Peter Banks and Steve Howe didn't bring blues into Yes. Steve has spent his entire life avoiding blues. Banks brought a lot of great jazzy playing. Steve brought several styles: jazz (Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell), classical, and country (Chet Atkins). Right away on his first album with Yes he did a country guitar piece ("Clap"), a country segment ("Starship Trooper") and a mellow jazz interlude in "Perpetual Change." On Fragile he explored his classical influences ("Mood for a Day"). On Close to the Edge and especially TALES and Relayer he became a full-on composer/arranger for the band. By the time Relayer came out he was considered one of the best guitarists in rock. That's when he (and Jon Anderson) started winning the Best Composer award in Melody Maker in 1974 and 1975. (I'm not sure where they placed after those years.) The ultimate peak in Steve's eclecticism was The Steve Howe Album (1979) and this was just as he was racking up award after award for Best Overall Guitarist in Guitar Player magazine. "All's a Chord" alone is one of the finest guitar arrangements of the 1970s, while his classical composition for electric guitar and orchestra, "Double Rondo," was a superb example of his melodicism. Asia and GTR were child's play by comparison, but the debut Asia was good enough for a few spins. Drama and ABHW were the two finest examples of Steve's playing in the 1980s. Steve is correct that Rabin's guitar playing is a fairly typical hard rock style and gave the band a generic stamp. You could say he brought a sledge hammer into Yes, as he felt compelled to put gargantuan guitar sounds on every song (although this was the dominant style in the 1980s). If you look at the sales of 90125, Big Generator, and Talk, it represents the typical scenario where a band breaks big but is virtually abandoned by their third album. 1970s Yes was not like that. Even their most progressive albums, TALES and RELAYER, spent several weeks in the top ten charts and went gold. That's the reason Yes were legends. The were musician's musicians. All the other artists looked up to them to see what was possible for success while sticking to courageous composing and performing. 90125 was the opposite-- it showed how many units you could move if you went mainstream and commercial. Ever since that album, the band's career has been mostly compromised by commercial concerns, Keys to Ascension 1 and 2 being the only exceptions.
Yeah, somewhere on the cutting room floor to this video is my saying folk and classical guitar flavors instead. You're right, blues wasn't on the menu with those two guys.
I don't buy the theory that 70s Yes wasn't concerned with unit sales, considering they would have been fired had "the Yes Album" not been a decent seller and the pressure certainly affected the quality, and the amount of money thrown at "Going for the One" in the quest for a more defined "Yes" sound. Trevor's an amazing guitarist and has nowhere near the trouble playing Steve's music as Steve does playing his, and Steve's huge ego certainly doesn't help. The writing on the Steve Howe album was eclectic, but I don't feel the songwriting is as strong as any of Trevor's tracks. It's the kind of thing you could release as a well known guitarist on a label famous for taking chances but it couldn't be anything but self-released today, maybe on Spotify.
@@nimrodery It was only Yes' American label that was thinking of dropping them, and I don't even know if Yes knew that until later. Nevertheless, The Yes Album was more adventurous than either of their first two albums, which would indicate they were not that concerned. Regardless, Trevor is a rock and pop composer both as a solo artist and as a Yes collaborator, with very few exceptions (his last instrumental solo album, for example, unless you want to count his soundtracks). His pop albums never went anywhere in the UK or the US except the Rabbit albums in South America where they were teen idols. Steve Howe was guitarists' idol; he won Best Overall Guitarist five years in a row from Guitar Player Magazine at which point they put him in the Hall of Fame to keep people from voting for him and give other guitarists a chance. I know of no such similar acclaim for Rabin. Rabin only ever played a fraction of Howe's repertoire with Yes, and only one ("Awaken") of Howe's NINE epics he did with the band. Again, Yeswest essentially became one-hit-wonders, with one smash album, a follow up that does reasonably well, and a third one that flops, at which point Rabin quit and told the band to get back together with Howe.
Well, I never feel rankngs bring much to discussions of music, you can have a guy who composes only ONE track or album and it changes everything. However, given the body of work I really don't think there is much comparison between Rabin and Howe. I remember getting Rabins solo album after Yes and it was pretty mundane. I'm pretty sure I recall interviews taht Rabin did't even want the album to be CALLED ' yes', but 'cinema'. And it as Horn who didn't think his voice was ready to carry it solo, his writing certianly wasn't. I remember hearing early versions of Owner and seeing original lyrics and its VERY clear what Jon brought to it, which wasn't nearly as much as he wanted to, because he's a guy who you can listen to ABWH and 'begone you fearsome power play machine, cutting our musical solidarity, for those who would break the windows of our reflection, and perception of the world'- radio hits just weren't in his repertoire. Asia was certainly as downbeat as Yes had become. He couldn't be too upset, in other interviews he says he was pretty much left with the name to do what he wanted with it, but just walked away from it. Asias first album was pretty good for radio music but the fact is that Owner is really the only 'single' from the album and is definitely the weakest link. It can happen and our song and leave it plus cinema were just out there as far as radio song of the eighties. Asia didn't have anything with the originality of Yes, evne in 9012live they had Rabin playing classical for fifteen minutes. And Big Generator was out there even more so they had to drag Rabin back in to write some love songs so there would be at least a chance of some commercial success. No way is 'shoot high aim low' going to be played on radio. But Howe admitted that the 'rock dinosaur' stuff was PARTLY justified and he said they changed SOME to adapt. I don't think ANY band tries to be LESS popular. And even Genesis says "we just didn't know how to write a hit", while Tony Banks and Jon Anderson were like "we didn't WANT to", but other people might feel differently. A lot of it is management, apparantly charisma was very good and 'just letting bands be'.
Pure GOLD, thanks so much for this my friend. Steve is without question, the most talented guitarist in rock history imo. He has his roots in masters like Chet Atkins and Les Paul among so many other very diversified styles. Didn't think his comments about Trevor Rabin were entirely fair(as you mentioned) since Trevor is a fine guitarist/vocalist/songwriter and there was no rules that said YES had to be anything. Personally, I feel he was speaking from hurt feelings, at someone replacing his very cherished role in his band. While that era is in no way my favorite, I thought some of the vocal harmony arrangements were some of the best the band has ever done. Leave It, in particular was almost Queen like in it's construction. No shame from 90125 or Big Generator at all. There was some conformity to mainstream, yes, but not a huge compromise.
Excellent interview with Steve Howe! This really clarifies the Asia situation that was happening at Geffen Records. Also the GTR thing too...I love GTR btw with both Hackett and Howe...💯💯💯💯
I consider Steve easily one of the top 10 rock guitarists since the ‘70’s (and yes I am an experienced guitarist). I saw him play in the 1990’s with Yes and he was everything I hoped he would be and more!
@@Sweet--Richard.4981 If you really believe that, you need to listen to a lot more. He didn't win Guitar Player's Best Overall Guitarist 5 years in a row because of Yessongs.
Steve is probably my favourite guitarist. I’ve been trying to play various genres for 49 years and feel I know a good guitarist when I hear one. I’ve seen Steve play with Yes a few times, and he does not disappoint.
Unless he phones it in which he did several times I saw Yes... Kind of a jerk too, at meet n greets... Maybe the problem with all the personnel changes/issues, centered around Howe
Thanks very much for this. Would be really good to hear more from this interview. (With your commentary we get less than half of what Steve had to say.)
