ALL THESE YEARS I wondered who played the piano on this song from the second I heard it. I wondered if it was RW but never knew until 2024..........always loved this as we sang this at school in the 60's. CHEERS RICK and Cat. Think of any record in the 60/70's with piano on - it was probably HIM!
Same here! I always assumed it was Cat Stevens himself, and got a *shock* (sic) when I discovered it was Rick Wakeman in 2021. It was this keyboard part which I loved from the moment I heard the song - as did most of the world. So "hippy", but in the best possible way.
His playing on the record version is flawless,he played exactly every note required and not a single one more.It is not possible to better it.He took that song to another level-to the level of "completeness".
Well Said, My Friend.....I have no idea why this fellow Londoner (66) got emotional but I did on hearing that story and how Rick got his own back in a similar way to how he fixed one of the first Mellotrons in the Studio and The Producers: Tony Visconti and Gus Dudgeon then asked him how he did it after paying him $9 so he kept quiet and they had to employ him every time a Mellotron was needed and it was Rick who created that wonderful Moog sound on his great mate' David Bowie's " Space Oddity"...:)
@@Isleofskye - You're right about the old-school English music producers. In the Tom Petty bio Warren Zanes (once of the Del Fuegos) quoted Tom as saying that his first producer, Denny Cordell, had been nice as can be, but just didn't want to pay them well - or even fairly. Petty famously had to sue Cordell to get out of his unfairly restrictive original contract right before his big breakout album, Damn the Torpedoes. After weeks in court, Cordell - under a lot of pressure from other labels - saw that he was going to lose and settled with Petty. Tom Petty was more fortunate than the guys in Badfinger; it's nice to hear Rick talk blithely about getting the better of Samwell-Smith. His amazing facility on the piano has something to do with his huge hands(Rick is a big guy); this screenshot has a great view of his hands.
Like JFK, the Challenger disaster, and 9-11, I know where I was the first time I heard this song. I can't think of another recording that had that impact on me. I feel blessed to have learned, as Paul Harvey used to say, "The rest of the story."
@@radic888 Me too. Wakeman has long been one of my favourites. Subtle genius when necessary, bombastic showman when wanted. He is in a class of his own without peers.
I was the same. It was only recently that I found that Rick Wakeman played the gorgeous piano in this song. And, upon learning this, clapped my hand to my head and said aloud to myself, “Of course he did!” An international treasure you are, Sir.
Amazing piece and amazing guy. After all, he is also the pianist on Bowie's Life On Mars, which would never have been the masterpiece it is without Rick's playing. I hope he lives 150 years and plays until his last breath.
I saw Rick live, at a time when I was working for Cat Stevens. Rick, in his story-telling of Morning Has Broken, said he was never paid for his work. I let Yusuf [Cat Stevens] know this. The next time I saw Rick live, he did the story again, but at the end he said "at this point, I normally say I wasn't paid, but I have been now".
Few moments in music will equal what a Classically Trained musician can do in music performances. When we allow Classical Music programs to be removed from classrooms due to budget considerations across the Nation we risk the loss of future Rick Wakemans and cape designers. That would be a huge mistake that will take decades to repair. Thank you for posting Rick Wakeman's performance of Morning has Broken
This piece of music is not only about classical music training, of course. Do not forget also about the person (I know too little about him) and his abilities and the collisions of the subjective and the randomness of the present which is the making of a song or recording. And I do agree with you @Dale B: music should be in the curriculum (no matter where we happen to be).
It won't be budget considerations, it will be cultural decay. There's plenty of money. The central bank just prints it and lends it to the government at near 0% interest. They have tons of money to buy electric iron gates and high prison fences around all of these schools that make them look like jails all in the name of safeguarding, so-called.
