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From: twiss@stolaf.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: Read this if you're hip
Message-ID: <1336@stolaf.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 24-Jan-84 19:17:33 EST
Article-I.D.: stolaf.1336
Posted: Tue Jan 24 19:17:33 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 27-Jan-84 09:31:10 EST
Organization: St. Olaf College, Northfield MN
Lines: 63


	Howard Weisberg misinterpreted some of his quotes from the recent
Downbeat.  He says... (paraphrased)

		1) Bruford denies any improvisational aspects of the band.
		   Bruford says the musicians weren't very good. That the
		   bass player (Squire) would play the agreed upon F and
		   then play a G (implying that he was too stupid to play
		   the F.

	Well, Howard, the real quote on the top of page 18 says... "Yes
wouldn't play a note without a committe decision."  This is obviously is
an exageration to point out the planning in Yes.  This doesn't necessarily
mean that NO improvisation took place.  And even if it didn't, that is not
necessarily bad.
	The quote about "bad musicians" actually reads (from page 17) like
this... "the musicians in those days weren't very good".  This refers to
musicians in general, not Squire and Anderson specifically.
	And as for the last part about F and G, this quote also comes from
the top of p. 18... "we'd..decide whether the bass player would play F,and
when we'd all agreed on that, we'd decide whether the next one would be G
and so on."  This doesn't mean that Squire couldn't remember to play an F,
merely that the whole band was deciding on the progression of the piece
(I don't know how well versed you are in music theory you are, but the difference
of one note-esp. in the bass-can alter the character of a whole chord and
even the key that the piece is in).

You then say...

	2)  Anderson came from a nightclub scene and was overly interested
	    in entertainment.  Yes was modeled after the 5th Dimension.

	Well, as for the nightclub bit, how many musicians do you know that
DON'T come from nightclub gigs at one point of another?  Overly interested
in entertainment?  That appears NOWHERE in the article (unless I missed it
in which case I will humbly submit to enlightenment).  And the 5th Dim.
part: this doesn't mean that Yes was trying to imitate this other group as
your article implies, merely that Yes wanted to do happy, upbeat music that
people liked (and don't flame me about that because everyone (pop or not)
wants their music to be liked).

Finally...

	3)  Yes' goal was not creativity, they wanted to sound different
	    and become famous.

	This is pretty wild extrapolation.  The mere fact that they wanted
to do something different PROVES their creative drive!!!!!  As for their
motive of fame...SO WHAT.  Every band wants that.  It just depends that
some bands do it by conforming, some by creativity.  Brian Eno may not
want to be played on the radio station, but he sure as hell doesn't want
to be ignored!!!!!

	Howard, please don't misquote the magazine and please don't make
such wild inferences.  I agree with you that Yes isn't the most creative
band in the world and I think they have produced some real insipid music
at times, but I'm afraid you made the wrong deductions from the Bruford
article.

				Tom Twiss
			...!ihnp4!stolaf!twiss

flames welcome