Remember to leave comments!

Just a friendly reminder that I really appreciate when people leave comments about the music, so be sure to comment on the post when you listen. It will also serve to let me know folks are still following this blog after yet another long hiatus on my part. Thanks!

Fly From Here (2012)

For me, the release of Fly From Here in 2011 was a major highlight in recent Yes history. Benoit David had been the official vocalist for some time, but the release of an album really validates a band’s lineup, and Yes is no exception. I thoroughly enjoy the record. In fact, it’s my favorite of the post-Keys to Ascension releases. Here’s the entire “Fly From Here” suite, from Boston on July 21, 2012. And while I’d have liked to hear Benoit have a chance to sing the entire piece, Jon Davison does a pretty good job. And the energy of the band is excellent – the full suite comes across very strongly. I especially like Steve’s slide guitar during “Sad Night at the Airfield” and the great jamming during “Mad Man at the Screens.” But the entire piece is a great listen. Live, “Fly From Here” takes its rightful place among all great Yes epics.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Fly From Here

Trevor Rabin: I Can’t Look Away (1989)

While ABWH was doing their thing, Trevor Rabin released an amazing solo album called Can’t Look Away in 1989. Here’s the title track from the Boston show on December 5, 1989. This tour (along with the ABWH Tour) is high on my list of regrets for not seeing. Trevor sounds great here, and the audience is amazing! Yes, I do miss Trevor… Enjoy.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Can’t Look Away

Signs of life…

Hey everyone. Another long hiatus… But I fixed the MP3 links (the host information got messed up) as well as the links on the Complete Yesshows page (formerly known as “Yesshow of the Month” – What was I thinking, naming it that?? lol). And it looks like Facebook deleted my group, which I can’t figure out. I emailed them about it but am not holding my breath for a reply. Whatever….I’ll probably create a new one.

Anyway, just saying Hi and checking to see if anyone is still watching this blog. I should have some new material soon, starting with the full “Fly From Here” suite from the most recent tour. Comment here if you’d like to see anything in particular.

Thanks for listening.

Rich.

YOSO: Changes and Yes Medley (2010)

YOSO is was a Billy Sherwood project with ex-Toto frontman Bobby Kimbal, and ex-Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye. Augmented by Jimmy Bruhns (Yes tribute ‘Roundabout’) on guitars and Scott Connor (Genesis tribute ‘Gabble Ratchet’) on drums, they released an album of new music in 2010 and toured the US and Europe. The set was a mix of new songs along with Yes and Toto standouts.

Here’s “Changes” and a Yes medley containing excerpts from Yes, Time and a Word and The Yes Album. It was recorded on August 19, 2001, at The Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio. Enjoy!

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Changes
Yes Medley

Complete Yesshows page updated

Hey everyone! I’ve updated the Complete Yesshows page with a complete Tales From Topographic Oceans show. Check it out!

Some wonderful news!

Just read this in an interview with Chris Squire about the upcoming Rite of Spring tour: “Yes have a really large library of material that we have amassed over the years so we are able to do a lot of different things. Obviously, we have to combine playing the more popular songs that people want to hear with songs that are not so well-known. We have been looking at different eras of the band and we are going to be playing some very interesting things on this short tour.”

Looks like the setlist will be seeing some much-needed revitalization. Can’t wait to hear what they’re gonna play! Any ideas??

Rich.

Complete Yesshows page updated

I’ve posted the first night of the Big Generator tour on the Complete Yesshows page. Check it out!

Hosting space for full shows?

Hey everyone. I’d like to provide links to full shows but don’t have the hosting space nor the money to upgrade the account the MP3s live on. Can someone recommend a good free option? I’ve looked at sites like MegaUpload and other similar sites but they have so many bandwidth limitations, file size restrictions, and spam that I don’t want to go that route for the long run. If someone can provide the storage I can provide complete shows in lossless format that the MP3s on here are taken from. In the meantime, I’m gonna set up sharing via ADrive for a “Complete Yesshows” page. Click here for more details.

Rich.

Starship Trooper (1991)

From the wonderful Union tour and a show I was actually at…here’s “Starship Trooper” from the Philadelphia Spectrum on April 16, 1991. This was the second encore, after “Roundabout”, and wasn’t played at all Union shows. “Wurm” solos by Tony, Rick, Steve and Trevor. Enjoy!

PS – They’re in the process of tearing down the historic Spectrum. So sad. I have wonderful memories of Yes, the Grateful Dead and many other bands in that building. RIP.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Starship Trooper

Owner of a Lonely Heart (2004)

Here’s a wonderful version of “Owner of a Lonely Heart” from the Prince’s Trust/Trevor Horn Tribute show in November, 2004. The band was Trevor Rabin, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Geoff Downes and a host of side players including one wicked cowbell player. It’s in HD too! (For HD, click the YouTube logo on the bottom-right of the player window. Once in YouTube, click on 360p and select 1080p. Set to full-screen and enjoy.)

