I've seen Yes on tour over 24 times. The greatest ovation they ever got at any of those shows was when they performed TFTO in 2006 at Wallingford. They performed the music so faithfully and did not rush it as they do so many other songs in order to pack a set. They let the notes breathe. 10 minute standing ovation. What a wonderful night with Rick back on keyboards.
“This is me on my third joint of the day.” 😂 Whenever Jon describes his process of working with the band, I’m always entertained as well as educated. Yes fan forever!
Seriously? I'm only mildly entertained. What happed to the inspiration--Autobiography of A Yogi? No mention? Love Yes music (including TFTTO), but most interviews with musicians---and actors....and athletes.....amount to little or nothing. I had every album and saw them live in the 80's & 90's. Love the Popeye cartoon. The Bruford=Squire rhythm section was key. White isn't that creative.
@@frank2778 perhaps it's the Vedic Shastras which inspired Anderson, and the popular book was more an entry point? Yogananda popularized his Vedic religion for westerners. And in India? He was an original Hollywood yogi. But he didn't actually revolutionize Vedic philosophy
@@leosullivan9228 no, well, actually (as one of those legendary Serendipitous Events of Rock History) in March 1973, the percussionist Jamie Muir of King Crimson got into a conversation with Anderson while attending the wedding and reception for Bill Bruford (also of King Crimson, but also formerly of Yes, a group he had actually left back in July 1972, a full 9 months prior) about the connection between the lyrics of the song "Close to the Edge" and Hesse's novel Siddhartha. During this talk, Muir mentioned Yogananda, the "Autobiography", and this opened up a discussion of the Shastras, which led Anderson to write the entirety of TFTOs from between March and September 1973, (mostly with Steve Howe by candlelight in hotel rooms during the remainder of that Spring-Summer 1973 tour) based upon I believe the introduction to the Autobiography of a Yogi.
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Topographic Ocean is YESs best album ever, not so much for commercial public but for early Yes fans. A Master piece of symfo rock
I loved Tales when it came out. I played all four sides constantly. I loved Close to the Edge, also, certainly their masterpiece. But something about Tales that really grabbed me. I also think Alan White’s drumming was outstanding on it, as well as on Relayer and Going for the One. Not sure why Tales gets, or did get, so much hate.
"Getting over overhanging trees..." During that very first listen when I heard this, it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard, that reverb from Steve, the harmonies of Jon and Chris, everything sounded like that gorgeous cover art looked, deep blues and purples.
"The Revealing Science of God" the music and lyrics totally blew my mind when I first heard it. I was with a couple of smoked out Vietnam vets at the time. (70's)....I still listen to it to this day on vinyl...It started my Spiritual journey into me awakening to myself and things invisible....Thank You Yes.
I was a senior in high school when this came out. My older brother bought this album. I was the benefactor of my brothers record collection which was extensive. I had a few things going on. My dad was slowing dying due to a massive stroke and I was a nervous wreck. My brother had a nice Harman Kardon reciever, Dual turntable and forgot the brand of his floor speakers. He also had some wonderful Koss headphones that I'd wear in bed at night listening to this album. Probably the only peace I felt for many months. What a nice escape that was.
I was able to pilfer my older cousins’ YES albums and record them on cassette because he literally had all of the YES albums that came out in the 70’s including 4 of Rick Wakeman’s solo 70’s albums!
I'm glad the music could provide some comfort for you in those times. I'm sure you needed it. I was living in the dorms when I discovered "Tales", around 1983, and I often used to play the tape (with sides 1 and 2) to go to sleep when it was a bit noisy. Much more recently I did the same thing one night when I couldn't sleep, but it was playing on my phone, so it would play the whole album... no tapes or records to flip. I was afraid when Side 3 started it would wake me up, and that's exactly what happened.
I could never understand why I was the only one of my peers that ever listened to that gorgeous album. I love that album. It's so cerebral and beautiful... the journey it takes you on is the human race in a musical poem that is both wide in scope and razor sharp in focus. The musicianship is incredible,... you will never hear another collection of music and poetry like this again. No one is making records like this anymore. Even Dream Theatre doesn't take on the beauty and lightness Topo portrays. The music dances around in your mind and the words penetrate deep into your lexicon of verbal passages. You find yourself quoting the album like it was the wisdom of the ages. "...and we dance from the ocean" I still fall asleep with it playing softly in my room!
In my life I've met some pretty famous people, musicians included, but of all the celebrities I've met, Jon Anderson was positively the nicest, most down-to-earth guy I've ever met; It was at the Bay side Expo center in South Boston in 1997, during a Prog-type convention with special guests, with Jon being one of the more famous ones appearing. He and his gorgeous wife had just arrived at Logan airport straight from Paris, and he was "jet-lagged" to say the least. But what a terrific guy, and on top of it, I nervously asked if I could kneel down between him and Jane and have my picture taken with them, and he instantly agreed which was really bold as NO ONE had asked him at that point. Great guy!
I bought Tales in January, 1974. It took 9 months for me to assimilate that album. I really liked it after that. In October, 1974, I saw Rick Wakeman and his masterpiece concert Journey to the center of the earth. My favorite Tales side is the Remembering , Rick's side...
Ever hear him on King Crimson's album, Lizard ? Jon performs on the track "Prince Rupert Awakes", from the Lizard suite. Cool stuff... This is around the Time And A Word era & definitely before The Yes Album...😎🇺🇸
No one else like Jon in the music industry! Love hearing him talk about making those albums! The music was so magical - the band members such colorful characters made the music so unique! Always a Yes fan! ❤️💕
I can understand Jon's point of view, _and_ Rick's point of view. "Tales" is both ridiculous and genius. I've been listening to it a lot in the past year, after not listening to it for a long time, and I've fallen in love with it all over again.
To me TFTO is such an amazing work of art, so profound and full of details that some people get lost in it, because they prefer simpler music, and this is respectable, but to me, it is Yes creative expressiveness at its peak. It is the most Jon Anderson Yes record of all. A true genius!
The Tales tour was the only time I saw Yes. Madison Square Garden. They played all of Tales, all of Close to the Edge and ended w/Roundabout. Unforgettable!
I've found that most true YES fans hold "Tales" as one of the greatest of all YES albums, I've been a fan since 1977, but went back and purchased all the earlier albums, solo works etc!
