Once again, not metal, but since I had Steve Howe for my Saturday Guitar, I figgered I’d do Yes for Sunday Metal. This is one of my favorite Yes songs.

If you listen to the original on the Close to the Edge album you’ll notice that Steve Howe’s steel guitar playing has improved as he does some of the melody that Wakeman’s used to play on keyboards. Also, Squire’s harmonica part is new. And, at the 9:00 minute mark either there is another keyboard player off stage or there has been a pre-recorded keyboard part since there are two parts and only Wakeman’s right hand is playing.

I saw them play this live outdoors in the summer at SIU Edwardsville, right across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. It was right after the Close to the Edge album came out. They played the entire album in addition to some other songs and for their encore, they played Roundabout. This was when they had their best lineup, before Bill Bruferd left and was replaced by Alan White. Bruford didn’t like structured playing and preferred improvisation. He joined Robert Fripp, of King Crimson fame and that was pretty much the end of his commercial career. Speaking of King Crimson, I saw them live once and they sucked. Fripp played sitting down. They didn’t even play their best known work, In The Court of the Crimson King. It was like seeing Arlo Guthrie and him not playing Alice’s Restaurant. That happened to me as well. At the end of his set, the audience yelled, “Play Alice’s Restaurant!” and he yelled back, “See the movie!” What an asshole!