Yes and Peter Banks

rickinroma · Post by **rickinroma** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 2:56 am

I was talking with a keyboard player days ago. He's a big Yes fan and we talked about the musical evolution of Yes from the very beginning...I told him I really love the way the 1st guitarist, Peter Banks, played his 6 and 12strings guitar. Not that I don't like Stewe Howe..he's great too, I said!
Anyway he laughed at me saying that Banks was really poor and no real professional player... "they did a good job kicking away from the band...." and so on....
Was P.B. really that bad? Maybe I like him just because of his rickenbackers

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:13 am

I think the guitar work on "America", is just as good as Steve Howe. And, I'm a big Steve Howe fan.

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:17 am

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:20 am

I love the first two Yes albums and they're the ones I listen to most.

rickinroma · Post by **rickinroma** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:24 am

1st 2 albums are my favs as well

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 4:27 am

Although this seems heretical in the context of this thread, let it be said that I'm not a Yes fan. I also don't know much about their history as a band, but I thought you might be interested to know that there is a limited edition CD that recently came out. It's called 'Original Syn'. It covers all known and unreleased tracks ever recorded by The Syn. I believe this was Chris Squire's band before Yes. The cover art shows Chris with his Rick bass and the guitarist with a Rose-Morris Rick. I'm fairly certain that the guitarist is Peter Banks. You guys might want to check it out. The material is probably from 1967-1968. I bought a copy a few months ago, but haven't gotten around to listening yet.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:25 am

Hey, Dave...you'll be an even bigger Steve Howe fan when I tell you that it's him playing on "America"...the Paul Simon tune they recorded in 1972 (between Fragile and Close To The Edge) for the "Age Of Atlantic" label compilation. This tune can also be found on the Yes retrospective, "Yesterdays"...

Banks is an excellent guitarist, though...I'd never call him 'really poor'...

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:34 am

I always liked Peter's sound and style...listen to "Small Beginnings" from his "other" band, Flash.

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:15 am

Dane, I stand corrected, Peter only played on 2 songs, and not on "America". I had thought he did the whole album.

http://www.relayer35.com/Yescography/yesterda.htm

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:04 pm

I was just gonna say . . . "America" is one of the first songs I think of when I think of Steve Howe. I'm a huge Yes fan, and, though I think that Steve Howe is one of the top ten greatest guitarists ever (and my personal favorite), I wouldn't say that Peter Banks was a bad guitarist. He was actually quite good. I just think that Steve Howe joining the band was the best thing that ever happened to it.

Even saying that, I really like Trevor Rabin's guitar playing as well.

radiognome3 · Post by **radiognome3** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:13 am

In the recent MOJO Magazine special about Progressive Rock, there is an article about Yes, including a picture of Howe's guitar selection on stage with a 330/12. Peter Banks also talks about throwing his Rickenbacker at a recording engineer.

Additionally, the booklet included with the box set Yes Years, has good pictures of Peter Banks with his 'Yes' badge-bedecked 330; of course pictures of Squire; and interestingly, Jon Anderson with a 450/12.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 8:10 am

Well, I'm a bit of a freak, because my favorite album of theirs was Close To The Edge, followed closely by "...Topographic..." I saw both tours, and Howe's double 6- and 12-string work was stunning. Same time frame as Page and McGlaughlin...interesting to compare the three approaches.

Bobcat, yes I agree, Trevor is a great player...I saw him with the band once. An occasional stray into Wankerworld with some of his soloing, though. With Howe it's always musical, never wanky...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:58 am

my favorite Yes lineup was the one on Fragile ... I always prefered Bruford as the drummer ... and I enjoyed Bruford in King Crimson ... I had forgotten about Peter Banks ...

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 7:38 am

Jeff, I completely agree...Alan's great, but Bruford's, well, Bruford...

harley · Post by **harley** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:17 pm

Dane, I never thought I'd hear that someone preferred those two albums by Yes. Those are also my favorites, but in reverse order. Topographic Oceans is an incredible composition and recording. I especially like "Nous Sommes Du Soleil" which if I recall correctly is side 4.