In 1972 I was a piano major and for me, Tales and I knew each other in another life. Instant bond to the entire work. I did hear those other end of the spectrum commenters back then. I still love, YES.
I can identify with your " knew each other in another life " statement about Tales . There are certain passages in the album that instantly take me to another " place " . Kind of hard to describe . Everyone , and everything , just disappears and I'm willingly caught in a sort of spider web of bliss in that moment . Yes fans are a whole different breed of people . Nu Somme Du Soleil , right ?
"tales" is without doubt, for me....their ultimate masterpiece. i was 14 when i first heard it, -1977, and it literaly took me to another world, another dimension, it remains their best album. i've found many times, when a band complete a classic like "tales" -it can cause either the band to split or atleast members to leave. "the lamb" -genesis is another example, and spooky tooth's "ceremony".
Topographic Oceans is full of amazing and very beautiful music, for anyone who is prepared to open their minds and listen. Such musical intelligence and ambition.
Have had 1000 Hands for a couple of months now, if you don't have a copy... WHY NOT?! It's great and has a lot of little nostalgic nods back. Jon sounds fantastic.
Still looking for anAnderson album that takes me to the same heights that Ollias of Sunhollow did. Loved The Invention of Knowledege with Roine Stolt. I will listen to 1000 Hands after writing this.
in 1977 i was a waiter at the mission bay hilton in san diego. i served these guys breakfast and saw them that night. now i write songs on you tube. thank you for much inspiration!!❤
My landlord told me Tales was a fantastic album and a big favourite of his. He was 28 back in 1985. I don't know if his wife let him listen to it. I was 19. I bought it, double LP around 1990, maybe and couldn't get into it. It took me until 2018 to buy it on CD and get into it. Strangely enough, I always loved Rick's parts in The Remembring. That's the whole point. They did one song per side because that was maxing it out. If we didn't have ambition, no progress is ever going to be made. That is becoming a severe problem nowadays in our entire western culture. We are strangling ourselves with conformity.
Tales is my favorite and I love this revelation of what was happening between Jon and Rick. In many of the Yes chronicles, Rick is quoted as saying he hated Tales because it lacked songship. And when he heard GFTO, he said, “Oh, we’re doing songs again?” And he was back....
Favorite Yes album, TFTO. Without it, there's no YES. It is essential to their development as one of the forefront bands in Prog and one of the finest things they ever did. When Anderson says he wasn't just another pop singer, he ain't just whistling Dixie.
Rick always said the tracks were too long with too much filler. Frankly, other than about 3 minutes from the middle of The Ancient, I can't think of anything I would want to cut. Brilliant album.
People think the remembering is long bc they want it to end. Then when it finally ends their like ugh that’s too long, the ancient just has a lot of building instrumental parts, people dislike both. Reprises and instrumentals. I wouldn’t cut a minute of tales.
The entire album is an amazing classic, it's my desert island album. I cannot think of anything else I would choose over TFTO. It's a whole different universe, there's truly nothing like it.
I watched them play TO's live at Trentham Gardens S-O-T and it was amazing!!! Half the audience walked out as they didn't understand it but it became my Fav album and I still hum along to the melodies to this day.
Yes fan since '71. For me TFTO is the pentical. I wanted more albums like it. Challenging, dense, mysterious and complexities to be discovered with every listen. Damn that's art!
Me, too, Steve. TFTO is full of wonderful and beautiful music. It really takes you on a trip. I've always loved it. I had just turned 15 when it came out. Unfortunately, it divided opinion among the fans and the critics panned it. Almost 50 years of passing has proved us right.
While I respect Rick Wakeman, Tales will always be my favorite Yes album. I really don't get why its so polarizing to some fans, 80 minutes of top notch Yes music in their prime? Count me in!
Doug..I agree completely. I've never understood the negativity toward Tales...if you rejected CTTE and Relayer and said I'm a Fragile, Yes Album kind-of-fan, then ok I get it. The "busier" stuff didn't float your boat. But if you loved CTTE/Relayer how do you not like, even love, Tales ??? I don't get it.
One of Yes masterpieces. Maybe TfTO and CttE are the albums I hear more, and on a very regular basis. Vinyl from the first days, first Yes cd, and now the Rhyno edition, all because of the previously unreleasd intro. Although I go absolutely insane with Gentle Giant's Octopus, Tales should be played in its integrity at my funeral.
Maybe one of the reasons I loved it so much is that it wasn't overplayed in the keyboards dept, so maybe "thank you Rick for hating Tales!". Rick's so amazing but man there were times when tonally I was hearing too much of the same synth sounds, despite his having 6-8 keyboards on tour!
Been a fan for years, but only saw them twice. Union was my 1st concert, then 97/98 Open Your Eyes Tour with Igor Khoroshev on keys. They started going into "Revealing Science", and I immediately jumped up & cheered..., I was the only one in the place that did. LOL I was 11 rows back, so they had to see me, and they also knew I was the only one who knew what was coming, and I was ecstatic. It was fantastic to see them play at least one piece from that album.
Jon Anderson is the first musical influence in my life because they were the first band I had seen in 1976 and I have never wavered from YES in all those years in fact I believe they were one of a very few bands who consistently produced good music through those years. I never met the man but of all the people on this planet who I admire after my mother & father of course he is the man that I would love to meet because he seems to be a person who tries to do everything 100% and his music just has a beautiful, peaceful concept that I really enjoy and my best example of that is "And You And I". I know it was made in 1972 but that song is one of the most beautiful rock songs I ever heard. It's a great song, peace ! 🌎
Great interview!!!! The first time I saw Yes was in 1973, and most recently Anderson, Wakeman and Rabin in November 2016. All the musicians gave stellar performances, and Jon was completely on point with all his vocals!!
I first bought this as a cassette while home from the army in December of 1981. I always find myself going back to this album year after year, and I've always loved it.
Both Tales From Topographic Oceans and 1000 Hands are very special albums to me. I love 1000 Hands! It has been giving me hope in these current times and Tales has been doing the same for me since I was a kid.
Mid 70s, T.O. was my favourite album but I felt it would have been improved if a strong producer had taken the reins and halved it. There are diamonds there but you have to wade through a lot of mud to get them. Love Jon's humanity and passion.
