Yes, Jon Anderson's Musical Adventure Isn't Over

scrappy and spiritual. He formed an instant bond with bassist Chris Squire in nineteen sixty eight, and after a short stint with another band, the two formed Yes. Like Anderson himself, their music was otherworldly, bucking convention in both structure and sound. Their songs were a dynamic mix of jazz and rock that could last for as long as twenty minutes, and their concerts sold out stadiums worldwide. By the nineteen eighties, the band had produced more than eleven critically acclaimed albums.

Their music ushered in what's known today as progressive rock, paving the way for bands like Radiohead and the English native is still testing the boundaries of music, just like he did as a kid. You know, I started singing when I was at school in the choir and I was told to shut up Anderson not so loud, and that kind of calmed down a bit because I used to love shouting and singing, you know choir, you know

when they do that. And then me and my brother Tony, we used to sing all the Everly Brothers songs and I was the high harmony and I just love singing. And then we started a band called the Warriors in sixty three. And in April sixty three my brother had a motorbike and he drove me and him went to Southport, which is just north of Liverpool to see this band called the Beatles, and they just released Love Me Do

sixty three April. And from then on I wanted with Paul McCartney, of course, and he started singing and in a band. And basically when you start off with a band, you have to sing all different kinds of songs from jaw text to Nina Simon songs, coverage, you know, and your voice you singing it actually, remember remember I used to sing gold Finger, It was a big hit then by Shirley Bassie s Wales. The review was we found the Shirley Bassie of rock and roll. That's gonna be

our tweets freaked me out. Listen to the of my interview with the Shirley Bassie of rock and roll, and uh, I just kept singing and enjoined singing and went through the sixties with the band, and then went to London, eventually meeting up with Chris. And I knew that I could sing, and I was very interested in songwriter, and I've never written any songs, maybe written wanted to terrible songs. But with Chris, I could sort of sit there and just work work ideas out with him and singing with yes.

When it first started, I didn't move. I was very still on stage and stoned of course, and uh, just happy doing it. Didn't realize until I recorded that I had such a bad voice. What you said, well, you start listening to yourself for the first time through the speakers and everything, recording recording the first hour, but you know, and I think, oh my gosh, sort of pretty boring. But that's interesting for people who don't know that. When

you're doing club work and you're performing lives. Yeah, everybody's jumping up, they're all drunks or what it mean? You sound great? Yeah? Then and then you get into a studio and things change. And what I'm also curious about is when you're singing covers and you're a very signature voice which pitches high, is singing these other songs, where does that music come from? Which so unique? You know, we weren't from the same town the band itself. It

was from different towns in England. Normally like the Hollies, the Beatles, all the bands, the Animals, they came from Newcastle. The Hollies were from Manchester, the Beatles from Liverpool. Everybody a little tight group of friends, you know. Well we weren't. We were in London and Bill Bruford was from seven Oaks down the road. He was he actually he left the band after months. He wanted to go. His parents said he had to be a lawyer. So we've been rehearsing as a band for a month and Bill said

I'm leaving. I said, wait a minute, We've just started. So the strange story was that Bill went to Leeds University and two months later we played there and he sat he stood in the in the audience, looking sort of eyes eyes at the band, thinking this is really a great band. What am I doing here at university? And within two weeks he was back in the band. But the idea is that, you know, you started when I met Chris. It was like, I've got to learn

about writing songs. So I started playing. You had not been writing songs? No, No, you didn't know how to read music. No. No. The great thing was because both Tony Kay in the early days, they were very interested in what I had to say, and so I just thought, you know, all these ideas, musical ideas. I'd say, Okay, some somebody I think it was Peter Banks. He was playing on his guitar, just messing around. You know, that's it.

We're going to do America. So we did a version of America that day from story Can't beat It, you know, and very popular about yeah, and you take it on stage and it gets the audience scoring, you know. So in those early days, it was like, well, what should we do next? John, Um, Well, I've got this idea.

I really like Stravinsky, you know, you know, and I'd start coming up with ideas on the guitar that you know, Peter Banks would say you can't play that chord, and I say, well, I just did and it sounds pretty good whatever. You know, So you was a non guitar player really to take risks that they that they studied guitar players were saying to you, you you can't do that, yeah, because like you know, it's just one of those things. You do it and then you start realizing you go

home and start trying other idea. How long did it take you to learning to teach yourself the guitar. I'm still learning. It's just ongoing, and I don't know what I'm playing. You know, I'm playing chords the other day. I'm going, oh, this is a beautiful chord. I wish I knew what it was, but it sounds really good. I can remember that I do. I take everything and we remember, in fact, you started doing music that maybe five ten years ago. You find a cassette and go, oh, yeah,

