Yes, you're right! And it's also the 50th anniversary of _Tales from Topographic Oceans, Larks Tongues in Aspic_ and _Selling England By The Pound,_ as well as _Yessongs._ So 1973 was a very momentous year in progressive rock.
Another album by Rick Wakeman that you would probably like is Journey to the Center of the Earth, the title track is the standout, if you listen to the album, some of it is a narrated story. Also on YT there is a video of Wakeman playing Close to the Edge by Yes solo on piano, very nicely done.
You said you didn’t love every track from this album. You must be mistaken, listen again! Lol, I’m just joking with you. Rick’s albums from the 70s are all great, creative and fun imo. Out of all the members of Yes, his solo career is my favorite (I’m biased as a keyboardist myself) 😝
The entire albums concept, was ahead of the curve by far. But the tune of Henry's last wife, was way beyond the normal Parr! Now let's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", unless "the Red Planet" is more in your astral park! Peace & Love, until the Stars go dark.
I was just a little thing when my mom bought the album in '74. The sounds and the intensity gave me nightmares then, but at the same time, I could not stay away from it. It drew me in like no other sound in the world could. Over the years, I have listened to it frequently, never tiring of it, but knowing every little sound and nuance by heart. The album, from the very first two seconds, comes on like a freight train with Catherine of Aragon, and then it does not let go of you until the last fading note of Catherine Parr. The Six Wives album has been there with me and for me as I struggled for decades with depression. Just like with both life and the music, there are some intensely sad and frightening parts, but if you hold on long enough and stay strong, you will reach the the more friendly parts and they are worth the struggle. I met Wakeman a few years ago and shared this with him. He understands the sickness of depression very well and was touched that his art was a lifeline for me and that I did not succumb to the ultimate symptom of mental illness.
The organ shredding riff has always made me think of Keith Emerson whenever I heard it. I think this is the only time that happens, and it shows how much Wakeman and Emerson differed in their approach to keyboards and music. While I love both of their approaches (which I could never hope to explain how they're different) I do prefer Wakeman's approach over Emerson's (which is not to belittle Emerson's artistry in any way). It makes me wonder what a band made up of Wakeman, Lake, and Palmer would sound like, and how different Yes would've been if Emerson had been their keyboardist. I'm glad we had both ELP and Wakeman/ Yes (and Prog in general).
You should check out the "Rick Wakeman: The Legend" Concert where he plays a few of these tracks, but also he has some funny stories related to the songs. It is worth a listen to.
Hope next up is his live performance from 1972, where you can watch him play, and not just listen. He would perform this at almost every concert, though he would change it over the years, but it's the 72 performance that really is incredible.
That was my first experience with _Six Wives,_ the live excerpts from _Yessongs._ I instantly fell in love with it and had to get album. Needless to say I was not disappointed.
An interesting contrast to the studio album is the Live version done as an outdoor concert at Hampton Court Palace in 2009 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne. Together with a band, a choir and an orchestra, with some additional music Rick wrote (at the time of the album) for Henry himself.
I can't be the first one to spot it but the passage that you refer to as 'that sounds cool' is a direct lift from the 250 year old Scots song 'Charlie is my Darling'. I doubt if he's trying to link the two characters (Catherine Parr and Bonnie Prince Charlie) but I'm fairly certain that he would know the song (lyrics by Robert Burns) Nice piece of music anyway.
I'm thinking there's an Emerson vibe because Wakeman uses a similar very grungy Hammond organ setting (or "stops" as they are called) in this piece. His Hammond was seldom as grungy as Emerson's, but he lets the beast loose in this piece.
Dynamic track - really satisfying close to the album I recall an FM DJ playing the vinyl album to its end, and just letting it play to the groove next to the label. This album is similar to the UK Sgt. Pepper album, in that the audio, or the final note of "Catherine Parr", plays into the label groove's perpetual loop.
Yes it's a great album. One of his best, I'd say. I didn't realise till you pointed out, how percussive this track is, it certainly finishes the collection on a high. After Henry died, Catherine married Thomas Seymour who'd been a beau she'd had her eye on from before Henry stepped in. Unfortunately she died in childbirth about a year after her marriage, so her happiness was short lived. If you want to review another Wakeman album, I recommend Myths and Legends of King Arthur. It's a bit different to this offering, vocals for a start. But it is a good collection of toons. Completely different suggestion would be the album Pipedream by Alan Hull of Lindisfarne fame. An eclectic mix of tracks, all of them oozing quality. Well worth a listen. Great review J.