If you are a Yes fan long enough then you kinda just figure out what Jon is talking about. He eventually gets there. If I need clarification then I go to people like Mike Tait, Nigel Luby, or (in a pinch) Wakeman. Although I don't think he has ever been the same since he almost died about 10 years ago. I remember that his daughter reported that they actually called for last rites to be performed on Jon.
And how sad was it to hear him (Jon) talk about how "no one" in that band contacted him throughout that time, you could hear the sadness and disbelief in his voice talking about it, it really gave me a different feeling about YES, I really feel in my heart that whatever YES was should have ended with the passing of Chris Squire he was such a huge part of the band and he and Jon were the founding members, now, Steve Howe carries on without Jon singing and calls it YES ???? It's just very wrong to me 😔
Tales was widely panned. I never understood that. I "got it" the first time I raced home to my dorm room, put the platters on the turntable, sat down, alternately staring at the speakers and going through the album notes and gazing at the Roger Dean cover and LISTENING. I have always thought it is brilliant. Sure its different from everything else that anyone was doing at the time (or since). But hey ....its YES! Don't expect them to do anything normal.
I heard this album at a friend's house and later I found it by chance at the Tristan Narvaja fair (Montevideo - Uruguay). I have been listening to Yes since I was 26 years old and I never stopped until today, I am 66 years old, in the album on cardboard (double Lp.) he tells how they came to imagine this musical work, the pyramids, god etc. a thousand things, is what I adore most about them. Paso Carrasco, 12/07/22, 10:49 p.m.
So enjoying this interview. And I've always loved Tales. Imo, I thought Chris Squire's parts were as good as most he ever did. Especially on Ritual! Thanks Mr. Beaudin for the great interview!
I'm going to veer from the norm, but if I could only have one Yes record it would be Tales. There's so much breadth and depth to that album, and The Ancient, in my opinion, is the best... fusion? I don't know what you'd call it - music ever recorded. It's crazy but it works.
Tales from Topographic Oceans is fantastic, it always was! But I can't imagine letting the other albums go! Ok, the Yes Album is a bit dated, the same with Fragile, but Close to the Edge is as fresh today as it ever was, and Relayer, and Going for the One... Please don't make me choose, I wouldn't stand it!
The seeds for Tales were planted in Jon's head by Jamie Muir, at Bill Bruford's wedding reception/party at Bill's place in '72. This is written in Bill's autobiography, BTW. 😎🇺🇸
I have had Tales from Topographic Oceans since it came out, I still play it. Whats on the album is superb, Ricks playing and solo is emotive and blistering. Internally Jon may have had problems with Rick Playing live but as someone who was into Yes and around at the time I can tell you many were nonplused by the Lyrics and the fact that they had to really listen to get the most from it. Time has being much kinder than the fans of that time, it's a fantastic listen. I remember reading the music press reporting fans coming out of the concert and saying, what was that. They just weren't ready for it.
I only just realized after 45 years that since Rick Wakeman was saving all his own original themes for his own solo projects, his investment was different, and even though it got to #1 in England, being an amazingly original and immersive work, he seemed very unimpressed and even dissident. The other guys were really invested, especially in some of the amazing bass work where CS didn't get a lot of credit, yet pitched in an amazing level of inspired work.
Jon Anderson strikes me as a self deprecating and self aware guy. I love in the YesYears documentary when he says he can imagine the rest of the band must of thought he was out of his mind when he brought in the initial ideas for Gates of Delirium.
I love to hear this by Jon. Absolutely, Tales for me is the Yes masterpiece, specially The Remembering and its epic ending. The greatness reached by Rick on that movement "pure magic..very musical, very deep" in Jon´s words. When he says "unfortunately he never learned it" I agree with this in more than one aspect: Wakeman never reached again such level of "spirituality" in his entire career.
I remember when Topographic was about to be released hearing the 45 version of 'the Ancient' and feeling slighted... I was really happy when I heard the album.
I’ve always maintained a unique perspective on “Takes.” I find only 1 of the 4 tracks listenable, and that’s “The Revealing Science of God,” which is an absolute masterpiece. My luck, the night they played LA on that tour, they played 3 of the 4 tracks from Tales, omitting the track I preferred. Nearly 50 years later, I still listen and enjoy it immensely.
The TALES Show was my 1st of 10 YES Show and Still my BEST YES Concert. Saw on 2/16/74 (Evening Show) at the Spectrum Phila PA. Also in '74 I saw YES do there RELAYER Show @ MSG, NYC on 11/15/74 and in Between, Saw Rick do his JOURNEY/SIX WIFES Show on 10/14/74, Also @ MSG. '1974 was by far the "YEAR of YES"!!! PS: Hearing "THE REMEMBERING" live was AWESOME!!!
Saw it live at The Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Whole thing from start to finish along with encores...Close to the Edge Siberian Khatru and of course Roundabout. Great night. Too bad they did not film that tour for the ages. Can still see the heart glowing and coming to life in the creature above Alan White's kit during his solo.
I've followed JA & YES since 1972. I was 21. My first YES concert 1975 RELAYER, my last 26 July 2019 The Royal Affair & my last JA 27 April 2019 1000 Hands
Tales has been a favorite since the day it came out. Yes, there's some filler in spots. Had it come out in the digital age, no doubt it would have been a single CD without filler, and perfect. Was lucky enough to see them tour it.
When i first listened to Tales, Ididn't really liked it..It was not enough Rock, no headbanging stuff..I was 13 yrs..I rediscovered that LP when I was a bit older, and since then, I love it so much..A Master Piece, Yes, definetly, that I still listen to nowadays.
@@RockHistoryMusic the most effective element of the interview was simply listening and letting Jon spin the tale. I really appreciate that about the interviews on your channel. Thank you!
I knew it would be my favorite because it was the longest. In my mind, Yes albums couldn't be too long. I was one of those people who "got it" on first hearing.
I'm interested to hear Jon Anderson talk about the musicianship of the other band members, because the others -- Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White (and Bill Bruford before him) and Rick Wakeman -- were all wonderfully gifted and accomplished at their instruments, while Jon Anderson, as I understand it, had the least formal training and played no instrument (though of course his voice was/is a fine instrument) yet was the one member without whom the band wouldn't have existed. For 10 years, from The Yes Album through Going For The One, they made great music because Jon Anderson wrote songs that he and the other musicians could bring fully to life. Yes, my favorites for 50 years.