Thanks for the feedback Simon! I decided to go with this portion of the interview because it focused on his post-Yes work for the most part. The other part of the interview (which I will feature in the future) deals more with how he approaches songwriting and the Masterworks tour itself.
@@RushTrader Excellent, will look forward to that. (And I wasn't meaning to devalue your commentary, by the way!) I got over for three shows on the 'Masterworks' tour - which was superb. Good that Steve seemed to open up to you in a way that he sometimes doesn't. I enjoyed an hour long one with him in 1991 ('Turbulence' / 'Union') only half of which was ever published. Similar experience. Btw, you might be interested in my book on Yes: www.culturedllama.co.uk/books/solid-mental-grace-listening-to-the-music-of-yes
There's a fair amount of ego to go around... I know a lot of people give Steve Howe a hard time for his ego, but go back to Trevor Horn's interview where he depicts what happened when Jon Anderson walked into the "Cinema/90125" sessions. He refused to sing certain lyrics, forcing numerous rewrites, and was incredibly difficult to deal with, especially with the song "Owner of a Lonely Heart." And in all fairness to Trevor, most of 90125 was written BEFORE Jon Anderson came into the equation and the "Yes" name was tagged to the band. Rabin wasn't trying to do Yes, but was coming up with something totally different (not saying better, or worse, but it wasn't designed to be "Yes").
Tony, could you also please cover some of the recent comments by Steve on how a reunion with Jon Anderson is impossible? I know that there are two entities that own the Yes name. One is with Alan and Steve and the other LLC involves Anderson. Just crazy they cannot get back together. Also I heard but can’t exactly confirm that Howe owns the rights to the YES bubble logo somehow. It’s only when Howe is involved with them that the Bubble logo is used. Lots of other great things id love to communicate to you as well. I’d love to contribute if I can.
David, thanks for the comment. Sure, in light of recent comments, I can see a video that covers the big question - should there be a Yes reunion at this point? I'd be glad to hear what you can add to this topic... just shoot me an email. If you click on the "About" tab on this UA-cam channel you should see my email address, just send me something there.
@@RushTrader Alan doesn't play most nights, Steve doesn't want Jon back, apparently Steve and Rick don't get along too well, Rick can't do an extended tour, Chris is the guy that made these people get along. You saw the Yes reunion, it was called "AWR." And the Hall of Fame gig, that's probably as close as we'll get. Steve and Chris do appear on the new Jon Anderson album though, that's kind of a blast from the past.
When I saw the Union Tour in Orlando and Portland, OR, Steve would go off/under the stage (in the round) during the 90125, etc, songs. In FL, Rick got heat stroke and almost didn't play.
It is my understanding that Peter Banks was a little bit moody and at times difficult to work with. He had already left the proto Yes band Mabel's Greer's Toyshop and come back before Jon joined the band. But I certainly can't fault the frustration he and Tony Kaye felt with the orchestral parts on Time and a Word! In theory, perhaps not a bad idea, but in practice it was just awful! If they wanted to do this, they really should have gotten the orchestral arrangements done by Jethro Tull's arranger, Palmer, to do it. He actually knew how to arrange in a way that added musical ideas and colors without stepping on the toes of the original band members' parts. I agree that his dismissal (from a band he originated with Squire) was callously done. For a guy with such a "peace, love and joy" kind of air, Jon could be pretty cutthroat about getting rid of folks in the early days! And I recently learned or relearned that naming the band Yes was basically Banks' idea. It cracks me up thinking about what his reaction must've been like in the '90's and later as he watched Chris and Jon and others fighting about who got to use the name Yes! Banks' had been out of the band for decades, but if anyone had a right to the name it was him! 😆
So Howe thinks Rabin was very ordinary? Even when he says it, he knows he's talking crap. Rabin is a monster musician and a team player, something Howe can not be.
Howe noted how Rabin didn't follow the guitar traditions that himself and Peter Banks brought to the band. The truth is, Rabin didn't join Yes and had no interest or need to carry on anything from anyone.
RushTrader Around the get together for Union in 1990, I remember hearing that Trever Rabin is contracted with Yes for another 5 years, I remember thinking he's with them until 1995 then. He left in 1995.
@@Atom-56 Funny you mention that because he committed to 5 years of ARW too. The bottom line is... Yes can't go more than a few years without a major lineup change. Never have, never will...and its sad because I bet Squire would have loved to play with Rabin one more time.
My favorite guitarist. Saw him twice solo; the TLA in Philly & some yacht club in Belmar, NJ with an extremely rude audience. Steve actually had to address the crowd at that place. I wanted to walk out but refused, because.....it was Steve Howe !! 🚬😎
I sat outside Leicester's De Montfort Hall before a show there in 2014 with Steve for about half an hour. He had a cup of tea and a roll-up, there was no one else around. We didn't talk about music much, not about Yes anyway, but about football and snooker and local history. He was keen to hear about Richard III. Very relaxed and affable. Just two guys chatting we were.
Steve remarked at His biography ("all my Yesterdays") all the pressure provided by John kalodner. Even Steve highligthed that this guy was hesitating to include the explendid "lying yo yourself" track in the alpha album, a wetton-howe song originally called "barren land" by howe AND rewrote on lyrics by wetton... Pure Asia!!! ASIA could deliver More music with the original members... Everybody knows what happened unfortunatelly But the Dragon raised one More Time in 2006 Kind regards from México
Yeah, Steve Howe was just what the band needed in those early days. Between Howe and Wakeman, the band made some nice upgrades during this time period.
Hmm... I do not think Steve's comments were an insult, sorry. Trevor understandably did not want to inherit Yes and it showed. His "speed metal" versions of earlier Yes material were not very good. He was an excellent song writer, for sure. And that's why I don't consider the albums with him to be Yes-like: the songs were 80 to 100% HIS and his stamp was all over them. Yes, Chris, Alan and Jon added their flavor to them, but I consider this the Trevor Rabin band. It was a GOOD band, I have all the albums but, eh, it wasn't the same.
FWIW,I have long admired Howe for his guitar playing and rate him highly. It's good to hear his opinion of Rabin,and whilst I can empathise,I can't agree.I think YES would have declined post Steve Howe had they have recruited a Howe "Clone " Just my view. I do agree with him regarding Asia's second album tho'!
I loved Asia"s first album it was just fantastic it was far far better than any of the albums after that as far as I can tell, they went from powerful Prog supergroup to a pop band as far as I could hear. Steve Howel wasn't the only one that was disappointed.
Steve is a wee bit arrogant, and I don't like the crap he has spoken about Trevor Rabin. They are very different guitarists, but equally good in my view. As far as people, Trevor is a great guy.
Steve has been my sensei since YESSONGS. He is a COMPLETE player. Watch him with Les Paul at the Iridium Club in NYC; he's got that whole chord-melody - boom-chugga-boom-chugga-boom - beat down in spades! Thank you, Steve's parents, for buying him that 175!
Great in-depth interview with Steve answering the typically un-asked questions we all want to hear. The more I hear these interviews the more I realize how articulate and accurate are the Maestro's thoughts and opinions. This is a far cry from reading his interview in a 1973 Cream Magazine I back-ordered which gives the impression of a highly scatterbrained individual unable to express accurate thoughts. That may have been the 70's though but also poor journalism.
Steve is not wrong about Trevor Rabin. Trevor took YES to a different place but it was not a place they could (or should) stay very long. Unlike the place Steve's guitar took them to which yielded decades of interesting adventures.