I never finished that. I'll try that now, you know. Maybe I wasn't ready then now I am, you know. And so an the Leap we got Steve Howe in the band, which is like, man, it was amazing because

this guy could play classical music. On guitar as well as Yeah, great rock and roll, you know, and we started writing songs together and the well generally, um, I'd listened to what they were doing when rehearsal, making a lot of noise in the studio recording, and I'd hear Steve playing something and I quickly recorded, and then we just stopping and said, listen, you played this line, dud, what is that? And he said, I don't know, I was just jamming. Said no, can you play it again? Okay,

and then we're going to that. They'll keep going there, bringing up again new kid modulate, you know. So my my position in the band was waving man's around all that and hoping they would understand what was conducting. And then, you know, as time moved along, Wakeman came into the band and it was like so incredible. Who was the most accomplished musically in terms of reading music, writing music?

Rick was the one who wrote music ridiculous. And the neat thing was that you were saying, why the music came is because Bill Bruford was a jazz player jazz rock and him and Chris together, you know, those early tapes, those early recordings are just fantastic the BBC recordings and you hear him and Chris rocking away, you know, but it's slightly different than just pol pies going on with his with his shoulders Bill, you know, is he's going around,

you know. And so when when would sort of put together a song, I feel like I think there's something else to happen, you know, maybe Bill and Chris just do a groove thing, you know, and then we'll steve if you can do, like get your slide guitar. You know, what's the first song you record? Probably yesterday and today I heard it. Well, it's you know with the album didn't The second album just about didn't do well either,

and the third album we all went to. Uh. I wanted to get away from London, so I said, why don't we get a farm down in Devon, you know. So we rented a farm in Devon, a farmhouse and got all the equipment there instead there for a month six weeks and that's when Yours Is No Disgrace came and event really fragile. But it was like it's very important to sort of isolate ourselves away from the Getting

to rehearsals in a big city can take forever. You know, so living together and being together sort of created a harmony. And one of the things I've learned is that with with harmony, and you notice in acting, if you have perfect harmony, anything can happen. It's incredible, you can get there. It's beautiful. Yeah, I feel so good too. Yeah. And it's rare. It's it's not something that happens all the time. Here's like a clue to why I think Yes worked

in so many ways. It's that up until then, the bands would go on stage sing a song, and the solo guitar player of the solo, and then the chorus again, and then a solo and just finished. I just didn't like that because you never know how good you're going to be as a solo guitar player if you've had too many drinks. You know, so you're great one night, and then the next night, what the hell are they thinking?

You know? So? I said to Steve, especially if he was very willing to understand that if you create a solo in rehearsal, record it, learn it, then your solo will always be the same, and then you can bounce and dance around it. And the same with everybody who played in the band. You know, I'd say, let's get it. It's called its structuring, structure the music. Make sure you know exactly what you're gonna play. And the interesting thing is Chris bless him was the main guy who stuck

to that. He was a beautiful bass player. Listen to his bass work, incredible and generally um. When you learn the art of the structure, you take that on stage and it can be eleven minutes long, ten minutes longer. You can stretch it a couple of minutes, but take for granted what you've already created and know that it worked. Stick with it. But you listen to your music. I mean, I mean I closed my eyes and then I roll your music in my head, and it's so complicated compare

to everything else that was coming. I mean there was the Beatles deep in their work, and you listen to your music, you talk about yours is no disgration. It's like all those fractions and all that done, done done. This is so dramatic. Yes, these surges is like water splashing against the sea wall. It's so violent. Sometimes, whose concept was this of music? Who said this is what we're gonna do? What were you smoking? I was a

lot of stuff. Man, You know, no, I agree. In some ways, it's like you create this music and you go on stage and perform it and and it takes over. It's as though we've created something that's a little bit unique and we've got to make sure he's good. I remember the first time we performed Close to the Edge. It seem like about an hour eighteen minutes minutes because the orders was so quiet. What's going on? What's going on?

And it was at a game, you know. Elton John was for the bill, my vision orchestra and us and we did class the Edge. It was like you could hear the crickets. So it's already. But when you do that, is it hard to replicate it you go out there or it wasn't hard to replicate because you know what you've got to do. It took months for it to kick in. So by the time we came to tour America, we're close to the Edge as a song. We'd already played it twenty times. But did you need sheet music

on stage to play it? How did the band remember eighteen minutes of all those changes? I don't know. They were just into it. Well, I think you know, musicians in the last you know, fifty years of concentrating on this new exercise of a brain stemrio. You know, I'm always amazed. You know, Trevor Raymond are guitar player. He can do scores and you can hear all the music. It's like I'm adas, you know, it's like it freaks

me out because I'd love to be well. Yeah, when you would perform live, was there a process you had about your voice? Was there some kind of technique you had in terms of you didn't smoke and you didn't

eat certain kinds of food. You know, we went vegetarian very early on, and you know before they were in vegetary restaurants in America, so we'd find one in New York maybe, and one in Boston and one in Seattle, and we kind of restricted ourselves from doing the norm, which is just you know, going for the burghers and stuff.