Heard Revealing Science on album-oriented-radio in my car, all the way through.. That was the beginning of my Yes-fandom. Still my favorite album, and I don't even compare it musically to anything, It was the content. I had just finished reading Autobiography of a Yogi, referenced in the liner notes. It was all about the feeling, wanting to connect to the divine. A portal to heaven opened up in those days. Gabriel's Solsbury Hill, Alan Parsons' Pyramid album, and more. Tales was like Satsang (as they used to say!) for me. Thanks Jon!
I can only imagine what Rick said to Jon when he kept banging on at him to learn the solo that he’d played on the record. Jon admits he asked Rick about 20 times, because what he was playing instead wasn’t as good. Musicians have egos, no wonder he said ‘enough’ and quit. At that stage in his career you couldn’t tell Rick what to play!
Tales was interesting in my living room. Live, well let's say if they didn't have their core three to draw from it would of started to get ugly. Saw this tour in '73. Great show. Jon looked a million miles away
I love TFTO. I bought it on the day it came out as as an impressionable teenager. It made perfect sense to me and I couldn't understand why anyone had a problem with it. Years later at college I was asked if I could play the acoustic guitar part on side 3. I spent hours learning it.
I love and loved that album although I can understand some not appreciating it. Saw YES perform the entire album live in Madison Square Garden I think it was 1973 and it was fantastic. Sorry Jon took a lot of crap over this wonderful album. Edit, must have been 74 since I see now release was end of 73.
Sometimes I would say a couple of lines from a Jon Anderson song to my wife, just to see the 'what tha hell' look on her face; just like when Chris Squire sang those lyrics.
I read a quote attributed to Rick, but I don't know it it's true, but it goes like this: ~Tales is like wading through a cesspool in order to find a water lily.~ I think he meant that it may have been a bit too long for the sake of being long. Which I don't entirely agree with. OTOH, he is also quoted as saying that the two songs that show Yes at their best are "Close to the Edge" and "Awaken." ~Both started when inspiration came and ended with it was done.~ I agree 100%. I put Awaken as definitely 1st. I'm glad to see Jon referring to it as Yes' finest work.
Awaken didn’t do as much for me until I saw it live. I think it’s a near perfect work. Tales is interesting, because sometimes it’s the same way for me, just perfection. Other times it seems to just meander and not hold together as well as I’d like. In the end, I love both. Entirely different journeys and I can’t say whether one is “better” than the other. Nor would I want to.
Been a YES fan forever, but...side one is not bad, but where is THAT BASS SOUND/TONE from the first 5 Albums? Sides 2 & 3? Getting over over-hanging Topographic Tar-Pit Tales..."and I do hate very well.." Side 4 starts off better than any Yessong ever has, and then the guitar and mellotron come in and your off to "Bled to death" land again. Sorry, but I've had enough of people telling me it's their best album ever... and 20 minutes later they're asking me "you mean you DON'T believe in Reincarnation"?
Tales helped me get through Watergate. Henry would come by with some Johnnie Walker, I'd put on Tales and we'd get our buzz on. "Moon time. Rain blows. Song right. Seeing round. Whispers of hay. Shirley. Shirley."
I've seen Yes on tour over 24 times. The greatest ovation they ever got at any of those shows was when they performed TFTO in 2006 at Wallingford. They performed the music so faithfully and did not rush it as they do so many other songs in order to pack a set. They let the notes breathe. 10 minute standing ovation. What a wonderful night with Rick back on keyboards.
I’ve only seen them 19 times, starting with close to the edge.
“This is me on my third joint of the day.” 😂 Whenever Jon describes his process of working with the band, I’m always entertained as well as educated. Yes fan forever!
That explains why it took four the first time I heard the album.
Seriously? I'm only mildly entertained. What happed to the inspiration--Autobiography of A Yogi? No mention? Love Yes music (including TFTTO), but most interviews with musicians---and actors....and athletes.....amount to little or nothing. I had every album and saw them live in the 80's & 90's. Love the Popeye cartoon. The Bruford=Squire rhythm section was key. White isn't that creative.
@@frank2778 perhaps it's the Vedic Shastras which inspired Anderson, and the popular book was more an entry point? Yogananda popularized his Vedic religion for westerners. And in India? He was an original Hollywood yogi. But he didn't actually revolutionize Vedic philosophy
@@frank2778 lose a ` T ‘ fella. 😁
@@leosullivan9228 no, well, actually (as one of those legendary Serendipitous Events of Rock History) in March 1973, the percussionist Jamie Muir of King Crimson got into a conversation with Anderson while attending the wedding and reception for Bill Bruford (also of King Crimson, but also formerly of Yes, a group he had actually left back in July 1972, a full 9 months prior) about the connection between the lyrics of the song "Close to the Edge" and Hesse's novel Siddhartha. During this talk, Muir mentioned Yogananda, the "Autobiography", and this opened up a discussion of the Shastras, which led Anderson to write the entirety of TFTOs from between March and September 1973, (mostly with Steve Howe by candlelight in hotel rooms during the remainder of that Spring-Summer 1973 tour) based upon I believe the introduction to the Autobiography of a Yogi.
Topographic Ocean is YESs best album ever, not so much for commercial public but for early Yes fans. A Master piece of symfo rock
Nah. Maybe, fourth or fifth.
I loved Tales when it came out. I played all four sides constantly. I loved Close to the Edge, also, certainly their masterpiece. But something about Tales that really grabbed me. I also think Alan White’s drumming was outstanding on it, as well as on Relayer and Going for the One. Not sure why Tales gets, or did get, so much hate.
Tales would sound good if you were on shrooms or something. But otherwise, no. Side 1 is good. The rest is quite boring and disjointed.
"Getting over overhanging trees..." During that very first listen when I heard this, it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard, that reverb from Steve, the harmonies of Jon and Chris, everything sounded like that gorgeous cover art looked, deep blues and purples.
let those with ears to hear listen
"The Revealing Science of God" the music and lyrics totally blew my mind when I first heard it. I was with a couple of smoked out Vietnam vets at the time. (70's)....I still listen to it to this day on vinyl...It started my Spiritual journey into me awakening to myself and things invisible....Thank You Yes.
