the classically trained Rick Wakeman, who had just left The Strawbs. Wakeman was a studio musician with credits including David Bowie and Lou Reed, and he was a skilled improviser. Tony Kaye and ex-Yes guitarist Peter Banks eventually formed their own progressive rock band, Flash. Flash was sometimes accused of stealing Yes' musical sound, though it was Peter Banks and Tony Kaye who were themselves instrumental in forming that very sound.

As a soloist, Wakeman proved to be a good foil for Steve Howe. He also brought two vital additions to the group's instrumentation: the Mellotron (which Kaye had been unwilling to employ) and the Minimoog synthesizer. Surrounded by banks of keyboards, Wakeman's flowing blond hair and sequened cape provided a strong visual focus on stage.

The first recording by this lineup (Anderson, Bruford, Howe, Squire and Wakeman) was a dynamic ten-minute interpretation of Paul Simon's "America", which originally appeared on the album "The Age of Atlantic", a compilation with several acts from the roster of Atlantic Records. The excellent organ work on the track is actually played by Bruford. It was both the end of one era (their last non-original track) and the beginning of another, showcasing all the elements of the new Yes sound in place.

With Wakeman, Yes cut two LPs. Fragile (1971) went Top Ten in America, as did Close to the Edge (1972). Yes benefited from the tremendous advances in live music technology that were taking place at that time, and they were renowned for the high quality of both their sound and lighting. Fragile also marked the beginning of a long collaboration with artist Roger Dean, who designed the original version of the group's logo and illustrated their album covers, as well as designed their stage sets.

Before the release of Close to the Edge, and at the height of the band's success, Bill Bruford quit the band to join King Crimson. He was replaced by former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White, a more conventional rock drummer and a distinct contrast to the jazz-influenced drumming of Bruford. White was brought into Yes several months before the September 1972, release of Close to the Edge.

Their early touring with White was featured on their next release, the three-record live collection Yessongs, recorded on their world tour in late 1972 and early 1973. The album included two tracks with Bruford, notably the song "Perpetual Change" with an extended Bruford drum solo, as well as backing Chris Squire in his solo "The Fish", while White played drums on the rest of the tracks. White learned the bulk of the tremendously ambitious repertoire in a matter of three days before embarking on the tour (White, a friend of Anderson's and Offord's, had sat in with the band once during the weeks before Bruford's departure. White has lasted with the group for over thirty five years, navigating ambitious time changes and shifts and maintaining a reputation for having a collaborative and "down to earth attitude" [3].

Yessongs was an ambitious project and a major gamble for their label, Atlantic Records. It was one of the first rock triple-album sets, featuring live versions of all-original material from the previous three studio albums. Presented in a lavish album package with Roger Dean's artwork spread across a triple gatefold cover and a continuation of the cosmic-organic design concepts of the two previous albums. The album was another bestseller. A film of the tour, released under the same name, featured concert footage intermixed with psychedelic visual effects.

Their next studio album, Tales from Topographic Oceans polarized fans and critics. The disc earned mixed reviews, and it was later described by Jon Anderson as "the meeting point of high ideals and low energy." The album was based upon a book of Shastric teachings that Jon had read while on tour.Tales from Topographic Oceans is no small feat, as it contains four tracks each just reaching over 20 minutes in length, each encrypted with highly religious and spiritual revelations. However, Rick Wakeman was not pleased with the album, and disliked playing it while on tour.

Increasing tensions between Wakeman and the rest of the band, as well as Wakeman's own burgeoning solo career, led him to quit at the end of the Tales tour in 1974. (By 1976, Wakeman worked to put together a prog-rock triumvirate rivaling Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but in the end Wakeman did not participate in that project. That band, eventually featuring Bruford, his King Crimson bandmate John Wetton, guitarist Allan Holdsworth, and Roxy Music's wunderkind keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson, formed under the name UK.) Wakeman himself embarked on a long, prolific, and fairly popular solo career, in addition to his projects with the English Rock Ensemble, film scores, and collaborations with other artists.

1974–1981

Wakeman was replaced by Swiss musician Patrick Moraz for Relayer in 1974. The vast difference between Moraz's contributions to Yes and Wakeman's was more of a novelty than a disappointment, Moraz being a distinctive electric-jazz musician in his own right. Again, the album featured a side-long track, "The Gates of Delirium", from which the "Soon" section was put out as a limited single release. This reached number one on the Spanish charts.

Following an extended tour through 1975–1976, Yes took a brief hiatus as a band, with each member of the group releasing his own solo album. These included fan favorites "Olias of Sunhillow" (Anderson) and "Fish Out Of Water" (Square), as well as efforts from White and Moraz. Several of these solo efforts involved collaborations from other Yes members, past and present. During this same period, Yesterdays was released by Atlantic, containing tracks from the first two albums, as well as "America" as the opening track, which saw the track's first album release.

After this hiatus, he group commenced sessions for a new album. After negotiations, Rick Wakeman rejoined the band on a "session musician" basis, and Moraz was asked to leave the band. The confusion during this period comes from Moraz being on record as saying he feels he deserves credit for much of the music on the resulting album. Certainly Howe has also stated that the group "tried to remove as much of Patrick from the songs as possible", so it would appear that he did contribute to the initial sessions. Moraz ended up at the top of the ambiguous "thanks to…" list on the album sleeve, and ultimately went on to become keyboard player for the Moody Blues in the next couple of years. In any case, after hearing and being impressed by the new material Wakeman once again became a permanent band member.

Apart from the 15 minute track "Awaken", the resulting album, Going for the One, the first not to feature Roger Dean artwork since The Yes Album, was mostly made up of shorter songs, including "Wonderous Stories", released as a single in the UK in 1977. This album and the next, 1978's Tormato featuring the same lineup, were successful in spite of being released at the height of the punk rock era in Britain, during which Yes were often criticized by the music press as representing the most bloated excesses of early 1970s progressive rock. Ironically, Yes outlasted many of the groups of that era as well.

The Tormato album sparked dissension among fans. However, despite internal or external criticisms of this latest album, the band enjoyed successful tours in 1978 and 1979 utilizing for the first time a rotating circular stage and calling the tour "Yes - In The Round".

In October 1979, Yes convened in Paris with producer Roy Thomas Baker, fresh off his success producing Queen's album Jazz. There are a number of statements by band members and rumors as to why the sessions did not produce a formal album. Howe, Squire, and White said later in 1980 that none of the three of them liked the music Anderson had offered the band, claiming it was too lightweight and lacking in a heaviness that the trio felt they were generating during their own time together. (Bootlegs of these sessions, as well as bonus tracks appearing on CD rereleases, would gain support among listeners that Howe et al. were not alone in their assessment of Anderson's music, some of which appeared on his 1980 solo album Song of Seven.)

In December, the sessions ended when Alan White broke his foot. There is also strong speculation that Anderson and the remaining members of the band had a falling out over money issues and claims and counterclaims of members spending more than their fair share of their group monies. By May, 1980, the situation reached a conclusion with Anderson departing Yes as no agreement could be reached over musical direction and financial remuneration. With Anderson leaving, Rick Wakeman followed suit, thinking that Yes could not continue without its primary voice.

At Yes manager Brian Lane's suggestion, Squire invited The Buggles duo of Geoffrey Downes (keyboards) and Trevor Horn (vocals) - who were coming off an international success with their New Wave album The Age of Plastic and the acclaimed single "Video Killed the Radio Star" - to help out on a new Yes album. Initially, the plan was that Downes and Horn would help write some new material - they already had a song called "We Can Fly From Here" which had been written with Yes in mind. Soon, Howe, Squire, and White confessed that their singer and keyboardist had actually left the band. To Downes and Horn's surprise, they were invited to join Yes as full-time members. They accepted the invitation and performed on the Drama album in 1980. Drama clearly displayed a heavier, harder sound than the material Yes recorded with Anderson in 1979, opening with the hard rock, lengthy track "Machine Messiah."

While Drama was well received by many fans, and often regarded as one of the finest moments for the trio of Squire, Howe, and White, many other Yes followers missed Anderson's unique lyrics and vocal style. The album's artwork raised eyebrows as the inside cover also displayed a bit of a horror-house style in photo and graphic design, an anomaly that perplexed some fans. The band undertook a North American tour in September, 1980. The general consensus is that Horn performed the vocals for their new material on tour very well (although he had no experience fronting a band that performed on the scale of Yes shows) but that he struggled on the classic Yes material as it was not in his range. When the band returned to England later in 1980, the English press heaped great criticism on Horn and Yes.

After the Drama tour, Yes reconvened in England to decide the band’s next step, but after the criticism directed toward them, and members' interest in pursuing different projects, the band officially split up in the spring of 1981. Trevor Horn left to pursue music production. Alan White and Chris Squire continued working together, beginning sessions with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. The band was to be called XYZ, said to be short for "ex-Yes-and-Zeppelin," but nothing came of the sessions when ex-Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant failed to get interested. XYZ produced a few demo tracks, elements of which would appear in later Yes music (most notably "Mind Drive" from Keys to Ascension 2, and "Can You Imagine", from Magnification). Later in 1981, Squire and White released the Christmas single "Run With The Fox". Downes and Howe went on to form supergroup Asia with former King Crimson and UK bassist/vocalist John Wetton and Carl Palmer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer on drums, while Horn went on to begin a successful and long-running career as a producer.

1983–1988

In 1983, over two years after the breakup of Yes, Chris Squire and Alan White formed a new group, dubbed Cinema with guitarist Trevor Rabin (late of the band Rabbitt). Original Yes organist Tony Kaye was invited to participate as Squire felt that Kaye's textural approach to keyboards would suit the band. Formerly a solo artist with three albums to his credit, Trevor Rabin's writing contributions included the catchy riff-oriented "Owner of a Lonely Heart', but Rabin also played a role in the making of music to fit the MTV era while retaining certain aspects of Yes' original style - particularly the vocal harmonies.

Originally, the lead vocals were shared between Rabin and Squire, but in early 1983, Chris Squire played Jon Anderson some of Cinema's music at a party in Los Angeles. Impressed with the band's new approach in songs like "Leave It", Anderson was invited by Squire to add his vocals to the new project and Anderson accepted the invitation, resulting in the "accidental" reformation of Yes. Many fans call this lineup "Yes West", because of the band's relocation to Los Angeles and the more American, radio-friendly sound.

The band's first album since the reunion, 90125 was a radical departure from their earlier sound. It was more visceral, with then-modern electronic effects — attributable chiefly to producer (and former Yes vocalist) Trevor Horn. Yes' most commercially successful album by far, 90125 eventually sold over six million copies and secured a new lease on life for Yes, who toured over a year to support it. The song "Owner of a Lonely Heart" from this album was even a top hit on the R&B and disco charts (and sampled countless times since), resulting in the band's only Number One single. Appearing in the video for this song was Eddie Jobson, filmed while Tony Kaye was briefly absent due to a falling out with Trevor Horn. Yes also scored significant hit singles with "Leave It" and "It Can Happen," also garnering a Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental ("Cinema," a short, highly compressed and complex track recorded live in the studio), suggesting that the group had not totally abandoned their musicianship in favour of commercial success, as some fans had alleged. The popular album also spawned a concert video, directed by Steven Soderbergh (9012Live), and a short live album (9012Live: The Solos, which included solo pieces from Anderson, Rabin, Squire and Kaye plus a Squire/White jam).