Vol 5. No. 7 - April 1998 - Steve Howe
Concerts | Alan | Chris | Jon | Rick | Yes News 4/98 | Yestival
From: ckraatz@m2.sprynet.com - April 21
Steve's new CD - Quantum Guitar - was released today in the US, everyone should have it. I just got it today and have only heard it once, so these remarks are only after my "initial attention", but here goes...
The album is vaguely reminiscent of Turbulence, all instrumental with Steve's son Dylan on drums, mystical song titles, sort-of.
If you've seen the album cover on NFTE, the version of that bent guitar picture is even more awesome one the inside of the liner notes...
Nice picture of Steve and Dylan inside. Steve is really a very compassionate and caring looking sort of guy, but man he's gotten thin over the years. I'm nearly as vegetarian as Steve, no kidding, but he really is very thin. This picture has me hoping that he's altogether healthy...
Steve's note to the listener:
"Quantum Guitar is an exploration into the multiple styles of guitar playing that have always fascinated me. The title suggests levels of life, music and awareness coexisting as time and space progress onward, beyond our understanding. Quantum physics is about simultaneous levels of space and time. Here on Quantum Guitar, I utilize my playing to jump these divides, performing with Dylan Howe on drums, to fashion a sound that encompasses the spectrum of guitars I enjoy.
Steve Howe"
Several moments stand out on this album. The track "Suddenly" (over 10 minutes long!) is a classic Steve track, very intense and an incredible performance. The track "Sovereigns" is very much reminiscent of "To Be Over" - if you like the latter, you'll love the former. The last track, "Southern Accent" is just plain fun. 17 tracks in all, a must have for Howe fans!!!
Album design by the Gottlieb Bros., very nice.
Distributed by "Resurgence", RES130CD.
Get this one...
Peace and love,
Chris
Vol 5. No. 7 - April 1998 - Rick Wakeman
Concerts | Alan | Chris | Jon | Yes News 4/98 | Steve | Yestival
From: gill king (gak@bodley.ox.ac.uk) - April 6
OK, here goes! Rick was playing St. Mary's Church, Adderbury (near Banbury, Oxfordshire) on his 'Words and Music' tour last Friday. It is a large and beautiful church and proved to be a really good setting - good acoustics too! As usual, Paul Field did the first half, and was well received. Rick got a warm reception as he appeared for the second half. Dressed (soberly for Rick) in black, with a dark purple jacket, he launched immediately into chat. He had been delighted to discover that one of his old teachers was now the Vicar of a neighbouring village church and was present at the concert, and we had a few reminiscences of his schooldays. Later in the concert, the Reverend was beckoned to the front to assist (Rick loved this 'role reversal.') Rick shared lots of stories with us between pieces, of course, some familiar and some new ones. They included stories about his grandmother, mother, bank manager etc. as well as his usually pieces about his life and faith. The audience were very responsive to it all. Musically, Rick played several pieces he had done on the Piano tour (and to be found on the video) - 'Morning Has Broken', 'Nursery Rhyme Concerto' , and the Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby' to name but three. He also did the Beatles' 'Help', plus some of his own earlier work - 'Jane Seymour' and 'Merlin the Magician' were particularly nice to hear. He also spoke about, and played from, '1984.' One of the highlights for me was the beautiful piano piece, 'Children of Chernobyl'. He finished, as usual, with 'The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended.' A really uplifting evening.
Gill
P.S. For those fans here in the UK, Rick said he had just finished filming another series of programmes for 'Countdown', to be shown on Channel 4 in May.
From: JSerge (Jserge@aol.com) April 9
I was reading the Q magazine with the infamous Tori Amos cover and the famous Fish letter and at the back in the concert listings they mention that Yes is currently performing with R. Wakeman's son! What's up with that? When Yes played here (Toronto) last fall, the keyboardist was some guy with a Russian last name who played on their Open Your Eyes album.
Just a ' wondering.