O
I was a senior in high school when this came out. My older brother bought this album. I was the benefactor of my brothers record collection which was extensive. I had a few things going on. My dad was slowing dying due to a massive stroke and I was a nervous wreck. My brother had a nice Harman Kardon reciever, Dual turntable and forgot the brand of his floor speakers. He also had some wonderful Koss headphones that I'd wear in bed at night listening to this album. Probably the only peace I felt for many months. What a nice escape that was.
I was able to pilfer my older cousins’ YES albums and record them on cassette because he literally had all of the YES albums that came out in the 70’s including 4 of Rick Wakeman’s solo 70’s albums!
I'm glad the music could provide some comfort for you in those times. I'm sure you needed it. I was living in the dorms when I discovered "Tales", around 1983, and I often used to play the tape (with sides 1 and 2) to go to sleep when it was a bit noisy. Much more recently I did the same thing one night when I couldn't sleep, but it was playing on my phone, so it would play the whole album... no tapes or records to flip. I was afraid when Side 3 started it would wake me up, and that's exactly what happened.
What a story man, glad the music could help you out in such a tough time. The music is beautiful and speaks of concept that I'm sure cut deep ♥️
I could never understand why I was the only one of my peers that ever listened to that gorgeous album. I love that album. It's so cerebral and beautiful... the journey it takes you on is the human race in a musical poem that is both wide in scope and razor sharp in focus. The musicianship is incredible,... you will never hear another collection of music and poetry like this again. No one is making records like this anymore. Even Dream Theatre doesn't take on the beauty and lightness Topo portrays. The music dances around in your mind and the words penetrate deep into your lexicon of verbal passages. You find yourself quoting the album like it was the wisdom of the ages. "...and we dance from the ocean" I still fall asleep with it playing softly in my room!
I want 2 whole sides of my fave part, those ocean sounds. thanks for your poetic description :-)
Spot on!! It’s such a beautiful work of art!
And some of the most beautiful parts are played by Wakeman, despite him having such a big problem with the album.
In my life I've met some pretty famous people, musicians included, but of all the celebrities I've met, Jon Anderson was positively the nicest, most down-to-earth guy I've ever met; It was at the Bay side Expo center in South Boston in 1997, during a Prog-type convention with special guests, with Jon being one of the more famous ones appearing. He and his gorgeous wife had just arrived at Logan airport straight from Paris, and he was "jet-lagged" to say the least. But what a terrific guy, and on top of it, I nervously asked if I could kneel down between him and Jane and have my picture taken with them, and he instantly agreed which was really bold as NO ONE had asked him at that point. Great guy!
He seems like such a warm soul, cool to hear he’s like that in real life
I bought Tales in January, 1974. It took 9 months for me to assimilate that album. I really liked it after that.
In October, 1974, I saw Rick Wakeman and his masterpiece concert Journey to the center of the earth.
My favorite Tales side is the Remembering , Rick's side...
Love Yes! Hate No!
One of my favorite prog rock bands from my youth.
So nice to hear this interview.
Jon Anderson THE VOICE. THE MASTER. FOREVER YES!!!🎤🎤🎤
Ever hear him on King Crimson's album, Lizard ? Jon performs on the track "Prince Rupert Awakes", from the Lizard suite. Cool stuff... This is around the Time And A Word era & definitely before The Yes Album...😎🇺🇸
No one else like Jon in the music industry! Love hearing him talk about making those albums! The music was so magical - the band members such colorful characters made the music so unique! Always a Yes fan! ❤️💕
How I love Tales. Thank you Jon for this absolutely incredible masterpiece!!
I can understand Jon's point of view, _and_ Rick's point of view. "Tales" is both ridiculous and genius. I've been listening to it a lot in the past year, after not listening to it for a long time, and I've fallen in love with it all over again.
To me TFTO is such an amazing work of art, so profound and full of details that some people get lost in it, because they prefer simpler music, and this is respectable, but to me, it is Yes creative expressiveness at its peak. It is the most Jon Anderson Yes record of all. A true genius!
Your last line highlights the issues
The brilliance of Yes equates to extreme volatility at times.
The Tales tour was the only time I saw Yes. Madison Square Garden. They played all of Tales, all of Close to the Edge and ended w/Roundabout. Unforgettable!
I was there on one the nights. I think they played three nights at MSG. Amazing show
I've found that most true YES fans hold "Tales" as one of the greatest of all YES albums, I've been a fan since 1977, but went back and purchased all the earlier albums, solo works etc!
In 1972 I was a piano major and for me, Tales and I knew each other in another life. Instant bond to the entire work. I did hear those other end of the spectrum commenters back then. I still love, YES.
I can identify with your " knew each other in another life " statement about Tales . There are certain passages in the album that instantly take me to another " place " . Kind of hard to describe . Everyone , and everything , just disappears and I'm willingly caught in a sort of spider web of bliss in that moment . Yes fans are a whole different breed of people . Nu Somme Du Soleil , right ?
"tales" is without doubt, for me....their ultimate masterpiece. i was 14 when i first heard it, -1977, and it literaly took me to another world, another dimension, it remains their best album. i've found many times, when a band complete a classic like "tales" -it can cause either the band to split or atleast members to leave. "the lamb" -genesis is another example, and spooky tooth's "ceremony".
Well said "Mothership.."
It's so great.
Excellent interview. Pure History. Thanks a 1,000.
Topographic Oceans is full of amazing and very beautiful music, for anyone who is prepared to open their minds and listen. Such musical intelligence and ambition.
Topo is my favorite Yes album.
When i first heard TFTO i didn't know what to make of it....and that's the beauty of YES music. Each composition is an adventure!
Have had 1000 Hands for a couple of months now, if you don't have a copy... WHY NOT?! It's great and has a lot of little nostalgic nods back. Jon sounds fantastic.
Still looking for anAnderson album that takes me to the same heights that Ollias of Sunhollow did. Loved The Invention of Knowledege with Roine Stolt. I will listen to 1000 Hands after writing this.
Jon Anderson gets recognised for his vocals but in my view its his songwriting & arrangements that set him apart. Topographic Oceans is a masterpiece.
Tales From Topographic Oceans is my absolute favorite Yes album!! In fact, I have the logo from that record inked on the inside of my left arm.
I continue to love this interview with Jon!
