View Full Version : Didya ever notice... Yes trivia question!
... in the intro to America, Chris suddenly starts playing a certain melody from another piece of music, probably intended as a pun relating to the song they're playing. What is it?
siberian khatru
02-06-2002, 01:41 PM
"Everything free in America..." are the lyrics to the melody Chris uses from Leonard Bernstein's 'West Side Story'.
Squireaholic
02-06-2002, 02:08 PM
Rogo: Khatru is correct; Squire used the line from America in West Side Story as a tribute to one of his favorite composers. Additionally: There are numerous sources (notably Offord) that have stated that Chris 'doubled up' the rythm from America, and used this as the starting point for what would later become the opening riff of Heart of the Sunrise! Squire, however, has never confirmed this in public. The similaries between the two riffs are striking, though.
siberian khatru
02-07-2002, 01:18 PM
When Keith Emerson and the Nice performed Bernstein's
'America', they meshed it with Dvorak's "New World Symphony".
Onstage, the piece was performed as a protest against American involvement in Vietnam. Keith got banned from London's Royal Albert Hall for defacing an American flag during one performance.
He would use his organ-wrestling bit to produce howling, war-like feedback sounds to close out the piece.
... interesting point about the opening to HOTS, Squireaholic: The bass line really has the rhythm of LB's America with every note two-notes-instead-of-one!
Dragonfly
02-27-2002, 09:32 PM
In "Every Little Thing", Chris perfoms the riff from "Day Tripper".
Dragonfly :yesbird:
This was a time when Chris was pushing the bass into more melodic territory, and he sometimes quoted recognizable melodies to make people listen in a new way...
Matthijs
03-07-2002, 08:30 AM
Chris performed with the Syn at the famous Marquee Club in London. Nice detail here is that on 21 May in 1967 The Syn was supported by the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and 'Tomorrow', Steve's earlier band.
Syn, Tomorrow and The Warriors (Jon's band) also performed together with Little Richard, Bill Hayley, T-Bones (feat Keith Emerson), The Animals, Spencer Davis Group, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, The Small Faces, The Move, Fairport Convention, Soft Machine, The Who, The Nice, Marmalade and alot of lesser know groups.
When MGTS became Yes they were supporting groups such as Joe Cocker, Cream, Rory Gallagher, Van Der Graaf Generator, Janis Joplin, Caravan, John Mayall, Procul Harum, King Crimson, Mandrake, Queen and Roy Harper. This was all before their debut was released.
Those were the days...
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