I just on stage and say you should all stop eating McDonald's, right, So for you that you didn't feel because your your your voice is so I mean it really sounds like an instrument amount of saying that there was no special thing you had to do. You just blew it out and it was there in your pocket every time you needed it. I just felt very blessed that I could sing, and I was actually going through this incredible journey. You know, there's not many people get

the chance to be successful in their work. You know, what's your first big date. We all lived in this little house, all at the different floor of the house. Peterbanks lived in Barnett, which is North London. I've got a phone call from a friend. He said, can you do a show tonight at Speakeasy, most famous club in town? Yeah? Yeah, what time? We're gonna be there at ten o'clock? Why because you've got to be there man, Okay, So I called Peter, come on, we've got to go and do

a gig. Get everything to get the drums again and getting the van. Come on, let's go. So we went to the speak HEAs and we started setting up, and then we found out the reason we were there is because Sly in the family store had got stopped in New Jersey and he couldn't get on the plane whatever for whatever he's you know. And I was working at that time in a bar above the Marquee Club, a

very famous club in London. So I kept bumping into Keith Emerson because he was playing in nice and I kept actually bumped into two or three other Pete Town's end and that kind of thing. I never said alone. And uh so there were setting up microphones and they started walking in. You know, there's Keith Hi, Keith, Oh, John, what are you doing? So we're we're doing a show. What does it look like? You know? Well, what's happened to slice here? And I started passing a joint resident

have a smoke, calm down. So by the time we went on, everybody was happily drunk and stone or whatever. And there's I think there was I think Paul and Corner was that. I'm not sure, but there's wanted to. There's a lot of very famous people there, and we put on the show of our life. You know, we'ven't have been together for two months. They came expecting sly and you came here and you won them over. We did it? Come on, guys? What rock and roll? You know? Twiston? Yeah,

and you came off the stage and yeah. Well the manager of the club said, I want to manage you, and within a month he got us a gig opening for the Cream Farewell concert. So we opened it Rory Rory Gallagher the Albert Hall, so Rory Gallagher was on second and the cream came on at the end. It was like, oh god. You know. The funny thing going back to Bill Brufer was in Leeds University and we found it we were going to play this gig at

the Albert Hall. So I said, Bill, you wanted to rejoin the Bandy said yeah, yeah, well in two weeks we're playing at the Albert Hall. Be there and he was. Life is like Scrange, isn't it. And then when the recording contract was with who you signed that Urgan? God bless him and he found you where in London? He came to see us. We did a lunchtime half an

hour for it. He had almost like audition and what year was this, early sixty nine maybe Our manager at that time was the speakeas and manager, the sweetest guy in the world, but he just you know, he enjoyed a drink and he was drunk. And it was one o'clock in the afternoon, you know, And so we we did our little sort of audition and I thought I gotta go the toilet, So went to the toilet and Roy comes in stands next to we around a pay, you know, and he says, I'm going to get this past,

to this American past. I'm going to make sure you've got the best contract ever ever in the world. And at that moment the toilet flush. Did he get you? Did he get you the best contract from this American bostard? He signed as for ten years, for ten years like two points. You know. It was very cool because you know, the second album didn't do too well. The third album was the Yes album was Okay Stragle and then fourth album was from But when you signed with Ernigan, you

had not been recording for anybody else. This was the beginning of your recording. Show track you do album number one, man, you do album number two, number three maybe, and then four hits, four hits, Well, the thing was roundabout was eight minutes long. That it was a stage song. The idea, I think one of the things I've always been interested in is putting on a show, probably comes from my dad because he was a showman in the in the

army in time. What did he do? All I can remember I was in a stroller and he was on stage in a kilt is Scottish. He was on stage when in a kilt and Hitler mustache, telling jokes and I think he played the harmonica. He is a Scottish Nazi harmonica player. Man, that's I'm sorry. I were you close with him? Yeah, sort of got He got very ill, very early on in his life. He died when he was how old and you were? How old? You got me there at four? My dad died when I was

twenty six. My dad died down. I was able to see him at the end to give him a good hug and said thanks. Or either of your siblings musical? Oh gosh, yeah, my brother Tony, because we started off as the brothers of Accrington. So he's a performer. No, he's a he's a preacher actually, so he's a performer. I'm curious about for people who you know, don't completely understand this, like myself. You do an album Errigan signed you, and the first album doesn't work, and the second album

doesn't work. In the third up, maybe they're all growing and he sees something, because how do you get to do the eight minute round about his on Fragile before the album? So when you say to Ergan we're going to do an eight minute piece, did he see you down? To go Fellas Fellas Fellas. He said, you haven't earn the right to do it. He said. Somebody, and I remember very vividly it was Gosh, I can't remember his name,