Magical to hear the master Jon Anderson
in 1977 i was a waiter at the mission bay hilton in san diego. i served these guys breakfast and saw them that night. now i write songs on you tube. thank you for much inspiration!!❤
My landlord told me Tales was a fantastic album and a big favourite of his. He was 28 back in 1985. I don't know if his wife let him listen to it. I was 19. I bought it, double LP around 1990, maybe and couldn't get into it. It took me until 2018 to buy it on CD and get into it. Strangely enough, I always loved Rick's parts in The Remembring. That's the whole point. They did one song per side because that was maxing it out. If we didn't have ambition, no progress is ever going to be made. That is becoming a severe problem nowadays in our entire western culture. We are strangling ourselves with conformity.
I agree; Rick's part in "The Remembering" are masterwork. I love them!
Tales is my favorite and I love this revelation of what was happening between Jon and Rick. In many of the Yes chronicles, Rick is quoted as saying he hated Tales because it lacked songship. And when he heard GFTO, he said, “Oh, we’re doing songs again?” And he was back....
Favorite Yes album, TFTO. Without it, there's no YES. It is essential to their development as one of the forefront bands in Prog and one of the finest things they ever did. When Anderson says he wasn't just another pop singer, he ain't just whistling Dixie.
Rick always said the tracks were too long with too much filler. Frankly, other than about 3 minutes from the middle of The Ancient, I can't think of anything I would want to cut. Brilliant album.
People think the remembering is long bc they want it to end. Then when it finally ends their like ugh that’s too long, the ancient just has a lot of building instrumental parts, people dislike both. Reprises and instrumentals. I wouldn’t cut a minute of tales.
I can't even imagine cutting it.
It's so damn good!
I love interviews when the interviewer gives the interviewee space to talk. Thanks.
Tales in a master piece.
The entire album is an amazing classic, it's my desert island album. I cannot think of anything else I would choose over TFTO. It's a whole different universe, there's truly nothing like it.
🍻🍻🍻to that..
I love Yes but I'm not sure I'd even put Tales in my top 5. I guess that's the beauty of music: Everyone hears it differently.
YES it is!!!
It's a borefest.
I watched them play TO's live at Trentham Gardens S-O-T and it was amazing!!! Half the audience walked out as they didn't understand it but it became my Fav album and I still hum along to the melodies to this day.
Saw them twice in Leicester and twice in Birmingham on the TFTO tour in 1973. No body walked out at those venues.
Incredible concerts.
Yes fan since '71. For me TFTO is the pentical. I wanted more albums like it. Challenging, dense, mysterious and complexities to be discovered with every listen.
Damn that's art!
Me, too, Steve. TFTO is full of wonderful and beautiful music. It really takes you on a trip. I've always loved it. I had just turned 15 when it came out. Unfortunately, it divided opinion among the fans and the critics panned it. Almost 50 years of passing has proved us right.
While I respect Rick Wakeman, Tales will always be my favorite Yes album. I really don't get why its so polarizing to some fans, 80 minutes of top notch Yes music in their prime? Count me in!
Doug..I agree completely. I've never understood the negativity toward Tales...if you rejected CTTE and Relayer and said I'm a Fragile, Yes Album kind-of-fan, then ok I get it. The "busier" stuff didn't float your boat. But if you loved CTTE/Relayer how do you not like, even love, Tales ??? I don't get it.
One of Yes masterpieces. Maybe TfTO and CttE are the albums I hear more, and on a very regular basis. Vinyl from the first days, first Yes cd, and now the Rhyno edition, all because of the previously unreleasd intro. Although I go absolutely insane with Gentle Giant's Octopus, Tales should be played in its integrity at my funeral.
Maybe one of the reasons I loved it so much is that it wasn't overplayed in the keyboards dept, so maybe "thank you Rick for hating Tales!". Rick's so amazing but man there were times when tonally I was hearing too much of the same synth sounds, despite his having 6-8 keyboards on tour!
Been a fan for years, but only saw them twice. Union was my 1st concert, then 97/98 Open Your Eyes Tour with Igor Khoroshev on keys. They started going into "Revealing Science", and I immediately jumped up & cheered..., I was the only one in the place that did. LOL I was 11 rows back, so they had to see me, and they also knew I was the only one who knew what was coming, and I was ecstatic. It was fantastic to see them play at least one piece from that album.
Jon Anderson is the first musical influence in my life because they were the first band I had seen in 1976 and I have never wavered from YES in all those years in fact I believe they were one of a very few bands who consistently produced good music through those years. I never met the man but of all the people on this planet who I admire after my mother & father of course he is the man that I would love to meet because he seems to be a person who tries to do everything 100% and his music just has a beautiful, peaceful concept that I really enjoy and my best example of that is "And You And I". I know it was made in 1972 but that song is one of the most beautiful rock songs I ever heard. It's a great song, peace ! 🌎
I still spin Tales all the time. My 45 year old Diskwasher still works great too!
On my third now. Wore out the first two. They work great. Clean albums every time.📀📀📀💻💻💻
I'd forgotten all about that... so well crafted, the liquid tucked inside real wood!
Me too! On a pair of B&W 801’s from 1979
I still have mine boxed up!
My fav Yes album..Tales. Life changing. I quit eating meat and went vegetarian. Respect life
Great interview!!!! The first time I saw Yes was in 1973, and most recently Anderson, Wakeman and Rabin in November 2016. All the musicians gave stellar performances, and Jon was completely on point with all his vocals!!
Is Jon still using his AOL dialup connection?
It's not the technology; Anderson is on another wavelength.
the line's a stretch for 'the one person who cares so deeply about the earth- without actually being from Earth'
Oh yes he bought the CD with the f.. code in a walgreens
A 56k modem is state-of-the-art in Accrington.
@@PhilUKNet Pretty sure he's in the US
not only the best Yes album, but the most complex rock album ever conceived and recorded, filled with classical music pieces; Yes were never matched.
Two words...Frank Zappa.
I first bought this as a cassette while home from the army in December of 1981. I always find myself going back to this album year after year, and I've always loved it.
Both Tales From Topographic Oceans and 1000 Hands are very special albums to me. I love 1000 Hands! It has been giving me hope in these current times and Tales has been doing the same for me since I was a kid.
Great stuff thanks for posting it 👍🏽
Mid 70s, T.O. was my favourite album but I felt it would have been improved if a strong producer had taken the reins and halved it. There are diamonds there but you have to wade through a lot of mud to get them. Love Jon's humanity and passion.
