In their early days before they discovered punk, The Replacements's reserve of cover songs included Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, and Yes. In fact when Paul Westerberg overheard Dogbreath (the original name for The Mats) playing in the Stinson garage, he overheard them playing a Yes composition.
It took several tries for the original lineup of Yes to play in a successful rock band. Singer and primary lyricist Jon Anderson started in a Merseybeat band called The Warriors, sang temporarily for bands The Gun, The Open Mind, and Savoy Brown, and enjoyed a few singles as a solo artist (as Hans Christian). Drummer Bill Bruford played in groups The Breed, The Noise, and shortly for Savoy Brown. Keyboardist Tony Kaye enjoyed the most success in The Federals and a few Jimmy Winston groups. Bassist Chris Squire's first band were called The Selfs until it merged with another local band, The Syn. With The Syn, Squire met guitarist Peter Banks. Banks was briefly recruited by The Neat Change while Squire went on to form the proto-Yes band Mabel Greer's Toyshop with friends Clive Bailey and Bob Haggar. The Toyshop never recorded any singles but did perform a live set for BBC Radio. Peter Banks would eventually rejoin Squire while Bailey and Haggar were dropped from the group. The band contiued, however, thanks to the recruitment of Kaye, Bruford and Anderson into the band as replacements. But Mabel Greer's Toyshop needed a new name, and Yes it was. Squire would later reveal that by forming a band together, it was the only way that the bunch of misfits could ever play (they had difficulty finding session work) and build their individual, untraditional styles.
They began practicing together the summer of 1968. Their live sets began with covers of various vocal groups but given the "Yes" treatment meaning they included many ethereal solos and vocal harmonies punctuated by Jon Anderson's poetic delivery. Their progressive rock would meet its first success and audience approval when they filled in for a no-show Sly and the Family Stone at London's Blaise's club. This performance earned them a manager and ultimately a residency at the Marquee Club. They signed a record deal early in 1969 with Atlantic and released two singles and their eponymous debut album a few months later.
Yes didn't bomb but it wasn't a hit. The singles were not commercial enough for the radio and naturally didn't chart. The album featured a jazz fusion inspired cover of The Byrds's "I See You" and a psychedelic take on The Beatles's "Every Little Thing". They also had six original songs that included more conventional ballads ("Sweetness", "Yesterday and Today"). Of particular note is a spacey and experimental take on Leonard Bernstein's "Something's Coming". For early Yes, any style of music was subject to their adaption and absorption into their overall sound.
Here is the discography surrounding Yes's debut album:
Don't Make Me Blue (1964 single by The Warriors)
Bolton Club 65 (1965 live album by The Warriors)
Never My Love (1968 single by Hans Christian)
Autobiography of a Hobo (1968 single by Hans Christian)
Out of My Mind (1968 single by Hans Christian)
I Lied to Auntie May (1968 single by The Neat Change)
Live BBC 1968 (1968 live performance by Mabel Greer's Toyshop)
In the Beginning (1969 live bootleg)
Sweetness (1969 single)
Yes
Looking Around (1969 single)
Live at Sunderland (1969 live album)
Live at the Big Apple Club (1969 live album)
"Looking Around" by Yes
"Yesterday and Today" by Yes
"Something's Coming" by Yes
If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.
Pass the Headphones!!
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