I heard nothing from Steve Howe that would make me think that there was any permutation of YES that would be like the seventies. I don't think they ever did again. Thats just the end of prog rock, at least from these bands. Only Jon Anderson was really doing interesting work, and that was the weird stuff on Big Generator and then ABWH. The guitarists really weren't doing much of interest. With rabin it wasn't even the same as yes at its best, but was better than a lot of their worst
I have always liked Steve as a player. He lifted Yes in the 70's to new heights. However Trevor Rabin is also an incredible player , up there with the very best and he made Yes a force again in the 80's. 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' is a terrific track largely down to Trevor. I think Steve had his nose put out by this and his pride took a hit over Rabins influence on the Yes sound. '90125' and 'Big G' are great albums, am not so keen on 'Talk'. Sadly after Steve's woeful treatment of Jon Anderson years later he lost my respect as a person. Still love his playing of course.
@@lazycalm41 When he got better he had a chance to get back in and demanded 50% of the take and he would be a contract singer, Squire told him to take a hike.
Jon Andersen wants to play with the original players, is steve Howell the one who dont want to play with him...yes today sounds like a cover band without Anderson and wakeman...steve however is a fool not to play with them..hes ruing the legacy of yes
Steve just doesn't want to share the brand name "Yes" with Jon because he knows that means involving him more and I think Steve's had enough of it, a shame.
Hi, at approx 12:50 min from the beginning, you're talking about The Road to Budokan documentary about Asia in Asia in 1983 with Greg Lake replacing John Wetton. Do you still have a copy of it? I have been in touch with Ken Ceizler, who made the documentary in 1983 asking him where to find a copy of it and he said he did know loll May be both you should get in touch and arrange something so we can all have access to this peace of the Assia in Asia story?
Simon, thanks for the comment. Drop me an email and I'll get you a copy. My email is shown under the About tab of this channel (see Details). I would imagine this documentary aired once before the concert and that was it. The documentary never made it onto the VHS release and isn't even on the new exhaustive Blu-Ray release of the event. It's definitely worth checking out, talk soon.
@@RushTrader I just sent you an email. I have the new Box Set was disappointed that it was not included on the BluRay, thanks a lot fro offering ;-) BTW, I am a fan of Greg Lake and John Wetton. I've been following them from, KC, ELP, ASIA and their solo projects. I was disappointed that the story of Greg's Road to the Budokan was so twisted and that real story of his commitment with Asia (from an interview Geoff and Him gave in 1983 in Japan) was never told straight. Regards!
The person posting / presenting this is just yet another ego driven project he is using trying to claim his little bit of fame by spreading nothing but Negativity. It has no genuine relevance to the good and positive history of Steve Howe, the bands he played in nor the music he has created and / or contributed to.
Steve Howe was at one time my favorite guitar player. It seems from what he says about the different bands he has been in that perhaps it's him that doesn't get along with other band mates. Yes, Asia, GTR, all had issues about him and other bandmates. That's what I got out of this but great interview all the same.
A few important notes: First of all ASIA ALPHA- Despite what you and Steve feel about it, I actually prefered ALPHA over the first ASIA. There were 2 b-side songs, one Steve contributed to musically. I understand what Steve says about blend and feature playing- good point, but I stil like ALPHA 37 years later! As for the JW/ Lake replacement, John had gone on record- his drinking really made him unreliable. Steve is very gracious about not bringing that up. I watched that whole ASIA in ASIA show in December 1983. I missed John, but Greg Lake- wow! I thought there was great potential. As for Steve leaving before ASTRA- well, when the album came out in December 1985, it got almost no promotion. I really like ASTRA. One thing about the post Steve Hackett GTR time- Robert Berry is an excellent player, fit in with Steve, but according to Robert Berry, he said Max Bacon, GTR vocalist flat out did NOT like Robert. There are two interesting albums that eventually came out- Max Bacon Solo album, " The higher you climb," - the first song features Steve - I believe it is called " One to blame." It is an excellent rocking song in the GTR vein. Robert Berry also sang a version on his solo album, "Pilgrimage to a Point" album, which also features Keith Emerson, and Carl Palmer on 2 tracks! I like what Steve said about the style of the 90125 YES era. I remember buying 90125 in November, 1983- it has now been 37 years ago! I went with that YES line up having started with YES in 1971. I listen to the YES-WEST, on occasion, but not like before I saw Trevor with YES 17 times over the 4 tours- it was what it was- still fun to see live! Thanks for posting the interview! That 2000 Masterworks show was fabulous!
Charles, thanks for your comment and insights! I'm readying Part 2 of this interview and was just going through some comments that I may have missed. It would have been interesting if Greg had continued with the band and wished he could have done more post-ELP. Speaking of Berry, are you familiar with that band 3 he was in with Emerson and Palmer? Berry released 3.2 in 2018, I believe, as a tribute to Emerson as they had been working on those tracks together but never got a chance to put them down.
He hit the nail on the head talking about Rabin. Talented, sure, but it just never sounded like Yes to me, and I've been a fan since the early '70s. And regarding Asia, I still swear Trevor Rabin copped the intro to Owner of a Lonely Heart from Heat of the Moment. Also interesting he didn't talk about Yessongs (the movie). That was a powerful record and film, but the sound and video were God-awful.
Steve is a great guitarist but Christ he's self-absorbed and a bit of a prima-donna. It wasn't Rabins job to "carry on" anything from Howe or Banks. Rabin has shown himself perfectly capable or playing other styles (Anerly Road is more Howe than Howe TBH), but Howe has been largely in a rut since Turbulence or at the very least has decided he has no interest in anything new since about 1982, and wants time to stand still.
Steve howe didn’t like Trevor Rabin. Trevor was a different player than Steve and was under no obligation to play like Steve or Peter Banks. Trevor brought a freshness to yes that was a shot in the arm. Steve is a brilliant musician and I was hooked the moment I heard the yes album which is still one of my all time favs. Trevor has a musical talent that goes beyond Steve’s ability. Trevor can play keys as good if not better than most keyboard players. Along with his engineering skills he is a rare talent. Steve seems bitter when it comes to Trevor and he should just acknowledge his talent and contribution to yes. Now Steve won’t let Jon Anderson sing with his version of yes probably because he wants to be in control. You have an original vocalist and founding member of yes but no, Steve would prefer vocalists who imitate Jon over having THE VOCALS OF YES! I’m a Steve fan and I am a Trevor fan but most of all I’m a yes fan for life!
First I want to say, Steve's playing was my first love of a guitarist for Yes before 83. But something Steve doesn't mention is the fact that Trevor auditioned for Asia before Wetton joined the band. They didn't quite fit together. So then Trevor was introduced to Chris and Alan. Their is an audio with Trevor auditioning too. I can understand Steve wanted back in with Yes, but he formed Asia before Cinema(Yes) rose in a new music scene the 70's Yes sound wouldn't have fit in. ABWH was a godsend for Steve to get his foot back in. Now he has the Yes name with Alan, and Jon also, but he isn't using at the moment with ARW on the shelf.
If Steve had joined in the 80s instead of Rabin, Yes wouldn't have had as strong a return which really set the stage for everything that followed. I think the songwriting Gods had everything worked out for these guys in the 80s because they were all working with different people, getting new inspiration and that's why both Howe and Yes in the 80s scored #1 albums and singles apart from one another. Couldn't have happened if the 70s Yes tried the same old stuff in the 80s, like you said.
