Yesmen outside Yes: final poll

After three rounds, we moved to the final poll on the best non-Yes(/ABWH) albums featuring 3+ Yesmen. There were 119 votes:

1. Chris Squire: Fish Out of Water (w/ Bruford, Moraz): 66 (55%)
2. Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives of Henry VIII (w/ Squire, Bruford, Howe, White): 20 (17%)
3. Rick Wakeman: Criminal Record (w/ Squire, White): 12 (10%)
4= Chris Squire & Billy Sherwood: Conspiracy (w/ White): 6 (5%)
4= Symphonic Music of Yes (w/ Anderson, Bruford, Howe): 6 (5%)
6. The Buggles: Adventures in Modern Recording (w/ Horn, Downes, Squire): 5 (4%)
7. CIRCA: 2007 (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, White): 4 (3%)

A very clear result then for Fish Out of Water, perhaps the best-loved Yes-related album. Squire, I note, also plays on 4 of the top 5.

Wakeman's two solo albums with multiple Yes guests come a clear second and third. Nice to see some recognition for Criminal Record, an album which I feel gets overlooked compared to the 'official' 1975/6 solo releases. (Note all three of the tracks with Squire/White from Criminal Record and the only track on Six Wives with Squire and Howe are on the 2000 compilation, Recollections The Very Best of Rick Wakeman (1973-1979).)

We've got three more albums featuring 3+ Yesmen out in the next two months, all on Cleopatra Records: Billy Sherwood's The Prog Collective (with Squire, Wakeman, Kaye, Banks and Levin on different tracks); his Supertramp tribute Songs of the Century (with Squire and Kaye on an original track by Sherwood; Wakeman and Levin with Sherwood on "Crime of the Century"; and Downes, Kaye and Banks each on different tracks); and Nektar's Spoonful of Time, a covers album with Howe, Downes, Wakeman and Moraz on different tracks.

Yesmen outside Yes: poll part 3

Part 3 of our survey covering albums featuring 3+ Yesmen together outside Yes covers 2000 through to the present day. There were 52 votes in all:

1. Chris Squire & Billy Sherwood: Conspiracy (w/ White) - 28 (54%)
2. CIRCA: 2007 (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, White) - 13 (25%)
3. Return to the Dark Side of the Moon: A Tribute to Pink Floyd (w/ Sherwood, Bruford, Kaye, Banks, Howe, Wakeman, White, Downes) - 3 (6%)
4= Pigs & Pyramids—An All Star Lineup Performing the Songs of Pink Floyd (w/ Sherwood, Squire, Kaye, White) - 2 (4%)
4= CIRCA: Live (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, White) - 2 (4%)
4= John Wetton: Raised in Captivity (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, Downes) - 2 (4%)
7. Abbey Road: A Tribute to The Beatles (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, White, Downes) - 1 (2%)
8= Back Against the Wall (w/ Sherwood, Howe, Wakeman, White, Downes, Squire, Kaye) - 0
8= From Here to Infinity (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White) - 0
8= Led Box: The Ultimate Tribute to Led Zeppelin (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, Wakeman, White, Downes) - 0

 ... and there was one 'other' vote for an ineligible album. So, a clear win for Conspiracy, with the debut CIRCA: album second. (The second Conspiracy album and multiple further CIRCA: releases only featured 2 Yesmen each and so didn't make this poll.)

The final will feature the first and second placed albums from the three semi-finals. That means:

Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water (w/ Bruford, Moraz): 1st in the 1970s poll
Rick Wakeman's The Six Wives of Henry VIII (w/ Squire, Bruford, Howe, White): 2nd equal in the 1970s poll
Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record (w/ Squire, White): 2nd equal in the 1970s poll
Symphonic Music of Yes (w/ Anderson, Bruford, Howe): 1st in the 1980/90s poll
The Buggles' Adventures in Modern Recording (w/ Horn, Downes, Squire): 2nd in the 1980/90s poll
Chris Squire & Billy Sherwood's Conspiracy (w/ White): 1st in the 2000s+ poll
CIRCA: 2007 (w/ Sherwood, Kaye, White): 2nd in the 2000s+ poll

Seven albums: Squire is on five, White is on four, Bruford is on three, Howe, Wakeman and Sherwood are on two apiece. I don't know whether that says something about the popularity of those Yesmen (presumably so in Squire's case) or just about how often they collaborate!

