WEBVTT - Yes, Jon Anderson's Musical Adventure Isn't Over 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:04.000 This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing. 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:25.200 Get deep each day, so satisfyed on my my way, 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:31.000 take a straight and strong AGAs to the corner of 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:38.560 make no white Queen road so fast, she hasn't got 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:46.360 time to make you win. There are many words that 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:51.360 can be used to describe singer songwriter John Anderson, Cautious 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.920 is not one of them. Born in England in nine, 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:59.360 he began singing on his brother's daily route as a 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:04.200 milkman before falling in love with rock and roll. Adventurous, 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:08.560 scrappy and spiritual. He formed an instant bond with bassist 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.360 Chris Squire in nineteen sixty eight, and after a short 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:22.240 stint with another band, the two formed Yes. Like Anderson himself, 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:27.920 their music was otherworldly, bucking convention in both structure and sound. 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:31.440 Their songs were a dynamic mix of jazz and rock 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.600 that could last for as long as twenty minutes, and 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:39.240 their concerts sold out stadiums worldwide. By the nineteen eighties, 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.360 the band had produced more than eleven critically acclaimed albums. 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.720 Their music ushered in what's known today as progressive rock, 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:52.040 paving the way for bands like Radiohead and the English 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.960 native is still testing the boundaries of music, just like 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.600 he did as a kid. You know, I started singing 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:00.240 when I was at school in the choir and I 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:04.000 was told to shut up Anderson not so loud, and 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:05.720 that kind of calmed down a bit because I used 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.160 to love shouting and singing, you know choir, you know 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.960 when they do that. And then me and my brother Tony, 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.720 we used to sing all the Everly Brothers songs and 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.120 I was the high harmony and I just love singing. 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.320 And then we started a band called the Warriors in 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:24.080 sixty three. And in April sixty three my brother had 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:29.000 a motorbike and he drove me and him went to Southport, 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.120 which is just north of Liverpool to see this band 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.639 called the Beatles, and they just released Love Me Do 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.519 sixty three April. And from then on I wanted with 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:43.800 Paul McCartney, of course, and he started singing and in 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.520 a band. And basically when you start off with a band, 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.400 you have to sing all different kinds of songs from 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.280 jaw text to Nina Simon songs, coverage, you know, and 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:57.520 your voice you singing it actually, remember remember I used 0:02:57.520 --> 0:02:59.720 to sing gold Finger, It was a big hit then 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:05.519 by Shirley Bassie s Wales. The review was we found 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:09.280 the Shirley Bassie of rock and roll. That's gonna be 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:11.560 our tweets freaked me out. Listen to the of my 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.800 interview with the Shirley Bassie of rock and roll, and uh, 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:17.519 I just kept singing and enjoined singing and went through 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.160 the sixties with the band, and then went to London, 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.440 eventually meeting up with Chris. And I knew that I 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.200 could sing, and I was very interested in songwriter, and 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:30.079 I've never written any songs, maybe written wanted to terrible songs. 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:32.480 But with Chris, I could sort of sit there and 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:38.400 just work work ideas out with him and singing with yes. 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:41.320 When it first started, I didn't move. I was very 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:47.280 still on stage and stoned of course, and uh, just 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.200 happy doing it. Didn't realize until I recorded that I 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.800 had such a bad voice. What you said, well, you 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.160 start listening to yourself for the first time through the 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.440 speakers and everything, recording recording the first hour, but you know, 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:05.400 and I think, oh my gosh, sort of pretty boring. 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.680 But that's interesting for people who don't know that. When 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.280 you're doing club work and you're performing lives. Yeah, everybody's 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.840 jumping up, they're all drunks or what it mean? You 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.200 sound great? Yeah? Then and then you get into a 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:19.520 studio and things change. And what I'm also curious about 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.840 is when you're singing covers and you're a very signature 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:26.800 voice which pitches high, is singing these other songs, where 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.400 does that music come from? Which so unique? You know, 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.200 we weren't from the same town the band itself. It 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.719 was from different towns in England. Normally like the Hollies, 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.400 the Beatles, all the bands, the Animals, they came from Newcastle. 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:45.080 The Hollies were from Manchester, the Beatles from Liverpool. Everybody 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.800 a little tight group of friends, you know. Well we weren't. 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.120 We were in London and Bill Bruford was from seven 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.840 Oaks down the road. He was he actually he left 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.640 the band after months. He wanted to go. His parents 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:00.920 said he had to be a lawyer. So we've been 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:02.920 rehearsing as a band for a month and Bill said 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.920 I'm leaving. I said, wait a minute, We've just started. 