One ordinary morning I was getting ready for work. Morning Has Broken came on the radio. Suddenly bright light lit up the room and the presence of God came upon me. I fell down weeping as I felt the love of God all around me. From that day I have followed the Lord. He gave me a repentant heart and transformed my life, I was born again. Whenever I hear this song I can still feel the majesty of the Lord and it takes me back to that very moment my life changed forever. Praise God 🙌🙌
Fantastic story, wonderful playing, absolutely incredible hymn, adaptation and vocal. But oh man, Rick’s piano and tale are amazing!!! Bravo team! In my childhood, driving to Vegas, listening to this song on cassette as I learned to drive in the middle of the night south west of Searchlight Nevada. Good times!
That is amazing! I never knew the caliber of talent that worked on this tune. I've always liked Rick Wakeman.... his solo material, Yes & now this Cat Steven's. Really cool hearing him tell the story. So grateful I was turned on to this clip. Super
God is not mocked. If He wants a song to be noticed and to be number 1, He will arrange it regardless of the devious minds of men who think they are in control.
Just found out TODAY that it was Wakeman who played the masterful keyboards on Morning Has Broken. ... OF COURSE IT WAS! ... Who else could it have been?
Rick's almost as good a story teller as he is a musician! Glad I got to see him with YES back in 70's. In fact, that entire gig is on YT, come to think of it, it's The Glasgow Apollo from 1977. A fucking FANTASTIC gig that one was!! Still have my ticket stub from it A cool £3.50! If the same group played today it would cost about 40 times as much!!
You lucky person. 1977 Rick's comeback. Did you see what Jon Anderson says about Awaken in that short interview on YT recently about Topographic, Rick's leaving and Rick's coming back? I've watched that video, at least Turn of the Century and Awaken.
Rick Wakeman is a brilliant arranger. His arrangements are everywhere in the artists with whom he played. That sort of talent is easy to steal, as you move on to other projects and the brilliance of your contribution to the previous one is simply aped by another player. I’m personally familiar with this as guitarist in a number of bands with which I lost interest for various and perfectly valid reasons. My arranging skill was always a standout part of my work in the band, perhaps more than my guitar playing, and my fickleness tended to leave that little present behind, again and again. I now put that talent to use as a producer for other artists. A large part of production is actually arranging. But if you want to be recognized and paid for your arranging, use the word ‘producer.’ The producer’s work, of course, goes beyond a song’s arrangement, but fundamentally it is that special perspective on someone else’s composition that is my bread and butter. That perspective comes first and remains throughout, guiding the mixing and mastering of a song.
Obviously the people in the record companies really don’t know much about music, they might know about advertising it maybe but when it comes to quality a lot of them are clueless
It is Cat Steven’s best song, like Rick said, a melody straight from heaven. Brilliant work by Rick will be fully paid sometime in the next 200 years. Ah.. how often do we hear of this music biz tyranny?
I remember as clear as yesterday sitting cross-legged in the hall in school assembly one morning in the very early 1970s and this record was played to us, probably from the 9 o'clock BBC schools programme. I remembered the intro ever since. I thought it was the actual intro to the hymn - and in a way of course, it IS!
i remember seeing a live video of this song a few years ago with a beautiful rendition of the keyboaard part by a (very overweight) black guy; had no idea rick wakeman was behind it! brilliant!
Is that a piano or a keyboard? It is the most beautiful, responsive piano I've ever heard, it can't be a keyboard, can it? I can't say any more about Rick that hasn't been said, he is a virtuoso.
I am glad Rick quit drinking years ago.. otherwise I am sure he wouldn't be around today. He is coming to Atlanta soon, not far from me.. but sadly its all sold out.
I read a few days ago ARW is going to tour in '21, ( they had earlier said no they wouldn't) if they are all able. I will definitely try to see them if that happens, as I know that would probably be it. Great musician!
I believe it took place at a fundraiser concert at one of the Calvary Chapel Churches, possibly Costa Mesa,CA. Rick mentions the name of the organization toward the end of this album. I'm sorry I cannot recall the charity.