We'll have the final poll shortly, which will then lead us up to the release in August of two more multi-Yesmen albums, The Prog Collective and Songs of the Century: An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp, both led by Sherwood and with guests including Squire, Wakeman, Downes, Banks and Kaye.

Two poll results

Part II of the poll of albums with 3+ Yesmen covered the 1980s and '90s, not perhaps the most impressive period for the multi-Yesman album compared to the likes of Fish Out of Water and The Six Wives of Henry VIII in the 1970s, but there were 102 votes and these are the result:

1. Symphonic Music of Yes (w/ Anderson, Bruford, Howe): 31 votes
2. The Buggles: Adventures in Modern Recording (w/ Horn, Downes, Squire): 18 votes
3. Steve Howe: Portraits of Bob Dylan (w/ Anderson, Downes): 14 votes
4. Tales from Yesterday (w/ Banks, Howe, Moraz, Sherwood): 10 votes
5. Esquire: Esquire (w/ Squire, White, Horn): 8 votes
6. Rick Wakeman: The Classical Connection II (w/ Squire, Bruford, Howe): 7 votes
7. Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome (w/ Horn, Howe, Rabin): 6 votes
8. Peter Banks: Can I Play You Something? (w/ Squire, Bruford): 3 votes
9= Encores, Legends and Paradox, A Tribute to the Music of ELP (w/ Banks, Downes, Khoroshev): 2 votes
9= Clive Nolan & Oliver Wakeman: Jabberwocky (w/ R Wakeman, Banks): 2 votes
11. Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Liverpool (w/ Horn, Howe, Rabin): 1 vote

The winner, Symphonic Music of Yes, is a bit of an oddity, often overlooked. The core band performing with orchestra and choir were Howe, Bruford and bassist Tim Harries (from Bruford's Earthworks), with Anderson guesting on two tracks, and ABWH additional keyboardist Julian Colbeck guesting on another, but the key figure behind the project was arranger/keyboardist Dee (then David) Palmer. Palmer is best known as a former member of Jethro Tull and did an orchestral album of Tull music in 1986 with various Tull members. She followed this with an orchestral Genesis album in 1987 and one for Pink Floyd, before Symphonic Music of Yes in 1993. Further albums for Queen and The Beatles followed.

I was surprised by its win given it doesn't seem like a particularly well regarded project. Symphonic Music of Yes is sometimes best remembered for a promotional appearance on US TV by Howe and Bruford in which they performed "Roundabout" with Howe, ill advisedly, singing lead vocals.

Second placed Adventures in Modern Recording has received new found attention as the bonus tracks on the latest re-release include a two-part "We Can Fly from Here" and a piece that became "Life on a Film Set" on Fly from Here, as well as a regular album track "I am a Camera", The Buggles' version of "Into the Lens".

The final poll, for the period from 2000 onwards, is now on the main page.  Every one of the eligible albums involves Billy Sherwood, nearly all in the leading role. Sherwood has become the nexus for projects with multiple Yesmen, and Cleopatra Records is often the label involved. As well, Kaye is on all but one of these (Conspiracy) and White is on all but one (Raised in Captivity), illustrating how both work regularly with Sherwood. In contrast, none of these projects involves Anderson, Moraz, Khoroshev or any of the more recent Yesmen.

Once part III has run its course, there will be a final poll with the first and second place from each part, plus any new releases. (There are several multi-Yesmen albums in the pipeline: Nektar's Spoonful of Time is expected to feature Howe, Wakeman and Downes, while Sherwood's Prog Collective and his Supertramp tribute both include Kaye, Squire, Wakeman and Banks, and at least one also has Downes.)