If I interviewed Howe I’d want my voice and conversation in it. I guess yer mic was broken aye ? Worth the listen but geez lots a fantasy peeps out there
It's not that my mic was broken, I only had one mic so Howe is much more prominent. The interview was intended for radio purposes so we only aired parts of what Steve said and then we ovedubbed the rest.
Thanks for the cool interview. Really enjoyed it. More would be great! I hold Yes and Mr Howe highly on my favorites list. A Brilliant and versatile devotee of guitar. Prolifically talented band. Rare and precious Music Art in my estimation a gift towards Humanities enrichment for many years to come I trust.
Great interview! Thanks for telling Steve Howe to ‘get this shit going’ 😂 The Masterworks tour was an exciting time for us Yes fans - they pulled out a lot of songs we never thought we would ever hear again!
I was a pre-teen and Yes hadn't come on my radar yet. My first exposure to Yes was 90125, then I went backwards and that's when a whole new world opened up.
Hi...been a long time since I've viewed your channel. All the Steve Howe interviews that I've listened to and read over the years and there is not one until now that I've heard him directly mention the Yes (Cinema version) music. Thanks for that. I could tell that he seems to be biting his tongue a little bit during that segment. He seemed to be very diplomatic about it (so as to not burn bridges, I'm assuming). I would love to here more of the interview.
Thanks for the comment David. I didn't realize Howe had an autobiography, will have to check it out. More from the interview will be coming at some point this year.
Kind of agree with one of your last points - but I’ll take it to an absurd degree. I don’t want them to open the archive to release ONE show… I would like to have a copy of the ENTIRE archive!!! Put it out on a server and sell me monthly access to it or download rights. I’m in. I’ve still got both my kidneys so you can price it so as to cover the costs of the band’s golden years!
Mario, while I wouldn't give up a kidney for Yes, it would be awesome to have access to a full archive of Yesshows from across all the tours, especially the 70s. Unfortunately, I think that was more of Squire's thing so not sure Howe has that same interest but let's do it while people still care!
@@RushTrader (not wanting to take the shine off of anyone’s apple): creating an online archive that fans could subscribe to would give bands like Yes a much needed lifeline of income from die-hard fans - folks who are (gulp) near or at retirement age and would be willing or able to easily commit to a $9.99 - $15.99 subscription fee to see/hear all the shows or see all of the photos. Granted that would be a HUGE task to manage from the back-end… but I’m sure that there’s a record company (or are they now ‘rights management’ companies?) who could create the infrastructure to warehouse all that information for the bands and put it out there en mass…. BTW - I forgot to mention that I loved the interview with Steve. Sometimes it is easy to forget that he has an opinion too! Jon and Chris and Rick were always easy sources of opinions on the band… Steve somehow gets lost in the mix (literally and metaphorically). Thanks for giving him a footing here.
Mario, glad you enjoyed the interview! With Jon, Chris and Rick out of the picture, Steve has unprecedented control over the band with no "governor" and, I believe, is a big factor in having no desire to reunite.
Why would they sue the band during that period? Especially Rick since he quit the band a few years earlier. And did Steve have any rights to the name? Never heard about that. You have any links to this info?
Part 2 please ?????? Perhaps you can also do a review of Steve’s new book as well. Thanks and really loved your research and thought provoking questions :)
i dont like steve howe...never have...his style is too weird and he never meshed well with YES..and i'm not the only one who feels this way..I gave him a chance with ASIA and GTR but again...too weird .he's a flower child and needs to stick with the 60's and 70's " hippy" style music..not rock or pop. he has no business in rock or pop.. no offense meant to the fans..he is a briliant writer and musician, but not for the band YES
Music was changing then, Steve didnt want to change and asia had that newer progressive sound, alot like the new YES. But Asia wasnt even close to those trevor rabin yes albums they were genius.
I was at that show. One of the highlights of all the concerts I've ever been to (too many to name). It was a stormy night with thunderstorms threatening. Kansas opened and Yes came on afterwards. The storms never came through and during Soon the clouds broke and you could see the moon through the clouds over the stage right. It was magical.
Irony is Trevor Rabin auditioned for Asia and there is a demo, that saw the light of day and was on UA-cam, of Rabin singing Only Time Will Tell. Howe has mentioned he was pissed when Yes reunited when he was in Asia. I suspect he didn't want two guitarists in the band in Asia and then finds out Rabin replaced him in Yes. I can see him being pissed.
Steve can't work with another guitarist as he prefers to control that department. See GTR for how it went with having another guitarist on board... led to disharmony within the band which saw Steve Hackett exiting before a second album.
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Thanks for posting this. I’m always interested in hearing more from Steve, so hope you do another.
Peter Banks and Steve Howe didn't bring blues into Yes. Steve has spent his entire life avoiding blues. Banks brought a lot of great jazzy playing. Steve brought several styles: jazz (Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell), classical, and country (Chet Atkins). Right away on his first album with Yes he did a country guitar piece ("Clap"), a country segment ("Starship Trooper") and a mellow jazz interlude in "Perpetual Change." On Fragile he explored his classical influences ("Mood for a Day"). On Close to the Edge and especially TALES and Relayer he became a full-on composer/arranger for the band. By the time Relayer came out he was considered one of the best guitarists in rock. That's when he (and Jon Anderson) started winning the Best Composer award in Melody Maker in 1974 and 1975. (I'm not sure where they placed after those years.) The ultimate peak in Steve's eclecticism was The Steve Howe Album (1979) and this was just as he was racking up award after award for Best Overall Guitarist in Guitar Player magazine. "All's a Chord" alone is one of the finest guitar arrangements of the 1970s, while his classical composition for electric guitar and orchestra, "Double Rondo," was a superb example of his melodicism. Asia and GTR were child's play by comparison, but the debut Asia was good enough for a few spins. Drama and ABHW were the two finest examples of Steve's playing in the 1980s. Steve is correct that Rabin's guitar playing is a fairly typical hard rock style and gave the band a generic stamp. You could say he brought a sledge hammer into Yes, as he felt compelled to put gargantuan guitar sounds on every song (although this was the dominant style in the 1980s). If you look at the sales of 90125, Big Generator, and Talk, it represents the typical scenario where a band breaks big but is virtually abandoned by their third album. 1970s Yes was not like that. Even their most progressive albums, TALES and RELAYER, spent several weeks in the top ten charts and went gold. That's the reason Yes were legends. The were musician's musicians. All the other artists looked up to them to see what was possible for success while sticking to courageous composing and performing. 90125 was the opposite-- it showed how many units you could move if you went mainstream and commercial. Ever since that album, the band's career has been mostly compromised by commercial concerns, Keys to Ascension 1 and 2 being the only exceptions.
Yeah, somewhere on the cutting room floor to this video is my saying folk and classical guitar flavors instead. You're right, blues wasn't on the menu with those two guys.
I don't buy the theory that 70s Yes wasn't concerned with unit sales, considering they would have been fired had "the Yes Album" not been a decent seller and the pressure certainly affected the quality, and the amount of money thrown at "Going for the One" in the quest for a more defined "Yes" sound. Trevor's an amazing guitarist and has nowhere near the trouble playing Steve's music as Steve does playing his, and Steve's huge ego certainly doesn't help. The writing on the Steve Howe album was eclectic, but I don't feel the songwriting is as strong as any of Trevor's tracks. It's the kind of thing you could release as a well known guitarist on a label famous for taking chances but it couldn't be anything but self-released today, maybe on Spotify.