Our Song & Hearts (1984)

Hello all! This is my first post since moving the blog over to WordPress. I seem to be in a YesWest mood lately, so here’s a couple from a soundboard recording from September 9, 1984, at the Hershey Park Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. 

During the second leg of the tour, the band added “Our Song” to the set, which is one of my favorite tracks from the album. This version includes an interesting guitar solo, and the mix highlights Chris’ awesome bass work. I’m also including “Hearts” which is my favorite track from 90125. Tony’s organ solo sounds particularly good on this one…

Enjoy!

Source/quality: Soundboard/A-

Our Song
Hearts

Welcome the the new home of my Yes blog!

I’ve finally done what I wanted to do for a long time – migrated my Yes blog from Blogger to WordPress.

I never really liked Blogger, and when my image host deleted all the pics that I had on the Yessongs blog, I decided the time was right to move to WordPress. WordPress is a much more efficient and powerful blog site, and also is much friendlier on mobile devices. Sadly, someone already had Yessongs registered, hence the name change to Yesshows. All the posts and comments from Blogger have been migrated, so everything should work.

Unfortunately, Forgotten Yesterdays is down and I have no idea when it will be back. So all the links to the show and tour details don’t work. I’m keeping the links there in case the site returns.

Lastly, I hope to post some new music soon. I have a Yoso show, as well as a Jon/Rick show. And Yes will be on the road soon, so hopefully some material from the “Rite of Spring” tour will appear in due time.

Thanks for hanging with me!

Rich.

Please Comment!

Hey folks. Please comment on the songs as you listen. I love to hear what people think and generally how Yes music moves you. Thanks and enjoy the music!

Parallels (2008)

Here’s the current incarnation of the band performing “Parallels” from the Cleveland, Ohio gig at the House of Blues on November 25, 2008. One of the nice things about the In the Present lineup was the return of seldom-played songs to the set. I already posted “Astral Traveler” and “Machine Messiah” earlier (see here), but I wanted to post “Parallels” as it was one of the tracks that was cut from the set after about half of the first leg of the tour. Benoit sounds a little timid (but he vastly improved as the band toured over the following year and a half), and the rest of the band plays pretty well. I hope the set from the Yes/Frampton tour isn’t a sign of things to come as most of the “rarieties” have been dropped. All that remains of the songs not sung in recent tours is “Tempus Fugit.” But with a new album coming out I hope the set list sees some new and old surprises the next time the band tours.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Parallels

Final Eyes (1987)

Here’s another one the YesWest fans have been wanting to hear. “Final Eyes” along with “I’m Running” (posted earlier here) are by many fans considered the better tracks on Big Generator as they’re both more “prog” sounding as far as 1980’s Yes goes. This version of “Final Eyes” was taken from the same show as “I’m Running” and is a wonderful take on my favorite BG song. I love the opening to this one, and the band sounds great, especially Chris & Alan. Why did they drop these songs from the set after only a few shows? But I’m glad to have these recordings since by the time the band came to Philly a couple weeks later they had dropped both from the set.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Final Eyes

Madrigal > On the Silent Wings of Freedom (1978)

Someone along the way requested this so here it is. This is one of the best versions of “On the Silent Wings of Freedom” and is especially nice with the “Madrigal” lead-in and buildup to Jon’s “Bass guiter…Mr. Christopher Squire” announcement. This comes from the BBC recording of the evening show of October 28, 1978 at Wembley Arena in London. This was one of the first bootlegs I ever got. I had a vinyl copy titled In the Round and listened to it constantly for weeks after getting it. The record was mislabeled as October 6, 1978 in Los Angeles but it’s definitely 10/28. Coincidentially, the version of “Don’t Kill the Whale” on Yesshows was from this gig as were the live versions of “Roundabout” and “I’ve Seen All Good People” on Classic Yes. Enjoy!

Source/quality: Soundboard (pre-FM)/A

Madrigal > On the Silent Wings of Freedom

"Soundchaser" solo piano – Amazing!

Just saw this on Yesfans. Had to post it here. Absolutely amazing!

Upgrade to "I’m Running"

I have obtained a much better recording of the first night of the Big Generator tour! I upgraded the post for “I’m Running” and will soon be uploading “Final Eyes” so stay tuned!

Update: “Final Eyes” has been posted and sounds amazing…

We Can Fly From Here (studio version) (1980)

Well at least one person said they were waiting for new posts! And there are 48 members of the Facebook group so I’m gonna try to get the posts flowing again…

Here is an interesting version of “We Can Fly From Here” from the Drama years. Live versions of this song and “Go Through This” abound (including on The word is Live and on this blog here), but studio versions are a bit harder to come by. This version was taken from a bootleg CD titled Drama Sessions which I don’t have, but I acquired this from Relayerman on Dime in a post specifically highlighting “We Can Fly From Here.” According to the information with the file, it was recorded on 4/18/1980 at the Townhouse Recording Studio during the Drama sessions. Sounds to me to be a rough run-through with the entire band and is a good listen. Enjoy.