Joe-the hollow man
From Jon Hinchliffe (jon@praying-mantis.prestel.co.uk) - April 12
There were flood warnings for most rivers in my area so Mum (my driver) and I decided we had better go early. As it turned out we had no delays and no trouble finding Stalham Baptist Church which is 66 miles from Ipswich and I assume more of a village than a town. We ended up being an hour early and surprisingly three or four other cars all turned up at a similar time. The road crew was also just entering the church for the finale sound check before the doors opened about 6.45.
We were all requested to be seated by 7.15 for a 7.30 start and that was a good move as they had sold out and it seems, sold too many seats, as they had to fill the aisles with buckets seats. I assume no one from fire safety was in the audience! Apparently until two weeks before the gig they had been wondering if they had made a mistake in getting Rick back as tickets sales had been very slow. And then everyone bought them. Clearly concert promotion is not for the faint hearted.
The church was about 20 people wide by 10 rows and had 3 or 4 rows in a circle upstairs. Rick had played the church on the last Piano tour so it was going to be interesting to see how much variation there would be in the stories etc.
The tour it seems was originally going to be called the 40 days and 40 nights tour but ended up as "Words and Music". I preferred the original title given - it was Good Friday - but "Words and Music" is very descriptive.
Paul Field came on at 7.30 and while he held little interest to me, I was not praying for him to end or anything. Rick it seems had encouraged him to tell a joke and his general in between song chat was interesting.
Of course my main interest of the night was Rick and he I guess came on around 8.30. Unusually he went straight into a chat. He re-told the Countdown stories from the last Theatre tour, but as Gill mentioned, updated it to say that he had just recorded some more shows.
He then played "Gone But not Forgotten" on the pretend piano. IE the keyboard set up and dresses to look like a mini piano. As Rick sat down someone in the audience suggested he was "Close to the Edge" which amused Rick enough to repeat it into the mic.
Rick then told a story about how stubborn his family are, and in this case, his grandmother. She had decided she was going to see him do Journey but the promoter had forgotten to hold back tickets for Rick. So Rick had to buy them from a ticket tout at six times value. He had given some to Peter Sellers and his wife, but they were not together, and it turned out Rick's grandma sat between them and refused to move. He also then told the story of "Morning has Broken" and how he never got paid and then never told anyone how to play it.
He, of course, then played "Morning has Broken".
Rick then told the story of the recording of "Jane Seymour" from the last theatre tour. IE How the Vicar did not charge for the facilities of his church, but kept dropping subtle hints that he was short of funds for a new roof, etc.
Rick then played "Jane Seymour" and that was again the highlight of my night. I love the deep tones and that and I am a real sucker for organ pieces. It is a shame Rick did not let rip on the church organ, which was situated on a balcony above, but it is of course, understandable that he didn't.
Next up was the story about him doing Breakfast TV when it first started here in the UK. This was last told on the What's on TV Tonight tour, so although I had heard it before, it was quite fresh to most people. Basically Rick had been due to do a TV appearance the same morning as two Monty Python stars, one of whom was dressed as a parrot. That morning as the program went on air, news of Gandhi's assassination came through so the program's presenter told Rick the whole program would be dedicated to the news, and it would not be appropriate to use Rick. The Python in the parrot suit then asked if the same applied to them.
Rick then said he was doing "Merlin the Magician", but he needed a volunteer as it was not possible to play it by himself. Since he needed some chords holding as he went to the mini piano for the last section. He therefore grabbed a lady from the audience and did it as a "duet". Of course not quite as the pre-song run through had suggested as when he got to the piano, a roadie bought him a letter to read.
Next up was the story of Rick's mum liking the piano concerts but not the full blown rock concerts. She decided she would take 12 people from an old folks home to the premiere of the 1984 tour thinking it was a piano concert. And when Rick said it was not, she told him he would have to change it. Of course he did not, and the old people went to the gig and some even enjoyed it, which impressed Rick and taught him not to pigeon hole people into stereotypes.
Rick then played the "1984 Overture" and "Hymn". This again was done on the last theatre tour but not the church tour. And since Adam was not singing in this one, I enjoyed it a lot more.
We then got the standard intro to the "Nursery Rhyme" concerto. And of course the piece itself.