I bought this on a friend's recommendation. I doubt it had out more then a month at the time. In fact this was my FIRST progressive rock album. I soon also purchased Pink Floyd's for the Unmagumma and ELP's Pictures at an Exhibition. I really enjoyed the entire Six Wives album and purchased the next 5 or six Wakeman LPs upon release. I enjoy them all a lot but his first one is a definite favorite Enjoy
JP, I think that you may have the concert DVD from the ABWH tour. Rick’s solo medley at that show includes one of the Wives. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do. You won’t be disappointed. Enjoy.
Great song off of a great album. Rick has so many albums, I've only listened to maybe 9 or 10 of them. 6 Wives is easily my favorite of the ones I have heard. Criminal Record is probably my next favorite followed by Piano Portraits
The Moog segment is nicely voiced -- it's very similar to Mike Quatro's "Rachmaninoff's Prelude" from his 1972 Paintings album. I heard a story that Mike recognized his arrangement on Six Wives and got really pissed at Wakeman -- I don't think Rick ever told that story himself, when I saw him live, Rick only said that his dearly departed father liked the Six Wives album most of all.
Afternoon, Justin. Dave from a wintry London, after The Morning Fog. Still not sold on this album; think I'll stick to his condensed version on Yessongs. As for Catherine Parr, the first part is back to the crash-bang-wallop, but I like how some of the themes return at the end and are cleverly interwoven. P.S. my song ref The Morning Fog is by Kate Bush.
Rick is 2/3 of the way there to Henry VIII's six wives. Will he make it? I kid Rick, he has the best sense of humor in the music biz! People will marvel at his work forever! Thanks, Justin for your reaction to this amazing track and honoring our Veteran Rock Heroes! They mean more to me each day, and I wish them the best of health to keep us spellbound for many more years, and of course I wish peace to the greats who have passed! Hope you get to see Jon with the Band Geeks this spring, JP. Cheers!
Actually my favorite! !!!!!! Rarely heard... Alan White with some tasty beats. Him and Bruford are all over this album. Look when this came out it was groundbreaking and new so it kicked ars! Context is everything in the early 70's because so many incredible artist and genres were themselves evolving & changing rapidly. I think it's his best. Anyway someday you should get around to Patrick Moraz's "Story of i". It's a great one to hear after YES's Gates
Although not instrumental albums, I always preferred "the myths and legends of King Arthur and the knights of the round table" (the original version), "Criminal Record" and "No Earthly Connection" and even "White Rock". Those are my 4 go-to Wakeman albums. For me, he never topped either of those, although some fine tunes can be found on many of his albums.
Nice review JP, astute observations. This song is a bit disjointed and doesn't have good flow to it, but the playing and individual sections are sublime. The piano interludes with mellotron assisting are my favorite parts of this piece. You have a whole lot more of Rick's solo work to explore, have fun!
Phew! I'm cured of my temporary strong aversion to old synthesized sounds. That said, there were times when I thought to myself, "It ain't Bach" (but of course not; that's not the point). No, I'm not expecting some Bach from his worshippers; I think it might be a residue of that "anti-synth disease" I might not have entirely recovered from. One should not expect it to be a proper organ, but sometimes you hear that it isn't. Stupid, but true. So I enjoyed it, but was distracted at times by things that have never distracted me before. And _shouldn't_ . I've said this a thousand times before, I know, but this is what a real organ sounds like: ruclips.net/video/zlvOoYyg_xU/видео.html
Thank goodness something irrelevant cropped up at last: There's a new *Markus Reuter* (actually *Anchor and Burden* ) piece out, with a sci-fi background story you can read in the write-up. *Cerebral Transfixations* ruclips.net/video/G2LB7pbXm5c/видео.html It has a somewhat Crimson/ Projeckt sound if you need to be pre-warned about that. Lots of Touch Guitars involved, of course.
