Yes - Union Line-up, Beyond and Before

(Click here to recap on Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe)

After the success of their debut album, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, along with bassist Tony Levin, entered the studio in France to record a follow-up album with producer Jonathan Elias. Bill Bruford praised the material that was recorded and anticipated a promising future for the band, however the executives at Arista Records felt that none of the songs recorded had potential for radio play or being hit singles. As Jon Anderson was recording his vocals in Los Angeles, he reunited with Trevor Rabin and listened to the material that Yes was recording. Rabin suggested that Anderson sing on the songs, and in exchange Anderson requested Rabin record a hit single for ABWH. Rabin recorded three new tracks and told Anderson to choose only one, but Anderson wanted to use all three which then prompted the idea to merge the members of Yes and ABWH. Chris Squire, Steve Howe and Bill Bruford all resisted the idea, but after negotiations were made both bands agreed to participate in the project. As a result, Atco Records released Yes from the label while still retaining the rights to their back catalog and the band signed to Arista Records.

(The second proposed album by Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe had circulated as a bootleg release knows as The Dialogue Demos. This album would receive an official release as a solo album by Jon Anderson called Flying the Flags of Freedom.)

The eight-piece line-up of Yes were set to record their first album together, titled Union, with Jonathan Elias producing the album, however the recording process actually involved members of Yes recording in Los Angeles while members of ABWH(along with Tony Levin) recorded in England. The sessions involving ABWH were not met without controversy. Steve Howe recorded a solo acoustic piece for the album at his home studio in London, but he and Rick Wakeman were absent for most of the recording sessions due to solo commitments. In order to complete the sessions, Jonathan Elias brought in guitarist Jimmy Haun(who has worked with Chris Squire on solo projects) to record Howe’s parts and several keyboardists to play Wakeman’s parts. Elias believed that Wakeman had “lost his edge,” and called Howe a “very good with guitar player with a bruised ego.” While Jon Anderson agreed with Elias’ decision to re-record the keyboards and guitar, he told every keyboardist in the session to make the keyboards sound as far and away from 90125 as possible after the producer told them to make them sound like 90125.

Many members of Yes have expressed their disdain for the album Union, which reached No. 15 in the U.S. and No. 7 in the U.K. and achieve gold status despite negative reviews. Trevor Rabin called Union with its misleading title “More of a failed project than a real album.” Steve Howe equated Jonathan Elias’ decision to hire Jimmy Haun to re-record his guitar parts to “having an abortion.” Rick Wakeman recalled that he didn’t recognize any keyboard parts on the album referred to it as “Onion because it made me cry every time I heard it.” It is rumored that Wakeman threw his copy of the album out of his limousine window after listening to it. Bill Bruford, who has disowned the album completely, adamantly stated, “It was not only the most dishonest title I’ve ever had the privilege of recording drums underneath, but the single worst album I’ve ever recorded.”

Despite their disgust toward the album, Bill Bruford and Rick Wakeman in particular have expressed feelings of joy during the Union tour. A live recording of the tour, known as Union Live, would be released in 2011. At the tours conclusion, Bruford, Wakeman, and Steve Howe left the band to pursue other music projects. The remaining members of Yes would release the album Talk in 1994 and subsequently dissolve a year later.

(Click here to recap on the album Talk)

In 1995, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe(who has remained with the band since) were invited back into Yes where they worked on revitalizing the classic Yes sound from the 1970’s. They reworked material that was recorded for the XYZ project(which featured Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page) in 1981, and released it on the studio/live albums Keys to Ascension in 1996 and Keys to Ascension 2 in 1997. A live video of Keys to Ascension featuring the classic Yes line-up was released was released in 1996. Wakeman initially favored an exclusive studio release, which the rest of the band agreed on combining the studio material with live recordings. This decision, coupled with poor promotion of the album which was believed by Jon Anderson to be the reason for its underwhelming performance in sales, prompted Wakeman to leave the band one more time. He would be replaced by Billy Sherwood, who has worked with Yes as a touring guitarist for the Talk tour and a recording engineer for the band.

With this new line-up, the band set to record Open Your Eyes in late 1997 and hired Russian keyboardist Igor Khoroshev to tour for the album. In 1999, the now 6-piece band entered Armoury Studios in Vancouver, BC with Bruce Fairbairn producing the album The Ladder. The album’s title track was featured in the video game Homeworld. Tragedy struck during the mixing portion of the sessions when Fairbairn suddenly passed away, and the band dedicated the album in his memory upon release. Live renditions of songs from The Ladder were featured on House of Yes: Live from House of Blues a year later. During this time, tensions emerged when Khoroshev was involved in a sexual assault with a female security officer which led to his departure shortly afterward.