@@nimrodery It was only Yes' American label that was thinking of dropping them, and I don't even know if Yes knew that until later. Nevertheless, The Yes Album was more adventurous than either of their first two albums, which would indicate they were not that concerned.
Regardless, Trevor is a rock and pop composer both as a solo artist and as a Yes collaborator, with very few exceptions (his last instrumental solo album, for example, unless you want to count his soundtracks). His pop albums never went anywhere in the UK or the US except the Rabbit albums in South America where they were teen idols. Steve Howe was guitarists' idol; he won Best Overall Guitarist five years in a row from Guitar Player Magazine at which point they put him in the Hall of Fame to keep people from voting for him and give other guitarists a chance. I know of no such similar acclaim for Rabin. Rabin only ever played a fraction of Howe's repertoire with Yes, and only one ("Awaken") of Howe's NINE epics he did with the band.
Again, Yeswest essentially became one-hit-wonders, with one smash album, a follow up that does reasonably well, and a third one that flops, at which point Rabin quit and told the band to get back together with Howe.
Well, I never feel rankngs bring much to discussions of music, you can have a guy who composes only ONE track or album and it changes everything. However, given the body of work I really don't think there is much comparison between Rabin and Howe. I remember getting Rabins solo album after Yes and it was pretty mundane. I'm pretty sure I recall interviews taht Rabin did't even want the album to be CALLED ' yes', but 'cinema'. And it as Horn who didn't think his voice was ready to carry it solo, his writing certianly wasn't. I remember hearing early versions of Owner and seeing original lyrics and its VERY clear what Jon brought to it, which wasn't nearly as much as he wanted to, because he's a guy who you can listen to ABWH and 'begone you fearsome power play machine, cutting our musical solidarity, for those who would break the windows of our reflection, and perception of the world'- radio hits just weren't in his repertoire.
Asia was certainly as downbeat as Yes had become. He couldn't be too upset, in other interviews he says he was pretty much left with the name to do what he wanted with it, but just walked away from it. Asias first album was pretty good for radio music but the fact is that Owner is really the only 'single' from the album and is definitely the weakest link. It can happen and our song and leave it plus cinema were just out there as far as radio song of the eighties. Asia didn't have anything with the originality of Yes, evne in 9012live they had Rabin playing classical for fifteen minutes. And Big Generator was out there even more so they had to drag Rabin back in to write some love songs so there would be at least a chance of some commercial success. No way is 'shoot high aim low' going to be played on radio.
But Howe admitted that the 'rock dinosaur' stuff was PARTLY justified and he said they changed SOME to adapt. I don't think ANY band tries to be LESS popular. And even Genesis says "we just didn't know how to write a hit", while Tony Banks and Jon Anderson were like "we didn't WANT to", but other people might feel differently. A lot of it is management, apparantly charisma was very good and 'just letting bands be'.
Avoiding the blues? Ok
What a great interview! I loved "sorry for that outburst!"...and "Yes = Sound!"
Pure GOLD, thanks so much for this my friend. Steve is without question, the most talented guitarist in rock history imo. He has his roots in masters like Chet Atkins and Les Paul among so many other very diversified styles. Didn't think his comments about Trevor Rabin were entirely fair(as you mentioned) since Trevor is a fine guitarist/vocalist/songwriter and there was no rules that said YES had to be anything. Personally, I feel he was speaking from hurt feelings, at someone replacing his very cherished role in his band. While that era is in no way my favorite, I thought some of the vocal harmony arrangements were some of the best the band has ever done. Leave It, in particular was almost Queen like in it's construction. No shame from 90125 or Big Generator at all. There was some conformity to mainstream, yes, but not a huge compromise.
Excellent interview with Steve Howe! This really clarifies the Asia situation that was happening at Geffen Records. Also the GTR thing too...I love GTR btw with both Hackett and Howe...💯💯💯💯
I consider Steve easily one of the top 10 rock guitarists since the ‘70’s (and yes I am an experienced guitarist). I saw him play in the 1990’s with Yes and he was everything I hoped he would be and more!
I've never met or heard from a guitarist I respect who didn't think the world of Steve Howe.
@@Sweet--Richard.4981 If you really believe that, you need to listen to a lot more. He didn't win Guitar Player's Best Overall Guitarist 5 years in a row because of Yessongs.
A unique approach within rock. Tremendous player who made me aware of Chet Atkins.
Yes, please the entire Steve interview!
Yes! We want more of this interview with the master Howe
Steve is probably my favourite guitarist. I’ve been trying to play various genres for 49 years and feel I know a good guitarist when I hear one. I’ve seen Steve play with Yes a few times, and he does not disappoint.
Unless he phones it in which he did several times I saw Yes... Kind of a jerk too, at meet n greets...
Maybe the problem with all the personnel changes/issues, centered around Howe
fantastic interview!
Thanks very much for this. Would be really good to hear more from this interview. (With your commentary we get less than half of what Steve had to say.)
Thanks for the feedback Simon! I decided to go with this portion of the interview because it focused on his post-Yes work for the most part. The other part of the interview (which I will feature in the future) deals more with how he approaches songwriting and the Masterworks tour itself.
@@RushTrader Excellent, will look forward to that. (And I wasn't meaning to devalue your commentary, by the way!) I got over for three shows on the 'Masterworks' tour - which was superb. Good that Steve seemed to open up to you in a way that he sometimes doesn't. I enjoyed an hour long one with him in 1991 ('Turbulence' / 'Union') only half of which was ever published. Similar experience. Btw, you might be interested in my book on Yes: www.culturedllama.co.uk/books/solid-mental-grace-listening-to-the-music-of-yes
Pleasen post the entire interview!
Between Parts 1 and 2, it's pretty much all there.
There's a fair amount of ego to go around... I know a lot of people give Steve Howe a hard time for his ego, but go back to Trevor Horn's interview where he depicts what happened when Jon Anderson walked into the "Cinema/90125" sessions. He refused to sing certain lyrics, forcing numerous rewrites, and was incredibly difficult to deal with, especially with the song "Owner of a Lonely Heart." And in all fairness to Trevor, most of 90125 was written BEFORE Jon Anderson came into the equation and the "Yes" name was tagged to the band. Rabin wasn't trying to do Yes, but was coming up with something totally different (not saying better, or worse, but it wasn't designed to be "Yes").
Tony, could you also please cover some of the recent comments by Steve on how a reunion with Jon Anderson is impossible? I know that there are two entities that own the Yes name. One is with Alan and Steve and the other LLC involves Anderson. Just crazy they cannot get back together. Also I heard but can’t exactly confirm that Howe owns the rights to the YES bubble logo somehow. It’s only when Howe is involved with them that the Bubble logo is used. Lots of other great things id love to communicate to you as well. I’d love to contribute if I can.
David, thanks for the comment. Sure, in light of recent comments, I can see a video that covers the big question - should there be a Yes reunion at this point? I'd be glad to hear what you can add to this topic... just shoot me an email. If you click on the "About" tab on this UA-cam channel you should see my email address, just send me something there.
@@RushTrader Alan doesn't play most nights, Steve doesn't want Jon back, apparently Steve and Rick don't get along too well, Rick can't do an extended tour, Chris is the guy that made these people get along. You saw the Yes reunion, it was called "AWR." And the Hall of Fame gig, that's probably as close as we'll get. Steve and Chris do appear on the new Jon Anderson album though, that's kind of a blast from the past.
