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Rick Wakeman, the odd man out in Yes


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Nice read. Thank you for posting. I am still a fan of both. Saw Yes a couple of times in the 70's. Saw Wakemans' "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth" tour at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Awesome show! HUGE Yes and ELP fan back then.

Now for my all-time favorite musical debate topic: Wakeman or Emerson?

Without going into details and the whys/why nots, I always have and always will give a slight edge to Keith on this one. Just one mans opinion of course.

Edited by jorjen
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Wakeman has a far better musicalstyle as far as I am concerned... excerpts from the six wives of king henery the VIII is the best mid seveties solo.

The moog documentary is a good watch also if you have never seen it.

Edited by Schu
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Huge fan of Rick. Met him many years ago, after a show. Corresponded with him a few years back, specifically about the revolving stage mentioned in the article. Interesting, Rick plays with his eyes closed. He told me that he learns a song and then, when on stage, he plays with his eyes closed because he doesn't want to be distracted … except by the occasional curry i guess. In additional to

being a fantastic musician, he's a great storyteller.

Edited by BigStewMan
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The first time I heard Yours Is No Disgrace, in 1971, I became a Yes fan. I saw them at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto in 1972 or 1973, along with more than 20,000 people.

The next time was in 1998 or so at Massey Hall, also in Toronto. It seats about 2700, so it was much more intimate than the hockey arena.

One of the songs called for Steve Howe to play two guitars, so he had one slung on a normal guitar strap, with a second one on a tall stand at playing height and angle. Because of the lighting, it wasn't obvious at first, until he finished the part of the song with the guitar on the stand, then stepped back and started playing the one strapped on him. It was pretty cool.

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One of the songs called for Steve Howe to play two guitars, so he had one slung on a normal guitar strap, with a second one on a tall stand at playing height and angle. Because of the lighting, it wasn't obvious at first, until he finished the part of the song with the guitar on the stand, then stepped back and started playing the one strapped on him. It was pretty cool.

i've seen that and it can play tricks on your eyes. Steve Howe is in my Top Two of guitarists. A few years back, Asia was touring with Yes, and Steve played both shows!

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Wakeman has a far better musicalstyle as far as I am concerned... excerpts from the six wives of king henery the VIII is the best mid seveties solo.

The moog documentary is a good watch also if you have never seen it.

Both are outstanding.

I did get to see Keith, playing with G. Lake, in Dallas a few years ago. Great show...

What blew me away was the moment Keith, without stopping play, began walking around to the backside of this keyboards (and played backwards) Mozart. He never missed a note.

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