I tried years ago and regretfully my timing was really off because it was shortly after I had post-concussion Syndrome from a car accident and Mild brain damage and it was just almost impossible for me to learn anything on the piano .. it was so hard for me.. and I eventually gave up
I started learning to play the piano at 59. Now I'm 61, and can make reasonably musical sounds with some regularity. I keep practicing, and my playing keeps getting better. I'm never going to be Rich Wakeman (or Tony Banks, or Keith Emerson, or...) but I can be me, which is even better. It makes me happy. Don't delay; as one of my favorite sayings puts it, the best time to start was twenty years ago, but the second best time to start is right now.
The record company didn't mention him on the record, or want to give him any recognition. But... as soon as the song became a hit, they needed someone to play it at the concerts, and he was the only one who knew how to play it.
There is a problem with his story humorous as it is. Cat Stevens treatment for TB did not result in the removal of a lung. 3 months of antibiotics and lung drainage and boredom.
Rick exaggerates just enough to make it hilarious. It's impossible to tell what is truth and what is just slightly fabricated for comedy's sake. His book about his life is a scream.
Used it at my baby sons funeral. He was 3 months old. 27 years ago.
I'm so sorry for you.
Oh Jane...what a blow..I am so sorry for your loss.
So Sorry for your lose ❤️
😥❤
Sorry for your lose
Rick Wakeman can tell stories like he plays keyboards,fantastically!
In addition to being a musical genius, Rick Wakeman is an excellent storyteller.
A brilliant pianist,keyboardist and funny guy. 👍👍
ALL THESE YEARS I wondered who played the piano on this song from the second I heard it. I wondered if it was RW but never knew until 2024..........always loved this as we sang this at school in the 60's. CHEERS RICK and Cat. Think of any record in the 60/70's with piano on - it was probably HIM!
Same here! I always assumed it was Cat Stevens himself, and got a *shock* (sic) when I discovered it was Rick Wakeman in 2021. It was this keyboard part which I loved from the moment I heard the song - as did most of the world. So "hippy", but in the best possible way.
His playing on the record version is flawless,he played exactly every note required and not a single one more.It is not possible to better it.He took that song to another level-to the level of "completeness".
I agree, and the embellishments on this version were unnecessary. Perfect as it was, but this is still pleasant enough to listen to.
Rick is a musical genius and a great story teller like no other.
Well Said, My Friend.....I have no idea why this fellow Londoner (66) got emotional but I did on hearing that story and how Rick got his own back in a similar way to how he fixed one of the first Mellotrons in the Studio and The Producers: Tony Visconti and Gus Dudgeon then asked him how he did it after paying him $9 so he kept quiet and they had to employ him every time a Mellotron was needed and it was Rick who created that wonderful Moog sound on his great mate' David Bowie's " Space Oddity"...:)
@@Isleofskye - You're right about the old-school English music producers. In the Tom Petty bio Warren Zanes (once of the Del Fuegos) quoted Tom as saying that his first producer, Denny Cordell, had been nice as can be, but just didn't want to pay them well - or even fairly.
Petty famously had to sue Cordell to get out of his unfairly restrictive original contract right before his big breakout album, Damn the Torpedoes. After weeks in court, Cordell - under a lot of pressure from other labels - saw that he was going to lose and settled with Petty.
Tom Petty was more fortunate than the guys in Badfinger; it's nice to hear Rick talk blithely about getting the better of Samwell-Smith.
His amazing facility on the piano has something to do with his huge hands(Rick is a big guy); this screenshot has a great view of his hands.
...and a fabulous sense of humor, as well!
Wonderful. I was a fellow pupil at Hanwell in West London in the 60s and Rick used to play the organ at morning religious assembly.
Like JFK, the Challenger disaster, and 9-11, I know where I was the first time I heard this song. I can't think of another recording that had that impact on me. I feel blessed to have learned, as Paul Harvey used to say, "The rest of the story."
I'm stunned I didn't know this. What a funny, lovely story about a wonderful piece of music.
