Thanks for the share. I've seen this before on Youtube. There are two moments in his career when I feel really sorry for Brian. The first is when he played with Jerry Lee Lewis and his guitar lead popped out of the amp just as he was about to do his solo. JLL looked at him as if he was a complete amateur. The second time is when Brian realised in this Les Paul video that he is completely out of his depth at this kind of spontaneous jamming.
^Fortunately, he more than makes up for the flub on the JLL gig when Jerry comes back chiming : "Phew! He almost has me singing great balls of fire again" (err something like that)
Haven't seen this one. Gonna have to enjoy this when i get a free hour or two
These Les Paul videos are so revealing. All kinds of "legends" come on to play with him, but very few can keep up.
Brian did to a point (his blues and skiffle roots served him well), but Steve Howe managed entirely. Howe has chops and musicality. He's far more than a rock guy. His musical vocabulary runs deep - jazz, classical, Spanish, country, and ragtime. And he is excited as a little boy to show his mentor how he did his homework once upon a time, almost like he'd been waiting for decades for a moment like this: link
Most of these rock players like Billy Gibbons and Slash don't have the vocabulary to keep up with Les. They can't do much beyond pentatonic scales, and Les is smart enough to clue in. He's too much of a gentleman to do anything more than a 12 bar blues with them, because he knows they're out of their league.
Guys like Howe and Tommy Emmanuel are the exception. They truly are peers, and you can see how genuinely delighted Les is to play with them. These Iridium and Fat Tuesdays videos separate the men from the boys.
I was thinking exactly same when I saw those vids. Especially on Steve Howe indeed. Great to see his amazing playing.
Having said that, the only thing I ever really liked about Yes is their beautiful artwork, the yes logo and their debut LP.
All of wich How had nothing to do with.
I never became a fan of rock and roll because of the virtuosity of the musicians. A good rock and roll song isn't necessarily something terribly difficult.
And a technically great musician isn't necessarily a good rock and roll songwriter. Steve Vai being a good example.
I'd say most of the Yes output from 71-77 is pretty solid. It gets wonky after that.
Heart Of The Sunrise and Turn Of The Century are beautiful pieces that destroy me in all the right ways.
This stuff does take a lot of listens. It's art. The dedicated listener is rewarded.