YES - Close to the Edge
Side One
1. "Close to the Edge"
I. "The Solid Time of Change"
II. "Total Mass Retain"
III. "I Get Up, I Get Down"
IV. "Seasons of Man"
Side Two
1. "And You and I"
I. "Cord of Life"
II. "Eclipse"
III. "The Preacher, the Teacher"
IV. "The Apocalypse"
2. "Siberian Khatru"
Released: 13 September 1972
Recorded: February�June 1972
Studio: Advision, London
Genre: Progressive rock
Length: 37:51
Label: Atlantic
Producer: Eddy Offord, Yes
"I said, "What if we have a sort of a sound-effect introduction, like a sound of energy coming towards you � and then the band come in like crazy, crazy people?" [Sings the riff] And so we started doing it like that. We recorded it twice, and I said, "Wait a minute, is there a way we could stop right in the middle?" They all looked at me, and I said, "Well look, actually, there's a guitar riff that Steve played on the session. [Sings the riff] "So if you play that, Steve, at a certain point in your solo, everybody will know you're coming with it." You can smile at everybody, here it comes � and that's where we stop, just for six beats. And that's where the choir come in. They all looked at me and said, "Could you say that again?" [Laughs] I said, "OK. As far as I see, you guys are hurtling away, there's no way to stop you, and all of a sudden you stop � and that guitar figure will be the call. So everybody will know: There it is, stop."
"Then it came to a certain point where they would look at me and say, "Are we done?" [Laughs] And I'd say "No, I think we have a middle section." Because what happened was, Steve came by early-morning rehearsal in another room in the studio. He said, "I wrote this sort of guitar piece," and he started playing this guitar piece. It's a very slow piece and I started singing, "Two million people barely satisfy, two hundred women watch one woman cry, too late, I get up, I get down." We thought, "Well, that'd be very nice in the middle of the piece." And so we started preparing that middle section, which became a surreal sort of sound, again, harking back to Walter Carlos [and] Sonic Seasonings. And then, you have this very simple Rick Wakeman church organ [sings the part], very, very simple. That day was really interesting because we were just gonna record and Steve said, 'You know, I actually wrote a song with the chords.' So I said, "Well, you better sing it quick." So he sang it and it just happened that what he sang, and what I had already written on the chords fit together like glue. He was singing "In her white lace, you could clearly see the lady sadly looking." And I'd be singing my song over his song. It was as though somebody had said, "OK, all you have to do is put two songs together." [Laughs.] Lo and behold, it happened! From then on, the whole idea of continuing and pushing yourselves over a period of a month to record it � for me, it wasn't strenuous at all. It wasn't hard work. It was like all these doors were opening, musically speaking. And that's why to me "Close to the Edge" has survived 50 years, because it's still worth, to me, it's worth singing. And it's worth [it for] people to play, as well."
Jon Anderson, July 2022
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/jon-anderson-close-to-the-edge-interview-2022/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
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Close to the Edge is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes. It was released on 13 September 1972 by Atlantic Records, and is their last album of the 1970s to feature their original drummer Bill Bruford. After scoring a commercial and critical hit with Fragile and touring the album, Yes regrouped to prepare material for a follow-up, ideas for which had been put down some months before. The album's centrepiece is the 18-minute title track, with themes and lyrics inspired by the Herman Hesse novel Siddhartha. Side two contains two non-conceptual tracks, the folk-inspired "And You and I" and the comparatively straightforward rocker "Siberian Khatru."
