Yes - The Psychedelic Years (1969)

In September 1967, Chris Squire joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a psychedelic group that included Peter Banks, singer Clive Bayley and drummer Bob Hagger. They played at the Marquee club where Jack Barrie, owner of the La Chasse drinking club a few doors down, saw them perform, and was impressed with their musicianship. One evening at La Chasse, Barrie introduced Squire to Jon Anderson, a worker at the bar who had sung with The Gun and also released a few solo singles, but with little success. The two found they shared common musical interests including Simon & Garfunkel, The Association and vocal harmonies,and in the following days they developed 'Sweetness', a track later recorded for the first Yes album. As the band developed, Anderson and Squire brought in drummer Bill Bruford, keyboardist Tony Kaye and Banks for rehearsals, eventually deciding to drop the name Mabel Greer's Toyshop.

After Tony Kaye joined Winston's Fumbs they recorded their one and only single 'Real Crazy Apartment', and shortly after that came out Kaye was invited to attend rehearsals with members of Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a London-based psychedelic rock band, who were forming a new, full-time group. He was approached by bassist Chris Squire after singer Jon Anderson had met Kaye some time before and suggested him, and after a successful audition, he joined Squire and Anderson in the new band.

When Peter Banks left The Syndicats he formed a new band with ex-The Selfs bassist Chris Squire, calling themselves The Syn. They were joined by keyboardist Andrew Pryce Jackman, Steve Nardelli on vocals and Gunnar Jökull Hákonarson on drums, and they recorded two singles, 'Created by Clive'/'Grounded' and 'Flowerman'/'14 Hour Technicolour Dream', in 1967 before calling it a day a year later. Squire meanwhile joined friends Clive Bayley (rhythm guitar) and Bob Hagger (drums) in Mabel Greer's Toyshop, and Banks came to join them, although he briefly left to play with the band Neat Change on their sole single 'I Lied to Aunty May'. Banks then returned to Mabel Greer's Toyshop, and with the loss of Bayley and the addition of organist/pianist Tony Kaye, they started to write new music together, adding to a repertoire which already included Squire/Bayley's 'Beyond And Before' and Anderson/Squire/Bayley's 'Sweetness'.

Meanwhile, Steve Howe's band The In-Crowd had renamed themselves Tomorrow and adopted a psychedelic rock sound, writing more original songs and changing their stage clothes. In 1967, they released two singles, the classic 'My White Bicycle', and it's follow-up 'Revolution, the latter co-written by Howe. During the recording of a new single with producer Mark Wirtz, Howe was asked by Wirtz to record some guitar as a session musician, which he eagerly accepted, and the session led to him recording a selection of singles for EMI, which included his first song 'Mothballs', also known as 'So Bad'. He played guitar on Keith West's single 'Excerpt From A Teenage Opera', which went to No. 2 in the UK, and Howe and his Tomorrow bandmates also took part in a pie fight scene in 1967's satirical comedy film 'Smashing Time'. After Tomorrow split in 1967, Howe played on several songs by their singer Keith West, and by 1968, with his reputation as a guitarist on the rise, he was invited to join Bodast, a trio who went by the name of Canto for a short period. They signed a record deal with Tetragrammaton Records and put down a selection of songs in 1969 at Trident Studios for an album with West as producer, but the label went out of business shortly before its release. After Bodast split, Howe auditioned for The Nice as a potential new member, but decided it wasn't for him, and left the next day, being offered an audition with Jethro Tull, which he failed to attend when he learned the guitarist they wanted would not contribute to the songwriting. He also had a try out with Atomic Rooster while Carl Palmer was a member, but that didn't gel, and so in 1970 he toured as a member of American soul singer P. P. Arnold's backing band, alongside future members of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, and in April of that year he was approached by Yes to replace the recently-departed Peter Banks. 

When Jon Anderson returned to London a year after the Warriors split up in Germany in 1967, he met Jack Barrie, owner of the La Chasse drinking club in Soho, who had befriended the rest of the Warriors after they had relocated to the city. With no money or accommodation, Barrie allowed Anderson and ex-Warrior Brian Chatton to stay with him, and Anderson helped out by working at La Chasse. During this time he got talking to Paul Korda, a producer for EMI Records, who took him on to sing several demos, and after that he travelled to the Netherlands to join Les Crunches, a band he had met in London. On hearing that some of his demos were to be released as singles by Parlophone Records under the pseudonym Hans Christian, he promptly returned to England, but despite positive reviews in the press neither was successful. In May 1968, Barrie introduced Anderson to Chris Squire, bassist of the London-based rock band Mabel Greer's Toyshop, which had previously included guitarist Peter Banks, and as the two talked they found they shared common musical interests such as Simon & Garfunkel and the idea of vocal harmonies. After some gigs as lead singer in Mabel Greer's Toyshop the members started talking of forming a new band, and in June 1968 they hired Bill Bruford to replace founding drummer Robert Hagger.

