The recording of Yes's classic albums like "Fragile" and "Relayer"

[BattleAngel]

Just revisited these albums earlier today after having left them alone for a real long while. What a wonderful sound these guys crafted back then- everything goes together so nice and really sounds weighty. Does anyone know anything about the recording of the classic Yes records? Does anyone have any stories about these sessions, ore ven better, any pictures?

[covert]

Originally posted by BattleAngel
Just revisited these albums earlier today after having left them alone for a real long while. What a wonderful sound these guys crafted back then- everything goes together so nice and really sounds weighty. Does anyone know anything about the recording of the classic Yes records? Does anyone have any stories about these sessions, ore ven better, any pictures?

What I seem to remember reading was that much of the Yes stuff was recorded in short bursts and edited together.

[Scot Solida]

Originally posted by covert
What I seem to remember reading was that much of the Yes stuff was recorded in short bursts and edited together.

If the stories are not the stuff of rock mythology, these guys were way ahead of the game, even if not purposely so. There were so many ideas and conflicts flying around. Band members would contribute ideas and segments, and Eddie Offord would then chop and slice, edit and splice them into something resembling the epic, convoluted masterpieces we hear today. If you listen closely to the title track from "Close to the Edge", you can hear some of the edits quite clearly. To the band's credit, they would then have to learn how to play these pieces as they appeared on the album after the fact. It is striking to me how closely this resembles today's hard disc approach. Can you imagine trying to work out exactly where to chop some of Bruford's oddball rhythms? And all without a tempo map....amazing stuff.

[adamcal]

An interesting story about "going for the one"

the church organ played by Rick Wakeman was many miles away from the studio, no chance to sync a portable tape recorder so what to do.

The realized they had an emergency telephone system that was very high quality, he phoned the parts to the studio in real time.

Pretty amazing for the time.

Relayer is pretty amazing, particularly "gates of derlium" a dark album.

And Fragile is just awesome, I have the original and 5.1 DVD-A version.

you should have a look for the Rhino Reissues, they have many rehearsals and very striped down studio run throughs, gives a cool insight on how the songs were made with the band just playing, no edits, no tricks.

Im going out on a limb and saying YES is possible the finest band in the history of rock and roll.

Flame suit on!

[dhughes]

Originally posted by adamcal


Im going out on a limb and saying YES is possible the finest band in the history of rock and roll.

Flame suit on!

Yes, YES. I've probably listened to Tales from the Topographical Ocean 10,000 times.

[Saucyjack]

Great ensemble playing with just enough hooks to keep it hummable.Sure they missed the marks a few times and got a bit bloated but Fragile and Close to the edge still sound fresh.

The Remastered reissues sound really good.
On the Fragile reissue there is a demo/rehearsal take version of Roundabout which is amazing.
Eddy Offord was/is a underated producer/engineer.I remember reading about tons of edits and splices and how the "songs" were kinda stitched together but they could definitely play.
I bet he has some stories...

[doorknocker]

Originally posted by adamcal
Im going out on a limb and saying YES is possible the finest band in the history of rock and roll. Flame suit on!

I'm unarmed, don't worry ...I just don't see any connection between the words 'Yes' and 'Rock and Roll'.....

Andi

[adamcal]

Originally posted by doorknocker
I'm unarmed, don't worry ...I just don't see any connection between the words 'Yes' and 'Rock and Roll'.....

Andi

I mean rock and roll as a term for popular music in the last 50 years, not rock and roll as in heavy rock or sideburns and cheveys

[amost]

Originally posted by Saucyjack
[Eddy Offord was/is a underated producer/engineer.

You think so? He's pretty much an icon I thought.

[PRobb]

I think I remember reading that Fragile was mixed on headphones. Can anybody confirm?
I don't listen to much Yes anymore (the pot wore off) but Close to the Edge is the absolutly perfect accompanyment to a snowstorm.

[BattleAngel]

wow guys, thanks for all the responses. If the edit/splicing thing is true, I think that's really cool. They certainly pull it off live, and it also makes them seem a little less like aliens ;-) I agree that they get a bit too over-the-top, but they've also got some of rock's most awe inspiring moments. And I think the sounds on those albums are great! Crazy about Wakeman's church organ piece... I'll have to check out the Rhino Reissues.

[RKrizman]

The Yes Album and Fragile were it for me. Great recordings. Terriffic depth and sense of (imaginary) place. Listen to "Yours is No Disgrace" and see where you can hear "Give Peace a Chance" in the background.

The lyrics used to kill me. Great stuff ("Don't surround your self with yourself..") butted up against emarrassing ("Send your instant Karma to me...").

But always a great dorm room ride. Custom built for Advents or KLH's.

-R

[Sharp11]

From what I recall, "fragile" was recorded in a studio that specialized in advertising clientele.

Also, Chris Squire used a Marshall amp and cab for his bass sound as well as doubling many of his bass parts with Howe's ES335.

It's true re: the slice and dice method, the album was pieced together with a razor blade.

Pretty impressive.

The solo pieces were designed as little feature-ettes for the band members.

Fwiw, the early cd copy I have of "Close To The Edge" sounds very compressed, I hope it's better on the reissue.

Ed

Originally posted by RKrizman
The Yes Album and Fragile were it for me. Great recordings. Terriffic depth and sense of (imaginary) place. Listen to "Yours is No Disgrace" and see where you can hear "Give Peace a Chance" in the background.

The lyrics used to kill me. Great stuff ("Don't surround your self with yourself..") butted up against emarrassing ("Send your instant Karma to me...").

But always a great dorm room ride. Custom built for Advents or KLH's.