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.000 So the strange story was that Bill went to Leeds 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:14.680 University and two months later we played there and he 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.560 sat he stood in the in the audience, looking sort 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.840 of eyes eyes at the band, thinking this is really 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.640 a great band. What am I doing here at university? 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:25.560 And within two weeks he was back in the band. 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:30.440 But the idea is that, you know, you started when 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.320 I met Chris. It was like, I've got to learn 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:37.080 about writing songs. So I started playing. You had not 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.040 been writing songs? No, No, you didn't know how to 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:43.479 read music. No. No. The great thing was because both 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.040 Tony Kay in the early days, they were very interested 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:50.560 in what I had to say, and so I just thought, 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.440 you know, all these ideas, musical ideas. I'd say, Okay, 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:57.520 some somebody I think it was Peter Banks. He was 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:02.560 playing on his guitar, just messing around. You know, that's it. 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.479 We're going to do America. So we did a version 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:11.560 of America that day from story Can't beat It, you know, 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.200 and very popular about yeah, and you take it on 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.720 stage and it gets the audience scoring, you know. So 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.080 in those early days, it was like, well, what should 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.400 we do next? John, Um, Well, I've got this idea. 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:29.320 I really like Stravinsky, you know, you know, and I'd 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.200 start coming up with ideas on the guitar that you know, 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.279 Peter Banks would say you can't play that chord, and 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:38.680 I say, well, I just did and it sounds pretty 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:42.200 good whatever. You know, So you was a non guitar 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.320 player really to take risks that they that they studied 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.559 guitar players were saying to you, you you can't do that, yeah, 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:49.719 because like you know, it's just one of those things. 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.479 You do it and then you start realizing you go 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.000 home and start trying other idea. How long did it 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:56.840 take you to learning to teach yourself the guitar. I'm 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:00.320 still learning. It's just ongoing, and I don't know what 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.440 I'm playing. You know, I'm playing chords the other day. 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.040 I'm going, oh, this is a beautiful chord. I wish 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:07.400 I knew what it was, but it sounds really good. 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.120 I can remember that I do. I take everything and 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.880 we remember, in fact, you started doing music that maybe 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.640 five ten years ago. You find a cassette and go, oh, yeah, 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:18.400 I never finished that. I'll try that now, you know. 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:20.720 Maybe I wasn't ready then now I am, you know. 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.920 And so an the Leap we got Steve Howe in 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:28.760 the band, which is like, man, it was amazing because 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.640 this guy could play classical music. On guitar as well 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:37.240 as Yeah, great rock and roll, you know, and we 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:43.000 started writing songs together and the well generally, um, I'd 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.240 listened to what they were doing when rehearsal, making a 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:48.160 lot of noise in the studio recording, and I'd hear 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:52.720 Steve playing something and I quickly recorded, and then we 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.640 just stopping and said, listen, you played this line, dud, 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:02.640 what is that? And he said, I don't know, I 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:07.559 was just jamming. Said no, can you play it again? Okay, 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.760 and then we're going to that. They'll keep going there, 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:15.760 bringing up again new kid modulate, you know. So my 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.360 my position in the band was waving man's around all 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:23.760 that and hoping they would understand what was conducting. And then, 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.920 you know, as time moved along, Wakeman came into the 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.240 band and it was like so incredible. Who was the 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:34.520 most accomplished musically in terms of reading music, writing music? 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.000 Rick was the one who wrote music ridiculous. And the 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:40.680 neat thing was that you were saying, why the music 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.600 came is because Bill Bruford was a jazz player jazz 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:50.320 rock and him and Chris together, you know, those early tapes, 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:54.400 those early recordings are just fantastic the BBC recordings and 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.160 you hear him and Chris rocking away, you know, but 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:03.000 it's slightly different than just pol pies going on with 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:07.160 his with his shoulders Bill, you know, is he's going around, 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.240 you know. And so when when would sort of put 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:14.760 together a song, I feel like I think there's something 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.400 else to happen, you know, maybe Bill and Chris just 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:20.480 do a groove thing, you know, and then we'll steve 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:24.080 if you can do, like get your slide guitar. You know, 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:29.160 what's the first song you record? Probably yesterday and today 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:38.439 I heard it. Well, it's you know with the album 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.160 didn't The second album just about didn't do well either, 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:43.800 and the third album we all went to. Uh. I 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.840 wanted to get away from London, so I said, why 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.560 don't we get a farm down in Devon, you know. 