Wakeman's at his best with concept albums, particularly Journey to the Centre of the Earth. In comparison, the Six Wives album sounds self-indulgent - virtuosic without cause, without emotional depth. We all know you can play, Rick - but do you have a message that lives up to your immense talent? Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Myths & Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table show what he can do when he has an orchestra at his disposal and a clear concept in mind. They're brilliant. The rest of Wakeman's solo albums reveal him as a gifted player with lousy taste in music. The 1979 album Rhapsodies, for instance, has a uniquely soulful rendition of Summertime (tragically spoiled by the addition of a synth bass track) paired with a disco version of Rhapsody in Blue that is even worse than you imagine. I mean - godawful. Wakeman wasted two decades on disco and new age albums that sounded like bargain-basement Enya without the rhythm or soulful singing. What a tragic waste. Most of it defies listening today. You'll find both on this playlist. The horror, the horror. ruclips.net/p/PLoIDt_C5y1LsBa678B77po3qoNYcozkLU
It leaves me totally unmoved. In a way, it's very close to the baroque pomp of Keith Emerson at his worst. There remains only a vague theme, but for the rest, it's only a display of vain virtuosity.
@@CAdams6398 Yeah, I thought about what you must have been through while listening to that stuff ! 😉 I tend to put up with a lot of things in progressive rock, but this is beyond comprehension.🙄
@@CAdams6398 So far...yes. Maybe he'll have a surprise in store in an hour or two... who knows! Or maybe he's fed up with our constant moaning and is down to bare minimums, who knows...😉
Rick Wakeman THE FINGERS. THE MASTER. FOREVER YES❗❗❗🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹
Love that album !!! 50 years old in 2023.
Yes, you're right! And it's also the 50th anniversary of _Tales from Topographic Oceans, Larks Tongues in Aspic_ and _Selling England By The Pound,_ as well as _Yessongs._ So 1973 was a very momentous year in progressive rock.
Now I feel really old. 😀
How fitting that today is the 50th anniversary of the album 😁
One of my fav albums of all time and this is the crowning glory for me. Also watching him perform this is magical.
Oh and did I forget to mention I will be experiencing this again as I have tickets for both palladium shows in February. Can't wait.
Huge tempo changes and dynamics give the piece real feeling, something that can be missing in modern music played to a click track.
Great great music! I like the virtuoso on the keys and great drumming
Another album by Rick Wakeman that you would probably like is Journey to the Center of the Earth, the title track is the standout, if you listen to the album, some of it is a narrated story. Also on YT there is a video of Wakeman playing Close to the Edge by Yes solo on piano, very nicely done.
06:23 Oh my my, this little ballad, gives me goosebumps like crazy. Wakeman, you beautiful man
That first theme is in damn near every solo spot he played with Yes. never gets old.
4:30 is a great demonstration of the classic Mellotron choir patch. Great end to what is undeniably Rick's greatest solo album.
Time to watch the Rick Wakeman solo on Yessongs.
You said you didn’t love every track from this album. You must be mistaken, listen again! Lol, I’m just joking with you. Rick’s albums from the 70s are all great, creative and fun imo. Out of all the members of Yes, his solo career is my favorite (I’m biased as a keyboardist myself) 😝
The entire albums concept, was ahead of the curve by far. But the tune of Henry's last wife, was way beyond the normal Parr! Now let's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", unless "the Red Planet" is more in your astral park! Peace & Love, until the Stars go dark.
Check his full Out There DVD, amazing. Thx for your reaction 💪
I was just a little thing when my mom bought the album in '74. The sounds and the intensity gave me nightmares then, but at the same time, I could not stay away from it. It drew me in like no other sound in the world could. Over the years, I have listened to it frequently, never tiring of it, but knowing every little sound and nuance by heart.
The album, from the very first two seconds, comes on like a freight train with Catherine of Aragon, and then it does not let go of you until the last fading note of Catherine Parr.
The Six Wives album has been there with me and for me as I struggled for decades with depression. Just like with both life and the music, there are some intensely sad and frightening parts, but if you hold on long enough and stay strong, you will reach the the more friendly parts and they are worth the struggle. I met Wakeman a few years ago and shared this with him. He understands the sickness of depression very well and was touched that his art was a lifeline for me and that I did not succumb to the ultimate symptom of mental illness.
The organ shredding riff has always made me think of Keith Emerson whenever I heard it. I think this is the only time that happens, and it shows how much Wakeman and Emerson differed in their approach to keyboards and music. While I love both of their approaches (which I could never hope to explain how they're different) I do prefer Wakeman's approach over Emerson's (which is not to belittle Emerson's artistry in any way). It makes me wonder what a band made up of Wakeman, Lake, and Palmer would sound like, and how different Yes would've been if Emerson had been their keyboardist. I'm glad we had both ELP and Wakeman/ Yes (and Prog in general).
