The 100 Best Live Recordings - No. 83 Yes—Yessongs

No. 83 Yes—Yessongs (Atlantic, 1972)

Yes

I have long claimed not to be a fan of progressive rock. I have said the same about Black Sabbath. Yet, my adolescent LP collection contained Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Tarkus (Cotillion, 1971) and Pictures at an Exhibition (Cotillion, 1971); King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King (Atlantic, 1969) and Islands (Atlantic, 1971); the first four Black Sabbath albums; and Kansas’ Leftoverture (Kirshner, 1976) and The Point of No Return (Kirshner, 1977). So, the veracity of my claim is at best questionable and at worst, criminal.

This same LP collection harbored Yes’s The Yes Album (Atlantic, 1971), Fragile (Atlantic, 1971), and Close to the Edge (Atlantic, 1972), the tour supporting the latter I attended at Barton Colesseum, Little Rock on Tuesday, August 1, 1972. The opener was a new group out of Southern California called “The Eagles,” supporting their debut recording, Eagles (Asylum Records, 1972). It was a most memorable event.

Yes, followed its exceptional Close to the Edge with the three-LP Yessongs (Atlantic, 1973), the band’s first live recording from the same tour I witnessed. This sprawling release boasted a program derived from the three very releases in my collection, ignoring the band’s debut, Yes (Atlantic, 1969) and Time and the Word (Atlantic, 1970). This suited me fine as I never listened past Yessongs.

But that was enough. Yes, in their salad days, were a formidable unit with the chops to equal ELP King Crimson. Bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman and drummers Bill Bruford and Alan White showed that in the period, Yes was the face of progressive rock. Firey performances of “Heart of the Sunrise,” “And You and I,” “Fragile,” and the expansive “Close to the Edge" made this recording special…a special place and a special time. Yes, those were the days.