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.120 So we rented a farm in Devon, a farmhouse and 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:54.680 got all the equipment there instead there for a month 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:59.000 six weeks and that's when Yours Is No Disgrace came 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:02.560 and event really fragile. But it was like it's very 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:07.520 important to sort of isolate ourselves away from the Getting 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.360 to rehearsals in a big city can take forever. You know, 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:15.600 so living together and being together sort of created a harmony. 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:19.040 And one of the things I've learned is that with 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:21.560 with harmony, and you notice in acting, if you have 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.240 perfect harmony, anything can happen. It's incredible, you can get there. 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.600 It's beautiful. Yeah, I feel so good too. Yeah. And 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:30.000 it's rare. It's it's not something that happens all the time. 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.800 Here's like a clue to why I think Yes worked 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:36.920 in so many ways. It's that up until then, the 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:38.599 bands would go on stage sing a song, and the 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:42.040 solo guitar player of the solo, and then the chorus again, 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.600 and then a solo and just finished. I just didn't 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:49.080 like that because you never know how good you're going 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.360 to be as a solo guitar player if you've had 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:54.920 too many drinks. You know, so you're great one night, 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:57.319 and then the next night, what the hell are they thinking? 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.280 You know? So? I said to Steve, especially if he 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.960 was very willing to understand that if you create a 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:10.600 solo in rehearsal, record it, learn it, then your solo 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:13.520 will always be the same, and then you can bounce 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:17.240 and dance around it. And the same with everybody who 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.359 played in the band. You know, I'd say, let's get it. 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:24.920 It's called its structuring, structure the music. Make sure you 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.360 know exactly what you're gonna play. And the interesting thing 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:31.200 is Chris bless him was the main guy who stuck 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:35.199 to that. He was a beautiful bass player. Listen to 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:40.480 his bass work, incredible and generally um. When you learn 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.160 the art of the structure, you take that on stage 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.160 and it can be eleven minutes long, ten minutes longer. 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:48.439 You can stretch it a couple of minutes, but take 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:51.000 for granted what you've already created and know that it worked. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.080 Stick with it. But you listen to your music. I mean, 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:57.280 I mean I closed my eyes and then I roll 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.960 your music in my head, and it's so complicated compare 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:01.559 to everything else that was coming. I mean there was 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.360 the Beatles deep in their work, and you listen to 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.280 your music, you talk about yours is no disgration. It's 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:12.839 like all those fractions and all that done, done done. 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:17.920 This is so dramatic. Yes, these surges is like water 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:22.679 splashing against the sea wall. It's so violent. Sometimes, whose 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.240 concept was this of music? Who said this is what 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.160 we're gonna do? What were you smoking? I was a 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.599 lot of stuff. Man, You know, no, I agree. In 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.319 some ways, it's like you create this music and you 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.920 go on stage and perform it and and it takes over. 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:42.000 It's as though we've created something that's a little bit 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.199 unique and we've got to make sure he's good. I 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.400 remember the first time we performed Close to the Edge. 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:54.840 It seem like about an hour eighteen minutes minutes because 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:56.839 the orders was so quiet. What's going on? What's going on? 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:59.559 And it was at a game, you know. Elton John 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:01.839 was for the bill, my vision orchestra and us and 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:03.880 we did class the Edge. It was like you could 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:08.040 hear the crickets. So it's already. But when you do that, 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.439 is it hard to replicate it you go out there 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:12.800 or it wasn't hard to replicate because you know what 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:14.679 you've got to do. It took months for it to 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.560 kick in. So by the time we came to tour America, 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.320 we're close to the Edge as a song. We'd already 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.720 played it twenty times. But did you need sheet music 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.480 on stage to play it? How did the band remember 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:27.960 eighteen minutes of all those changes? I don't know. They 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.800 were just into it. Well, I think you know, musicians 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:34.280 in the last you know, fifty years of concentrating on 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:40.040 this new exercise of a brain stemrio. You know, I'm 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:44.640 always amazed. You know, Trevor Raymond are guitar player. He 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.360 can do scores and you can hear all the music. 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:49.920 It's like I'm adas, you know, it's like it freaks 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.200 me out because I'd love to be well. Yeah, when 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.080 you would perform live, was there a process you had 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.319 about your voice? Was there some kind of technique you 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:01.280 had in terms of you didn't smoke and you didn't 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:03.600 eat certain kinds of food. You know, we went vegetarian 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.839 very early on, and you know before they were in 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.640 vegetary restaurants in America, so we'd find one in New 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.840 York maybe, and one in Boston and one in Seattle, 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.800 and we kind of restricted ourselves from doing the norm, 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.800 which is just you know, going for the burghers and stuff. 