Source/quality: Studio mix/A

We Can Fly From Here

Ping…

Hey everyone. There’s new posts coming soon. I promise. I just don’t know when lol. I’m just checking in to say Hi and let anyone watching this site know that I’m still alive. I know I had mentioned that I would be posting complete shows but have since decided not to do that unless I come accross more time in my life. But I miss posting music so I’m going to continue with the original intent of this site to just share individual songs that are of particular interest or that I just like.

Oh and I am so tired of the no-Jon/no-Yes crap. I know many are passionate about this topic but please keep it off these posts. I will delete any comments slamming Yes for continuing without Jon or that slam Benoit and/or Oliver or any other member for that matter. This site is about celebrating YES music in all it’s forms. If you don’t like the direction the band are taking you’re free to ignore any of the In the Present posts that show up. Sorry to rant, but the constant bickering has become entrenched on Yesfans and I just don’t want it here.

Peace.

Rich.

Anyone home?

No comments on the new posts…just wondering if anyone’s rediscovered the site yet. Let me know! More music to come…this time I mean it! Next post might be “South Side of the Sky” from the European leg of the In the Present tour. I’m also reviewing past comments for requests to see if I can fulfill any. Lastly, if someone can offer online hosting, I can post some complete shows in lossless format that the MP3s are taken from. My web host only allows 10GB storage and bandwidth capped at 300GB per month, so I can’t host them here. But I know there are many who don’t want to go down the bittorrent road, so given the space, I can serve them up here. Come on, fellow Yesfans! Chime in!

Close to the Edge (1996)

Here’s a great recording of “Close to the Edge” from the famous reunion shows in San Luis Obispo in March, 1996. This is from a torrent I downloaded that includes audience recordings of all the material from the three shows that wasn’t released officially on the Keys to Ascension albums. What makes this recording cool is that it’s raw – the live tracks on the KtA albums had a lot of studio fixing/overdubs. This recording is from the March 5th show.

What an exciting point in Yes history: After the Talk tour ended, many thought Yes was finished. Then the classic lineup of Anderson/Howe/Squire/White/Wakeman surprised everyone and reunited for three shows in March, 1996. And what a setlist! I remember seeing this setlist for the first time – I printed it out and hung it on my wall just to remind myself that it really happened. Close to the Edge, Revealing Science of God, Going for the One, Onward and more – so many great songs that I never thought Yes would play live again, even if they continued with the YesWest lineup. While there were to be some more bumps in the road ahead, these shows paved the way for Yes to continue even to this day.

Source/quality: Audience/A

Close to the Edge

Astral Traveler & Machine Messiah (2009)

My first new post of music in 18 months, and it just had to be a couple from the current lineup of the band. From the In the Present tour, here’s “Astral Traveler” and “Machine Messiah” from the July 7, 2009 gig in LA. This tour & lineup are breaking out some sorely neglected material the band hasn’t played in literally decades, and the live shows sound great. Overall, the band is pretty tight, and Benoit’s vocals are very good. Take it from someone who has seen this tour twice so far – Benoit is the real deal, and he & Oliver bring a new energy to the band that simply must be experienced live to be appreciated. When I saw them at the Tower Theater in Philly back in July, I caught myself getting emotional realizing that after 40+ years, Yes is still active and putting on great shows. How many bands can you say that about? Hopefully, they will return to the studio this winter and record some new material.

Source/quality: Audience/A

Astral Traveler
Machine Messiah

Magenta’s "Wonderous Stories"

I thought it would be interesting to post links to other Yes-related stuff I find in my travels. Here’s one of my favorite recent finds: The band Magenta performing a great version of Wonderous Stories. Magenta is a prog band from the UK and are definitely worth checking out. Let me know what you think!

Stand by…

I’m coming back from the dead….soon. Saw the current incarnation of Yes twice so far, with my third show at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe, PA, on February 5, 2010. I have several recordings from the tour which I will post soon…please stand by. In the meantime, join my Yessongs Facebook group to be notified on your news feed when I update the blog.

Hello!

Well, I have again been away for a while. A lot has happened in Yes-land over the last few months. The whole Jon/Not Yes thing got me a bit bummed, but they seem to have worked things out. I was thrilled that Yes (technically “Howe, Squire and White of Yes”) are moving forward with the tour. I have tickets to see them in Hershey, PA, tomorrow night, so look to this space for some new posts soon. I have insolated myself from the set list, so while I know some basics from the press release, most of it will be a surprise. I expect to hear some material from Drama and some other rarities. I also plan to meet up with some fellow Yesfans before the gig, so I can’t wait. I should have access to recordings from the tour, so stay tuned!

Circa: The Yes Medley (2008)

Ok, I for one have been wanting to hear this for as long as I have known about it. For the uninitiated, Circa: is a new Yes-related band consisting of Billy Sherwood, Alan White, Tony Kaye and Jimmy Haun (augmented live with Billy’s brother Michael). They have an excellent album out. Buy it here – I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

Anyway, for the live shows, the first set is the album from start to finish. Then they come back for a second set and play an extended instrumental of Yes history, from the first album to The Ladder (Magnification is left out for some reason). In short, it is very cool. This was recorded at Rosfest at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA, on May 3, 2008. Quality is A except for a few glitches here and there (the opening, some overloaded recording levels during part of the 1978 section). This is a big file (54+MB & almost 40 minutes) so to save bandwidth, please remember to download it once and save it instead of streaming it from the website several times.

