Yessongs is the first live album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released as a triple album in the US on 4 May 1973 and in the UK on 18 May 1973 by Atlantic Records. After completing their Close to the Edge Tour in April 1973, the band selected live recordings between February and December 1972 on their tours supporting Fragile (1971) and Close to the Edge (1972) for a live album release. They were then edited and remixed with their producer and live sound mixer Eddy Offord. Two tracks feature original Yes drummer Bill Bruford, with the remainder of the drumming being performed by his replacement, Alan White.
Yessongs received a mostly positive reception from music critics, though much criticism was directed at its sound quality. The album was a commercial success for the band, reaching number 7 on the UK Albums Chart and number 12 on the US Billboard 200. In 1998, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over one million copies in the United States. In 2015, recordings of seven shows from late 1972, including ones that were used in the original album, were released in their entirety as Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two.
Background and recording
In September 1971, the Yes line-up of singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bill Bruford, guitarist Steve Howe, and newcomer keyboardist Rick Wakeman embarked on their Fragile Tour in support of the band's fourth studio album, Fragile (1971). The tour saw the band play across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe until March 1972. Following the recording of their fifth studio album, Close to the Edge (1972), the band resumed as a live act on 30 July 1972 to support the album. The tour saw the debut of drummer Alan White in the band after Bruford left when recording for the album had finished. His departure came eleven days prior to the tour's start, leaving White to learn the band's repertoire in three days. The tour ended in April 1973, by which time Yes had made additional live recordings. Yes manager Brian Lane said that people had started to think that the group were a "studio band" and were unable to reproduce what they recorded in the studio on stage, which became a reason for putting out a live album.
The Fragile and Close to the Edge tours had producer and engineer Eddy Offord travelling with the band as their live sound mixer who operated a sound system developed by the Clair Brothers. In addition, co-founder Roy Clair assisted with the operation of the system, and Geoff Haslam was hired as the recording engineer alongside assistant Mike Dunn to work on Yessongs.
Dates and locations
thumb|right|Rainbow Theatre
The liner notes do not list recording dates or locations, but audio comparisons of the album and the live box set Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two (2015) can be made, in addition to the soundtrack to the Yessongs concert film. They are:
- 19 and/or 23 February 1972 at the Academy of Music in New York City – "Perpetual Change" and "Long Distance Runaround"/"The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
- 1 November 1972 at Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario – "Roundabout"
- 12 November 1972 at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina – "Heart of the Sunrise", "And You and I", the second half of "I've Seen All Good People
- 15 November 1972 at Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee – "Siberian Khatru", the first two thirds of "Excerpts from 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII'. and "Yours Is No Disgrace".
- 20 November 1972 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York – "Opening (Excerpt from 'Firebird Suite')", the final third of "Excerpts from 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII'", "Mood for a Day"
- 15 and/or 16 December 1972 at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London – "Close to the Edge" and "Starship Trooper"
Songs
Yessongs begins with "Opening (Excerpt from 'Firebird Suite')", the closing section to the orchestral work The Firebird by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The large space for Dean's work allowed him to continue a theme that "implied a story" that he introduced on the cover of Fragile, which portrays a planet breaking into pieces and a spacecraft in flight. The narrative was continued on the sleeve of Close to the Edge. Dean recalled that talks about the artwork for Yessongs were scarce until he presented the group with a rough version of his "Pathways" painting, which was well received and influenced his decision to continue the narrative. However, Dean had to redesign a new broken planet to the one on Fragile as the pieces of land that break off were too square shaped, so the pieces seen on Yessongs are more triangular. The gatefold design involved complex paper folding that Dean described as "a way of going from gatefold to any number of pages, folded out of one piece of card", and resulted in Dean and his printers, Tinsley Robor, filing a patent for that way of folding. Further development of the technique was cut short due to a subsequent national paper shortage.
The first painting, named "Escape", shows the spacecraft and a planetary fragment drifting through space in the search for a new world, with several other fragments following behind. While Dean was working on "Pathways", his cat walked across the canvas whilst still wet and its paw prints can be seen in the sky area. Dean attempted to disguise them as clouds, but it failed to produce the desired results and he kept them in. After it was photographed for the sleeve, Dean's cat urinated on the painting as it was standing against a wall, causing Dean to paint a new version that he said "looked quite different" to the version photographed. The lawsuit was thrown out by judge Jesse M. Furman
in September 2014 who disagreed and believed the court found no substantial similarities between the film and Dean's artwork.
Release
Yessongs was released in May 1973. its release was originally planned for February 1973, prior to the start of the band's early 1973 North American tour, but delays in printing its cover led to its release pushed back. The band and Lane agreed to take a cut in royalties generated from the album so it could be sold at a lower price. and number 12 on the US Billboard 200. On 2 June 1973, the American magazine Cash Box reported that the album had reached gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 500,000 copies in the US. In 1998, the album was certified platinum for shipping one million copies, becoming one of the band's highest selling records.
In an overall positive review for The Los Angeles Times, Richard Cromelin said that although some of the live renditions are sub-par to their studio versions, it presented some "excellent and rarely-heard pieces" that make the listener "really feel the people behind the music" which in turn makes up for the "occasional sloppiness". Cromelin praised the album for the "stunning improvisations" and interplay within the band which dispels those who criticise Yes for being "dry and mechanical". Record World highlighted the album's "remarkable sound quality" and believed that the collection showcased the band "at their exciting creative best." Variety published a positive review, noting the album shows the band at "their exciting best". Band biographer Tim Morse thought the album's downfall was its substandard audio quality despite the band's strong performances.
Reissues
Yessongs has been reissued several times:
- 1987 – 2-disc CD reissue on Atlantic Records
- 1994 – 2-disc CD remaster by Joe Gastwirt on Atlantic Records
- 1998 & 2001 – 3-disc HDCD reissue by Isao Kikuchi on Warner Music Japan
- 2009 – 2-disc SHM-CD remaster by Isao Kikuchi on Warner Music Japan
- 2013 – 2-disc SACD reissue as part of the High Vibration – SACD Box set on Rhino Records
Track listing
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's 1973 and 1994 liner notes.
Yes
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Howe – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
- Rick Wakeman – keyboards
- Bill Bruford – drums on "Perpetual Change" and "Long Distance Runaround"/"The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
- Alan White – drums on all other tracks
Production
- Yes – production
- Eddie Offord – production
- Geoff Haslam – recording engineer
- Mike Dunn – assistant engineer
- Roger Dean – cover design and illustration
- Martin Dean – photographs and layout
- David "Groucho" Gair – additional photographs
- Brian Lane – co-ordination
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col"| Chart (1973–74)
! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 8
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)
| 9
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 17
|-
|-
|}
Certifications
References
Books
DVD media