Friday and the Random Ten (Chris Squire Edition)

It was a sad week in music for me as Chris Squire, bass player extraordinaire for my favorite band YES, passed away suddenly from Leukemia at the age of 67. Since he was the only member who played on every album, this week's randomness will center solely on their music. Even though the Top 10 list from last week sent them to Exile Island, I am going to flip that around as the only music to be featured this week. It's my tribute to a great musician.

********************************************************************************

As usual the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ next to the home tab (though most won't apply this time).

And now for some music!

1) Something's Coming (Yes) - This is a bonus track from their debut album. It is a "Yesified" version of the song from West Side Story that wasn't included on the album.

2) America (single version) (Close to the Edge) - Another very early borrowed work that wasn't included on an album. This  one is Simon and Garfunkel.





3) I Would Have Waited Forever (Union) - Yes he was one of the eight (8!) band members who played on this album, but basically the only bass player as he bridged both sides of the Yes/ABWH camps.

4) Dear Father (Yes) - Another bonus track of a nice little song that for some reason didn't make the debut album either.

5) Cinema (90125) - An instrumental piece from the Chris Squire group that was going to be called Cinema before Jon Anderson returned. This was the resurgence of 80's Yes.

6) Be the One (Keys to Ascension) - One of the studio tracks that was added to live concert recordings. I thought this was as good as they had been musically since ABWH (even though Squire wasn't involved in that project). I always thought this is what ABWH would have sounded like with Squire on bass.




7) Fly From Here, Part 2 - Sad Night at the Airfield (Fly From Here) - Even when Yes went through several changes with personnel and lead singers, Chris was still there holding it all together.

8) Onward (Tormato) - This one is all Squire. The song is vastly different in style than the rest of the album, being heavily padded by an orchestra and containing much lower-pitch instrumentation from the band members. The lyrics are also atypical of most progressive rock music; it is a very direct love song from Chris to his then wife, Nikki. The orchestral arrangement was by Andrew Pryce Jackman who had recently worked with Squire on his Fish Out of Water solo album and had been in The Syn with Squire many years before.

9) Heart of the Sunrise (Fragile) - Squire is a force of nature on this classic song. This may have been Squire's best Yes album.

10) Silent Talking (Union) - Keeping it all together as always. I don't know how the band will move forward without him.

********************************************************************************

No STCS this week. I was trying to think of the best Squire song that did not show up in the countdown. I did a blog post earlier this week on his passing and included some of his most amazing work (Roundabout, Owner of a Lonely Heart, Amazing Grace). Seeing him in concert was an amazing thing as he went off on his 10-15 minute bass solos. Most of them were centered on "The Fish (Shindleria Praematurus)" from Fragile. It was a solo piece where every part is played by him on his bass and that's how he is playing us out this week.

********************************************************************************