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.560 I just on stage and say you should all stop 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.360 eating McDonald's, right, So for you that you didn't feel 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.040 because your your your voice is so I mean it 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:33.280 really sounds like an instrument amount of saying that there 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:35.200 was no special thing you had to do. You just 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:37.280 blew it out and it was there in your pocket 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:39.600 every time you needed it. I just felt very blessed 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:41.760 that I could sing, and I was actually going through 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:44.480 this incredible journey. You know, there's not many people get 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.000 the chance to be successful in their work. You know, 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.200 what's your first big date. We all lived in this 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.320 little house, all at the different floor of the house. 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:57.160 Peterbanks lived in Barnett, which is North London. I've got 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:58.840 a phone call from a friend. He said, can you 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:04.720 do a show tonight at Speakeasy, most famous club in town? Yeah? Yeah, 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:06.680 what time? We're gonna be there at ten o'clock? Why 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.520 because you've got to be there man, Okay, So I 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:11.400 called Peter, come on, we've got to go and do 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:13.200 a gig. Get everything to get the drums again and 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:15.040 getting the van. Come on, let's go. So we went 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:16.920 to the speak HEAs and we started setting up, and 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:19.680 then we found out the reason we were there is 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:22.000 because Sly in the family store had got stopped in 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:26.200 New Jersey and he couldn't get on the plane whatever 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.640 for whatever he's you know. And I was working at 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:31.880 that time in a bar above the Marquee Club, a 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.440 very famous club in London. So I kept bumping into 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:37.640 Keith Emerson because he was playing in nice and I 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.440 kept actually bumped into two or three other Pete Town's 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:43.720 end and that kind of thing. I never said alone. 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:47.840 And uh so there were setting up microphones and they 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.400 started walking in. You know, there's Keith Hi, Keith, Oh, John, 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:53.320 what are you doing? So we're we're doing a show. 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:55.920 What does it look like? You know? Well, what's happened 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.880 to slice here? And I started passing a joint resident 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.200 have a smoke, calm down. So by the time we 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.080 went on, everybody was happily drunk and stone or whatever. 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.560 And there's I think there was I think Paul and 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:10.560 Corner was that. I'm not sure, but there's wanted to. 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.040 There's a lot of very famous people there, and we 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.360 put on the show of our life. You know, we'ven't 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.760 have been together for two months. They came expecting sly 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:19.760 and you came here and you won them over. We 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:24.000 did it? Come on, guys? What rock and roll? You know? Twiston? Yeah, 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:26.840 and you came off the stage and yeah. Well the 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.040 manager of the club said, I want to manage you, 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.800 and within a month he got us a gig opening 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.880 for the Cream Farewell concert. So we opened it Rory 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.520 Rory Gallagher the Albert Hall, so Rory Gallagher was on 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.600 second and the cream came on at the end. It 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:48.000 was like, oh god. You know. The funny thing going 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.120 back to Bill Brufer was in Leeds University and we 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.200 found it we were going to play this gig at 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.680 the Albert Hall. So I said, Bill, you wanted to 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.320 rejoin the Bandy said yeah, yeah, well in two weeks 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.320 we're playing at the Albert Hall. Be there and he was. 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.119 Life is like Scrange, isn't it. And then when the 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:10.680 recording contract was with who you signed that Urgan? God 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.159 bless him and he found you where in London? He 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.399 came to see us. We did a lunchtime half an 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:20.119 hour for it. He had almost like audition and what 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:25.439 year was this, early sixty nine maybe Our manager at 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:27.719 that time was the speakeas and manager, the sweetest guy 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:29.800 in the world, but he just you know, he enjoyed 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:34.639 a drink and he was drunk. And it was one 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.600 o'clock in the afternoon, you know, And so we we 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.320 did our little sort of audition and I thought I 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:43.159 gotta go the toilet, So went to the toilet and 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.280 Roy comes in stands next to we around a pay, 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.880 you know, and he says, I'm going to get this past, 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:50.800 to this American past. I'm going to make sure you've 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.800 got the best contract ever ever in the world. And 0:17:53.840 --> 0:18:01.320 at that moment the toilet flush. Did he get you? 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:03.800 Did he get you the best contract from this American bostard? 