The Yes Album (1971)

The Yes Album is the third studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released in the UK on 19 February 1971 and in the US on 19 March 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature guitarist Steve Howe, who replaced Peter Banks in 1970, as well as their last to feature keyboardist Tony Kaye until 1983's 90125.

The band spent mid-1970 writing and rehearsing new material at a farmhouse at Romansleigh, Devon, and the new songs were recorded at Advision Studios in London in the autumn. The album was the first by the band to feature all-original material. While the album retained close harmony singing, Kaye's Hammond organ, and Chris Squire's melodic bass, as heard on earlier releases, the new material also covered further styles including jazz piano, funk, and acoustic music. All of the band members contributed ideas, and tracks were extended in length to allow music to develop. Howe contributed a variety of guitar styles, including a Spanish laúd, and recorded the solo acoustic guitar piece "Clap", live at the Lyceum Theatre, London.

The album was a critical success and a major commercial breakthrough for Yes, who had been at risk of being dropped by Atlantic due to the commercial failures of their first two albums. It reached number 4 in the United Kingdom and number 40 in the United States, and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for surpassing one million copies. The album has been reissued on CD several times, and was given a Blu-ray release in 2014 remixed by Steven Wilson.

Background

Yes had already recorded two albums for Atlantic Records by mid-1970, but neither had been commercially successful and the label was considering dropping them. They had replaced founding member Banks with Howe, who enjoyed playing a wider variety of styles, including folk and country music, and played a mix of electric and acoustic guitars. Singer Jon Anderson later said that Howe could "jump from one thing to the other, very fast, very talented." After some warm-up gigs with Howe, the band moved to Devon to write and rehearse new material. They arrived at a cottage in Churchill, north of Barnstaple, but felt restricted there and were not allowed to make any noise after dark. They advertised in the local paper for a new location, and moved to Langley Farm in Romansleigh, near South Molton, some 20 mi (32 km) away. Howe in particular enjoyed working on the farm, and eventually bought it. Following rehearsals, the band booked Advision Studios in London with producer Eddie Offord and spent the autumn recording. The band enjoyed the sessions, and soon had enough material ready for an album.

Several weeks into the Langley Farm rehearsals, manager Roy Flynn came to tell the band he was leaving them and taking money he believed he was owed. This put the band under severe financial stress, leaving concerts as their only source of income at the time. Flynn also owned 5 per cent of the band's publishing revenues in perpetuity; that was later terminated but it left the band bitter enough to retitle a short Bill Bruford instrumental on their next album, Fragile, "Five Per Cent for Nothing" in protest. Flynn was soon replaced by Brian Lane.

On 23 November 1970, the group were involved in a head-on vehicle collision at Basingstoke, while returning from the previous evening's gig at the Plymouth Guildhall. The band all suffered shock, and Kaye's foot was fractured. He had to do the next few gigs, and the album cover's photo shoot, with it in plaster.

Howe mostly used a Gibson ES-175 semi-acoustic guitar and a Martin 00-18 acoustic for recording, though he did attempt to play a variety of styles with the two instruments. Squire played a 1964 Rickenbacker RM1999 bass with Rotosound Swing Bass steel roundwound strings. His amplification was a Marshall 100W tube head with 4x12 cabinets. Kaye's main instruments were the Hammond organ and piano, including a solo on "A Venture". Kaye had previously played the Hammond M-100, but for this album used the B-3, a move which he saw as "a turning point". He was not interested in playing synthesizers, which had started to appear on the market. This proved to be a problem with the other members of the band, and Kaye thought his style conflicted too much with Howe's. He left the group during rehearsals for the follow-up album in mid-1971, to be replaced by Rick Wakeman.

Songs

Yes had started their career as a covers band, performing radical re-arrangements of hit songs, and their first two albums included covers in this vein. The Yes Album was the first to feature group-written material in its entirety. Some familiar elements remained: Anderson, Howe and Squire sang three-part vocal harmony throughout the record, while Squire's melodic bass and Bill Bruford's spacious drumming made up their unique rhythm section.