By 1972, Yes had settled with a line-up of lead vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bill Bruford, guitarist Steve Howe, and keyboardist Rick Wakeman. In March 1972, they wrapped their six-month Fragile Tour of the UK and North America to support their fourth album, Fragile (1971). The album became their biggest commercial and critical hit since their formation, helped by the track "Roundabout" receiving considerable airplay on American radio. On 1 and 2 February 1972, during one of the tour's rest periods, the band booked time at Advision Studios in London to put down some tracks for a follow-up record. When touring finished, they took another break before they entered rehearsals at the Una Billings School of Dance in Shepherd's Bush in May 1972. Although some arrangements were worked out and put onto tape during this time, none of the tracks were fully written at this stage, leaving the group to devise the rest of the songs in the studio and learn to play them through afterwards. On several occasions the arrangements that Yes had started to assemble were so complex that they were forgotten by the time the next day's session began. This caused the band to record each rehearsal for future reference. Bruford devised the album's title to reflect the state of the band at the time. [wiki]
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"The first performance of �CTTE� was on Sept. 2, 1972, at the Crystal Palace Bowl in London. [Yes first performed] �CTTE� on this tour, and [...] something was different at the conclusion of the song. Instead of the three beats that led into the coda on the album, there were now five. More consequentially was something that may not have been obvious [...] at the time: the music that followed had been lowered a full step, from F to Eb. With that change, certain melodies were sung differently, and in the final chorus some of the lyrics had been rearranged. These changes were not lost on me, as well as countless Yes fans who were floored by the coda as presented on the album: That�s what we were eager to hear but that wasn�t what we got, even if the change in key was effective in its own way.
Over the years when asked about the reason for the change, Jon Anderson stated the original key didn�t allow him to sing that closing section consistently well in live performances, hitting the top of his soprano range and being expected to do so over multiple nights on long tours.
Anderson has been asked about the reason for the key change many times in the past, which he reiterated to me. But more importantly, he recalled when the key change occurred: �After the [U.K.] tour. � It was just toooooo high.�
Mike Tiano (2022)
https://somethingelsereviews.com/2022/04/26/yes-close-to-the-edge-coda-key-change/#:~:text=Over%20the%20years%20when%20asked,multiple%20nights%20on%20long%20tours.
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YES, I Get Up-Close to the Edge Live
t01 - Close to the Edge, 1977-09-26, Long Beach, CA
t02 - And You And I, 2004-05-13, New York, NY
t03 - Siberian Khatru, 1979-04-18 Quebec City, CAN
Bonus tracks:
t04 - Close to the Edge, 1972-09-02, London, ENG*
t05 - And You And I, 1972-07-30, Dallas, TX*
t06 - Siberian Khatru, 1976-06-18, Boston, MA
t07 - Close to the Edge, 2004-09-10, Morrison, CO
YES (the players):
Jon Anderson - vocals, guitar
Steve Howe - guitars, vocals
Patrick Moraz - keyboards
Chris Squire - bass, vocals
Rick Wakeman - keyboards
Alan White - drums, percussion
*live debut
We open with Millard's Long Beach recording of CTTE, a powerful performance by the Classic 5 line-up captured by the legendary Southern California taper. The 2004 Madison Square Garden performance of And You And I is regarded by many as the best; another powerful performance that demonstrates the bond between audience and band that lovingly echoes the song's central theme of unity. Our imagined live album concludes with an energetic, in the round performance of Siberian Khatru, again by the Classic 5. The bonus tracks begin with the live debut of CTTE (a bit of a vocal trainwreck as noted above) and AYAI with Alan White's first time sitting behind the kit. Included is an example of Patrick Moraz's influence as illustrated by this powerful Siberian Khatru from the 1976 tour that opens with an altered AYAI prelude and concludes with Steve Howe's ferocious guitar work. And finally, bookend style, the last Classic 5 performance of CTTE at Red Rocks closes the bonus disc.
Tapers: Millard, Jon, various
Lineage: N/A
All Audience Recordings except as noted
Notes on Sound Quality: SQ is Good to Very Good throughout
All tracks are from the original filesets as previously torrented. New checksums created with TLH.
Please share only LOSSLESS recording- 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/
https://somethingelsereviews.com/2022/04/26/yes-close-to-the-edge-coda-key-change/#:~:text=Over%20the%20years%20when%20asked,multiple%20nights%20on%20long%20tours. (Interesting article on the making of CTTE)
A word about compilations: This compilation is diguised 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"
March 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, I Get Up-Close to the Edge Live
YES, Soon the Light-Relayer Live