very famous producer, came to London. We're we're doing Do Do Do Do Do Do, and the guys they're sitting there and saying, why don't you put a funky BASSI I said, no, it's possible, and that's what it is. Is your move actually was yeah, of course your move he said boom boom, yeah, your guitar on stage that one. No, we just didn't do it. We just said I said, I'm sorry, I like you very much, but I don't

want it to be that way. It's round about the first hit, Yeah, because somebody got some scissors out and didn't tell us. I know, with it in your contract that they could do that. Of course they could. They could get our sport right, So so they cut round about from what to what. Well, they just took out the whole middle section, so it goes from the end of the second, third verse or third core, second chorus

whatever straining in the solo. And we were driving around Pittsburgh to a gig and it would turn on the radio and it's round about it, round of bus on our on the on the radio. We couldn't believe it. And then it went straight into the solo. We'll charged the view. I mean, I mean, I know, I'm kind of getting carried away here with you because I'm so excited actually talking to you. But you know, Yes Songs

is really one of the greatest live albums ever. I mean, if you if you're a Yes fan and you dig that music, you guys just crushed it, you know, did you did you know that when you recorded? Really? You know, I just knew we were sort of getting into the pocket when I learned later the pocket is when it just happens and music takes over. And that was one of those shows. I think we did about four in a row when we've Cordy one of them, and I don't know, I going back to George Martin, you know,

and listen to what he did before tracks. I wonder why we're not as something when when when you hear us playing live, what what's what's wrong? I've always been like that. I'm terrible critical for you self critical? Did you drive the other band members crazy with your criticism? They called me the poem they did, yes, the quiet. Do you agree that the band needs an external source of management in order to really function or did you

kind of function as a manager of your own. We stopped we stopped using a producer after the third album, so we were producing ourselves with a very good engineer called Offord, who was brilliant. How did that work for you with your self producing brilliant? You think so? It's a great photograph of everybody on the Leavers, we've got their own sets. Yes, I think we should do this. Yeah, and it's just the idea of uh have trusting. You know,

trust is everything in music. You got to trust everybody to want the same thing, even though we're not quite sure what it is yet. Did you feel you were in charge? Yeah? Well I wasn't. I used to say to Chris, because Chris always to look at me and say, I just want to make you happy. John said, yeah, I'm not trying to bust everybody around. I just want to make it work. And somebody's got to come up. If you come up with if somebody, if you come

up with ideas, I'll follow it through. But it tends to happen somebody tends to be more of an idea person and I was into that, you know, like with reading Herman Hess and thinking I really want to do something a little bit more experimental and long form. Steve, come here, man, can you play some cords like this and plan them? I said, okay, and he say, I've got this. I've got this thing. It goes close to the edge, run by the corner and I seen down at the end, run by the river. What do you

they sees bad by I'm gonna go. I get a card. It's like I need I need some chords there, you know, and Steve here you talking through and then when you listen to the music, it's like something in a church. Yeah, and this is you know, it's it's like subconsciously, I'll be chords. And he played perfect chords and I said, that's it. Recorded. Next part? Did you interact with Wakeman the same way? Did he go with you? Because Rick was very fast, just coming up with stuff I didn't

really not know. And again I hear something that's you just played something I need that please? And what is this one that? Oh? Yeah, I need that a little differenever it was and you know, you you go through these emotions in the studio of really listening to everybody and making sure that they are in a good place to perform. Well, you know, it's it's part of the

routine of being buddies, musical brothers. If you like you, I see the cold listen and watched the news, roll outside I learned, and every single day inside outside way the song the Cold Stone and moving to the door I watch, and every single the inside out outside coming up. John Anderson explains why Paul McCartney was his inspiration for taking drugs. While Yes was rocking the UK, the self described cussing Christian behind Grand Funk Railroad was lighting up

America the word from the Atlanta Pop Festival. You know, we opened noon the first day. They liked us so well they moved us to seven o'clock the second day, and then the third day we were on at eleven o'clock under the lights. They're the people that they're waiting for. Now. To hear more about Mark Farner's story, go to Here's the Thing dot org. This is Alec Baldwin and you

were listening to Here's the Thing. Nicknamed Napoleon. English singer songwriter John Anderson constantly pushed his bandmates to experiment further, considering that Yes sold more than fifty million albums in his time with them. It worked, but although Anderson's adventurous spirit played a role in propelling them forward, there were

other factors too, namely competition. We did Close to the Edge, and if there was ever a rival band that I kind of watched and listen to was a Bang Cooking Crimson because I had heard about them, and me and Chris went to see them Speak Easy. This is like nineteen seventy I think maybe late sixty nine, and they performed the whole first album and it was it was just so incredibly good. They performed at vocals. It was in the court of the Crimson King, and I looked

at Christ and said, we've got to practice more. Guys, you're very competitive, So we did I know. Then we went to Close to the Edge and I thought we'd opened this door. Musically speaking, we found this is um. It's a yes is um. It's something that every note is known to the band. We know every in you there and to perform it was going to be amazing. And then Bill said I'm leaving the band. About two weeks after we finished it, of course to the edge.