The spirit of Yes lives on, regardless a tour cancellation or not. Here’s to Circa: carrying on the Yes magic while Jon heals.

Source/quality: Audience/A

Circa: The Yes Medley

UPDATE: Site news & Yes tour cancelled…

Well, the news just came to me that the forthcoming Yes summer tour has been cancelled due to Jon’s ongoing health issues. I’m crushed. But, I still will try my best to begin posting again. I’m finishing some major surgery on my laptop after a virus attack and hope to have things back to normal soon. Stay tuned…

Yes is back! (and so am I…)

Hi, folks. Sorry I’ve been away for what seems like eons. Life has been CRAZY and I just haven’t had time for much beyond just surviving.

However……

With Yes returning for a 40th Anniversary Tour (WooHoo!!) I figured I should at least try to resurrect this site. I recently went through my Yes library and have some wonderful material to share. Stay tuned – hopefully over the next week or so, some new posts will appear.

Thanks for your patience, and here’s to the Close to the Edge and Back Tour 2008!

(PS – Got tix to the Atlantic City show on July 25. A whole bunch of folks from Yesfans.com will be there. I can’t wait!)

Endless Dream (1994)

For many Yesfans, myself included, “Endless Dream” is the pinnacle of Trevor Rabin’s tenure with Yes. A Yes epic truly worthy of the term, “Endless Dream” can stand on its own along side the other classic epics the band has performed over the years. Live, as with most Yes music, “Endless Dream” rose to a whole new level. Hear for yourself with this performance from Maryland Heights, Missouri, on June 29, 1994.

Source/quality: Soundboard/A+

Endless Dream

On the Silent Wings of Freedom (1978)

I guess I’m on a roll tonight. This is another radio broadcast (gotta love ’em!). Here is the climax of Tormato, performed on September 19, 1978, in Richfield, Ohio. Why this song was left off of The Word is Live I’ll never know – considering the quality of other tracks in the collection, they could have included this one as-is. And check out the stereo effect during the “forty second screamdown” section – cool stuff. The entire concert is available here.

Source/quality: Radio broadcast/A+

On the Silent Wings of Freedom

The Gates of Delirium (2001)

I just had to post my all-time favorite Yessong. I actually thought of posting every version I have, but that would take up a bit too much space! Instead, here is “The Gates of Delirium” from a show I was actually at.

The Symphonic tour was one of my favorite Yes tours of all. The set list was amazing; essentially, Masterworks expanded, with the added bonus of a full orchestra. This particular performance was from The Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on August 21, 2001. The mix of the band and the orchestra is well balanced, and aside form a wee bit of crowd noise, the recording is pretty good. Enjoy!

Source/quality: Audience/A-

The Gates of Delirium

Union Tour: Stuttgart 1991

How about a few from the Union tour?

This is one of my favorite eras of Yes, even if the album itself was pretty sad (but it did have some great moments). The tour, on the other hand, was amazing. I was blessed enough to see them three times during the tour, one of them from the front row. Memories I will never forget.

Here are three songs from May 31, 1991, in Stuttgart, Germany: “Shock to the System” and “Lift Me Up” from Union, plus “Awaken”. These come from a radio broadcast, so the quality is top-notch, which should satisfy those with issues over the sound quality of some of my previous posts.

I included “Awaken” even though I posted an excellent version from the 35th Anniversary tour previously. But “Awaken” was the center piece of the show, and any Union post would be incomplete without it. I have always loved the way they performed this, especially how Bill Bruford and Trevor Rabin tastefully played, adding so much more to the sound textures. This is truly a group performance!

The torrent I downloaded these from is available here. It’s not the complete show, but what you get sounds amazing.

Source/quality: Radio broadcast/A+

Shock to the System
Lift Me Up
Awaken

Upgrade to "Going for the One & Sweet Dreams"

Hey, folks. I won’t apologize for the long layover, except to say I give time to this site when I have time. I’ve acquired a few new shows recently, and hope to get some more stuff out soon. For now, I have an upgrade for you. Scroll down to the Going for the One/Sweet Dreams (2004) post. The new versions of the songs will blow your knickers off.

Going for the One (1977)

Looking at the posts so far, I realized I didn’t have anything from the Going for the One tour. That is partly because until now, I haven’t had good recordings from that era. But a few recent posts on Dime have changed that, and I now can offer a decent recording from that wonderful tour.

Here is “Going for the One” from the Paris, France, show on December 6, 1977, which was the last night of the tour. I chose this song even though I posted the same song from the 2004 tour in the previous post, because it is a great, high-energy version with a cool intro. It’s also interesting to compare this to the 2004 version – both have their positives, but this one has a lot more energy, not to mention the sound guy knows how to mix Steve’s slide! Enjoy…

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Going for the One

Going for the One & Sweet Dreams (2004)

Upgraded 7/25/2007!

