RIP Chris Squire

[mc2NY]

Man....SAD news.

Squire was such a big part of Yes' sound and the guy I most identified with what a Ric Bass sounded like.

Met him backstage once when Bruford invited my drummer and I to a Yes show as his guests. Real nice guy.

R.I.P.

[Denis]

Squire was the ONLY member of Yes to play on ALL their albums, and the latest tour is the ONLY one in which he didn't play. He was the rock of Yes.
I saw Yes only once, in 1983 as a college freshman. That was the show where Alan White signed my tour book.
RIP, Mr. Squire, and thanks for all the music.

[hieronymous]

Bill Bruford gives a nice tribute on his Facebook page:

Really saddened to hear of the death of my old Yes band-mate, Chris Squire. I shall remember him fondly; one of the twin rocks upon which Yes was founded and, I believe, the only member to have been present and correct, Rickenbacker at the ready, on every tour. He and I had a working relationship built around our differences. Despite, or perhaps because of, the old chestnut about creative tension, it seemed, strangely, to work.
He had an approach that contrasted sharply with the somewhat monotonic, immobile bass parts of today. His lines were important; counter-melodic structural components that you were as likely to go away humming as the top line melody; little stand-alone works of art in themselves. Whenever I think of him, which is not infrequently, I think of the over-driven fuzz of the sinewy staccato hits in Close to the Edge (6'04" and on) or a couple of minutes later where he sounds like a tuba (8'.00"). While he may have taken a while to arrive at the finished article, it was always worth waiting for. And then he would sing a different part on top.
An individualist in an age when it was possible to establish individuality, Chris fearlessly staked out a whole protectorate of bass playing in which he was lord and master. I suspect he knew not only that he gave millions of people pleasure with his music, but also that he was fortunate to be able to do so. I offer sincere condolences to his family.

[uwe]

"He had an approach that contrasted sharply with the somewhat monotonic, immobile bass parts of today."

"An individualist in an age when it was possible to establish individuality, Chris fearlessly staked out a whole protectorate of bass playing in which he was lord and master. "


Doubleplusgood-Amen!!! Bill Bruford can obviously read my mind.

And in commemoration, I have now finally learned to play the Roundabout bass riff! Took me quite a while to get it right yesterday, not something that comes naturally to me with that scraping "jump" from the empty E to the empty A (something I generally tend to avoid if I can, scraping always makes me feel slightly guilty!). Stored for eternity as one of my handy "quotes" to play at appropriate (and of course inappropriate, that is all the fun!) places in the future.

Now all I need to learn is sing pitch-perfect harmony in a different rhythm and wear one of those cute gowns ... With all due respect and admiration to the dearly departed, he had a slight Dame Edna look to him in his later stage years. 

[gearHed289]

This was the song that introduced me to them...  Anderson-less I realize now... but what a great opening bass riff.

Great song. Drama was my first "new" YES record. I was familiar with the YES Album and Fragile, and also a live bootleg from the Tormato tour (magic...). Drama was so much Chris' record, it was perfect for this aspiring 16 yo bass player. I saw them for the first time on this tour, 16th row, in the round at the International Amphitheater in Chicago. They opened with this song, and yes, he played the blue non-rev bird, much to my surprise. There was also the Ric (of course), the Jazz, the Electra (with built-in flanger), and the Ranney 8 string. What a bad influence! "It's normal to play several basses in one show, right?"  I'm happy to have these memories, and happy to have seen them last summer, when Chris' bass playing and tone were everything you'd expect, and his voice was possibly better than ever.

[uwe]

How that Drama album was (unjustly) slaughtered in the press at the time, now it's a cult favorite!

[wellREDman]

 Yes was one piece of horizon broadening i never got around to, but was on my list

one of the bands that my teenage idiot self tarred with the brush of "not punk rock"(my first bass actually had a Yes sticker on it when I got it- that lasted 10 mins)

middle aged me has gone back to get to know quite a few bands that the up myself brat dismissed, just hadn't got round to Yes yet, the comparisons and descriptions on this thread have inspired me to correct this. which 5 songs are a good start ?

[nofi]

the  'yes album' and 'fragile' are a good start.

[Highlander]

I still have the vinyl of Yessongs... and (just checked) Going For The One

[uwe]

Nofi's recommendation is perfect for classic Yes at their peak as young men.

But there is also a comparatively recent work (just not the last album, that was lame) you should give a listen:




This is a divisive statement, I know, but for 80ies MTV Yes, the "Trevor Rabin solo album with assorted Yes members as guests" is a classic too, "Yes, it's a form of Yes, son, but not as we know it!": 90125 ...

[gearHed289]

Nofi's recommendation is perfect for classic Yes at their peak as young men.

But there is also a comparatively recent work (just not the last album, that was lame) you should give a listen:




This is a divisive statement, I know, but for 80ies MTV Yes, the "Trevor Rabin solo album with assorted Yes members as guests" is a classic too, "Yes, it's a form of Yes, son, but not as we know it!": 90125 ...

"YES" to all of this. Trevor Rabin is ridiculously talented, and combined with Squire and Anderson, with Trevor Horn producing, they knocked it out of the park for that era. They had a tough time making the follow up, Big Generator, and after that, I lost track of all the lineup changes, live albums of old material, etc. etc. Then along came Fly From Here, a really enjoyable album that was mostly leftovers from the Drama era. Sadly, their last album, Heaven and Earth, is pretty weak and cringe-worthy.

[uwe]

Heaven & Earth feels like a collection of unused B-sides. And makes Starcastle sound like Black Sabbath in comparison.

[hieronymous]

A nice obituary: https://prog.teamrock.com/features/2015-06-29/chris-squire-the-heart-of-the-matter (sorry to post so much of this stuff, it comes up on Facebook)

To me, the best places to start are, as mentioned, "The Yes Album" & "Fragile." If you can handle longer, more symphonic stuff, then "Close to the Edge" or Chris Squier's solo album "Fish Out of Water." "Tales from Topographic Oceans" might be too much, but I like it. I also really love "Drama." Some people like the "Yessongs" live album, finding it more aggressive than the studio albums - I didn't like it early on, it sounded poorly recorded to me, but when I saw the film version it made more sense. I also really like "Fly From Here" - some great bass tones and nice songs. And "90125" (or is it 90210?) is a pretty amazing album, though much slicker than any of their other stuff.

[patman]

I love the earlier stuff...and I love "Fly from here"...FRAGILE WAS ALWAYS UNEVEN, BUT I THOUGHT CLOSE TO THE EDGE WAS PRETTY MUCH PERFECT

[Denis]

I have always had a soft spot for "Relayer", which usually goes unmentioned.