Then the potentially long chat of Rick's conversion. I was most curious to see what he did here. And basically it was a brief over view of his beliefs but a big expansion on how Nina had been converted. I don't think the main part had been told on the church tour before but it is conceivable that I had heard the story before at sometime (thinking about it, I guess it was in "Say Yes").
Rick then played "Help". This being appropriate as Rick had needed a mortgage to help pay a large tax bill.
Rick then said the next song would be "Eleanor Rigby" and did the standard intro but then he moved on to tell the "That's My Dog" story from the Wot's on TV Tonight tour. I can't think how to summarise it briefly so I won't :-)
And that was the end of the set. Except Rick did not bother leaving the stage before the encore as he thinks it is a stupid tradition.
He then said he was going to finish with "The Day Thou Gavest Lord has Ended" (Anne Boleyn) which is the song he played before going to bed.
I guess the total set was only 90 mins (instead of 2hrs of the theatre tour) this time due to the support act but not having Adam and Frazer singing meant it is far more enjoyable for me than the last tour.
I look forward to the next tour of any kind and am very grateful to Rick for touring England so much :-)
From: Jon Hinchliffe - April 13
I have just been reading the tour program and spotted an explanation for the change of tour name. Since I needed to check that I had installed my OCR software OK. Here is the section on what Rick is saying for 1998
1998 ... Apart from the Words and Music Church tour there is a three month world tour planned for the end of the year to celebrate Rick's 25 years of recording. There will be an accompanying album. Numerous television appearances are lined up including recalls to Countdown, Songs of Praise and The Generation Game.
Just for the record, look out for the sequel of Journey to the Centre of the Earth in 1999.
. . . And finally in 1999, Rick hopes to visit 40 churches on the 40/40 tour which was originally planned for this year, but sadly never reached fruition due to the sad collapse of the agency that was organising the tour.
With this in mind, many thanks are due to the organisers at each of the churches on this current tour who, alongside Candy at Rick's office, have worked tirelessly to make this evening possible.
From Brian Neeson - April 21
Rick will play a charity event at Liverpool Philharmonic in aid of Cancer Research Sunday 31st May. Guests include Flint Male Voice Choir, Merseyside Youth Orchestra, and pianist Glenys Carroll.
Tickets 9 pounds to 15 pounds Tel: 0151 709 3789.
From: Nic Caciappo <nicbeat@earthlink.net> (5/6)
Here it is !
Rick Wakeman has signed a major deal with EMI Classics to present his sequel to "Journey To The Centre of the Earth" and his 25th anniversary of his highly successful 1974 album, to be titled "Return to the Centre of the Earth."
The album will be recorded in the studio with The London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, as well as several **MAJOR** rock stars who will lend their talents to this recording. The names of these guests are not available for disclosure yet, but future announcements will be given soon. Rick is also selecting a narrator for the new album and will likely be one of two very popular actors!
In addition, "Return" will be performed live on the same day the CD is released, January 18, 1999. The concert will be performed in London with the guests who appear on the CD as well as the LSO and ECC. It is also very likely that a major television network will pick up the concert for broadcast in the USA as well as the UK!
Further, there are plans underway for a worldwide tour of the USA, Europe and possibly Japan for the "Return" concert. Orchestra and choirs will be set up in the cities that Wakeman & Co. visit. Prime tickets for the London anniversary premiere will be made available to RWCC members, as well as tickets for the 1999 world tour.
Very *special* artwork for the CD and double-album gatefold packaging is planned as well as an extra CD-ROM track for the "Making of Return To The Centre of the Earth".
EMI have been very excited about the full potential of "Return". Many of the same people who have been a major part of the organizing of Paul McCartney's "Standing Stone" are taking this project on. Other successful projects from EMI recently include Sarah Brightman, Vanessa Mae, Nigel Kennedy, Ian Anderson and Steve Hackett. The Wakeman project fits very well in this company!
For more information and a photo of the Wakeman signing at EMI in London go to the RWCC website!
Yea Rick! Finally !!!! : )
See you in London... Cheerio!
Nic Caciappo
Vol 5. No. 7 - April 1998 - Chris Squire
Concerts | Alan | Yes News 4/98 | Jon | Rick | Steve | Yes News 4/98
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