Henry from the “Machine Messiah” post asked for “Going for the One” and “Sweet Dreams” from the 35th Anniversary Tour, so here you go. This is an upgrade to the original post from June 13, 2004, at the Arrow Rock Festival in Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands. But I recently came upon a soundboard recording of the July 8 show in Lugano, Switzerland. To say that this is an upgrade is an understatement. These songs sound amazing! Download the complete show here.

For an interesting contrast of eras of Yes, compare this version of “Sweet Dreams” to the one played by the 90125 lineup, posted below. Believe it or not, I tend to lean towards the 1984 version. Let me know what you think…

Source/quality: Soundboard/A+

Going for the One
Sweet Dreams

Steve Howe Trio (2007)

Ok, this is really cool. Here are two cuts of the Steve Howe Trio from May 19, 2007. Recorded at The Platform in Morecambe, England, this is essentially jazz with Steve accompanied by his son, Dylan, on drums and Ross Stanley on Hammond organ. Here’s a link to the complete show on Dime.

I chose two Yes songs for posting:

Clap: Now before you say, “Another predictable version of Clap…” just check this out. It’s a very jazzy, six minute version that is anything but the standard fare that we’re all used to. For starters, Steve is on electric. Best take on this I have ever heard.

Close to the Edge: A real “edgy” (pun intended) four and a half minute jam. This stays somewhat close to the original themes, but has a jazzy feel to it that I think is very cool.

Source/quality: Audience/A

Clap
Close to the Edge

Machine Messiah (1980)

I received a couple comments asking for more Drama tour stuff. While I love every era of Yes, the uniqueness of the Drama years has always been a draw for me. Here’s “Machine Messiah” from the Leicester, UK, show on November 24, 1980. This is one of the best sounding boots from this era I have heard. I just picked this up from Dime and as of this posting, the entire show is well-seeded. If you want to expand your Yes collection, get on Dime and search for torrents uploaded by Relayerman. This dude’s been busy!

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Machine Messiah

We Have Heaven/South Side of the Sky (2003)

Someone in a comment along the way asked for a good version of “South Side of the Sky,” but there are so many. Here is one from the Full Circle tour, paired with “We Have Heaven,” from September 14, 2003, in Tokyo, Japan. This one’s a bit interesting, because they goof the ending a bit. Those not familiar with the live version of this might no even notice it, but it jumped out at me! Enjoy.

Source/quality: Audience/A

We Have Heaven/South Side of the Sky

Perpetual Change (1984)

Sorry I’ve been away for a while. Hopefully, posts will start trickling in again. Thanks for hanging with me!

Here is a rare performance of “Perpetual Change” from the 90125 tour. This was taken from the very first night of the tour, at Millersville University on February 28, 1984. It was only played once more before it was dropped. I thought it sounded pretty good.

I was reminded of this gig from a recent thread on Yesfans discussing the various venues we have seen Yes perform in. I wasn’t at this particular show, but it is a couple hours outside Philadelphia, so it was sort of local for me. I remember it being promoted on the local radio station as a big surprise. Contest winners were taken to the show, not even knowing who they were going to see. Must have been pretty cool…

Source/quality: Audience/B

Perpetual Change

Please post comments!

Greetings, Yesfans! I hope you’re enjoying the music. All I ask in return is comments. If you download a song and enjoy it, please come back and add a comment to the song’s post. This is meant to be a place to celebrate Yes music, and I would love to hear how the music moved you. Thanks!

Holy Lamb > Wurm (1987)

On the surface, segueing into “Wurm” from “Holy Lamb” seems like almost a travesty. During the Big Generator tour, Yes dropped the “Life Seeker” and “Disillusion” sections from “Starship Trooper” and just played “Wurm.” The three shows I saw I really didn’t like how it came off. Sure, the jam was great, but without the first half of the song it just didn’t seem right. But this combination from 11/19/87 in Springfield, Il., worked really well. They played an electric version of “Holy Lamb,” ending with a great solo by Trevor, and then neatly segued into “Wurm.” In my not-so-humble opinion, it worked great. Let me know what you think.

PS – I pulled this out of the vaults for mundaneDan in response to his comment in the Relayer Tour – Boston 1974 post, where he said he preferred the Trevor years. Ask and you shall receive!

Source/quality: Audience/B

Holy Lamb > Wurm

The Remembering & The Ancient (1974)

While live versions of the first and last movements of Tales from Topographic Oceans abound, versions of “The Remembering” and “The Ancient” are not as common. Here are the second and third movements, taken from the awesome “Boston Tea-FTO Party” boot. Recorded at the Boston Garden on February 26, 1974, this has to be the best audience recording from the Tales tour – for early 1974, it’s surprisingly good. As of this post, the entire show is available on Dime. Enjoy!