-R

You mean listed to "Your Move" and listen for "Give Peace a Chance"

pat
mms

[RKrizman]

Originally posted by modmusic
You mean listed to "Your Move" and listen for "Give Peace a Chance"

pat
mms

"Dit-it, dit-it,
Dit-it, dit-it,
Dit-it, dit-it,
Dit-it, dit-it,
Did-IT...."

Which one was that, "Your Move?"

-R

[loudist]

Heres a bit of trivia... Tom Dowd had something to do with those edits.
He was a monster editor.

[Saucyjack]

Originally posted by Saucyjack
[Eddy Offord was/is a underated producer/engineer.

Originally posted by amost
You think so? He's pretty much an icon I thought.

A quick gearslutz search revealed 1 other mention in a single thread.So Yeah I'm sticking with Underrated.

[snedley]

do yourself a favor and go out and see them.

"All we are saying is give peace a chance..." "Cause its time in time with your time and its news is captured..."

Your move

pat
mms

[BattleAngel]

Great post, Slipperman. I'm a young guy myself, 21, but bands like Yes and Gentle Giant have influenced the way I think about making music in a major way. I don't think the long, sprawling epic is necessarily the end-all-be-all format for awe inspiring beautiful rock music- but if notes were wasted, they were few. Every time I listen to Steve Howe play, I'm just totally knocked on my ass. Btw, when I like a band, it's for the songs, so I'm usually totally unfamiliar with band histories or even album chronologies- so I didn't know that Patrick Moraz (sp?) was the keyboard player on Relayer- I think he actually brought something to the mix that Wakeman didn't have- Gates of Delerium has to have the best use of keyboard that I've heard from that era. It's too bad really intense keyboard players have seemed to go the way of the dinasaur- you just don't see them playing in young bands anymore, but fortunately I just started playing with a guy who totally kills and I'm going to try to get the keyboard back into my life ;-) Does anyone know of any modern bands who use keyboard instruments well?

[Brian Middleton]

do yourself a favor and go out and see them.

I will second this. I saw them in May, and I was floored. I was prepared to give them a lot of slack, being that they're all nearing 60, but no slack was required. They put on a great show...tight, relaxed, and rocking. Anderson must have made a pact with the devil, or something--nobody that age should be able to sing like that. And Howe is still razor-sharp.

[2leod]

Last time I saw them was in the late 70's - don't remember when exactly. Jon was wearing poodle boots and some kind of flowing chiffon thing, Chris Squire had on this suit that looked like a giant backgammon board, Wakeman was hidden behind a stack of keyboards he had to reach up to play and Steve Howe was snorting and prancing around the stage like a race horse. Great band! You really do have to see them live...

[natpub]

A good friend of mine was their FoH Mixer for the Topographic Ocean tour. He then did preproduction work later on Going for the One album. He ended up producing Jon Anderson's second (or 3rd?) solo album. Tons of great stories.

I got some nice details on how Yes assembled songs, very interesting stuff and has helped me a lot. One thing lead to another, and I ended up getting to hang with Steve Howe for an evening. It was most enlightening and exciting getting to meet one of my childhood heros.

All those guys, as well as bands like the Gabriel/Genesis days are definately both a musical and a life inspiration. I always just called it musician's music, and figured most folks wouldn't like it or even comprehend it.

In the old days, meeting up with other Yes fans at concerts bordered on a fanatical religious experience



--KT

[scott petito]

I too was a hugh Yes fan and they are right up there with the beatles maybe more so as the reason I do what I do today....a few years ago I worked on an Album with Bill Bruford and he indeed confirmed the major editing task of a yes project... some fragments were performed in 1and 2 bar sections ...much like a lot of classical music is put together,,,,,another interest note many years ago Eddie offord moved here to woodstock and set up a no control room studio... it was a pretty revolutionary thing at the time ...he was right in the room with the players... many years later i would do alot of similar recording with the" Band" at Levon Helms house no glass ,minimal isolation and I often thought of eddie doing it all those years before...he was always ahead of his time

cheers

sp

[Musiclab]

Originally posted by scott petito
I too was a hugh Yes fan and they are right up there with the beatles maybe more so as the reason I do what I do today....a few years ago I worked on an Album with Bill Bruford and he indeed confirmed the major editing task of a yes project... some fragments were performed in 1and 2 bar sections ...much like a lot of classical music is put together,,,,,another interest note many years ago Eddie offord moved here to woodstock and set up a no control room studio... it was a pretty revolutionary thing at the time ...he was right in the room with the players... many years later i would do alot of similar recording with the" Band" at Levon Helms house no glass ,minimal isolation and I often thought of eddie doing it all those years before...he was always ahead of his time

cheers

sp

When eddy moved to woodstock he did the David Sancious and Tone records
which were also great

[scott petito]

hey lou
thats right I forgot about David 's album....

cheers
scott

[doorknocker]

Originally posted by slipperman
....Genesis(PG years) .....SM.

The colony of Slippermen?

Andi

[sound delux]

I've just listened to 'Fragile' for the first time since my big brother moved out of home in 1974 and took all his fantasic record collection with him, I used to listen to 'Fragile', 'The YES Album' and 'Close to the Edge' all the time as a 12 year old, and always wanted to be in a band like YES and emulate Bill Bruford.

Even though it was on CD and not vinyl...............WOW!!!! it was still a great experience to hear these albums again 34 years later...............!

Is Eddie Offord still around?

[henryrobinett]

I loved Close to the Edge. I saw them on that tour. Pretty cool. I dug Yes. Focus was their opening band. Winterland, SF. 1972?

[Han]

Originally Posted by snedley

do yourself a favor and go out and see them.

Word! Do that while it's still possible and be sure to get the 'Symphony Tour' DVD which was recorded in Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam with a huge orchestra.