During a new interview with Rick Beato, Rick Wakeman explained what fans didn’t know about Yes’ mixes.
“But mixing was a joke. Yes mixes were never like Yes mixes, because it was six pairs of hands on the faders, and it was a joke,” the keyboardist said of the band’s studio process. “So, it ended up… Ugh, it was just a nightmare.”
He added, “They’re so compacted, so condensed. Yes mixes, which I never really liked — I always thought that Yes stuff could be mixed a lot better. I wish that Yes had worked the way David Bowie worked, [where] you’ve got an engineer and a producer there. Let them do it. Your job is to play your [instrument].”
Wakeman also worked with David Bowie during his long career. In a chat with Goldmine last year, the rocker talked about the advice he received from Bowie. He said, “[Hayley] has a tremendous range and is a clever singer. She is another listener. At The Palladium, we did ‘King Arthur, Journey to the Centre of the Earth,’ and a whole Yes set as well and received rave reviews.”
Rick continued, “One paper wrote, ‘Hayley Sanderson is the new Yes singer if they ever need one.’ We are all a big family, with me being the granddad. David Bowie once said to me, ‘When you are making an album be sure to pick musicians who understand what you are trying to achieve. You can have the best musicians in the world, but if they don’t understand what is in your head, you’ll be frustrated.'”
“That is what I have with Hayley and the band. They understand the stupidity that goes on in my head, they get it the first time, and it is brilliant,” Wakeman revealed.
Wakeman’s solo Fall tour ended on November 2 in Landsdowne, Pennsylvania. His traditional Christmas tour currently continues in the UK. His next concert will be in Bradford on December 9.