Source/quality: Audience/A-

The Remembering
The Ancient

Relayer Tour – Boston 1974

I need to wake this site up a bit. I’m not too sure how many folks are downloading & not leaving comments, but I receive great joy in hearing how excited people are about the music available here. The last post generated just one comment, and it was a negative one at that. So if this post doesn’t generate a decent amount of interest, nothing will and I’ll have to assume there is not much interest in me continuing this site. So here we go…

Stellar Attraction
Yes on the King Biscuit Flower Hour
Boston Garden, December 11, 1974

Here is a Relayer show that holds a special place in my heart. I remember paying $15 for a cassette copy of this at a convention back in the 80s. I hadn’t yet developed any trading friends, so the only way to get live, unreleased music was to pay the bootleggers. (Thank God for the Internet!) I remember listening to that horrible, several-generations-down tape over and over and over. It became my favorite live show, despite the overwhelming hiss and the right channel that dropped out several times. The quality of the performance was that good.

A few weeks ago, I came across this on Dime, and it was a dream come true. Finally, a clean, first-generation recording of this awesome show. The poster described it as a pre-FM copy of the King Biscuit Flower Hour tapes, and the quality is top-notch. The only downside to this recording is that it is missing “Ritual,” but according to the information included with the show, “Ritual” has never been included in the KBFH recordings. A quick check of Forgotten Yesterdays shows that none of the known recordings of the show include “Ritual.” Bummer…

As with the XM Radio show, this is in a lossless format. This time around, thay are flac files. The decoding utility is available here. As before, I had to post the files as zip files, as I still can’t figure out how to download .flac files from a Web browser (can someone help me with this??). However, this time they are not actually zip files! When you save them to your hard drive, just delete the .zip extension. You will then be able to decode them to wav with the flac decoder. If you don’t see the .zip in the save window, then click here to learn how to tell Windows to display file extensions (sorry – don’t know what to tell Mac users). Lastly, this post is pretty big, so grab it while the bandwidth lasts.

Source/quality: Soundboard (pre-FM)/A+

Tracks, CD 1:
KBFH Intro
Firebird Suite
Sound Chaser
Close to the Edge
To Be Over
KBFH Station Break

Tracks, CD 2:
The Gates of Delirium
And You and I
Roundabout
KBFH Outro

Supporting Files

No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (2007)

Here’s a real gem – “No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed” performed by Jon with the Paul Green’s School of Rock All-Stars. And while I’d much prefer to hear Jon perform Yes music with Yes, this is a neat take on the music we all love. And these kids are good. Recorded on February 15 at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA. As of this posting, the complete show is well seeded on Dime.

Source/quality: Audience/A

No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed

Mind Drive – XYZ Sessions (1981)

From a very unique era of Yes history comes this early version of “Mind Drive.” XYZ was to be a new band, initially featuring Chris Squire, Alan White and Jimmy Page, appropriately named XYZ for “Ex-Yes-Zeppelin.” But nothing came of the sessions when ex-Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant failed to get interested. They recorded four demos which have been circulating for years and are worth tracking down – they’re an interesting listen to what could have been a great band.

Source/quality: Soundboard/B+

Mind Drive – XYZ Sessions

What’s up with no new posts??

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I am still here. I’ve just been extremely busy and have had no time to dedicate to this site. I do have some more stuff in the wings to post, and may branch out from just Yes or Yes-related music to include other prog stuff as well. Please be patient – more music is coming.

Yours is no Disgrace (1984)

Here’s a great version of “Yours is no Disgrace” from the 90125 tour. In my (not so) humble opinion, of all the ‘classic’ Yes material performed on this tour, the YesWest lineup performed “Yours is no Disgrace” the best. Taken from the March 6, 1984 show in Cedar Rapids, IA, this is by far the best sounding 90125-era recording I have ever heard. The complete show is currently well-seeded on Dime, so grab it while it lasts.

Source/quality: Audience/A

Yours is no Disgrace

Thoughts on sound quality

In the XM Radio post, there are a few comments on the sound quality of some of the songs posted here. So I figured a general post on sound quality was in order…

A lot of what I post here is significant for historical purposes, and I post the best version I have. If someone has a better version of any given song, feel free to get it to me & I’ll replace the existing version. But the purpose of the site is not just to post great sounding songs, but also historically significant songs. And the fact of the matter is, there are no sound board recordings available of some of the historical stuff, like “Hold Out Your Hand/You By My Side.”

With that said, some of the posts are here because they do sound awesome, like the version of “Awaken” from the 35th Anniversary tour. But if it will serve folks, I’ll try add an indicator of source and sound quality to the posts when I get the chance. Be aware that the indicators of sound quality are subjective at best, but I’ll try to be as accurate as I can.

Thanks.

PS: I’m also of the mindset that a great sounding audience recording can be at least as good if not better than some board recordings. So if the source is listed as audience, don’t avoid it as a matter of course.

