Steve Howe - Interview: Painter's Mill Music Fair (Baltimore MD, April 28, 1982)

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What to say about Steve Howe, my oldest and dearest friend from the early Yes days in the UK? By the time of this interview, it had already been about ten years since we recorded ‘Close to the Edge’. Over the years he has also kindly asked me to do some tracks on his solo records. I particularly remember the title track from his 1991 ‘Turbulence’ album having some fire in its belly. I don’t quite know how he ended up on this 1982 documentary; the producers probably tracked him down when he came through Baltimore. I wasn’t there at the interview.

I don’t listen back much to the early Yes stuff. When I do, I’m astonished by the amount of change over many decades. How did we get from analogue there to digital here? What’s better, what’s worse, about the process and practice of music-making in the ensuing 50 years? Many of my generation say things were ‘better’ back then, but they would, wouldn’t they? Too big a subject for this space, perhaps.

At a recent playback of a Steve Wilson Dolby Atmos remix, we listened to ‘Yours is No Disgrace’ - at almost 10 minutes, clearly the lead track of ‘The Yes Album’. I was struck immediately with a rush of feelings and observations. How great and gritty the Hammond organ sounds – two Leslie cabinets. The clarity of the lead voice: the confidence of the backing vocals. Intelligible lyrics that could apply today to Ukraine. How often the drummer stops and starts (six entries and exits in the one song). Little to no use of ride cymbal: almost the whole song the drummer’s right hand is on the hi-hat. How tame the drumming was, or what a light player he was. The unison bass and bass drum at 7.18 (“Yesterday, a morning came…”) sounds like an overdub, but I don’t remember doing one.

Steve Howe, on guitar, was caught just at the right moment when all his influences had coalesced into the singular guitar voice that emerged. Fiddling with the stereo panning on his guitar breaks was a mistake. No one wants to be reminded that there is a recording engineer with the capacity to do that when they’re absorbed in the music.

Pre-Rick Wakeman, the guitar soloist made full use of his dominant position, with organ essentially reduced to chordal support. Fully four minutes of the track is focussed on Steve’s exceptional guitar playing, either as straight-out soloing or fills. The album from which the track is taken continues by leading straight into a 4’ acoustic guitar solo, so I think we can safely say it took a Rick Wakeman to act as a productive counter-foil to occasional guitaristic excesses. Rick's arrival certaoinly changed things up a gear.

None of these observations about 'Yours is No Disgrace', or Steve Howe, are pejorative – they’re just observations. You’d be hard pressed to get anybody’s attention for a ten minute song today. As many have noticed, things don’t change – we do. Thanks for the kind words, Steve!

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