We then had another poll about the possibility of Yes - The Musical! This was after Squire mentioned the possibility of Yes doing a project on Broadway, although a second interview has since made clear that he means some sort of residency rather than a musical production. Still, here are the poll answers (120 votes):

No, oh my god, no, no...: 51 votes (43%)
Yes: it should be a science fiction story based on Roger Dean's artwork: 41 votes (34%)
Yes: it should be about the history of the band: 22 votes (18%)
Other: 4 votes (3%)
Yes: it should be a fictional story about regular people in the 1970s/80s: 2 votes (2%)

The 4 'other' votes included 2 suggesting the residency idea that we now know Squire means, 1 opposing the whole idea, and another suggesting the creators of South Park produce it - clearly a great idea. So, that comes out as a narrow majority in favour of the idea, most of whom then favour something sci-fi-y connected to Roger Dean's artwork.

Yesmen outside Yes: poll part 2

The previous poll on the Where Are They Now? front page covered non-Yes albums featuring 3+ Yesmen from the 1970s. Part II of the poll is now up covering the 1980s and 1990s.

The Part I results are in and the winner, as could be expected, is Fish Out of Water, Chris Squire's first solo album, with Bill Bruford on drums and Patrick Moraz on some of the keyboards. A perennial favourite; a classic album. The full results are...

1. Chris Squire: Fish Out of Water - 71 (47%)
2= Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives of Henry VIII - 26 (17%)
2= Rick Wakeman: Criminal Record - 26 (17%)
4. Steve Howe: The Steve Howe Album - 16 (11%)
5. Steve Howe: Beginnings - 5 (3%)
6= Johnny Harris: All to Bring You Morning - 1 (1%)
6= Eddie Harris: E.H. in the U.K. - 1 (1%)
8. Alan White: Ramshackled - 0

There were 4 other votes: 2 for albums with 3+ Yesmen not from the 1970s, and 2 for '70s albums with only 1 Yesman each.

So, a dead heat for second place between the two Wakeman albums. "Catherine of Aragon", the opening track of 6 Wives, was originally recorded with most of the Fragile band (everyone except Anderson) because it was originally to have been Wakeman's solo spot on Fragile, before contractual problems meant it couldn't be used. Bruford and Alan White then appear on further tracks. One side of Criminal Record features Squire and White: Wakeman gave them free rein to record rhythm tracks and then added to the results; shades of Levin Torn White! Nearly all the remaining votes then went to the two Steve Howe albums.

The other three contenders received two votes between them. While they may not be the best and are overshadowed by Fish and Wives, I hope there is still some love for all three.

On paper, Johnny Harris's All to Bring You Morning has everything going for it. I believe it was the first album to feature 3 Yesmen together outside Yes (just ahead of Wives). It was recorded around the same time as Close to the Edge with the involvement of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Alan White and Eddie Offord (although Offord is on the 2 tracks Howe and White aren't). Yet far from being some lost prog masterpiece, most of All to Bring You Morning is a throwback to the '60s: easy listening, orchestral covers of well known pieces. It's the 14 minute, original, title track -- with vocals and lyrics by Anderson, guitar by Howe, drums by White -- that stands out if you're a Yes fan.

All to Bring You Morning also features guitarist Pete Kirtley, bassist Colin Gibson and Steve Gregory on flute/sax. All three also appear on Ramshackled. Ramshackled is another of the 1975/6 albums along with Fish and Beginnings. However, to call it an Alan White solo album is perhaps misleading. White wrote none of the music. What he did was re-assemble a former band he'd be in. White, Kirtley and organist Kenny Craddock had worked together backing Alan Price in the 1960s, before becoming Happy Magazine. With the addition of Gibson, they formed Griffin, but the band only ever released one single in 1969 before disbanding. But the band members continued to work together in various arrangements before the opportunity arose to do Ramshackled.

Ramshackled reflects that late '60s/early '70s rock sound. It's not very prog, it's not very Yes-like, but, as with All to Bring You Morning, one track stands out for the Yes fan: "Spring—Song of Innocence", a setting of a William Blake song, with guitar by Howe and sung by Anderson.

Eddie Harris (no relation to Jonny) was an American jazz saxophonist. For E.H. in the U.K., he recorded in London with a selection of British musicians, including Albert Lee, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, Ian Paice and three Yesmen. Kaye, Squire and White are together on the final two tracks. (I believe this is the first time White and Kaye worked together.) Instrumental jazz, lots of improvising and jamming, this is a context in which you might expect to find Bill Bruford, but not Squire, White and Kaye. And at times they seem uncomfortable, but there's some interesting playing along the way in the 16-minute "Conversations of Everything and Nothing", including the closest I think Squire has ever come to a King Crimson vibe.