If you are a Yes fan long enough then you kinda just figure out what Jon is talking about. He eventually gets there. If I need clarification then I go to people like Mike Tait, Nigel Luby, or (in a pinch) Wakeman. Although I don't think he has ever been the same since he almost died about 10 years ago. I remember that his daughter reported that they actually called for last rites to be performed on Jon.
And how sad was it to hear him (Jon) talk about how "no one" in that band contacted him throughout that time, you could hear the sadness and disbelief in his voice talking about it, it really gave me a different feeling about YES, I really feel in my heart that whatever YES was should have ended with the passing of Chris Squire he was such a huge part of the band and he and Jon were the founding members, now, Steve Howe carries on without Jon singing and calls it YES ???? It's just very wrong to me 😔
He sounds sane enough for me
Aschule
There was much more to the story than that.
Tales was widely panned. I never understood that. I "got it" the first time I raced home to my dorm room, put the platters on the turntable, sat down, alternately staring at the speakers and going through the album notes and gazing at the Roger Dean cover and LISTENING. I have always thought it is brilliant. Sure its different from everything else that anyone was doing at the time (or since). But hey ....its YES! Don't expect them to do anything normal.
Exactly the same for me, bought it, played it, loved it and I’m still trying to understand it all.
I heard this album at a friend's house and later I found it by chance at the Tristan Narvaja fair (Montevideo - Uruguay). I have been listening to Yes since I was 26 years old and I never stopped until today, I am 66 years old, in the album on cardboard (double Lp.) he tells how they came to imagine this musical work, the pyramids, god etc. a thousand things, is what I adore most about them. Paso Carrasco, 12/07/22, 10:49 p.m.
So enjoying this interview. And I've always loved Tales.
Imo, I thought Chris Squire's parts were as good as most he ever did. Especially on Ritual! Thanks Mr. Beaudin for the great interview!
This album came out 11 years before I was born. It took many listens for it for me to grasp it, but turned into my favorite Yes album.
I'm going to veer from the norm, but if I could only have one Yes record it would be Tales. There's so much breadth and depth to that album, and The Ancient, in my opinion, is the best... fusion? I don't know what you'd call it - music ever recorded. It's crazy but it works.
Tales from Topographic Oceans is fantastic, it always was! But I can't imagine letting the other albums go! Ok, the Yes Album is a bit dated, the same with Fragile, but Close to the Edge is as fresh today as it ever was, and Relayer, and Going for the One... Please don't make me choose, I wouldn't stand it!
The Ancient is a frightening proposition, slicing through Howe's world of jazz, math-metal & the planet Saturn's radio/ pedal-steel transmissions
The seeds for Tales were planted in Jon's head by Jamie Muir, at Bill Bruford's wedding reception/party at Bill's place in '72.
This is written in Bill's autobiography, BTW. 😎🇺🇸
Yes, Autobiography of a Yogi
Thanks 👍😘🇸🇪
I have had Tales from Topographic Oceans since it came out, I still play it. Whats on the album is superb, Ricks playing and solo is emotive and blistering. Internally Jon may have had problems with Rick Playing live but as someone who was into Yes and around at the time I can tell you many were nonplused by the Lyrics and the fact that they had to really listen to get the most from it. Time has being much kinder than the fans of that time, it's a fantastic listen. I remember reading the music press reporting fans coming out of the concert and saying, what was that. They just weren't ready for it.
I only just realized after 45 years that since Rick Wakeman was saving all his own original themes for his own solo projects, his investment was different, and even though it got to #1 in England, being an amazingly original and immersive work, he seemed very unimpressed and even dissident. The other guys were really invested, especially in some of the amazing bass work where CS didn't get a lot of credit, yet pitched in an amazing level of inspired work.
3:13 Funny when Jon said, "Rick had had enough of me. I was hyper!"
Jon Anderson strikes me as a self deprecating and self aware guy. I love in the YesYears documentary when he says he can imagine the rest of the band must of thought he was out of his mind when he brought in the initial ideas for Gates of Delirium.
I love to hear this by Jon. Absolutely, Tales for me is the Yes masterpiece, specially The Remembering and its epic ending. The greatness reached by Rick on that movement "pure magic..very musical, very deep" in Jon´s words. When he says "unfortunately he never learned it" I agree with this in more than one aspect: Wakeman never reached again such level of "spirituality" in his entire career.
4:18 I thought the question was about Topographic - but John had a completely different timeframe. It would be nice to hear more of this!
Yep lol. Appears Jon diverged just a tad off point.
By the time of this interview, Jon may have already reached the third joint, point. : )
I remember when Topographic was about to be released hearing the 45 version of 'the Ancient' and feeling slighted... I was really happy when I heard the album.
I’ve always maintained a unique perspective on “Takes.” I find only 1 of the 4 tracks listenable, and that’s “The Revealing Science of God,” which is an absolute masterpiece. My luck, the night they played LA on that tour, they played 3 of the 4 tracks from Tales, omitting the track I preferred. Nearly 50 years later, I still listen and enjoy it immensely.
The TALES Show was my 1st of 10 YES Show and Still my BEST YES Concert. Saw on 2/16/74 (Evening Show) at the Spectrum Phila PA. Also in '74 I saw YES do there RELAYER Show @ MSG, NYC on 11/15/74 and in Between, Saw Rick do his JOURNEY/SIX WIFES Show on 10/14/74, Also @ MSG. '1974 was by far the "YEAR of YES"!!! PS: Hearing "THE REMEMBERING" live was AWESOME!!!
Saw it live at The Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Whole thing from start to finish along with encores...Close to the Edge Siberian Khatru and of course Roundabout. Great night. Too bad they did not film that tour for the ages. Can still see the heart glowing and coming to life in the creature above Alan White's kit during his solo.
Tales is a fantastic record. One of my favorites.
Rick Wakeman, I like all your albums including those made with Yes band.
With love from Russia.
I've followed JA & YES since 1972. I was 21. My first YES concert 1975 RELAYER, my last 26 July 2019 The Royal Affair & my last JA 27 April 2019 1000 Hands
Love this album (all four sides)
Tales has been a favorite since the day it came out. Yes, there's some filler in spots. Had it come out in the digital age, no doubt it would have been a single CD without filler, and perfect. Was lucky enough to see them tour it.