You know why he wanted to join King Crimson really did, really and it broke my heart. And what what was that like for you? Well, I thought, you guys are with the quest of the way you've just done this piece of music. That meant we are now free to do and create what we want. We're just as good as King Crimson. Oh yeah, But when you feel you're just as good as Crimson, you're different. Is that what

he wanted was different? He just said making the album was great, John, But I'm just not comfortable with Chris wanting this and me wanting that. And we'll see. I I used to say, I always think the beat starts with the bass, drum, bass, and everything evolves from Derek. Chris was said, no, the base is the beat. So there's that argument going on with Bill and basically he went to Crimson and I actually saw their first gig.

There was a bandy changed their name to Discipline or is an album called Discipline with King Crimson and it was remarkable to watch because he had Bill Bruford on stage with a little kid right at the front of the stage. Guitar player I forgot his name for now, keyboard player, another guitar player, and this guy called Jamie Muir who was like a percussionist, and he looked like a wild man from born. You had a long black hair and he had this sort of black wooly shoulder thing.

Man him look a very skinny ape and what he would do, which was kind of interesting. He had sort of gongs in his hand and he banged him on the floor and your microphones. So he had this band and this guy was jumping up against pieces of metal, large scale pieces of metal to me, the microphones on there. So there's incredible company of energy going around the band, which is very tight, right, And I couldn't be leaving.

And I went to Bill Brufford's wedding and there was Jamie Muller and I said, Jamie, what do you what? What what do you? What are you doing? And he said wait there and he went off and he came back with a book and it was the Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda, and he just gave it to me. He didn't say anything else, and that changed my life.

How So, it's a very clear understanding that all religions are the same, and all rivers go to the same motion and divine, divine energies all around us all the time. After Close to the finished, Closely and Close the Edge was like to me a very concept album in itself. And you and I, you finished Close to the Edge, Brufford leaves, You go to his wedding, You meet Jamie, he gives you the autobiography of a Yogi, and and and and who replaced Brufford at that remedia at that time.

So the next album, after Course of the Edges, then we went into toto graphic world of craziness. You know, because why do you say that? Because well, it's it's such a you know, what's the word, It's such an

incredible moment in my life. Anyway, Why well, because, uh, you know, some joker in a newspaper said close to the as, Yeah, the next thing they're going to do is the Bible to Music, And I thought, yeah, So I got the book, and I was on a trip to Japan with the band with Alan and everything, and Steve and I read in the bottom of the book these four energies that create almost everything is the revealing of everything, the remembering of everything, the ancient and the

ritual of life. You know, and I thought, that's it with the four movements, you know, so I sort of jump tones Steve. It was perfect for it, you know, and why because he's very receptive, very he was ready to go with you. You're very quick to read the book, do you know? I don't know. Did you give all of them the book and say this is required reading?

Before he started the album, I just knew that if you're going to go anywhere, why don't you just jump in the deep end, you know, so when you get it, when you head towards tales, when you go to as you were saying this topographic madness, how were they changing the other ones in the band you? Since are they all on this journey and kind of getting into with you and getting high with you? Or some of them sitting there looking at there, watching on how much more

of this revealing science of God? And and wait a second, is this cat really going to do the Bible next? Where are we going with this guy? Was it all kind of cool? Or most of the time me Steve and Alan and then Chris on on a level, we're very there. Rick was finding his own sort of passway. He started writing some music about King Arthur or every the eighth and stuff and that, and that was sort of sense. When he came in, he was he was thinking of other stuff. So it was like lovely guy,

but still a young guy. It was so young. It was very who when he joined them, and so I was sort of headlong into this thing. Nobody can dissuade me at all. We're going there. That's all there is to it. It's going to be great. What is it about you that makes you so driven that way? I mean, you see, you have an almost a hab like quest to synthesize what you're thinking, feeling, dreaming, believing into the music you're doing, regardless of the cost. Do you know

why you're so self examining? I would think, why, Yeah, I'm just so grateful. I suppose you just enjoy the journey. Yeah, I'm so thankful. There's a certain point in time when I was very lost on heavy drugs and stuff in earlier smith at that publicly, I don't remember. Did you do that? Because it was for free and for fun and silly and funny, and then it got to be it makes it makes you sick kind of And then

how do you see it now? In perspective? What's that your drug experience was it was, it was and abashed endorsements de Limera front page. Paul McCartney took ascid. I said, that's it. That was my key. He didn't pay the guy that things love me do my god, all you need is love Christman. So tails comes out. No, no, no, no. Fragile is a hit and close to the edges and you guys are really rolling and see me, And what is the tourist situation like now your big stadium's big places?