You should check out the "Rick Wakeman: The Legend" Concert where he plays a few of these tracks, but also he has some funny stories related to the songs. It is worth a listen to.
Yes, this is my favourite Wakeman album. My top 3 tracks are: 1. Anne Boleyn 2. Catherine of Aragon and 3. Catherine Parr
Hope next up is his live performance from 1972, where you can watch him play, and not just listen. He would perform this at almost every concert, though he would change it over the years, but it's the 72 performance that really is incredible.
That was my first experience with _Six Wives,_ the live excerpts from _Yessongs._ I instantly fell in love with it and had to get album. Needless to say I was not disappointed.
An interesting contrast to the studio album is the Live version done as an outdoor concert at Hampton Court Palace in 2009 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne. Together with a band, a choir and an orchestra, with some additional music Rick wrote (at the time of the album) for Henry himself.
I can't be the first one to spot it but the passage that you refer to as 'that sounds cool' is a direct lift from the 250 year old Scots song 'Charlie is my Darling'. I doubt if he's trying to link the two characters (Catherine Parr and Bonnie Prince Charlie) but I'm fairly certain that he would know the song (lyrics by Robert Burns) Nice piece of music anyway.
1-23-23. 6 Wives turns 50 years old. Happy Birthday!!! Check out the celebration on Scot's Prog Corner.🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Now you're ready to react to Jon Lord's "Sarabande".🙂
Brilliant song, brilliant album. One of my favourites.
I'm thinking there's an Emerson vibe because Wakeman uses a similar very grungy Hammond organ setting (or "stops" as they are called) in this piece. His Hammond was seldom as grungy as Emerson's, but he lets the beast loose in this piece.
Dynamic track - really satisfying close to the album I recall an FM DJ playing the vinyl album to its end, and just letting it play to the groove next to the label. This album is similar to the UK Sgt. Pepper album, in that the audio, or the final note of "Catherine Parr", plays into the label groove's perpetual loop.
Yes it's a great album. One of his best, I'd say. I didn't realise till you pointed out, how percussive this track is, it certainly finishes the collection on a high.
After Henry died, Catherine married Thomas Seymour who'd been a beau she'd had her eye on from before Henry stepped in. Unfortunately she died in childbirth about a year after her marriage, so her happiness was short lived.
If you want to review another Wakeman album, I recommend Myths and Legends of King Arthur. It's a bit different to this offering, vocals for a start. But it is a good collection of toons.
Completely different suggestion would be the album Pipedream by Alan Hull of Lindisfarne fame. An eclectic mix of tracks, all of them oozing quality. Well worth a listen.
Great review J.
I bought this on a friend's recommendation. I doubt it had out more then a month at the time. In fact this was my FIRST progressive rock album. I soon also purchased Pink Floyd's for the Unmagumma and ELP's Pictures at an Exhibition. I really enjoyed the entire Six Wives album and purchased the next 5 or six Wakeman LPs upon release. I enjoy them all a lot but his first one is a definite favorite Enjoy
JP, I think that you may have the concert DVD from the ABWH tour. Rick’s solo medley at that show includes one of the Wives. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do. You won’t be disappointed. Enjoy.
I often watch him play this track live - he makes it look effortless.
I suggest you watch the Hampton Court live concert on DVD if you can track it down. It's real fun and theatrical.
Great song off of a great album. Rick has so many albums, I've only listened to maybe 9 or 10 of them. 6 Wives is easily my favorite of the ones I have heard. Criminal Record is probably my next favorite followed by Piano Portraits
The Moog segment is nicely voiced -- it's very similar to Mike Quatro's "Rachmaninoff's Prelude" from his 1972 Paintings album. I heard a story that Mike recognized his arrangement on Six Wives and got really pissed at Wakeman -- I don't think Rick ever told that story himself, when I saw him live, Rick only said that his dearly departed father liked the Six Wives album most of all.
I love that you pronounce Tudor 'Two Door'.
Afternoon, Justin. Dave from a wintry London, after The Morning Fog. Still not sold on this album; think I'll stick to his condensed version on Yessongs. As for Catherine Parr, the first part is back to the crash-bang-wallop, but I like how some of the themes return at the end and are cleverly interwoven.
P.S. my song ref The Morning Fog is by Kate Bush.