Wow - the piano makes the song! Rick is just brilliant on this.
Had no idea Rick Wakeman was behind this. The man is a genius!
Same. After nearly fifty years of listening to the song, I only found out literally two days ago.
@@radic888 Me too. Wakeman has long been one of my favourites. Subtle genius when necessary, bombastic showman when wanted. He is in a class of his own without peers.
Behind this story, yes he is
Biggest fan and I just found out last month man do I feel stupid I like Cat Stevens too
I was the same. It was only recently that I found that Rick Wakeman played the gorgeous piano in this song.
And, upon learning this, clapped my hand to my head and said aloud to myself, “Of course he did!”
An international treasure you are, Sir.
Wow! I’m 64 and never knew Rick played that on Cat Stevens’ album.
Amazing piece and amazing guy. After all, he is also the pianist on Bowie's Life On Mars, which would never have been the masterpiece it is without Rick's playing. I hope he lives 150 years and plays until his last breath.
You little selfish!.
The Art of Storytelling...a talent that suits pretty much any situation, as demonstrated by the Amazing Rick Wakeman!
I saw Rick live, at a time when I was working for Cat Stevens. Rick, in his story-telling of Morning Has Broken, said he was never paid for his work. I let Yusuf [Cat Stevens] know this. The next time I saw Rick live, he did the story again, but at the end he said "at this point, I normally say I wasn't paid, but I have been now".
😂😂😂 that's a good one
lol
Few moments in music will equal what a Classically Trained musician can do in music performances. When we allow Classical Music programs to be removed from classrooms due to budget considerations across the Nation we risk the loss of future Rick Wakemans and cape designers. That would be a huge mistake that will take decades to repair. Thank you for posting Rick Wakeman's performance of Morning has Broken
Absolutely Beautiful !
This piece of music is not only about classical music training, of course. Do not forget also about the person (I know too little about him) and his abilities and the collisions of the subjective and the randomness of the present which is the making of a song or recording.
And I do agree with you @Dale B: music should be in the curriculum (no matter where we happen to be).
It won't be budget considerations, it will be cultural decay. There's plenty of money. The central bank just prints it and lends it to the government at near 0% interest. They have tons of money to buy electric iron gates and high prison fences around all of these schools that make them look like jails all in the name of safeguarding, so-called.
I could not agree with you more, it's just what I've been saying. The loss of classical music appreciation, band, and orchestra shows.
One ordinary morning I was getting ready for work.
Morning Has Broken came on the radio.
Suddenly bright light lit up the room and the presence of God came upon me.
I fell down weeping as I felt the love of God all around me.
From that day I have followed the Lord.
He gave me a repentant heart and transformed my life, I was born again.
Whenever I hear this song I can still feel the majesty of the Lord and it takes me back to that very moment my life changed forever.
Praise God 🙌🙌
I love the stories behind the music
What a beautiful piece of music.
Such great dynamics in his playing
What a marvelously funny story and then when he starts into the song... wow, so incredibly beautiful. 🙏
Best keyboard player ever , and a great laugh too ..God bless you Rick
There's only one Rick.
Fantastic story, wonderful playing, absolutely incredible hymn, adaptation and vocal. But oh man, Rick’s piano and tale are amazing!!!
Bravo team! In my childhood, driving to Vegas, listening to this song on cassette as I learned to drive in the middle of the night south west of Searchlight Nevada. Good times!
It's a bit rude but have you heard Rick's Acceptance Speech into Yes's Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame...It's hilarious....
My God that's absolutely amazing
CAT and RICK💖🕺🌟🤩🌅🌞
Great!🎼🎵🎹🎸🎤📀🎧👍👏
From Hong Kong🙋♀️🌏💝🌺🥰
That is amazing! I never knew the caliber of talent that worked on this tune. I've always liked Rick Wakeman.... his solo material, Yes & now this Cat Steven's. Really cool hearing him tell the story. So grateful I was turned on to this clip. Super
he played the first 6 albums of David Bowie as well, they were neighours
@@herrflick8160 True - "Life on Mars" wouldn't have been the same without Rick Wakeman's brilliant piano playing.