Fanfare for the Common Man (2006)

Ok, a slight departure. From the US leg of the 2006 Asia tour, here is an incredible version of ELP’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.” What makes this great (and qualifies it for inclusion here) is Steve’s soloing in the extended jam, where he also trades solos with Geoff Downes in a jam reminiscent of Yes’ live versions of “South Side of the Sky.” Listen carefully for a quick tip of the hat to “Close to the Edge,” and if you were wondering where Steve’s tone has gone in recent years, look no further than this. Recorded at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA, on September 13, 2006.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Fanfare for the Common Man

No Way We Can Lose (1997)

One more for the New Year! From the Open Your Eyes tour, here’s one of only two live performances of “No Way We Can Lose.” This one was taken from the very first night of the tour, in Hartford, CT, on October 17, 1997. Much like “Saving My Heart” from Union, I didn’t really like “No Way…” until hearing the live version. Hope you enjoy it.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

No Way We Can Lose

Quartet (1989)

Happy New Year!

Digging through my hard drive, I found this rare performance of “Quartet” from the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe tour. This is the only known live performance of the song, from the first night of the tour on July 29, 1989, Memphis, TN. Enjoy, and here’s looking forward to much more wonderful Yes music in 2007!

Source/quality: Audience/B+

Quartet

XM Acoustic Radio Show (2002)

Deep Tracks with Yes: 8/10/2002

With very special thanks to Kevin (khalpin) at Yesfans, here is what could be described as an orphan amongst the Bittorrent community. Since XM is considered a lossy format, many of the trading sites won’t accept this one. So I asked Kevin to send me the show in SHN format so I could post it here to make it available to the Yesfans community. Kevin described this as “a must have for any Yes fan, if only for the ‘Awaken Workshop,'” but the entire show is quite enjoyable. The band is really laid-back, having a lot of fun with the whole thing. This is not the typical “Yes Acoustic” show you may be used to hearing and is worth the listen. This one’s a lot of fun, with the band bantering back and forth the whole time. Even Steve has a few humorous moments.

I’m breaking my rule to not post complete shows in an effort to get this out there. Hopefully the bandwidth will last. Leave a comment on this post if you have a problem downloading and I’ll look into other hosting options.

Accessing the files:

For some reason, the links to the SHN files would not work when I tested downloading them. So I zipped the files, which allows them to be downloaded from a web browser. You will need to unzip them back to their original SHN format. After unzipping them, you will need a utility to decode the SHN files to WAV for burning to CD. I use the mkw Audio Compression Tool. There are other choices available, but I’ve found this one to be quite user-friendly.

Enjoy!

Source/quality: Radio broadcast/A+

1. XM Radio Intro 0:41
2. Band introductions 2:47
3. South Side Of The Sky/And You and I 6:30
4. Rick Wakeman interview 3:18
5. The Ancient excerpt 4:19
6. Walk Don’t Run 1:19
7. Recent Yes releases 3:37
8. Your Move 4:04
9. Alan White interview 3:35
10. Show Me 4:13
11. Jon Anderson interview 0:48
12. Awaken composition 8:01
13. Awaken composition 10:12

XM Radio – Acoustic.md5
Information.txt

I’m Running (1987)

Upgraded 8/12/10!

I have obtained a much better recording of this show. This version has unbelievably clear sound for an 1980’s-era audience recording. The bass and drums are especially clear. I’ve upgraded this post and will also be adding “Final Eyes” soon. Enjoy!

From the first night of the Big Generator tour, here is a rare performance of “I’m Running” which many YesWest fans have wanted to hear. Unfortunately, both “I’m Running” and “Final Eyes” were played only four times, very early in the tour. It’s a shame they didn’t stay in the set, as they are two of the strongest tracks on the album. Recorded on the first night of the tour on November 14, 1987, at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

I’m Running

Updates?

I got one comment asking about updates. I hope to add some more stuff over the next week or two, but I was wondering if anyone was actually using this site. Leave a comment on this post just so I know. I’ll keep posting music even if only one person is downloading, but it would be nice to know how many Yesfans have been here…

The Revealing Science of God (1997)

From the Open Your Eyes tour, here is a wonderful performance of the first movement from Tales From Topographic Oceans. This is from the San Diego Civic Center on December 9, 1997, and was taken from a soundboard feed for an eventual radio broadcast. The nice thing about this recording is that it is pre-compression and other processing that is normally applied for broadcast. It’s amazing to think that the Tales material is still being played after all these years. When I first heard YES in 1981, I never thought I’d hear any of Tales live. The same goes for “Gates of Delirium.” What a blessing.

Source/quality: Soundboard/A+

The Revealing Science of God

Comments are nice!

Hey, fellow Yesfans! I’m interested in what you think of the songs. If you have a few minutes and are so inclined, please leave some comments. At the bottom of each post, below the MP3 link, it says how many comments have been left. Just click “Comments” and share your thoughts. It’s fun to know what people think of the music!

Thanks!

Nine Voices (2002)

Another contribution from Nitrus, here is a performance of “Nine Voices” accompanied by a 50-voice high school choir. The story of how this all came about is on Forgotten Yesterdays and is a fun read. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those kids standing on-stage with YES. Jon was impressed. Recorded at the Chicago Theater on November 21, 2002.

Source/quality: Audience/B+

Nine Voices

New Language (1999)

“New Language” was played at only a few shows during The Ladder tour, and I’m not sure why. It’s one of the better songs from the album, and came across pretty well live. Here is a performance from the October 16 show in Atlanta, GA.