When I saw the Union Tour in Orlando and Portland, OR, Steve would go off/under the stage (in the round) during the 90125, etc, songs. In FL, Rick got heat stroke and almost didn't play.
Didn't know that about Rick! Thanks for the comment.
Trevor Rabin got heat stroke.
Not a the one I attended. I wouldn't've blown my throat out for TR coming onto the stage.
Banks was mistreated by Yes he was replaced by Howe in a very heavy handed way.
It is my understanding that Peter Banks was a little bit moody and at times difficult to work with. He had already left the proto Yes band Mabel's Greer's Toyshop and come back before Jon joined the band.
But I certainly can't fault the frustration he and Tony Kaye felt with the orchestral parts on Time and a Word! In theory, perhaps not a bad idea, but in practice it was just awful! If they wanted to do this, they really should have gotten the orchestral arrangements done by Jethro Tull's arranger, Palmer, to do it. He actually knew how to arrange in a way that added musical ideas and colors without stepping on the toes of the original band members' parts.
I agree that his dismissal (from a band he originated with Squire) was callously done. For a guy with such a "peace, love and joy" kind of air, Jon could be pretty cutthroat about getting rid of folks in the early days!
And I recently learned or relearned that naming the band Yes was basically Banks' idea. It cracks me up thinking about what his reaction must've been like in the '90's and later as he watched Chris and Jon and others fighting about who got to use the name Yes! Banks' had been out of the band for decades, but if anyone had a right to the name it was him! 😆
So Howe thinks Rabin was very ordinary? Even when he says it, he knows he's talking crap. Rabin is a monster musician and a team player, something Howe can not be.
GTR a total disappointment?? Your deaf!
Who cares what this bloke with the beard thinks? I'm having to forward through him to get to Steve Howe!!
Steve Howe has his own identity as a guitarist. Very influential player.
GTR had one of Steve Howe's best instrumentals on it, "Sketches in the Sun".
Yes, although I prefer it better as an acoustic track to the electric one on the album but yeah, I think it's among his best instrumentals.
Don't ask the questions if you can't handle the answers. He didn't call Rabin out. He simply answered your question HONESTLY.
Relayer6a I agree. He didn’t call him or put him down. Just stated what he thought.
Howe noted how Rabin didn't follow the guitar traditions that himself and Peter Banks brought to the band. The truth is, Rabin didn't join Yes and had no interest or need to carry on anything from anyone.
RushTrader 👍👍👍. Good point. He wasn’t obligated to either. It was a killer album. Howe’s work was awesome. It’s not a competition. Killer interview.
RushTrader
Around the get together for Union in 1990, I remember hearing that Trever Rabin is contracted with Yes for another 5 years, I remember thinking he's with them until 1995 then. He left in 1995.
@@Atom-56 Funny you mention that because he committed to 5 years of ARW too. The bottom line is... Yes can't go more than a few years without a major lineup change. Never have, never will...and its sad because I bet Squire would have loved to play with Rabin one more time.
My favorite guitarist. Saw him twice solo; the TLA in Philly & some yacht club in Belmar, NJ with an extremely rude audience. Steve actually had to address the crowd at that place. I wanted to walk out but refused, because.....it was Steve Howe !!
🚬😎
I sat outside Leicester's De Montfort Hall before a show there in 2014 with Steve for about half an hour. He had a cup of tea and a roll-up, there was no one else around. We didn't talk about music much, not about Yes anyway, but about football and snooker and local history. He was keen to hear about Richard III. Very relaxed and affable. Just two guys chatting we were.
This is the best interview I’ve heard with Steve being so candid. To get him to open up like this is fantastic! Great job man
Thanks! He just came out of meditation when I interviewed him so maybe that was part of it! Glad you enjoyed.
Thank you for posting, and of course I would like to hear more from Steve! :D
Be sure to check out my Part 2 of this interview which I uploaded about a year later. I appreciate the kind words, thanks!
Steve remarked at His biography ("all my Yesterdays") all the pressure provided by John kalodner. Even Steve highligthed that this guy was hesitating to include the explendid "lying yo yourself" track in the alpha album, a wetton-howe song originally called "barren land" by howe AND rewrote on lyrics by wetton... Pure Asia!!!
ASIA could deliver More music with the original members... Everybody knows what happened unfortunatelly
But the Dragon raised one More Time in 2006
Kind regards from México
Great content and interesting insights, thanks very much for sharing, RushTrader - great vid!
I appreciate that, thanks!
Yes would faded away if Peter Banks stayed in the band Steve issooo much better.
Yeah, Steve Howe was just what the band needed in those early days. Between Howe and Wakeman, the band made some nice upgrades during this time period.
Hmm... I do not think Steve's comments were an insult, sorry. Trevor understandably did not want to inherit Yes and it showed. His "speed metal" versions of earlier Yes material were not very good. He was an excellent song writer, for sure. And that's why I don't consider the albums with him to be Yes-like: the songs were 80 to 100% HIS and his stamp was all over them. Yes, Chris, Alan and Jon added their flavor to them, but I consider this the Trevor Rabin band. It was a GOOD band, I have all the albums but, eh, it wasn't the same.
Cheers, interesting. Really like GTR album.
Of course GTR Is am interesting project...
Great candid interview and words from Steve - best I've heard so far.
Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed!
FWIW,I have long admired Howe for his guitar playing and rate him highly.
It's good to hear his opinion of Rabin,and whilst I can empathise,I can't agree.I think YES would have declined post Steve Howe had they have recruited a Howe "Clone "
Just my view.
I do agree with him regarding Asia's second album tho'!
I loved Asia"s first album it was just fantastic it was far far better than any of the albums after that as far as I can tell, they went from powerful Prog supergroup to a pop band as far as I could hear. Steve Howel wasn't the only one that was disappointed.
Steve is a wee bit arrogant, and I don't like the crap he has spoken about Trevor Rabin. They are very different guitarists, but equally good in my view. As far as people, Trevor is a great guy.
I saw Yes at Jones Beach in 2000. What a great setlist that was. I think it was my second Yes concert.
Steve has been my sensei since YESSONGS. He is a COMPLETE player. Watch him with Les Paul at the Iridium Club in NYC; he's got that whole chord-melody - boom-chugga-boom-chugga-boom - beat down in spades!
Thank you, Steve's parents, for buying him that 175!
Glad you pointed out the "insulted him a little bit" thing. Truth. 😆
Great in-depth interview with Steve answering the typically un-asked questions we all want to hear. The more I hear these interviews the more I realize how articulate and accurate are the Maestro's thoughts and opinions. This is a far cry from reading his interview in a 1973 Cream Magazine I back-ordered which gives the impression of a highly scatterbrained individual unable to express accurate thoughts. That may have been the 70's though but also poor journalism.
Steve is not wrong about Trevor Rabin. Trevor took YES to a different place but it was not a place they could (or should) stay very long. Unlike the place Steve's guitar took them to which yielded decades of interesting adventures.
I heard nothing from Steve Howe that would make me think that there was any permutation of YES that would be like the seventies. I don't think they ever did again. Thats just the end of prog rock, at least from these bands. Only Jon Anderson was really doing interesting work, and that was the weird stuff on Big Generator and then ABWH. The guitarists really weren't doing much of interest. With rabin it wasn't even the same as yes at its best, but was better than a lot of their worst
Steve Howe is the best guitarist in my opinion, and I’ve seen many.