Without a keyboardist in the band Yes chose to record the next album with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra conducted by Larry Groupe, which marked the first time since Time and a Word that the band recorded with an orchestra. The result was Magnification, and for the tour they hired keyboardist Tom Brislin and brought in a festival orchestra for each show. Symphonic Live was released a year later, which documented the band performing live with a symphony orchestra. At the tour’s conclusion, the band invited Rick Wakeman back into the band and over a period of two years the band released the live albums Yes Acoustic: Guaranteed No Hiss, and Songs From Tsongas. In 2004, the band announced that they would embark on a hiatus. During this time, Steve Howe rejoined the band Asia with the original line-up and Alan White joined former members of Yes Billy Sherwood and original keyboardist Tony Kaye in the band CIRCA. The live album Live at Montreux 2003 was released in 2007.

The band reconvened in 2008 to prepare for an upcoming tour, however Rick Wakeman was advised by his doctors not to tour due to his health. He suggested that his son Oliver Wakeman take his place. Disaster struck when Jon Anderson suffered respiratory failure and was advised not to tour for six months, but the remaining members of the band were not willing to wait that long so they replaced Anderson with Montreal based singer Benoit David who was discovered by the band after watching him perform in a Yes tribute band. David also sang in the progressive rock band Mystery. Yes commenced touring and released their first studio album in a decade, with Trevor Horn producing the album. The band re-worked material that was recorded during the Drama sessions(which was also recorded by The Buggles for the album Adventures In Modern Recording), and to capture the essence of the works Horn suggested bringing in keyboardist Geoff Downes. The band released Fly From Here and later that year the band released the live album In The Present - Live From Lyon, the only studio and live albums by Yes to feature Benoit David.

In 2012, Benoit David was stricken with respiratory failure and was replaced by Glass Hammer singer Jon Davison at the suggestion of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. With Davison on lead vocals, Yes performed classic albums in their entirety, beginning with The Yes Album, Close To The Edge, and Going For The One. The first tragedy of Yes alumni occurred in 2013 with the passing of original guitarist Peter Banks. Their first live album with Davison, Like It Is: Live at the Bristol Hippodrome, was released in 2014. That very same year the band released their first studio album with Davison on vocals, Heaven and Earth which also saw the return of producer Roy Thomas Baker who last worked with Yes in 1979. For the next tour the band included a live performance of the album Fragile in its entirety, which was released on the live album Like It Is: Live at the Mesa Arts Center. In 2015, Chris Squire revealed that he had leukemia and was to undergo treatment so he asked Yes alumni Billy Sherwood to fill in his place. Sadly, Squire’s condition worsened and he passed away later that year. The band soldiered on with plans to perform the album Drama and two movements from Tales From Topographic Oceans for the next tour, which was documented on the live album Topographic Drama. During the tour, Alan White underwent back surgery and the band hired drummer Jay Schellen to take his place. Steve Howe’s son Dylan has also performed as a touring drummer for the band.

In 2017, Yes were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed the songs “Roundabout” and “Owner of a Lonely Heart” with Jon Anderson on vocals and Rick Wakeman on keyboards. Rush bassist Geddy Lee performed with the band on “Roundabout,” and Trevor Rabin played with the band on “Owner of a Lonely Heart” while Steve Howe played bass. After the ceremony, a legal settlement was made between current and former members of Yes and a new incarnation of the band called Yes featuring Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman was formed. In 2018, the band re-released the 2011 album Fly From Here as Fly From Here-Return Trip with new lead vocals by Trevor Horn, marking the return of the Drama line-up in a studio recording. The band announced their 50th anniversary tour featuring original keyboardist Tony Kaye.

The band currently performs with singer Jon Davison, keyboardist Geoff Downes, guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Billy Sherwood, and drummer Alan White. Jay Schellen performs as a touring drummer.

Members(from left to right):

Chris Squire – Bass, harmonica, backing vocals
Tony Kaye – Keyboards, backing vocals
Rick Wakeman – Keyboards
Alan White – Drums, backing vocals
Jon Anderson – Lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harp
Trevor Rabin – Guitars, lead and backing vocals, keyboards, orchestration, conductor, producer, engineer
Bill Bruford – Acoustic and electronic drums
Steve Howe – Guitars

Band logo by Roger Dean. Source

Shout-outs to JackHammer86 for the artwork inspiration and gen8 for Anime Face Maker 2.