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:08.119 He signed as for ten years, for ten years like 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.800 two points. You know. It was very cool because you know, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:14.920 the second album didn't do too well. The third album 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.680 was the Yes album was Okay Stragle and then fourth 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:20.960 album was from But when you signed with Ernigan, you 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:22.800 had not been recording for anybody else. This was the 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:25.640 beginning of your recording. Show track you do album number one, man, 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:28.199 you do album number two, number three maybe, and then 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:32.000 four hits, four hits, Well, the thing was roundabout was 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:35.480 eight minutes long. That it was a stage song. The idea, 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.000 I think one of the things I've always been interested 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:42.040 in is putting on a show, probably comes from my 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.879 dad because he was a showman in the in the 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:47.679 army in time. What did he do? All I can 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:49.840 remember I was in a stroller and he was on 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.080 stage in a kilt is Scottish. He was on stage 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:57.879 when in a kilt and Hitler mustache, telling jokes and 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:00.760 I think he played the harmonica. He is a Scottish 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:05.399 Nazi harmonica player. Man, that's I'm sorry. I were you 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.880 close with him? Yeah, sort of got He got very ill, 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:11.119 very early on in his life. He died when he 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:14.840 was how old and you were? How old? You got 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.280 me there at four? My dad died when I was 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.280 twenty six. My dad died down. I was able to 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.200 see him at the end to give him a good 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.919 hug and said thanks. Or either of your siblings musical? 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.000 Oh gosh, yeah, my brother Tony, because we started off 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:33.280 as the brothers of Accrington. So he's a performer. No, 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.840 he's a he's a preacher actually, so he's a performer. 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.200 I'm curious about for people who you know, don't completely 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:45.639 understand this, like myself. You do an album Errigan signed you, 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:47.760 and the first album doesn't work, and the second album 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:49.560 doesn't work. In the third up, maybe they're all growing 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:51.840 and he sees something, because how do you get to 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.520 do the eight minute round about his on Fragile before 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:56.480 the album? So when you say to Ergan we're going 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:58.320 to do an eight minute piece, did he see you down? 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:00.840 To go Fellas Fellas Fellas. He said, you haven't earn 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:02.639 the right to do it. He said. Somebody, and I 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.800 remember very vividly it was Gosh, I can't remember his name, 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:12.000 very famous producer, came to London. We're we're doing Do 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:20.320 Do Do Do Do Do, and the guys they're sitting 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:22.879 there and saying, why don't you put a funky BASSI 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:31.920 I said, no, it's possible, and that's what it is. 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.600 Is your move actually was yeah, of course your move 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:43.280 he said boom boom, yeah, your guitar on stage that one. No, 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:45.920 we just didn't do it. We just said I said, 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:49.120 I'm sorry, I like you very much, but I don't 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:50.680 want it to be that way. It's round about the 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:53.680 first hit, Yeah, because somebody got some scissors out and 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:57.000 didn't tell us. I know, with it in your contract 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.480 that they could do that. Of course they could. They 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.720 could get our sport right, So so they cut round 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.040 about from what to what. Well, they just took out 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:08.119 the whole middle section, so it goes from the end 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:10.800 of the second, third verse or third core, second chorus 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:14.359 whatever straining in the solo. And we were driving around 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:17.920 Pittsburgh to a gig and it would turn on the 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:20.600 radio and it's round about it, round of bus on 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.119 our on the on the radio. We couldn't believe it. 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:28.959 And then it went straight into the solo. We'll charged 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:31.160 the view. I mean, I mean, I know, I'm kind 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:33.320 of getting carried away here with you because I'm so 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.639 excited actually talking to you. But you know, Yes Songs 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:40.000 is really one of the greatest live albums ever. I mean, 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:42.880 if you if you're a Yes fan and you dig 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:45.359 that music, you guys just crushed it, you know, did 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:47.720 you did you know that when you recorded? Really? You know, 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.240 I just knew we were sort of getting into the 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:53.119 pocket when I learned later the pocket is when it 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:57.119 just happens and music takes over. And that was one 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:58.720 of those shows. I think we did about four in 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:03.280 a row when we've Cordy one of them, and I 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:06.560 don't know, I going back to George Martin, you know, 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:09.639 and listen to what he did before tracks. I wonder 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:13.040 why we're not as something when when when you hear 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:17.159 us playing live, what what's what's wrong? I've always been 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:21.919 like that. I'm terrible critical for you self critical? Did 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:24.120 you drive the other band members crazy with your criticism? 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:27.760 They called me the poem they did, yes, the quiet. 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:31.040 Do you agree that the band needs an external source 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:34.480 of management in order to really function or did you 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:36.760 kind of function as a manager of your own. We 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:39.919 stopped we stopped using a producer after the third album, 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:43.120 so we were producing ourselves with a very good engineer 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:45.960 called Offord, who was brilliant. How did that work for 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:48.520 you with your self producing brilliant? You think so? It's 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:53.639