Introduction

Atlantic Records · Reino Unido, 25 de julio de 1969 · Estados Unidos, 15 de octubre de 1969

Producción: Paul Clay y Yes · Advision y Trident, Londres

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Lado A

Beyond and Before

I See You

Yesterday and Today

Looking Around

Lado B

Harold Land

Every Little Thing

Sweetness

Survival

From Mabel Greer's Toyshop to Yes

Yes emerged from Mabel Greer's Toyshop, the psychedelic band formed in London in 1966–67 by guitarist and singer Clive Bayley and drummer Bob Hagger. Following the breakup of The Syn, two of its members, who had already played together, joined: Chris Squire and Peter Banks (born Peter Brockbanks). Bayley switched to rhythm guitar and Banks to lead guitar; Banks played on the 1967–68 Mabel Greer's Toyshop recordings.^[1]

Banks stepped away for a while and had a stint with Neat Change, with whom he recorded the B-side of this single, “Sandman”, which frankly seems to me somewhere between dull and naive; on the other side Peter Frampton played. It is worth listening to this other track by the band, although it reportedly predates Banks's involvement: the ending is excellent for 1967.

Squire met Jon Anderson in May 1968 at La Chasse, Jack Barrie's club, and Anderson immediately began writing and singing with the band.^[2] Over the following weeks, the line-up changed almost entirely. Drummer Bob Hagger and Clive Bayley—lead vocals, songwriter, and rhythm guitar—departed. To replace Hagger, Bill Bruford joined after answering an ad; he played his first gig with them on 7 June 1968. In July, Tony Kaye came on board, an acquaintance of Anderson who had taken part in this recording, now a cult favourite, and Banks was brought back to take over the guitar spot left by Bayley. Weeks later, on 4 August 1968, the band played for the first time under the name Yes, which Banks had suggested.^[3]

Upon meeting, Anderson and Squire discovered they shared a love of The Beatles, The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, and harmony singing. The songwriting partnership between the two begins with this album.^[4]

From August 1968, the band toured the British circuit and held a residency at the Marquee in London. They played a repertoire that mixed original tracks with heavily reworked covers: of The Beatles, The Byrds, as well as soul and jazz. Two of those covers ended up on the album: “I See You” and “Every Little Thing”.^[5]

The Line-up

• Jon Anderson: lead vocals and incidental percussion. On the original release he is credited as “John Anderson”; he dropped the “h” in 1970.
• Chris Squire: bass and vocals.
• Peter Banks: guitars and vocals.
• Tony Kaye: organ and piano.
• Bill Bruford: drums and vibraphone.^[6]

Contract and Recording

Yes auditioned for Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic at the Speakeasy Club in London; the signing was reported in the press in March 1969.^[7]

The album was recorded in the spring of 1969, mostly at Advision Studios with some sessions at Trident in London. Production is credited to Paul Clay and Yes. The engineer at Advision was Gerald Chevin; at Trident, John Anthony.^[8] The March to May 1969 timeframe often cited has no source: Anderson and Banks recalled spending anywhere between one and four weeks in the studio.^[9] Except for “Yesterday and Today”, recorded at Trident, it is not documented which studio each song was recorded in.

Las condiciones de las sesiones

• The producer. Banks felt that Clay, who came from film soundtracks, was not the right producer for a rock band, blaming him for drums that sounded "like biscuit tins" and a "tinny" guitar.^[10]
• The volume levels. Chevin would ask to turn them down; Banks would turn them up when no one was looking.^[11]
• Bruford's first session. It was his first time in a professional studio. Only near the end did he realise he could adjust his headphone mix, and he recorded with the guitar blasting in one ear and nothing in the other.^[12]
• Bruford on his own drumming. He described it as "a mix of everything he had heard" and later acknowledged his naivety, especially in wanting to swing on the cymbals.^[13]
• The organ. Kaye's instrument was actually a Vox Continental disguised as a Hammond. For the sessions, the band rented a real Hammond and took two days to get it working properly.^[14]

Release

The album was released on Atlantic on 25 July 1969 in the United Kingdom and on 15 October 1969 in the United States. It failed to chart in either country.^[15]

Two singles were released: “Sweetness”, with “Something's Coming” as the B-side, on 4 July 1969, and “Looking Around”, on 3 October 1969.^[16]

Live and on the Radio

The BBC sessions of this line-up are collected on Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969–1970 (NMC, 1997; in the United States, Beyond and Before, Purple Pyramid).^[17] On television, the band performed on the Belgian programme Pop-Eye (Brussels, 15 October 1969) and on the German Beat Club (November 1969).^[18] What they played on each occasion is listed under the corresponding song.

Contemporary Reception

Lester Bangs praised the album in Rolling Stone (7 February 1970). David F. Wagner, in The Post-Crescent from Appleton, Wisconsin (21 December 1969), wrote a favourable review and compared Banks to Wes Montgomery.^[19]