Source/quality: Audience/B+

New Language

Go Through This (1980)

Another Drama tour gem, this version of “Go Through This” is quite a different than the well-known MSG version that appears on The Word is Live. I have no idea which show this is from, but it rocks. I really like this arrangement, especially Chris’ intro. And Steve is really on fire here – he just rips the solo in a section that harkens back to “Release, Release.” Don’t let the marginal quality scare you off – this is a great listen. I still wonder why this and “We Can Fly From Here” never made it on the album. Great stuff.

Source/quality: Audience/C+

Go Through This

Cinema > City of Love (1994)

“City of Love” has always been one of my favorite YesWest songs. Here, they combine it with “Cinema” for an awesome one-two punch. For me, the Talk tour had some of the best playing from this lineup. This is from the second night of the tour, June 19 in Canandigua, NY. Coincidentally, I saw them at the next show in Allentown, PA, on June 21. It really was an awesome tour.

Source/quality: Soundboard (Concertsonics)/A

Cinema > City of Love

Hold Out Your Hand > You By My Side (1976)

At the beginning of the 1976 Solo Album tour, YES performed songs from each member’s solo albums. Unfortunately, not too long into the tour the solo material was dropped. Here is “Hold Out Your Hand/You By My Side” from Chris’ Fish Out of Water, taken from the very first night of the tour in Roanoke, VA, on May 28, 1976.

Source/quality: Audience/C+

Hold Out Your Hand > You By My Side

High Vibration (1975)

The first contribution! This one comes from Yesfans member Nitrus. It’s a very early take on “Awaken” that was played during the Relayer tour at the August 23, 1975, Reading UK gig. It’s just the opening section, but it shows that the “Going For the One” material was being worked on while Patrick was still in the band. I especially like Steve’s solo. An interesting piece of history, indeed. Thanks, Nitrus!

Source/quality: Audience/C+

High Vibration

Parallels (1980)

Ah, the infamous Drama tour! While Trevor Horn was certainly no Jon Anderson, he did an admirable job, all things considered. And the band played very well on that tour. To give the uninitiated a feel for what they sounded like, here is “Parallels,” which was only played at a handful of shows. This particular performance is from Boston on September 9, 1980. Enjoy!

Source/quality: Audience/B

Parallels

Master of Images (1984)

Only twice did YES touch on “Awaken” during the 90125 tour. This is from the August 11 show in East Troy, WI. It’s just Jon and Tony, but still it’s cool to hear. Usually, Jon sang the “Soon” excerpt from “Gates of Delirium” in his ‘solo’ spot. But on 8/9 and 8/11, he sang “Master of Images” in addition to “Soon,” so this is kinda special.

Source/quality: Audience/A-

Master of Images

Release, Release (1978)

YES rarely performed “Release, Release” live as it was such a powerhouse piece and left the guys quite winded. Here is a live version from one of the Boston shows early in the Tormato tour. The performance is pretty tight, so from the notes on Forgotten Yesterdays I am assuming it is from the August 31 show and not the August 30 show.

Source/quality: Audience/B-

Release, Release

Awaken (2004)

Here is a wonderful version of “Awaken” from the 35th Anniversary tour. Recorded at the September 13 show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this is one of the best sounding audience recordings I have ever heard. I downloaded the entire show from the Trader’s Den in lossless (flac) format, and it is a wonder to behold. As of this posting, the torrent is still active, so grab it if you can. Thanks to the YesFans Trading Room for putting me on to this wonderful show!

Source/quality: Audience/A+

Awaken

Sweet Dreams (1984)

To start things off, here is a great version of “Sweet Dreams” performed on March 5, 1984, in Champaign, Illinois. According to Forgotten Yesterdays, this is the only time the band played “Sweet Dreams” during the 90125 tour. It’s a shame, as the band sounded pretty good except for one minor timing flub.

Source/quality: Audience/B+

Sweet Dreams

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my Yessongs blog. This is an attempt to respond to the “We should all pitch in…” thread on Yesfans, posted by Drazan22 to encourage more active sharing of Yes music amongst the Yesfans community. On this blog I will post links and information to MP3 files you can download. I will not post any “official” releases here, only rarities and live stuff. Also, I won’t post entire shows due to a 5 GB storage limit on my hosting account. Lastly, I can’t offer entire shows for trade at this point, as my life is just too busy to take on the responsibility of sending out shows. And in many cases, I only have the song I posted as much of what appears here I originally downloaded from Shazam’s site a few years back.

The best way to grab the MP3s is to right-click the link below each description and select “Save Target As” (Internet Explorer) or “Save Link As” (Firefox) and select a location on your hard drive.

Important: Please do not stream the songs in your browser over and over! If you want to listen to the song more than once, please download it as instructed above! I have a limited amount of download activity each month, and if it’s exceeded, the songs will be inaccessible until the next month. Sorry, but I can’t afford a more robust host at this point!

Enjoy, and please leave comments!