I have always liked Steve as a player. He lifted Yes in the 70's to new heights. However Trevor Rabin is also an incredible player , up there with the very best and he made Yes a force again in the 80's. 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' is a terrific track largely down to Trevor. I think Steve had his nose put out by this and his pride took a hit over Rabins influence on the Yes sound. '90125' and 'Big G' are great albums, am not so keen on 'Talk'. Sadly after Steve's woeful treatment of Jon Anderson years later he lost my respect as a person. Still love his playing of course.
Anderson burned his own bridges.
@@paulstibora1123 How? By falling very sick? and nearly dying?
@@lazycalm41 When he got better he had a chance to get back in and demanded 50% of the take and he would be a contract singer, Squire told him to take a hike.
" What the fuck are you in a band for if you can't make music the way you want it ? " Tell it .
Jon Andersen wants to play with the original players, is steve Howell the one who dont want to play with him...yes today sounds like a cover band without Anderson and wakeman...steve however is a fool not to play with them..hes ruing the legacy of yes
Steve just doesn't want to share the brand name "Yes" with Jon because he knows that means involving him more and I think Steve's had enough of it, a shame.
New subscriber due to watching YES video...
Brilliantly told very insightful
I appreciate that Lee, welcome aboard and be sure to check out my Part 2 of this interview which I uploaded right before Christmas.
Hi, at approx 12:50 min from the beginning, you're talking about The Road to Budokan documentary about Asia in Asia in 1983 with Greg Lake replacing John Wetton. Do you still have a copy of it? I have been in touch with Ken Ceizler, who made the documentary in 1983 asking him where to find a copy of it and he said he did know loll May be both you should get in touch and arrange something so we can all have access to this peace of the Assia in Asia story?
Simon, thanks for the comment. Drop me an email and I'll get you a copy. My email is shown under the About tab of this channel (see Details). I would imagine this documentary aired once before the concert and that was it. The documentary never made it onto the VHS release and isn't even on the new exhaustive Blu-Ray release of the event. It's definitely worth checking out, talk soon.
@@RushTrader I just sent you an email. I have the new Box Set was disappointed that it was not included on the BluRay, thanks a lot fro offering ;-) BTW, I am a fan of Greg Lake and John Wetton. I've been following them from, KC, ELP, ASIA and their solo projects. I was disappointed that the story of Greg's Road to the Budokan was so twisted and that real story of his commitment with Asia (from an interview Geoff and Him gave in 1983 in Japan) was never told straight. Regards!
More! Please! Thank you.
The person posting / presenting this is just yet another ego driven project he is using trying to claim his little bit of fame by spreading nothing but Negativity. It has no genuine relevance to the good and positive history of Steve Howe, the bands he played in nor the music he has created and / or contributed to.
Much of the video is Steve in his own words so maybe the problem is you.
As good as “Asia” was, “Alpha” is one of the worst 2nd albums of the modern era.
I agree David, I remember back in the day thinking to myself, what the hell happened?? Thanks for the comment and for watching!
@@RushTrader you do a great job! I like your "cut ins" on the interviews also, because you provide very good context for your line of questioning.
You should call this the FOUND interview, since you now know where it is.
Great job !!!!
I've had quite a few dealings with Steve over the years. Interesting guy 🎶🎸
Steve Howe was at one time my favorite guitar player. It seems from what he says about the different bands he has been in that perhaps it's him that doesn't get along with other band mates. Yes, Asia, GTR, all had issues about him and other bandmates. That's what I got out of this but great interview all the same.
I agree. Watch the ARW stuff and the interplay between Rabin and Wakeman, something you never get with Howe.
A few important notes:
First of all ASIA ALPHA- Despite what you and Steve feel about it, I actually prefered ALPHA over the first ASIA. There were 2 b-side songs, one Steve contributed to musically.
I understand what Steve says about blend and feature playing- good point, but I stil like ALPHA 37 years later!
As for the JW/ Lake replacement, John had gone on record- his drinking really made him unreliable. Steve is very gracious about not bringing that up. I watched that whole ASIA in ASIA show in December 1983. I missed John, but Greg Lake- wow! I thought there was great potential. As for Steve leaving before ASTRA- well, when the album came out in December 1985, it got almost no promotion. I really like ASTRA.
One thing about the post Steve Hackett GTR time- Robert Berry is an excellent player, fit in with Steve, but according to Robert Berry, he said Max Bacon, GTR vocalist flat out did NOT like Robert. There are two interesting albums that eventually came out- Max Bacon Solo album, " The higher you climb," - the first song features Steve - I believe it is called " One to blame." It is an excellent rocking song in the GTR vein. Robert Berry also sang a version on his solo album, "Pilgrimage to a Point" album, which also features Keith Emerson, and Carl Palmer on 2 tracks!
I like what Steve said about the style of the 90125 YES era. I remember buying 90125 in November, 1983- it has now been 37 years ago! I went with that YES line up having started with YES in 1971. I listen to the YES-WEST, on occasion, but not like before I saw Trevor with YES 17 times over the 4 tours- it was what it was- still fun to see live!
Thanks for posting the interview!
That 2000 Masterworks show was fabulous!
Charles, thanks for your comment and insights! I'm readying Part 2 of this interview and was just going through some comments that I may have missed. It would have been interesting if Greg had continued with the band and wished he could have done more post-ELP. Speaking of Berry, are you familiar with that band 3 he was in with Emerson and Palmer? Berry released 3.2 in 2018, I believe, as a tribute to Emerson as they had been working on those tracks together but never got a chance to put them down.
I was at that show. Excellent performance
He hit the nail on the head talking about Rabin. Talented, sure, but it just never sounded like Yes to me, and I've been a fan since the early '70s. And regarding Asia, I still swear Trevor Rabin copped the intro to Owner of a Lonely Heart from Heat of the Moment. Also interesting he didn't talk about Yessongs (the movie). That was a powerful record and film, but the sound and video were God-awful.
Yessongs would be a must-see concert film if only the audio were listenable, a real shame! Thanks for the comment.
Steve is a great guitarist but Christ he's self-absorbed and a bit of a prima-donna. It wasn't Rabins job to "carry on" anything from Howe or Banks. Rabin has shown himself perfectly capable or playing other styles (Anerly Road is more Howe than Howe TBH), but Howe has been largely in a rut since Turbulence or at the very least has decided he has no interest in anything new since about 1982, and wants time to stand still.
Yeah, Turbulence was a great solo album and haven't enjoyed one like that since.
Steve howe didn’t like Trevor Rabin. Trevor was a different player than Steve and was under no obligation to play like Steve or Peter Banks. Trevor brought a freshness to yes that was a shot in the arm. Steve is a brilliant musician and I was hooked the moment I heard the yes album which is still one of my all time favs. Trevor has a musical talent that goes beyond Steve’s ability. Trevor can play keys as good if not better than most keyboard players. Along with his engineering skills he is a rare talent. Steve seems bitter when it comes to Trevor and he should just acknowledge his talent and contribution to yes. Now Steve won’t let Jon Anderson sing with his version of yes probably because he wants to be in control. You have an original vocalist and founding member of yes but no, Steve would prefer vocalists who imitate Jon over having THE VOCALS OF YES! I’m a Steve fan and I am a Trevor fan but most of all I’m a yes fan for life!