Love this story...delivered with his usual cheeky sarcasm and straight delivery
WOW! One of the best key ticklers in the world! & a wonderful person to listen to. Love to hear him play "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" on a Hammon
God is not mocked. If He wants a song to be noticed and to be number 1, He will arrange it regardless of the devious minds of men who think they are in control.
This is the best telling of this story. imo.
Love Rick such a lyrical player and great fun.
What a beautiful song. Thanks so much for sharing your talents to complete this masterpiece.
Beautiful, just wonderful. And the story was so special. Thank you.
It's too short they said.
Can you make it longer they said.
Rick Wakeman: Do you know who i am?
I didn't know he played on this, but listening to it now , it's obvious to me that it's Rick Wakeman..
Just found out TODAY that it was Wakeman who played the masterful keyboards on Morning Has Broken. ... OF COURSE IT WAS! ... Who else could it have been?
Me too!!!! It's great !!!
Same here, just found out! I never expected that!
...and he was only 23 years old - and already an accomplished, sought after studio musician...
Almost any pianist. Geez
Fantastic music and fantastic piano playing....
Rick's almost as good a story teller as he is a musician! Glad I got to see him with YES back in 70's. In fact, that entire gig is on YT, come to think of it, it's The Glasgow Apollo from 1977. A fucking FANTASTIC gig that one was!!
Still have my ticket stub from it
A cool £3.50!
If the same group played today it would cost about 40 times as much!!
You lucky person. 1977 Rick's comeback. Did you see what Jon Anderson says about Awaken in that short interview on YT recently about Topographic, Rick's leaving and Rick's coming back? I've watched that video, at least Turn of the Century and Awaken.
@@davebellamy4867 No, I didn't see that one, I'll need to have a look for it.
Magnificent!
This has become a funeral must have. It is perfect.
What a great story 👏
Adorable melody
By the way, this guy is also pretty funny !
Wakeman Is a true story teller of the classic mode. Gifted, insightful and funny has hell
He's a natural raconteur!
He really livened up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awards when Yes were inducted.
@@chrisbradley1192 funniest induction speech ever !! The yanks did not know how to react
SO SO beautiful
Rick Wakeman is a brilliant arranger. His arrangements are everywhere in the artists with whom he played. That sort of talent is easy to steal, as you move on to other projects and the brilliance of your contribution to the previous one is simply aped by another player.
I’m personally familiar with this as guitarist in a number of bands with which I lost interest for various and perfectly valid reasons. My arranging skill was always a standout part of my work in the band, perhaps more than my guitar playing, and my fickleness tended to leave that little present behind, again and again.
I now put that talent to use as a producer for other artists. A large part of production is actually arranging. But if you want to be recognized and paid for your arranging, use the word ‘producer.’ The producer’s work, of course, goes beyond a song’s arrangement, but fundamentally it is that special perspective on someone else’s composition that is my bread and butter. That perspective comes first and remains throughout, guiding the mixing and mastering of a song.
Wonderful story! Love the humor and wit..
Heard him tell this story at Gilfest a couple of years ago, intimate setting with about 240 new close friends!
Obviously the people in the record companies really don’t know much about music, they might know about advertising it maybe but when it comes to quality a lot of them are clueless
Simply the Best!
It is Cat Steven’s best song, like Rick said, a melody straight from heaven. Brilliant work by Rick will be fully paid sometime in the next 200 years. Ah.. how often do we hear of this music biz tyranny?
I remember as clear as yesterday sitting cross-legged in the hall in school assembly one morning in the very early 1970s and this record was played to us, probably from the 9 o'clock BBC schools programme. I remembered the intro ever since. I thought it was the actual intro to the hymn - and in a way of course, it IS!
God, great memory.