No not not? You know I think we did three nights for Madison Square and you know, did you enjoy them? Yeah? It was like very dream sequence sort of looking back, you just remember it as being, Wow, I gotta get on stage. I gotta I don't know what I'm doing. Don't worry about it. Look for the furthest people away and wave to them, because you don't want to just play to the twenty people in front row. You gotta pay Mark, you gotta play, You gotta play to everybody,

you know, you gotta. Mark Farner told to see tours close off because one of the people in the back road and pay attention to him. He ripped down to It was like a little speed up from Grand Funk Railroad. Yeah, but but when you also were doing this and regardless of the size, but I'm assuming, particularly where there's the size and the amount of money available to the to the promoters, does the stage tableau change what's happening on his lighting and graphics say we're lucky, you see, because

your music lends itself to something spectacular. Yeah, it's an interesting story that the first road we have was Mike Tate, and Mike Tate is now Take Tower is one of

the biggest touring companies in America for sure. And we were doing a show up in north of England in a small pub and he was driving us and obviously a stripper would come on most nights in the pub that we're doing our show, and there's all these little sort of switches on the side of the the wall and he was up and down with all colors, was like that, with little switches like that, and I thought, oh, that's really cool. So we drove down to London and

Mike said, I'm going back to Australia. I said no, no, no, he kind of ahead. You're gonna be our lighting guys. I said, what do you mean? I said, what do you need because I just saw you didn't know it yet. So we've we've we've got some money and he got he made these Genie towers which came out of a box in one of them, and the car light car lights.

He had a little little thing coin and but you didn't have any screens and images that came topographic time we started projection, we were first first band and what the band? What are the other bandmates feel about you bringing that ettlement out of the stage. You talked to me about so much about it. Just think I think Roger Dean had done the artwork. Him and his brother started doing the staging, and the best staging that they did for us was the Relayer tour. Get some delirium

with a three headed sort of thing. How did you meet for Chard Dean? Tell people how did you meet him? I don't know. I think Steve said, yes, right, no, I had seen this album covered a bang called OSSI visa in London and it was just fantastic. And I looked at Von Roger Deane and Steve said, I think I know some really knows him. I said, we'll get him getting to come over, you know in fragile. We're working on fragile, and I just said, Rogier, how are you all met? And just put you know, it makes

some very fragile Hafan kar. So he came back with this little world and I said, that's perfect, you know, And from then on, you know, we just kept working with him so he would be involved in staging. Mike Tait was the lighting guy, and that was the way we worked in the seventies. Explained to me because I don't understand this either, I really don't, and I'm always fascinated by this. When you're exploring your music, it's so dynamic and it's so spiritual and rock at the same time.

It's everything. It's jazz. It means it's its own planet if you will. I mean, I really believe that. But at any point do you feel that the vocals need uh? Does it ever cross your mind, like we've got to get a girl in here? Is there ever a discussion of a woman joining the mayor? Is that never come out? Do we need a feminine voice? Never? The music is always put through the prism of John's the singer, and you get into that zone of well, I'm writing the

lyrics as well. Because I like writing lyrics, and me and Steve would write lyrics with each other, Me and Chris would write lyrics with each other. But I just tend to write a lot and think a lot, and drive a lot, and come on up the mountain, people, Come on. We got to do this because who else is going to help us? Who else is going to help Nobody else is going to help us, because we're

going this way. And we went on that journey and it went right through the seventies to that point where it couldn't go any further because the House of Cards fell down. We really talk about that in a minute. But when you get when you when typographic comes out, how does that do well? It's it's It's well documented that it was heavily criticized and very confused used atmosphere around it because Rick hated it. He hated that it was too much for him because he was already half

into something else. I think he wanted to be somewhere else. I think so. Yeah. And when he said he hated it, he was on the record at the time or while you were. He said, it's too it's too much. It's too much music for people. It's too much music for them, And of course I was what did you mean by too much music? It was like you're trying to make people eat a whole cake at once. You should do it in pieces were too long. It was the structure of the album was not right for twenty minute pieces,

because that's all you could fit on an album. Right. I can just see you, I can see you awaking. I have this image of you waking up. I'm in bed and you pick up like how many? How many minutes fit on an album? Again is great? I've got four twenty minute first songs pieces, the revealing, the remembering, ritual, ancient and you think there's got to be a meaning to you stopped believing in in the structure of Yes' music. Yeah, he just felt that it wasn't going to work. And

