Gruppo storico, gli Yes.
Una storia che comincia nel 1968, con l’incontro tra il chitarrista Pete Banks e il bassista e cantante Chris Squire (dai Syn) con il cantante Jon Anderson (dai Warriors); l’arrivo del tastierista Tony Kaye ( dai Bitter Sweet ) e del batterista Bill Bruford (reduce da esperienze rythm’n blues) completa la line-up per un’interessantissima formazione a cinque che inizia così ad affacciarsi in un panorama musicalmente fertilissimo come la Londra del 1968. Il gruppo si esibisce per alcune serate al Marquee di Londra, forse il locale underground più interessante della City, ed inizia a farsi conoscere ed apprezzare, tanto da essere scelto come spalla per lo storico concerto di addio dei Cream alla Royal Albert Hall nel novembre del 1968.
A quel tempo il rock progressivo stava gettando già le sue solide basi, e gli Yes furono uno dei primi gruppi a coglierne il messaggio, eseguendo musica con influenze a tratti dai gruppi proto-prog dell’epoca (i Nice su tutti), specie nei passaggi classicheggianti, a tratti dal folk (Simon and Garfunkel, Byrds), a tratti dal pop, ma abbinando con gusto anche elementi jazz e psichedelici. Nel primo disco omonimo del 1969 è riscontrabile buona parte di quella musica che riusciranno ottimamente ad evolvere nei dischi successivi, e che li consegnerà all’Olimpo del rock; ma qui comunque siamo ancora in una fase embrionale, con un primo capitolo importante ma in fin dei conti trascurabile nella loro discografia, fatta di alti e bassi. Le idee ci sono, ma sono ancora confuse e non si concretizzano al meglio in quella miscela di suoni che sarà il loro marchio di fabbrica.
Delle otto tracce presenti su questo disco due sono covers di Beatles (“Every Little Thing”, magistralmente riadattata secondo strutture vicine al prog e ampliata anche con richiami ad altre canzoni dei Beatles stessi) e Crosby (“I See You”, più allegra della versione originale); due tracce (“Sweetness” e “Beyond And Before”) sono invece rielaborazioni di brani composti in precedenza dai membri degli Yes, ancora con leggeri vagiti psichedelici. Il resto dei brani porta la firma di Anderson e Squire, con le perle “Harold Land” e “Survival”, che preannunciano i “progressivi” fasti futuri.
Importante notare come il gruppo sia ben compatto sin dall’esordio e non si può dire che abbia mai avuto un vero e proprio leader, anzi la loro forza stava proprio nell’unione e nella compatibilità tra i vari musicisti, un po’ come per i Led Zeppelin; questa sensazione per gli Yes si è avuta anche dopo i vari cambi di line-up, a dimostrazione dell’importanza della “coralità” nel progressive.
Nel successivo “Time And A Word” il gruppo elaborerà il proprio sound sempre più a favore dei canoni progressive, contribuendo alla definizione del genere.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Beyond and Before (04:57)
(Squire/Bailey)
Sparkling trees of silver foam cast shadows in winter home,
Swaying branches breaking sound, lonely forest trembling ground.
Masquerading leaves of blue run circles round the morning dew,
Patterns understood by you, reaching out beyond and before.
Time, like gold dust, brings mind down to hidden levels underground,
Say a few words to the wind, that's all that's left of winter's friend.
Reaching the snow in the days of the cold, casting a spell out of ice.
Now that you're gone,
The summer's too long and it seems like the end of my life
Beyond and before.
Time, like gold dust, brings mind down.
03 Yesterday and Today (02:51)
(Anderson)
Why is there you when there are few people around making me feel good?
Why is there me when air is free, some I can see better than I should?
There's only us simply because thinking of us makes us both happy.
I think of you ev'ry way, yesterday and today.
I think of things that we do, all the way, ev'ry day.
Stand in the sea, sing songs for me, sing happily, making me feel good.
Watching your eyes, feeling your sighs, saying goodbyes better than I could.
There's only us simply because thinking of us makes us both happy.
I think of you ev'ry way, yesterday and today.
I think of nothing but you, things we do, things we do.
04 Looking Around (04:02)
(Anderson/Squire)
Looking around me,
There's not so much in life I miss.
Things that I can't see,
I'll touch and I'll feel then I'll kiss.
Then I saw you standing there
With a smile I couldn't share,
Just looking around ev'rywhere.
All the things I've wanted to do
Take so much time to get around to you.
Just reach out and catch and hold on,
Leaving trails of dust and lust,
Never even ly'ng or try'ng, keep on moving, never dying.
Tunes that I can't hear
Would take me for a while my smile.
Fares that are too dear,
I'd rather walk out another mile.
Then I heard a tune so right,
It was in the dark of night,
Just list'ning around ev'rywhere.
