TIME AND A WORD

Dan Hersch & Bill Inglot 2003 Stereo Remasters for Warner Music UK/USA

Jon Anderson later remarked of the classical influences on this album: ‘I had speakers at the bottom of my bed, blasting out classical music all the time. I was interested in opening up the sound of the band, developing a string sound, and we talked about trying a Mellotron, but we thought it only had a certain sound, and that it relates to only a certain type of music. We did try it out a couple of times, then we decided to use real musicians, string and brass, things like that. So, in some ways, it was kind of an adventure really, Sor the most part it worked but sometimes the musicians weren’t really up to it. They were session men, but they didn’t really sound like they were up. They were just doing their job.‘

Time And A Word, released on 25 July, entered the charts on 1 August where it spent three weeks, hitting no. 45 at its peak. The band were not pleased with the album. ‘It was the same problem all over again.‘ Chris explains, ‘I’d imagined it sounding much grander somehow, but we didn’t quite get there.‘ Two singles were released, the title track plus ‘The Prophet,’ but both only sold in very small quantities and YES decided after this that they weren’t a singles band.

Still only two years old as a band, YES began to play in larger venues and focused on playing festivals. The band were very much a support band despite all their hard work and constant touring. Although YES were begining to share the stage with bigger acts and were benefitting from better sound systems and superior lighting, visually it was a basic show. The standard set up would be twelve to fifteen 500-watt lights and that was it. Time And A Word offered the opportunity for more touring and live performances, but the inclusion of a twenty-piece created absolute chaos.

Then on 2 May, Roy Flynn made an official announcement: ‘The group and Peter felt their music has begun to stagnate and YES have cancelled all their engagements and are not taking any more bookings until they find a suitable guitarist replacement.‘ Peter had become increasingly distant from the rest of the band, and he was the only member who had been opposed to using an orchestral sound on the album. He had, reputedly, found recording Time And A Word very difficult and, as time passed, discovered that his style of laying and the direction YES were moving in were diametrically opposed.

At this point, the band;s members were thoroughly depressed, not knowing for sure whether they could or should continue. Questions were raised about whether they ought to find a replacement guitarist or even stop playing altogether. Without a manager, moeny, guitarist or a record company who had faith in them, times were tough for the band and YES needed some time away to rethink. Decamping to Devon in order to contemplate the future and work on new material, the only hope the band retained came from a singular belief in their music.

‘It was a very bleak period after that second album where nothing had really happened at all,‘ Bill recalled, ‘And we were still stunningly unfamous! Bands don’t get that long now, three years into our career and we were still in staggeringly bad shape. I think the feeling was in those day, you give the band three albums, pretty much. Now you’d have about three seconds, so there’s no chance to develop anything at all. So I was grateful to be a young musician.‘

Fortunately, there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon when Jon and Chris found a new guitarist. Before leaving for Devon, the recalled seeing Steve Howe play in a number of London clubs. Impressing them with his style, performance and overall technique, the band called him to a meeting in the hope he would consider joining YES…

Excerpted from David Watkinson’s ‘Perpetual Change‘.