Rick is 2/3 of the way there to Henry VIII's six wives. Will he make it? I kid Rick, he has the best sense of humor in the music biz! People will marvel at his work forever! Thanks, Justin for your reaction to this amazing track and honoring our Veteran Rock Heroes! They mean more to me each day, and I wish them the best of health to keep us spellbound for many more years, and of course I wish peace to the greats who have passed!
Hope you get to see Jon with the Band Geeks this spring, JP. Cheers!
Wakeman 🤩
Thank you for sharing. All the best!
always loved that track. great synth sound
Wonderful series. Thanks!
Actually my favorite! !!!!!! Rarely heard... Alan White with some tasty beats. Him and Bruford are all over this album. Look when this came out it was groundbreaking and new so it kicked ars! Context is everything in the early 70's because so many incredible artist and genres were themselves evolving & changing rapidly. I think it's his best. Anyway someday you should get around to Patrick Moraz's "Story of i". It's a great one to hear after YES's Gates
Although not instrumental albums, I always preferred "the myths and legends of King Arthur and the knights of the round table" (the original version), "Criminal Record" and "No Earthly Connection" and even "White Rock". Those are my 4 go-to Wakeman albums. For me, he never topped either of those, although some fine tunes can be found on many of his albums.
Nice review JP, astute observations. This song is a bit disjointed and doesn't have good flow to it, but the playing and individual sections are sublime. The piano interludes with mellotron assisting are my favorite parts of this piece. You have a whole lot more of Rick's solo work to explore, have fun!
Yep. Wakemsn at his best.
Some of Alan White's best playing is on this album, especially Anne Of Cleves
Never been bothered to listen to this LP before, but this track was unexpectedly energetically enthralling. Diolch. x
Phew! I'm cured of my temporary strong aversion to old synthesized sounds.
That said, there were times when I thought to myself, "It ain't Bach" (but of course not; that's not the point). No, I'm not expecting some Bach from his worshippers; I think it might be a residue of that "anti-synth disease" I might not have entirely recovered from.
One should not expect it to be a proper organ, but sometimes you hear that it isn't. Stupid, but true.
So I enjoyed it, but was distracted at times by things that have never distracted me before.
And _shouldn't_ .
I've said this a thousand times before, I know, but this is what a real organ sounds like: ruclips.net/video/zlvOoYyg_xU/видео.html
Thank goodness something irrelevant cropped up at last: There's a new *Markus Reuter* (actually *Anchor and Burden* ) piece out, with a sci-fi background story you can read in the write-up. *Cerebral Transfixations* ruclips.net/video/G2LB7pbXm5c/видео.html
It has a somewhat Crimson/ Projeckt sound if you need to be pre-warned about that. Lots of Touch Guitars involved, of course.
By the way this album is 50 years old in 2023
Wakeman's at his best with concept albums, particularly Journey to the Centre of the Earth. In comparison, the Six Wives album sounds self-indulgent - virtuosic without cause, without emotional depth. We all know you can play, Rick - but do you have a message that lives up to your immense talent?
Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Myths & Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table show what he can do when he has an orchestra at his disposal and a clear concept in mind. They're brilliant.
The rest of Wakeman's solo albums reveal him as a gifted player with lousy taste in music. The 1979 album Rhapsodies, for instance, has a uniquely soulful rendition of Summertime (tragically spoiled by the addition of a synth bass track) paired with a disco version of Rhapsody in Blue that is even worse than you imagine. I mean - godawful. Wakeman wasted two decades on disco and new age albums that sounded like bargain-basement Enya without the rhythm or soulful singing. What a tragic waste. Most of it defies listening today.
You'll find both on this playlist. The horror, the horror. ruclips.net/p/PLoIDt_C5y1LsBa678B77po3qoNYcozkLU
I never liked Journey, but love Myths & Legends...
It leaves me totally unmoved. In a way, it's very close to the baroque pomp of Keith Emerson at his worst. There remains only a vague theme, but for the rest, it's only a display of vain virtuosity.
@@CAdams6398 Yeah, I thought about what you must have been through while listening to that stuff ! 😉 I tend to put up with a lot of things in progressive rock, but this is beyond comprehension.🙄
More baroque pomp!! 😆
@@pentagrammaton6793 No thanks, I've had enough!🤢
@@a.k.1740 heheheh
@@CAdams6398 So far...yes. Maybe he'll have a surprise in store in an hour or two... who knows! Or maybe he's fed up with our constant moaning and is down to bare minimums, who knows...😉
9:22 White is great... Bruford is better