All the things I've wanted to do
Take so much time to get around to you.
Just reach out and catch and hold on,
Leaving trails of dust and lust,
Never even ly'ng or try'ng, keep on moving, never dying.
Smiles that I don't see,
I'll make them up as I go on.
Laughs that just can't be,
I'll make and laugh at ev'ry one.
Then I saw you in your place
With a laugh upon your face,
Just looking around ev'rywhere.
All the things I've wanted to do
Take so much time to get around to you.
Just reach out and catch and hold on,
Leaving trails of dust and lust,
Never even ly'ng or try'ng, keep on moving, never dying.
Looking around with my feet on the ground
Full of words and of sound, bringing smiles all around.
Satisfy me with your words that can be,
Full of sound and I'll see I'm just looking around.
05 Harold Land (05:45)
number 5 from
the album 'Yes' by Yes
Harold land
Harold Land with a wave of his hand said goodbye to all that.
He paid his bills and stopped the milk, then put on his hat.
He tried to say his last farewells as quickly as he could,
Promising that he would return, but doubted that he would,
Doubted that he would, doubted.
Now he's marching soldiers in the rain as on to war they rode.
A long thin line of human mind, damnation as their load.
In the mud in coldness dark, he'd shiver out his fear,
What disappointing sights he'd seen instead of ones so dear,
Instead of ones so dear, so dear.
Going home, He's going home to the land he loved so well.
Going home, He fought for two years, never fell.
Going home, He's going home,
Going home. He's going home.
Harold Land with a wave of his hand stood sadly on the stage,
Clutching red ribbons from a badge, but he didn't look his age.
Only two years had passed between his leaving home and back;
He had lost his love and youth while
leading the attack, leading the attack.
In conversation it could be said,
Well after war your heart is dead.
Well it's not hard to understand,
There is no heart in Harold Land.
06 Every Little Thing (05:45)
(Lennon / Mc Cartney)
When I*m walking beside her,
People tell me I*m lucky
Yes I know I*m a lucky guy
I remember the first time
I was lonely without her
Can*t stop thinking about her now
Every little thing she does
She does for me
And you know the things she does
She does for me
When I*m with her I*m happy
Just to know that she loves me
Yes I know that she loves me now
There is one thing I*m sure of
I will love her forever
*cause I know love will never die
Every little thing she does
She does for me
And you know the things she does
She does for me
Every little thing she does
She does for me
And you know the things she does
She does for me
When I*m with her I*m happy
Just to know that she loves me
Yes I know that she loves me now
There is one thing I*m sure of
I will love her forever
*cause I know love will never die
Every little thing she does
She does for me
And you know the things she does
She does for me
Every little thing, Every little thing,
Every little thing, Every little thing.
07 Sweetness (04:33)
She brings the sunshine to a rainy afternoon
She puts the sweetness in and stirs it with a spoon
She watches for my moods and never brings me down
She puts the sweetness in all around
She knows just what to say to make me feel so good inside
And when I'm all alone I feel I don't wanna hide
Today she brought me in and told me where she'd been
She put my mind at rest and put the sweetness in
I'll ask her for some time to go and look around
She puts the sweetness in with a sound
She knows just what to say to make a sunny day
And when I'm all alone I really don't feel that way
Tell me how would you feel with no world of your own
And nobody to hold, I just can't see the way
I'm so glad it's today
And you're here, you're here
She brings the sunshine to a rainy afternoon
She puts the sweetness in and stirs it with a spoon
She watches for all my moods and never brings me down
She puts the sweetness in all around
She knows just what to say to make a sunny day
And when I'm all alone I really don't feel that way
Oh, how I need her so, I know she'll never never go
She'll never leave me, believe me
She'll never go
08 Survival (06:17)
Sunshine is creeping in and somewhere in a field a life begins,
An egg too proud to rape the beginning of the shape of things to come,
That start the run, life has begun, fly fast the gun.
The Mother flew too late and life within the egg was left to fate,
Not really knowing how the world outside would take it when it came,
And life's the same for things we aim, are we to blame?
Don't doubt the fact there's life within you,
Yesterday's endings will tomorrow life give you,
All that dies, dies for a reason,
To put its strength into the Season,
Survival, Survival,
They take away and they give their life as they live,
The living right to live, it's all that we need to show
The livings right to know.
The egg breaks all is out, the crawling bird begins to scream and shout,
Where is the parent bird, a loneliness arose and heard its name-
Ring in for live's begin, survival win, survival's sin.
So soon the evening comes with it runs the aching
Fear of hate could Someone still remain who thinks he
Still could gain by escaping fate? it's much too late,
Don't underrate, appreciate.
And we're all going
And we're all going
And we're all going somewhere!
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