Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Very cool, I just went back and started from the beginning of the thread.

THANKS for posting the Vid Mike!

"America" (the studio track) was recorded in February 1972, around the time of the first sessions for 'Close to the Edge' ; certainly Wakeman was already a member in good standing.

The arrangement dates back to the Kaye days, specifically to the period just after Howe joined the band, when Yes retired to a cottage in Devon in May 1970 to write parts of 'The Yes Album'. It was a feature in live sets starting that summer.
1970 overall was a very interesting transitional year for Yes concerts....in addition to epic live covers of 'America' and 'It's Love' (now available as tracks on 'The Word Is Live'*), audiences might have heard a Howe/Squire bass duet called 'Adventures' (which somehow morphed into the more standard tune called 'A Venture' on The Yes Album) as well as a Squire solo called 'Bass Odyssey''. There are no live recordings of either that I'm aware of.

see:
http://m-ideas.com/sullivan/Yesgigs.html


(*interestingly, the album after 'The Yes Album' was originally going to be a double LP studio/live hybrid... the live LP was going to consist of 'America' and 'It's Love'. )

Cool beans!
Thanks for the additional info. Can you IMAGINE being a fly on that studio wall?
(You'd be one STONED fly!)

Great thread. This track has always interested me since it first came to my attention on Keys to Ascension, so much so that I tried to convince my band of the time to cover it. Just to give us something well known but different to play and stand out from the crowd. Needless to say I got a glazed look from the other band members and sent off to stand in the corner with my Rick. I got my own back later when they agreed to cover “Owner of a lonely Heart”(live version) which drew some dropped jaws from the audience when played.

I was at two of the shows recorded for the 'Keys to Ascension' CD/video, and "America" was an absolute highlight both nights.

Welcome to the RRF Steven. Are you the Sullivan that was on A.M.Y back in the mid 90s?

Cool thread! Love this track. Wish there were a better quality YouTube clip out there.

"Better quality" and "YouTube" are generally mutually exclusive phrases/words.

And by the way, what IS with the new trend for our populace (especially the younger set) to be content with poor quality reproduction of music. Like so many 50-somethings, I spent my entire life chasing the best quality sound from my "stereo." We would do anything to improve the signal quality and reduce the noise level of our music. And now, so many folks listen to the lowest quality MP3 files on the worst quality earbuds.

We are a society in retrograde motion...it seems to be quantity, not quality.

Sorry to rant...

Billsbro wrote:We are a society in retrograde motion...it seems to be quantity, not quality.

Too true, unfortunately. Thanks our kids for that. Wait, I don't have any kids!

As far as the potential Page sighting goes, it makes sense, since he was also with Atlantic.

johnallg wrote:Welcome to the RRF Steven. Are you the Sullivan that was on A.M.Y back in the mid 90s?

Welcome, Steven. Greetings from Portugal.
Miguel
www.miguelbass.com