When i first listened to Tales, Ididn't really liked it..It was not enough Rock, no headbanging stuff..I was 13 yrs..I rediscovered that LP when I was a bit older, and since then, I love it so much..A Master Piece, Yes, definetly, that I still listen to nowadays.
Jon's Wifi router is on the 3rd joint of the day ... I love the stories. Someone needs to get enough of the rest to make a book from his perspective.
We actually started the interview 15-20 minutes late because Jon had just lost his power via a thunder storm and his connection was poor.
@@RockHistoryMusic the most effective element of the interview was simply listening and letting Jon spin the tale. I really appreciate that about the interviews on your channel. Thank you!
I knew it would be my favorite because it was the longest. In my mind, Yes albums couldn't be too long. I was one of those people who "got it" on first hearing.
I love this album in fact I'm going to play it now x
I'm interested to hear Jon Anderson talk about the musicianship of the other band members, because the others -- Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White (and Bill Bruford before him) and Rick Wakeman -- were all wonderfully gifted and accomplished at their instruments, while Jon Anderson, as I understand it, had the least formal training and played no instrument (though of course his voice was/is a fine instrument) yet was the one member without whom the band wouldn't have existed. For 10 years, from The Yes Album through Going For The One, they made great music because Jon Anderson wrote songs that he and the other musicians could bring fully to life. Yes, my favorites for 50 years.
He plays guitar.
"Tales From Topographic Oceans" is the best album of Yes for me. "Relayer" comes closest. Then "Close To the Edge" - Oh and there is "Olias ...."
Love Olias, but that's not YES.
that's funny. I'd pick the same 3 , just in reverse order. 😀
Awaken is the bomb. Even Tormato was cool. ABWH was cool too.
Best band ever.
Heard Revealing Science on album-oriented-radio in my car, all the way through.. That was the beginning of my Yes-fandom. Still my favorite album, and I don't even compare it musically to anything, It was the content. I had just finished reading Autobiography of a Yogi, referenced in the liner notes. It was all about the feeling, wanting to connect to the divine. A portal to heaven opened up in those days. Gabriel's Solsbury Hill, Alan Parsons' Pyramid album, and more. Tales was like Satsang (as they used to say!) for me. Thanks Jon!
I can only imagine what Rick said to Jon when he kept banging on at him to learn the solo that he’d played on the record. Jon admits he asked Rick about 20 times, because what he was playing instead wasn’t as good. Musicians have egos, no wonder he said ‘enough’ and quit. At that stage in his career you couldn’t tell Rick what to play!
Tales was interesting in my living room. Live, well let's say if they didn't have their core three to draw from it would of started to get ugly. Saw this tour in '73. Great show. Jon looked a million miles away
Ha! the tour tapes do show consistently clumsy passages. And Jon looked very, very distant on a high, high ....Sun ?
I love TFTO. I bought it on the day it came out as as an impressionable teenager. It made perfect sense to me and I couldn't understand why anyone had a problem with it. Years later at college I was asked if I could play the acoustic guitar part on side 3. I spent hours learning it.
Tales is the best of the best album ever made!
I've always loved this album and would listen to it for hours when it came out..it was to progressive for most
I love the way Jon says "tour."
Close to the Edge, the Yes Album and Tales are my favourites. They were the best up to Going for the One not so much after.
Close to the Edge and Stargazer are my favourite songs with the two best singers and bands (rainbow only with Dio and Cozy Powell )
I loved TFTO from the first needle drop when I bought it!! Still do!
WOW! Too bad about Rick Wakeman. Great interview.
I love and loved that album although I can understand some not appreciating it. Saw YES perform the entire album live in Madison Square Garden I think it was 1973 and it was fantastic. Sorry Jon took a lot of crap over this wonderful album. Edit, must have been 74 since I see now release was end of 73.
I was there as well, early '74 . . Great show
Sometimes I would say a couple of lines from a Jon Anderson song to my wife, just to see the 'what tha hell' look on her face; just like when Chris Squire sang those lyrics.
HA!
I read a quote attributed to Rick, but I don't know it it's true, but it goes like this:
~Tales is like wading through a cesspool in order to find a water lily.~
I think he meant that it may have been a bit too long for the sake of being long.
Which I don't entirely agree with.
OTOH, he is also quoted as saying that the two songs that show Yes at their best are "Close to the Edge" and "Awaken."
~Both started when inspiration came and ended with it was done.~
I agree 100%. I put Awaken as definitely 1st.
I'm glad to see Jon referring to it as Yes' finest work.
Nice channel
I think it came out at a time when people still expected the short song format and didn’t yet have the patience for those long songs
Topographic Ocean was WAY ahead of its time.
I don't believe Jon has commited any sin in his whole life. That old guy was made in heaven!
Rick Wakeman is such a perfect addition to Yes. I love how they put excerpts from "Six Wives of Henry VIII" on their masterpiece, "Fragile"
Is this true?
There is certainly on fragile an excerpt from in the court of the crimson king.
I love that album when it came out. When Relayer came out, no one liked that either....i did!! I liked EVERYTHING Yes did!!!
I’ll take Tales over Awaken any day.
No No No sorry
Awaken didn’t do as much for me until I saw it live.
I think it’s a near perfect work.
Tales is interesting, because sometimes it’s the same way for me, just perfection. Other times it seems to just meander and not hold together as well as I’d like.
In the end, I love both. Entirely different journeys and I can’t say whether one is “better” than the other. Nor would I want to.
Been a YES fan forever, but...side one is not bad, but where is THAT BASS SOUND/TONE from the first 5 Albums? Sides 2 & 3? Getting over over-hanging Topographic Tar-Pit Tales..."and I do hate very well.." Side 4 starts off better than any Yessong ever has, and then the guitar and mellotron come in and your off to "Bled to death" land again. Sorry, but I've had enough of people telling me it's their best album ever... and 20 minutes later they're asking me "you mean you DON'T believe in Reincarnation"?
Why compare a double album to one song? There's no comparison.
Tales helped me get through Watergate. Henry would come by with some Johnnie Walker, I'd put on Tales and we'd get our buzz on.
"Moon time. Rain blows. Song right. Seeing round. Whispers of hay. Shirley. Shirley."
pretty funny...:)
Dick, this makes complete sense and also explains why Jon is saying Rick was not focused since you also ended up on the cover of 6 Wives.
@@bluetv6386 Ah, yes. I told him he could do that since everyone else was bleeding it to death, just like he described Tales.