YES
Fragile
Side One
1. "Roundabout"
2. "Cans and Brahms"
3. "We Have Heaven"
4. "South Side of the Sky"
Side Two
1. "Five per Cent for Nothing"
2. "Long Distance Runaround"
3. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
4. "Mood for a Day"
5. "Heart of the Sunrise"
Released: 12 November 1971
Recorded: 11 August�5 September 1971
Studio: Advision, Fitzrovia, London
Genre: Progressive rock
Length: 41:16
Label: Atlantic
Producer: Yes, Eddy Offord
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Fragile is the fourth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 12 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who replaced Tony Kaye after the group had finished touring their breakthrough record, The Yes Album (1971).
The band entered rehearsals in London in August 1971, but Kaye's reluctance to play electronic keyboards led to his departure from the group. He was quickly replaced by Wakeman, whose virtuosity, compositional skills, and experience with the electric piano, organ, Mellotron, and Moog synthesizer expanded the band's sound. Due to budget and time constraints, four tracks on the album are group compositions; the remaining five are short solo pieces written by each band member. The opening track, "Roundabout", became a popular and iconic song. The artwork for the album was the band's first to be designed by Roger Dean, who would design many of their future covers. [wiki]
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�Jon and I were in a hotel room up in Scotland when we started writing that song [Roundabout],� Howe recalls. �We seemed to find a lot of time to do that in the Seventies. We had a private plane. We got to places. People sat by the pool. And Jon and I were in this hotel room, kind of going, �Well, what have you got that�s a bit like this?� We used to quiz one another like that. We did those exchanges in our music, and lyrically as well. This was the era of cassettes, and I�ve still got all of them�Jon and me fooling around in hotel rooms.
And with �Roundabout,� we had all these bits of music, tentative moments. I was big on intros back then, and the classical guitar intro I came up with for �Roundabout� was really one of the most signature things. And I believe I thought of the backward piano [also in the intro], but I won�t lay 100 percent claim to that, in case I�m wrong. But basically the song just kept developing. Jon and I presented as much as we had to the band, and the band did a fair amount of input and arrangement. What Yes were brilliant at, even before I joined, was arranging skills.
It was Bill Bruford who thought of the concept of doing individual tracks, not to mention the album title Fragile,� Howe recalls. �But his original idea wasn�t that each guy should do a completely solo track, the way I did mine and Rick Wakeman did his. Bill�s concept was more like he did with his own track, �Five Per Cent for Nothing,� where the group were utilized at his command�like, �You play this and you play that.� I think we could make up our own notes, but we had to play his beats, which was a marvelous way of doing it. I was really excited about doing that live, but other people in the group were like, �Are we really gonna do this?� I think the guitar part is one of the easiest parts in it. But there was a fair amount of struggling with some of the other parts, because they have to mix together. Bill wasn�t the kind of drummer you could just busk along to.�
Steve Howe, Guitar World 2014
https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/steve-howe-talks-vintage-and-line-6-guitars-and-new-yes-album-heaven-earth
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YES
A Million Miles Away-Fragile Live
t01 - Roundabout, 1971-10-16, Newcastle, ENG
t02 - Cans and Brahms, 1972-08-13, Columbia, MD
t03 - We Have Heaven, 2002-08-23, Universal City, CA
t04 - South Side of the Sky, 2004-08-22, Hartford, CT
t05 - Five Percent for Nothing, 2014-07-09, New York, NY
t06 - Long Distance Runaround, 1971-11-24, New York, NY
t07 - The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus), 1971-11-24, New York, NY
t08 - Mood for a Day, 1971-10-06, Glasgow, SCT
t09 - Heart of the Sunrise, 1972-09-10, Manchester, ENG
Bonus tracks:
t10 - Roundabout, 2004-07-11, Oxford, ENG
t11 - South Side of the Sky, 1974-12-05, Tulsa, OK
t12 - Long Distance Runaround, 1976-08-17, Detroit, MI
t13 - Heart of the Sunrise, 2003-09-27, Honolulu, HI
YES (the players):
Jon Anderson - vocals, guitar, percussion
Jon Davison - vocals, guitar, percussion
Bill Bruford - drums, percussion
Geoff Downes - keyboards
Steve Howe - guitars, vocals
Patrick Moraz - keyboards
Chris Squire - bass, vocals
Rick Wakeman - keyboards
Alan White - drums, percussion
We open with an early, and energetic, performance of "Roundabout," followed by Wakeman's solo piece, "Cans and Brahms." I chose new millennium performances of "We Have Heaven" and "South Side of the Sky" for the expertise and freewheeling call and response interaction between Howe and Wakeman, aptly demonstrating how they and the band had lost none of their chops in 30+ years. The Bruford contribution to Fragile, "Five Percent for Nothing," was performed live for the first time in 2014 with Alan White expertly handling Bruford's intricate patterns. "Long Distance Runaround" slides into "The Fish" demonstrating how Squire's bass was such an integral part of the Yes sound. Howe's signature tune, "Mood for a Day," is the final solo piece on Fragile and a solid 1972 performance of "Heart of the Sunrise," (HOTS) closes out our live album.
The bonus tracks begin with two Moraz performances: first on "South Side of the Sky," and then a unique "Long Distance Runaround" that ends with an extended keyboard piece. The final performance of "HOTS" by the classic 5 line-up closes our trip down memory lane.
Tapers: various
Lineage: N/A
All Audience Recordings except as noted
Notes on Sound Quality: SQ is Fair to Very Good throughout
All tracks are from the original filesets as previously torrented. New checksums created with TLH.
Please share only LOSSLESS recordings-convert to lossy for personal use only.
All tracks adhere to DIME's NAV and NAB requirements and have been verified as non-official releases through Forgotten Yesterdays:
http://forgotten-yesterdays.com/index.asp
NOT FOR SALE-PLEASE SHARE FREELY
Please support this artist-purchase official recordings, attend live performances regularly, and visit the websites:
http://yesworld.com/
http://forgotten-yesterdays.com/
A word about compilations: This compilation is disguised as an album. I put together these performances for my personal enjoyment, and share them for the same reason. There are many Yes compilations available; "Wondrous Stories," "Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection" and "Word Is Live." This collection is not meant to replace, but complement, the official releases. Nothing beats the original tracks themselves.
I urge you to seek out the torrented performances contained herein (they�re all available out there). Thanks to the tapers, uploaders and all who share this great music. And, of course, thank you to Yes.
Enjoy,
1chucho
"Live Music is Better"
April 2023
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The Live Album Series
BRUCE COCKBURN, Stealing Fire Live
NEIL YOUNG, On the Beach-Live
NEIL YOUNG, Rust Never Sleeps-Live
NEIL YOUNG, Waging Heavy Love-Eldorado Live
YES, Sister Bluebird-The Yes Album Live
YES, A Million Miles Away-Fragile Live
YES, I Get Up-Close to the Edge Live
YES, Soon the Light-Relayer Live
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