Well said, all good points! Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for sharing, Keep On Truckin'
First I want to say, Steve's playing was my first love of a guitarist for Yes before 83. But something Steve doesn't mention is the fact that Trevor auditioned for Asia before Wetton joined the band. They didn't quite fit together. So then Trevor was introduced to Chris and Alan. Their is an audio with Trevor auditioning too. I can understand Steve wanted back in with Yes, but he formed Asia before Cinema(Yes) rose in a new music scene the 70's Yes sound wouldn't have fit in. ABWH was a godsend for Steve to get his foot back in. Now he has the Yes name with Alan, and Jon also, but he isn't using at the moment with ARW on the shelf.
If Steve had joined in the 80s instead of Rabin, Yes wouldn't have had as strong a return which really set the stage for everything that followed. I think the songwriting Gods had everything worked out for these guys in the 80s because they were all working with different people, getting new inspiration and that's why both Howe and Yes in the 80s scored #1 albums and singles apart from one another. Couldn't have happened if the 70s Yes tried the same old stuff in the 80s, like you said.
Great stuff!
If I interviewed Howe I’d want my voice and conversation in it. I guess yer mic was broken aye ? Worth the listen but geez lots a fantasy peeps out there
It's not that my mic was broken, I only had one mic so Howe is much more prominent. The interview was intended for radio purposes so we only aired parts of what Steve said and then we ovedubbed the rest.
I'd really rather hear the interview than hear you talk about the interview.
Thanks for the cool interview. Really enjoyed it. More would be great! I hold Yes and Mr Howe highly on my favorites list. A Brilliant and versatile devotee of guitar. Prolifically talented band. Rare and precious Music Art in my estimation a gift towards Humanities enrichment for many years to come I trust.
Thanks for the comment and glad you enjoyed the interview. There will be more in the near future.
Great interview! Thanks for telling Steve Howe to ‘get this shit going’ 😂 The Masterworks tour was an exciting time for us Yes fans - they pulled out a lot of songs we never thought we would ever hear again!
Never heard of Howe until Asia????? Where were you in 1970s???
I was a pre-teen and Yes hadn't come on my radar yet. My first exposure to Yes was 90125, then I went backwards and that's when a whole new world opened up.
Hi...been a long time since I've viewed your channel. All the Steve Howe interviews that I've listened to and read over the years and there is not one until now that I've heard him directly mention the Yes (Cinema version) music. Thanks for that. I could tell that he seems to be biting his tongue a little bit during that segment. He seemed to be very diplomatic about it (so as to not burn bridges, I'm assuming).
I would love to here more of the interview.
Great to hear from you again and thanks for the comment!
The only video I would buy would be a high quality video of the in the round tour or the GFTW tour. My first ones.....😀
@Knauer Pastorius they should have named it that.... lol
Enjoyed your thought provoking questions. Just read Steve’s autobiography and your interview material is great. Please post it in its entirety - Dave
Thanks for the comment David. I didn't realize Howe had an autobiography, will have to check it out. More from the interview will be coming at some point this year.
Excellent. What a treasure, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed!
Wow....just WOW!
15:30 ..... It goes beyond the music industry.
Kind of agree with one of your last points - but I’ll take it to an absurd degree. I don’t want them to open the archive to release ONE show… I would like to have a copy of the ENTIRE archive!!! Put it out on a server and sell me monthly access to it or download rights. I’m in. I’ve still got both my kidneys so you can price it so as to cover the costs of the band’s golden years!
Mario, while I wouldn't give up a kidney for Yes, it would be awesome to have access to a full archive of Yesshows from across all the tours, especially the 70s. Unfortunately, I think that was more of Squire's thing so not sure Howe has that same interest but let's do it while people still care!
@@RushTrader (not wanting to take the shine off of anyone’s apple): creating an online archive that fans could subscribe to would give bands like Yes a much needed lifeline of income from die-hard fans - folks who are (gulp) near or at retirement age and would be willing or able to easily commit to a $9.99 - $15.99 subscription fee to see/hear all the shows or see all of the photos. Granted that would be a HUGE task to manage from the back-end… but I’m sure that there’s a record company (or are they now ‘rights management’ companies?) who could create the infrastructure to warehouse all that information for the bands and put it out there en mass….
BTW - I forgot to mention that I loved the interview with Steve. Sometimes it is easy to forget that he has an opinion too! Jon and Chris and Rick were always easy sources of opinions on the band… Steve somehow gets lost in the mix (literally and metaphorically). Thanks for giving him a footing here.
Mario, glad you enjoyed the interview! With Jon, Chris and Rick out of the picture, Steve has unprecedented control over the band with no "governor" and, I believe, is a big factor in having no desire to reunite.
I was at that Jones Beach show.
Steve and Rick sued Yes for revenue from the 90120 album. They settled.
So, why is Steve upset?
Why would they sue the band during that period? Especially Rick since he quit the band a few years earlier. And did Steve have any rights to the name? Never heard about that. You have any links to this info?
RushTrader yeah, sounds like horse shit to me!
Sum Ego
Rubbish !
Great video! I want to hear more!
Part 2 please ?????? Perhaps you can also do a review of Steve’s new book as well. Thanks and really loved your research and thought provoking questions :)
Hey David, thanks so much! I will definitely do a part 2 in the near future. I need to get Steve's book and will discuss that as well.
RushTrader My review on Steve’s book is number 2 of the critical reviews. Best !
@@MrDcseltzer Thanks for letting me know, will check it out!
om
Talk is a great YES album.
i dont like steve howe...never have...his style is too weird and he never meshed well with YES..and i'm not the only one who feels this way..I gave him a chance with ASIA and GTR but again...too weird .he's a flower child and needs to stick with the 60's and 70's " hippy" style music..not rock or pop. he has no business in rock or pop.. no offense meant to the fans..he is a briliant writer and musician, but not for the band YES
I think you mean Trevor Rabin. Howe was THE guitar player of YES.
More, please!
Thanks for the feedback David, there will be more.
Music was changing then, Steve didnt want to change and asia had that newer progressive sound, alot like the new YES. But Asia wasnt even close to those trevor rabin yes albums they were genius.
Speaking of Yes today, they could go on with Geddy on Bass. That would be epic. Jon, Rick, Steve, Allan, Geddy.
Steve's son Dylan more probably, I have heard Alan White is arthritic these days and plays much less but yeah, Geddy Lee would be a great choice
While Geddy can certainly handle bass duties in Yes, he can't replace Chris on backing vocals, which is a major factor for anyone filling that role.
I was at that show. One of the highlights of all the concerts I've ever been to (too many to name). It was a stormy night with thunderstorms threatening. Kansas opened and Yes came on afterwards. The storms never came through and during Soon the clouds broke and you could see the moon through the clouds over the stage right. It was magical.
John, I saw that too! It was quite amazing how the moon lined up at that moment.
Just get on with the interview. Not interested in you
Then don't watch!
@@RushTrader exactly. Bye bye
That's unfair. The interview was 20 years ago and needs some background to put Howe's comments into context. I appreciated the background information.
how is GTR a supergroup?...
It bought together Steve Howe and Steve Hackett into one band. Not a true supergroup where every single member is known from major bands but close.
Irony is Trevor Rabin auditioned for Asia and there is a demo, that saw the light of day and was on UA-cam, of Rabin singing Only Time Will Tell. Howe has mentioned he was pissed when Yes reunited when he was in Asia. I suspect he didn't want two guitarists in the band in Asia and then finds out Rabin replaced him in Yes. I can see him being pissed.
Steve can't work with another guitarist as he prefers to control that department. See GTR for how it went with having another guitarist on board... led to disharmony within the band which saw Steve Hackett exiting before a second album.
That song initially was named as "starry eye"