William Scott Bruford was born on 17 May 1949 in Sevenoaks, Kent, and decided to take up drumming at the age of thirteen after watching American jazz drummers on the BBC2 jazz TV series, Jazz 625. He cites Max Roach, Joe Morello, Art Blakey, and Ginger Baker as his favourite and most influential drummers as a youngster, and after his sister bought him a pair of drum brushes as a birthday present he gradually built a full drum kit. During his time at boarding school he befriended several fellow jazz fans, and they performed as a four-piece named The Breed from 1966 to 1967 until he was no longer able to attend all their gigs. In 1968 he auditioned for a place in The Savoy Brown Blues Band, but only lasted three gigs as he messed with the beat, and so he joined psychedelic rock band Paper Blitz Tissue in time to record their only single 'Boy Meets Girl'. After he left that band he settled into a flat in north London and placed an advertisement for drum work in the Melody Maker, which was spotted by Jon Anderson, then a member of Mabel Greer's Toyshop. Following a meeting with the rest of the band, Anderson was so impressed with Bruford that he invited him to play with the band that very evening at the Rachel McMillan College in Deptford. Following the gig, Bruford had several offers to join soul bands but chose to remain with Anderson and Squire, who took charge in forming a new band with Peter Banks and Tony Kaye.

After dropping the name Mabel Greer's Toyshop they settled on Yes as the new name, and everything was now in place for the newly-christened band to rehearse, and to start writing material for their first album, destined to become the starting point for a long and illustrious career for all the current and subsequent members. Rick Wakeman joined in 1971, and so is outside the scope of these collections, even though I stretched it slightly to include Steve Howe, who was not actually a founding member of the band, but did join just after their first album had been released. In 1981 Howe obtained the recordings of the songs taped for the Bodast album, and remixed and released them himself, but for these compilations I've just used tracks where he was involved in the songwriting as well as playing on the song, otherwise half the album would be Bodast tracks. If nothing else, these four albums show that every member of Yes had paid their dues over the years, slogging away in various moderately successful or unappreciated bands, and so fully deserved the success and acclaim then they eventually achieved.  

Track listing

Winston's Fumbs (Tony Kaye)
01 Real Crazy Apartment (single 1967)

The Syn (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
02 Created By Clive (single 1967)
03 Grounded (b-side of 'Created By Clive')

Tomorrow (Steve Howe)
04 My White Bicycle (single 1967)
05 Claramont Lake (b-side of 'My White Bicycle')

Paper Blitz Tissue (Bill Bruford)
06 Boy Meets Girl (single 1967)

Hans Christian (Jon Anderson)
07 Never My Love (single 1968)
08 All Of The Time (b-side of 'Never My Love')

Mabel Greer's Toyshop (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
09 Beyond And Before (demo 1968)
10 Get Yourself Together (demo 1968)
11 Jeanetta (demo 1968)

Canto (Steve Howe)
12 The Spanish Song (recorded 1968)

Bodast (Steve Howe)
13 Nether Street (recorded 1969)
14 Beyond Winter (recorded 1969)

Neat Change (Peter Banks)
15 I Lied To Aunty May (single 1968)

Enjoy / Enjoy

Track listing

Winston's Fumbs (Tony Kaye)
01 Snow White (b-side of 'Real Crazy Apartment' 1967)

The Syn (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
02 Flowerman (single 1967)
03 14 Hour Technicolour Dream (b-side of 'Flowerman')

Tomorrow (Steve Howe)
04 Revolution (single 1967)
05 Three Jolly Little Dwarfs (b-side of 'Revolution')

Paper Blitz Tissue (Bill Bruford)
06 Grey Man (b-side of 'Boy Meets Girl' 1967)

Hans Christian (Jon Anderson)
07 (The Autobiography Of) Mississippi Hobo (single 1968)
08 Sonata Of Love (b-side of '(The Autobiography Of) Mississippi Hobo')

Mabel Greer's Toyshop (Chris Squire, Peter Banks)
09 Images Of You And Me (demo 1968)
10 Electric Funeral (demo 1968)

Canto (Steve Howe)
11 Power Of Music (recorded 1968)

Bodast (Steve Howe)
12 Tired Towers (recorded 1969)
13 Nothing To Cry For (recorded 1969)

Neat Change (Peter Banks)
14 Sandman (b-side of 'I Lied To Auntie May' 1968)