a lot of people agree with that. And was he gone after topographic? And did you feel about that? I was sort of beaten up because in terms of musicianship, you could never find anybody who was his Again, he's one of the greatest history. Ridiculous. You know, you go through that feeling like I think I went I went amid the wrong I went down the wrong road. I should have thought because all all the time we were doing close to the age. You know, why are you

doing cross the edge? Why don't you do another roundabout? What's the matter with you? You want to make We can make so much money now, just one and another, one another, one another that I said, No, I'm not interested. I want to hold your hands right your version. You wanted me to sing a thousand that one for the Night has a thousand dies and a thousand dies? You want me to do that? Don't please don't tell me when was yes songs recorded in between, which I think

it was just after Fragile. I think you think Fragile close to the jest songs typographic you got it. But the idea is that everybody, you know, Steve and Alan and Chris put so much into topographic, you know, and it was it was it was magic to perform and to hold an audience for twenty minutes. You can hear a pin drop every now, you know, every It's amazing.

How are the audiences when you perform that? It was amazing because our own car was close to the edge, so it was like we were living this new new world of music, which is kind of crazy thinking, but I felt we'd found this big cloud that we could sail around the world on, you know, and we were playing this music that was you know, and then as time went along, you realized that one part of the puzzle rag he wasn't enjoying it, and it sounded like

he wasn't enjoying it. And he was caught once with um, was it some Indian food underneath this keyboard? He were doing the show and he has some Indian currier underneath this keyboard, so that that broke the back. But help me with this because of the thing I've learned from people who are these immensely successful and people are just eating your music up alive and they love it. It's so fresh and so new and so brilliant. And you guys are going along and then one cylinder and the

engine decides to pop out. What are the other guys? How do they feel? Oh, we gotta get a new guitar. Where's a new keyboard player? That was the first, you know, I thought he the silliest story ever. I started thinking, and I just heard about this guy called Vane Pat who lived in Paris, and I've seen a photograph of him using laser beams. So we got laser beams and I went to meet Van Gelis and I loved his first album. It's called Creation Dumont. I used to play

it before Yes Show. So when audiences are coming in there here in this cosmic music by bank Ellis. You know. So um, I won't tell you the story meeting and everything, but he nearly joined the band. I invited him to London to join the band soon as Rick went on, why do you want to tell the story of beating him? Why, Well, it's silly, you know, It's like, well, okay, So I get to Paris, I find his phone number, I got his call him up. Hello, Hello Van Ellis. Yes, Oh,

my name is John Anderson. I sing in a band called Yes Watch. Yes, I don't know, Yes, it's a band, you know, a band I'm singer. Oh oh, John Johnny, Oh, come over. So I went over to his apartment right and I opened the door and he's standing there, tall guy with a long sort of kaftan, you know, big beard and everything. And he has a big bone arrow over his shoulder like a long ball. You know. Hey, Johnny, come and can get home. You know. So he was in the middle of an archery session he said he

had a very long hallway. All the way down the bottom of the hallway was a target he's shooting and he said, what's this John? And he takes a born arrow and it went right through the window and hit the postman. Hey. I just laughed because it was just so beautiful. And I went around his house was sets everywhere. Oh, listen to this, I have this music. Listen to this. And then he started playing with his big fat fingers, the most gorgeous music I've ever heard. When you see

he almost joined the band. What was that about? Well? I asked him to come over to England and joined the band, and Stephen Chris thought I was crazy. Who is this guy? You know? I said, let's try it and shoot arrows at us. Yeah, I know, so we we we We started rehearsing and Steve's got his guitar tuning up and perhaps and mindedly Van Gelly said, oh, you know, little guitar, not a real instrument, you know, because it was one of those crazy Greek I said,

we're trying to make friends here. Vane didn't work so he was good, and then I became friends with angels. Of course, how do you find your next keyboardist. Where so Patrick Raz came along to my my house and started playing the piano. He was brilliant. He was in London, he's from Switzerland band he was in a band called Refugee, but he wanted to join the band. And as soon as he played the piano, I said, you're you're You're good. You're very good. And I was overjoyed that we found

somebody equally as exciting and possibly talented as Rick. So we started rehearsing and we did the relay our album. One song we did was called Gates of Delirium, which is a long form piece of music, and it was the first one that I actually, strangely enough, I've been playing the piano a lot. I took to the band me playing it Do Do Do Do Do Do Do? But uh, you know, and I went through it with

that I'd learned four parts, you know. And if I can't believe that they understood me, because that was terrible. That was terrible. Yeah, he did layer. Chris was on top of that case of delivering. Was fantastic to perform. It was like, it's wild warlike tendency. Why why humans or why we're all into war? And now when you say the house of cards falls, what happens if the

