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-   -   Jon Anderson interview. (http://auralmoon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5015)

TheFish 05-07-2011 04:02 PM

Jon Anderson interview.
 
From Sea Of Tranquility.

The Yes related comments are:

SoT: Now, in the summer, Yes is touring with Styx, and they have a different vocalist. I'm wondering how you respond to that. Were you asked to come along?

Jon: No, they don't want me in the band because I'm too much—what's the word? I don't like it when they're not playing good, and I would tell them. They're nice guys and they're doing what they want to do, going around the world like Journey. It's just gigs, you know? They make money and do their thing, and that's okay. The fact that the moved on when I was sick was very disrespectful, but I've said that before and that's the way life is sometimes. They're a group of guys out there trying to make money, so God bless them for that, and they're playing music that I didn't write so what do I care?

SoT: Well, I know you didn't sing on Drama, but for fans, you are the voice of Yes, so do you feel any ownership to the role and to the name? Do you feel that if someone else is singing, it's not really Yes?

Jon: No, I don't mind Benoît [David, singer of Mystery] singing the songs. The only thing that really bothered me when it happened was that they should've told people who was in the band, and they didn't. They just went out as Yes, and obviously, without me or Rick, there not really Yes. People would go to see them and think "gosh, Jon looks very young," and he doesn't really even look like me. It's just that when people pay to see their favorite band, they want to see who they want to see, of course.

THE REST IS HERE:

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/article.php?sid=1862

let the opinions flow :dogpile:

Yesspaz 05-08-2011 12:47 AM

Re: Jon Anderson interview.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFish (Post 45993)
Jon: They're playing music that I didn't write so what do I care?

Jon: They just went out as Yes, and obviously, without me or Rick, they're not really Yes. It's just that when people pay to see their favorite band, they want to see who they want to see, of course.

Jon is one of my favorite musicians of all time, but he's a total tool sometimes. These two quotes are such crap. By his definition of Yes, there are TEN Yes studio albums that he's on that are not "Yes" because Rick's not on them. Guys, get out a sharpie and scratch out the "Yes" logo on Yes, Time and a Word, The Yes Album, Relayer, 90125, Big Generator, Talk, Open Your Eyes, The Ladder, and Magnification. Jon's ego is more bloated than any two other musicians not named Dennis DeYoung.

As for the "They're playing music that I didn't write so what do I care?" bit - this is so ridiculously hypocritical it makes me want to find Jon and smack him upside the head, except I've got him by 130 pounds and he'd likely explode. Jon fought to get "Rhythm of Love" played on the OYE tour, and "Hearts" on the Ladder tour, even though Steve Howe wanted nothing to do with it. Rabin played Howe; Howe played Rabin and Banks. Alan's been playing Bill stuff for years. Every keyboardist has been playing other people's stuff. Poor, poor Jon for being asked EVERY TOUR to do "Tempus Fugit" and refusing because "I didn't write it and that Yes album doesn't count." Bullcrap. To quote Jon himself:

Watch from where it starts to 1:19.

Yesspaz 05-08-2011 12:59 AM

Re: Jon Anderson interview.
 
Another bit of the interview I found interesting, for what it's worth:

Jon: I believe in great music.

SoT: Of course—you're an artist.

Jon: I love Mahavishnu, Weather Report. I love some new songs now and again. I enjoyed Nirvana and bands like that. I've seen U2 and Bruce Springsteen. They're great! There's great music out there, but don't hit me over the head and say, "you've got to have a hit record." Of course I'd love to have a hit record. I mean, my voice is on a #1 album right now.

SoT: The new Kayne West, right?

Jon: Yeah. It makes me feel like "hey, I wrote a rock opera twenty years ago and I've got to get Kanye West to sing on it. Or rap on it." He's got a great producer.

SoT: A lot of hip-hop artists these days sample music you wouldn't expect them to even know about, I think. I remember hearing from someone that Kayne West sampled King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." How unexpected do you think that is for these artists to go back decades and sample progressive rock and relate genres?

Jon: I think some of their producers have their heads screwed on because it reaches so many different people. They've woken up and realized that there are different kinds of music; it doesn't have to all be about sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, and bling-bling.

sharcnorris 05-08-2011 09:17 PM

Re: Jon Anderson interview.
 
Not to put words in his mouth because he doesnt say it, but....

I think what Jon is not saying is these guys have a right to tour, and to play music they were involved with, but maybe not as YES

I think they should have Named themselves something new.

Yesspaz 05-09-2011 12:10 AM

Re: Jon Anderson interview.
 
Why should they name themselves something new? The legal aspect of Chris owning the name notwithstanding, it's FOUR members of Yes plus a new singer. That's pretty standard operating procedure for Yes's history.

Should Styx with Young and Shaw not be called Styx because they've got a new singer to replace DeYoung?

Should Journey with Schon and Valory and Cain not be called Journey because they've got a new singer to replace Perry?

This idea that the singer = the band is just wrong, in my opinion. If that was the case then The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is Pink Floyd, but the rest of the albums were some poser band because it wasn't Barrett singing, even though it was largely the same musicians.

This is Yes: Howe, Squire, White, Downes, David.

(not that I'm a huge fan of David, but that IS Yes)

sharcnorris 05-09-2011 01:49 PM

Re: Jon Anderson interview.
 
only ONE original member now Yaz, Howes a main cog but the rest are all stand-ins... Band should be called .... NO

KeithieW 05-10-2011 02:37 AM

Re: Jon Anderson interview.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by sharcnorris (Post 46015)
Band should be called .... NO

or maybe "Perhaps" :)

Yesspaz 05-10-2011 02:54 AM

Re: Jon Anderson interview.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by sharcnorris (Post 46015)
only ONE original member now Yaz, Howes a main cog but the rest are all stand-ins... Band should be called .... NO

I can buy the argument that Downes is a stand-in, but Alan White? Please.


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