RIP Chris Squire

[Funk 50]

For any fans who may be interested, someone has compiled the public/social media statements from Chris' fellow Yes men, past and present. I was especially interested to read Jon Anderson's comments as I knew (everyone knew) they had a difficult relationship but there is a lot of love and history there too. http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wncs.htm

Thanks for posting the link NightMistBlue

Chris's plaintive Onward is one of my favourite Yes Songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soz7u47-9rc

As a Genesis fan I'm delighted that he recently made a record with Steve Hackett. Even more delighted that they named it Squackett.

Never saw the bass guitar as a lead instrument until I heard Christopher Squire.

Thanks for posting the live vids. That triple neck bass was most impressive .

[NightMistBlue]

My brother and I went on the 2013 Yes cruise and Steve Hackett (with his band Genesis Revisited) was one of the guests. I would often see Steve and his young wife at breakfast. He seems like a humble, quiet man. When fans would approach him, he would invite them to sit down and talk.

I'm too shy to approach anyone, though I did make an exception for Carl Palmer and his two bandmates - they were freakin' amazing, everyone was talking about their performances.

I digress, sorry.

Steve Howe has made a brief statement on his Facebook page about Chris:
https://www.facebook.com/guitarrondo

I love the photo! The Rickenbacker bass looks like a toy in Squire's huge hands.

Gotta share just one more, and it's special: Brian May has written a lovely (and long!) tribute: http://brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/b...bjun15.html#22

[MaryCalifornia]

Very sad. I just read Chris' Wikipedia page, I don't know very much about him or Yes, but I'm interested.

It says that Yes will tour with Toto starting August 7, and it will be the first time ever, since 1969 that Chris isn't with them. Crazy. I wonder who will play bass for them? Big shoes to fill. I can think of one sweet-harmony-singing bass player the same age as Chris who could be available...but I don't know if Timothy can play in the same style. They need Flea. It would be cool if they had famous bass players rotate in and out, you can't try to replace him.

[chaim]

Very sad. I just read Chris' Wikipedia page, I don't know very much about him or Yes, but I'm interested.

It says that Yes will tour with Toto starting August 7, and it will be the first time ever, since 1969 that Chris isn't with them. Crazy. I wonder who will play bass for them? Big shoes to fill. I can think of one sweet-harmony-singing bass player the same age as Chris who could be available...but I don't know if Timothy can play in the same style. They need Flea. It would be cool if they had famous bass players rotate in and out, you can't try to replace him.

The bass player will be Chris's friend Billy Sherwood. Chris and Billy have done two studio albums and, I believe, one live album together under the name Conspiracy. Billy had already played as a backing musician on YES's Talk tour. Later he was even a member of YES (second guitarist - much to Howe's delight, I'm sure!) for a couple of years. Billy did the albums Open Your Eyes and The Ladder with YES. Open Your Eyes was a Squire/Sherwood project that became a YES album. I don't think anyone - fans or band members - considers it a real YES album. Whereas a lot of people - fans and band members - consider The Ladder a "return to form" in that the band wrote, arranged, rehearsed and recorded the songs together, like they often did during the "classic era".

I believe Billy has also mixed and recorded some YES stuff when he hasn't actually been a YES member. He has always been a YES fan, and he knows all their music. So if anyone is going to replace Chris for a tour (and no one really can), Billy Sherwood is the man IMO. He loved Chris dearly and Chris's death has been hell for Billy. I believe Chris and Billy met in the late 80's or early 90's.

https://www.facebook.com/billy.sherwood.54?fref=ts

[AlreadyGone95]

MC, if you're looking for Yes albums to start with since you're interested, my top 3 are The Yes Album, Going for the One, and Fragile. I'm afraid that I know little of Chris's work outside of Yes.


I'm glad that Chris's "replacement" is someone who's been in the Yes camp before. I don't like when bands bring in completely new members, especially for a band that's been around as long as Yes has.

[chaim]

MC, if you're looking for Yes albums to start with since you're interested, my top 3 are The Yes Album, Going for the One, and Fragile. I'm afraid that I know little of Chris's work outside of Yes.


I'm glad that Chris's "replacement" is someone who's been in the Yes camp before. I don't like when bands bring in completely new members, especially for a band that's been around as long as Yes has.

Check out Chris's solo album from the 70's, "Fish out of water". It's a masterpiece. Especially this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2WYvryNoZM

[AlreadyGone95]

Check out Chris's solo album from the 70's, "Fish out of water". It's a masterpiece. Especially this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2WYvryNoZM

That is a good song. I'll have to check out the rest of the album as soon as a get a chance.

[NightMistBlue]

Going for the One is way up there for me too - so many great songs: the title track, Parallels, Wonderous [sic] Stories and the epic to end all epics Awaken.

I wish the best for the guys moving forward, but I just can't imagine Yes without Squire. He's irreplaceable.

[chaim]

From yesterday: http://ultimateclassicrock.com/alan-...-chris-squire/

I thought they were going to do only the already-scheduled dates, but I guess they will continue after them. Before this YES either lost an essential voice or an essential player when one member left. This time they lost both in one person!
Although I must say that Steve Howe's low voice is very distinctive too and works perfectly when he sings on YES material - like the lowest vocal part at the end of Parallels.

[NightMistBlue]

What are the chances that Jon Anderson would return to the fold at some point? I know he can't do anything (with Yes) this year, because his project with Jean-Luc Ponty is about to be released, but maybe down the line sometime.

Someone at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame should get a clue and give Yes the honor they deserve.

Chaim, you bring up an interesting point about Chris' distinctive harmony vocals. Who the hell can perform that? Steve Howe has a nice, soft voice but Chris would do that sharp counterpoint stuff. Billy Sherwood has some very big britches to step into.