relayer comes out? Are there more changes? And get no, it gets it gets a bit strange because Pat Patrick, bless him, starts to wander off and finds himself in Brazil and he got married and things like that, and we lost contact and we decided Patrick Mora, Yeah, we decided we wanted to start recording. And some somebody said, well, why do we record with the Queen? Have been recording in montro They've got a studio there. It's lovely there in Switzerland, and we wanted to pay taxes that year

and like kind of crap. And so we all go to Switzerland and Montroy is beautiful, and you know, I'm there and writing and dust was gathering on his keyboards. Is that kind of strange feeling? Where is he? And so we carried on racing ideas and stuff, and you know, I actually bumped into Steve how at a holiday in near Detroit about four months earlier. Had gone past his room and the smoke coming out from under the door and he was playing this rift down, don't don't die?

Are you? Are you? That sort of thing, and I thought, that's kind of nice, and I said, I Steve John and I went to have breakfast. I came back. He's still playing it. I said, why don't you change key down? Don don don't. So I walked in and sing the main line of Awaken, which is the first verse, or that kind of thing, and then I said, Steve, how many chords can you play without repeating? And he started

playing all these chords. I said, keep playing them and repeat for do do do do do workings and man said to play out historical life real again in the flower of the Fruit of History, and he just popped up. And I was actually in that space of saying, let's just do that. That would be the second stanza, and then there'll be another stanza and then I'm going to do a harp thing. And Steve said, why because I'm playing the harp every day I'm on tour, at which

I did. You know, But that was great making that album and the Waken. It's so beautiful to create and perform, and we'd still perform it. Just now, what's music in your life that's not your music? Are you? Do? You listen to a lot of music? I know it's terrible. What's your favorite I just listened to the seventh three times yesterday before I came here. I was driving around shopping for some reason. Oh my god, yeah, I love the real sonorous and movie Russian Russians were on top

of them. He was pissed. You know, so classical is big in your life? Well, I think yeah, I think. Well I was very big in to wrest On Rollan Kirk. I thought he was just amazing. What about contemporary music, now, are you do you? Well, there's always a great song here and there every week another song, Oh my god, yeah, And there's a lot of great music out there that most people are not going to hear on radio anyway.

So the only way you can do it here music is going to like somebody sent me a link and it was this band doing an insurance song using pipes and things on a on a on a table, and who was the most glorious work of art these people singing in his song but doing these kind of spoons and and singing and beautiful harmony, and the very famous man actually five million people watch that. There are people, I mean, I hope this comes out the right way. There are people who write music. I'm not saying this

with any judgment of them. And the music is pretty simple. It means it's it's it's rock music, and it's exciting and and and and it's I love you and you don't love me? And why don't you love me? And your music is very nugety and very dense and very rich. And I'm assuming that the making of that music would probably set you up for even a worst case what

people suffered of their personal lives. And did you find that the music that you were writing and the work you were doing was so intense that it negatively impacted your personal life? And what didn't You were married, You weren't married to your music totally, so you were polygamous. You were married to your wife and your music totally. Okay, Now, my second wife, Jane, we've been to twenty five years,

so it's amazing she is. You didn't find that that to be a challenge to balance your home life and your work. Obviously, you know you're growing up and you're getting older, and you're trusting accountants to take every finances and things like that, and just keep saying you've got to buy more stuff. You've got to buy more stuff because there's so much money and to buy more stuff, and you think, why you know I'm not interested in stuff. To be honest, I don't come from that. I come

from a very um simple background from Accrington. I used to be I used to be the ball boy for Acklington Stanley, one of the first teams in the First League that ever was soccer. You know, my core values are very very simple, very clear that I can't believe I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm so grateful to be here speaking with you because I've seen you work and I know you're great. And it's just the idea that I can't wait until tomorrow because I know the great

music is coming. I know some great stuff is happening. When you perform, now, do you need to adjust the key and the way you sing? Do you do down a ton or half a ton? You know, I listened to my stuff. I was done. I was singing on helium half of it. But it's so I didn't realize. It's incredible when you look back on the amazing, amazing work you did in the amazing music you made, and I thank you, I thank you, But when you look back, was there anything you would have done differently? I can't

believe where I am now. You know we're just going to go into the Hall of Fame. Well, when you do something you wanted, you know it was something to do with this manager twenty years ago. I said, I'm going to get you in the Hall of Fame. I said, I don't care. It will happen when it happens. And that's my mantra. Things will happen when they happen. Don't tell me. I'm going to be in the Hall of Fame. All my heroes are there, and there's nothing you would

do differently. I can't know. I can't think. There's obviously things I should have done differently. Yes, seasons say this is just In an interview last August with Classic Rock, Anderson said, quote for me, yes was about the adventure of music, not making a living. The adventure itself will create great things. Unquote. Indeed it has. This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing