The Mellotron Group

This was posted on the e-prog.list.
Pete


>  
>
> Rick Wakeman has long been regarded as the God of the Keys in 
> progressive rock circles. His tenure with the band Yes raised the bar 
> for all who dared to follow. Aside from Yes, Wakeman had a successful 
> solo career. In 1973, Wakeman released a concept piece based on the 
> six wives of Henry the Eighth. The heady piece of music featured the 
> expected fine musicianship, but in addition, Wakeman surprised his 
> fans with a piece of work that helped to define his musical persona 
> and vision.
>
> Now, 36 years later, on the 500th anniversary of King Henry taking the 
> thrown, Wakeman has again make musical history by performing his 
> classic work at the historical Hampton Court. A DVD of the event was 
> filmed and it is a grandiose, majestic and magical as one would expect 
> the often caped keyboardist to be.
>
> In this interview we discuss performing The Six Wives of Henry the 
> Eighth as well as other topics of legend in Wakeman\u2019s illustrious 
> history. Topics breached include King Arthur on Ice, bankruptcy, the 
> current lineup of Yes, burning keyboards and Rick\u2019s weight.
>
> Jeb: How ingenious to perform this work of music at the Hampton Court! 
> Did you ever think this would be allowed?
>
> Rick: I was turned down in the early seventies but things have changed 
> a lot since then. The people who manage, and look after the Hampton 
> Court, are a whole new breed of forward thinking people who care about 
> the past and making it relevant today. They actually contacted me, 
> which was tremendous.
>
> Jeb: Was it your idea to choose the date to play on the 500th 
> anniversary of Henry's ascension to the throne?
>
> Rick: It was their idea for it to pretty much launch the year of 
> Henry\u2019s ascension to the throne and it was an opportunity too good to 
> miss and make the most of by producing something as special as I could 
> possibly make it.
>
> Jeb: As I understand the story, financing started off easy but then 
> banks backed out and you had to use your own money. Were you worried 
> at that point that you may have another financial catastrophe on your 
> hands?
>
> Rick: That\u2019s not quite true. We did have sponsors who wanted to come 
> on board when we first put the whole plan together, but then the 
> recession hit and banks folded and that was that. We did initially 
> have a major bank pretty much on board that wanted to be involved but, 
> of course, the crisis that happened killed everything. I decided to go 
> ahead anyway because there\u2019s only going to be one anniversary, so 
> there was little choice. Every single penny earned from every single 
> area from the concert, the filming and the merchandising went towards 
> paying for the final production.
>
> Jeb: What challenges did you face setting up this event at such a 
> historical site? Did the venue cause any unique situations for you and 
> the crew?
>
> Rick: They couldn\u2019t have made life easier. Everybody kept in close 
> touch and we never planned anything without speaking to them first. 
> Communication is always the key when there are a lot of people 
> involved. Also, I love the palace. We really wanted to only portray it 
> in all its glory.
>
> Jeb: The DVD came out very nicely. The colors, as well as the music 
> and stage all came across profoundly. Explain to us what it was like 
> to revisit such a historical piece of your work in such a huge way.
>
> Rick: It wasn\u2019t easy with three new pieces involved and extensions to 
> all the original pieces. It was important that they all matched in 
> sound, format and performance. This took months of preplanning but was 
> worth every minute.
>
> Jeb: Do you still get nervous about performing?
>
> Rick: I don\u2019t get at all nervous. Excited? Yes.
>
> Jeb: You are a self-professed Grumpy Old Rock Star... yet you seem 
> pretty happy on the DVD. Is all this grumpy stuff just a facade?
>
> Rick: Grumpy is funny. We all get upset about things around us and you 
> can deal with it by getting angry, which isn\u2019t nice, or by being 
> grumpy, which is funny. At the end of the day, the English are 
> naturally grumpy because we are pretty much run in a dictatorial 
> manner by the government. We don\u2019t have any rights about how our lives 
> are run. So, all we can do is moan.
>
> Jeb: Any thoughts of a command performance... but this time on ice!
>
> Rick: That\u2019ll have to wait for the Return of King Arthur!
>
> Jeb: When you did King Arthur on Ice, you ended up taking bankruptcy 
> but at the same time the ice capades ended up selling ten million more 
> copies of the album. At the end of the day did you make a profit on it 
> or did you lose your shorts?
>
> Rick: Total lies! You\u2019ve been reading Wikapedia. Wikapedia is the 
> worst thing that\u2019s ever happened to the Internet. It\u2019s just total 
> rubbish. I never went bankrupt. I never even talked about going 
> bankrupt either. The shows were never going to make money, and indeed, 
> they lost money but it doesn\u2019t take a rocket scientist to work out 
> that the ten million plus units in sales more than covered the show on 
> ice!
>
> Jeb: As a father, is it gratifying to have your son stepping in to 
> fill your shoes as the new keyboard player for Yes?
>
> Rick: I got him the job as it happens. But we don\u2019t discuss it at all 
> because I don\u2019t have any respect for the current tribute band that is 
> out there. You can\u2019t have Yes without Jon [Anderson, vocalist].
>
> Jeb: I talked to Jon Anderson last night. He is, obviously, not happy 
> that Yes went out without him. He said to me that he does not think it 
> is Yes unless Rick Wakeman and himself are in that band. He said it 
> just does not have the same energy, no matter how good it sounds. Do 
> you agree with that? Is he justified in his frustrations?
>
> Rick: He is completely justified. Yes is no longer a part of my life 
> so I have nothing to add except to say that Jon is absolutely right. I 
> think most fans would agree as well. But, it\u2019s all over with regards 
> to the classic lineup now. I just get on with my life and my music.
>
> Jeb: Back when you were getting famous, marrying a bunch of women and 
> having heart attacks, you were also rather famous for being the life 
> of the party. I have heard you kept a keg of beer amongst all of you 
> keyboards, as well as some hard liquor. Is that true?
>
> Rick: Completely true! Those were great days \u2013 and I survived too!
>
> Jeb: Was it hard to play such complex music under the influence?
>
> Rick: I never did. I would drink a few during the performance, which 
> didn\u2019t kick in until after the set finished. I would drink a load more 
> afterwards. You can\u2019t play the sort of stuff we did if you\u2019re \u2018not 
> very well\u2019!
>
> Jeb: Don't take this the wrong way, but certain members of Yes are 
> well, rather stuffy. As unlikely as it would seem for a progressive 
> rock band, were Yes wild on the road? Were there any televisions 
> flying out of windows?
>
> Rick: We actually kept ourselves to ourselves. Jon and I socialized 
> during the last load of touring and are really good friends. In the 
> early days, we had different ideas of what socializing meant, so we 
> went our different ways.
>
> Jeb: If this is true, then I want the entire scoop. Legend holds you 
> had a Mellotron but it was an awkward beast to play. So you took it 
> out to a field and burned it. True?
>
> Rick: It is well documented I\u2019m afraid, so there is no scoop there. I 
> burnt three of them in a field in Switzerland. They had great sound 
> but they were a total nightmare in every other way.
>
> Jeb: Speaking of keyboards, legend also holds that you bought your 
> first electronic keyboard from a famous actor for half price because 
> he thought it was broken.
>
> Rick: Wikapedia again! I bought my first proper keyboard at age 12 
> from a music store in Wembley. The keyboard you\u2019re thinking of I 
> bought in 1971 from the actor Jack Wild. It was a mini moog and he did 
> think it was faulty, which it turned out not to be. I told him about 
> it but he decided that he didn\u2019t want it anymore, anyway, so it became 
> mine.
>
> Jeb: It has been said you left Yes, initially over musical 
> differences. Yet, some Yes fans whisper that you really left because 
> you were a meat eater and they were vegetable eating tree huggers and 
> it drove you crazy. It sounds like it could not be true but I had to ask.
>
> Rick: I need to write a book and dispel all these completely stupid 
> myths! Why on earth would other people being vegetarian affect any 
> relationships or, for that matter, any musical writings or performances?
>
> Jeb: You have hit the big 6-0. Is this a time for you to move ahead 
> with your creativity or does it afford you some time to reflect back 
> and review what you have accomplished?
>
> Rick: I never look back; only forward. Stopping doing major tours has 
> really allowed me to spend more time creating and coming up with new 
> ventures. I\u2019ve never felt happier.
>
> Jeb: Last one: I heard you wanted to lose some weight. In fact, I have 
> heard you are losing weight for charity. What is the charity and how 
> is it going?
>
> Rick: It\u2019s going slowly but I am getting there. The charity is The 
> Salvation Army. I want to ditch at least twenty kilo if I can. But I 
> have one bad weakness: Food!
>
> www.rwcc.com
>
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