And who can forget his contribution to The Strawbs.
i remember seeing a live video of this song a few years ago with a beautiful rendition of the keyboaard part by a (very overweight) black guy; had no idea rick wakeman was behind it! brilliant!
I heard rick tell this story live! amazing person
Wednesday 6th April 2022. Morning has Broken; well done, Rick, CBE
Probably the best keyboards player ever ?
Yes, he is
stunning
This story is hilarious 😂
Down to earth funny guy
Is that a piano or a keyboard? It is the most beautiful, responsive piano I've ever heard, it can't be a keyboard, can it? I can't say any more about Rick that hasn't been said, he is a virtuoso.
No it’s definitely a Piano but these are top end ones
Genius.
Great video, read P. F. Sloan’s biography and saw how record companies steal your heart, money and soul. I admire the survivors. Thank you.
We had it played and sung at our wedding 1993
After I heard it was Rick, next time I listened to it I said, how the fv
👑
Abbraccio da Roma e buon caffè
I am glad Rick quit drinking years ago.. otherwise I am sure he wouldn't be around today. He is coming to Atlanta soon, not far from me.. but sadly its all sold out.
I read a few days ago ARW is going to tour in '21, ( they had earlier said no they wouldn't) if they are all able. I will definitely try to see them if that happens, as I know that would probably be it. Great musician!
Yo antes no sabía q Rick ( genio ) había tocado el piano en esta cancion
Never try to get over on Rick! 4:52
May you please reload it with captions??
!!!
Does anyone has this Piano Sheet in pdf file?
Where was this story told please.
I believe it took place at a fundraiser concert at one of the Calvary Chapel Churches, possibly Costa Mesa,CA. Rick mentions the name of the organization toward the end of this album. I'm sorry I cannot recall the charity.
Keith Ling thank you .
Morning Has Broken for Catherine Howard 🤔🤭🤫
I wish I could play a piano
Don't wish, go and learn. You are never too old.
Damoskinos me too Oh if the there was a way to learn quickly
I tried years ago and regretfully my timing was really off because it was shortly after I had post-concussion Syndrome from a car accident and Mild brain damage and it was just almost impossible for me to learn anything on the piano .. it was so hard for me.. and I eventually gave up
Actually, it's really easy to play piano like this.... first, practice for 30 years or so; second, it helps. to be supremely gifted😁
I started learning to play the piano at 59. Now I'm 61, and can make reasonably musical sounds with some regularity. I keep practicing, and my playing keeps getting better. I'm never going to be Rich Wakeman (or Tony Banks, or Keith Emerson, or...) but I can be me, which is even better. It makes me happy. Don't delay; as one of my favorite sayings puts it, the best time to start was twenty years ago, but the second best time to start is right now.
:)
Noting can compare to the fantastic sound that comes from a really good piano
I hear billy Joel in there!! Hmmm
5:01-5:11 Can someone explain what the fun thing was? I can only understand half of the words he say.
The record company didn't mention him on the record, or want to give him any recognition. But... as soon as the song became a hit, they needed someone to play it at the concerts, and he was the only one who knew how to play it.
@@margueritadrayton3598 Yes, I got that idea, thanks, but I wanted to understand the exact words, if possible.
I recall school assembly and singing this song in my 1st year secondary school.
This song and its beautiful piano will always be with me
@catstepthens you should post this
Wow! This story makes Stevens out as to sound like something of a 'knob'!
I hope the writer made some cash
What a fucking icon this man is.
There is a problem with his story humorous as it is. Cat Stevens treatment for TB did not result in the removal of a lung. 3 months of antibiotics and lung drainage and boredom.
I will take it up with Rick on the next occasion I see him :(
Too much information C C-D ...!
I'm glad you had a pleasant evening though....
Removed lung makes for a better story.
Hard to understand.
Rick exaggerates just enough to make it hilarious. It's impossible to tell what is truth and what is just slightly fabricated for comedy's sake. His book about his life is a scream.