Part II of the poll covers the 1980s/90s: you can vote now. There will be a part III subsequently and then the top albums in each poll will go forward to a final! Many of the qualifying albums in the 1980s/90s feel like they're only in on technicalities: e.g. Squire's mysterious minor credit on Adventures in Modern Recording; Horn's only role on Esquire is co-mixing one track; Rick Wakeman is on Jabberwocky but as a narrator, not on keyboards. We also see the first tribute albums, what would become a very fertile territory for multi-Yesmen projects. I'm also surprised that 4 out of the 11 albums involve Peter Banks, not someone we always think of as having as large a discography as other Yes alumni.

Yesmen outside Yes: poll part 1

With so many people having been through Yes over so many years, it is no surprise that some of them have worked together outside Yes. There are numerous albums with two Yesmen together, including long-running acts like Asia and CIRCA:.

On rarer occasions, we've had three or even more Yesmen on an album. So many Yesmen together obviously attracts the attention of the Yes fan. The results of such collaborations can be like finding a lost Yes song, as with "Spring - Song of Innocence" on Alan White's solo album, Ramshackled, with Anderson and Howe guesting. They can give us something akin to a Yes from an alternate history, like with Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water. Sometimes, the interest is precisely because we hear the Yesmen in a very different context, as with Steve Howe's Portraits of Bob Dylan (both Anderson and Downes guest). And sometimes such albums are just curios, good answers to trivia questions. There are three Yesmen on Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Liverpool (Horn, Howe and Rabin), but I can't detect two of them!

So, which of these albums - albums with three or more Yesmen together outside Yes - are worth getting and which aren't? What do you think? Thus the topic of our latest poll on the Where Are They Now? front page. The poll is split into three. First up are the 1970s albums, most of which came about when the band members guested on each other's albums. We'll move on to part 2, the 1980s and 1990s soon.

What prompted this topic is that there are three forthcoming albums featuring three or more Yesmen each, all on Cleopatra Records.

Cleopatra Records have a business model for tribute albums: pick well-known songs by a well-known act, and record them using an array of guest stars. The result makes for good promo. Keep recording costs low and they sell enough copies to make a profit.

The problem is that the result is often less than the sum of the parts. There have been some good tracks on past Cleopatra tribute albums - I think of Keith Emerson doing Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog", in particular - but most of them have been a disappointment to my ears. For all the big guest star names, their input seems often to be through a quickly done session, with the heavy-lifting done by someone else.

That someone else is often Billy Sherwood, which is why many of these albums end up with multiple Yesmen guesting, including tributes to The Beatles (Abbey Road), Zeppelin (Led Box) and Pink Floyd (notably Back Against the Wall and Return to the Dark Side of the Moon).

But Brian Perrera, head honco at Cleopatra, has been experimenting with the formula. Instead of tribute albums by various guest stars, Cleopatra are now doing covers albums led by a particular artist or act, although still with multiple guest stars as well. Last year we had William Shatner (yes, as in Captain Kirk) doing a sci-fi covers album with Howe and Moraz guesting. Forthcoming is another covers album by Anglo-German prog band Nektar, with Howe, Wakeman and Downes guesting. (Moraz was also billed as to appear on the Nektar album, but isn't on the final track list.)

And now we've got The Prog Collective. Same array of guest stars on a base by Billy Sherwood, but instead of covers, we have original material by Sherwood. At the same time as Sherwood has been working on this, he's also been working on a Supertramp tribute album. Both albums have many of the same guests, with Squire, Wakeman, Kaye and Banks confirmed for both, and Downes on at least The Prog Collective.

We await release dates for all three, but Sherwood's two projects have been delivered to the label and the Nektar album also seems close. And beyond these, Dave Kerzner's Sonic Elements project is offering a very different approach to doing covers: first EP, XYZ—A Tribute to Rush, features Sherwood too, with further Yesmen lined up for later releases. Whether these will be successful experiments or not, time will tell, but it adds to an interesting year already including high-profile releases like Squackett's A Life Within a Day, Trevor Rabin's Jacaranda and Producers' Made in Basing Street.