Questions For Tony Kaye.

[Earl Grey]

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I'm going to be doing my second extended interview with Tony this coming week.

If any of you have any questions for Tony (Questions I didn't ask in my last interview), you can ask them here.

I'm going to be focusing on his later work with YES, the 80's albums, as well as TALK.

I'm looking for any interesting questions concerning Tony's work with Bowie, Badger, Badfinger, YES, and CIRCA:

Or anything else you can think of it.

So, if you've had any burning questions to ask Tony, here's your chance.

The sky is no limit.

Either post them here, or PM them to me.

Thanks Much!

Earl Grey:yesbird:

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[Earl Grey]

Bye the way, if anyone has an e-mailable copy/file of the second BADGER album, could I possibly get a copy?

I'd love to ask Tony pertinent questions about the album, but alas, I don't have a copy (!).


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[xlink_nz]

Earl

In addition to Henry's questions I'd like to know the following:

1. What was Kaye's role other than Organ on TALK, it is stated he is uncredited co-producer and engineer, is that true, was he involving in arrangements and song writing ?

2. Kaye has previously said he enjoyed working on BG, what was different compared to TALK ?

3. Would Kaye play with YES again if he was invited to guest ?

4. What does Kaye do in his spare time, I read somewhere he likes hiking ?

5. Who else would he like to play with ? [I recall somewhere the Rolling Stones]

6. What is working in Circa like compared to YES [other than "YESolitics"] ?

7. How is that solo album coming along ?!

8. Which album and tour did he enjoy with YES the most ?

9. Does he have children ?

10. Does he enjoy composing ?

[JL]

Was Tony a member of Flash for the first album, or was he always intended to be a guest? If the answer to the first question is yes, what caused him to leave the band?

[barry4806]

It was rumored that Chris was at one time his father-in law, is that true?

[rikensquire]

Will there be a sequel to "This Island Earth"?

Although you prefer to play piano, how do you feel about playing the interociter?http://www.funwithfilms.com/images/this-island-earth1.jpg

[erik_1099]

I'd be interested in his perspective on the Union album.

[rabinmovies]

Why didn't tony release a solo album during 1985 - 1990?

[RobAdams]

I'd be interested to know what sort of music he enjoys listening to...

[Jackaranda]

Was Trevor Rabin originally supposed to be the guitarist for Circa?

[flep]

Do circa intend to tour the UK?

[the greenman]

Do circa intend to tour the UK?

Correction, Flep: WHEN do Circa (/AKA) intend tour the UK?! ;-)

[bondegezou]

Good questions here!

Why didn't tony release a solo album during 1985 - 1990?

Indeed. A solo album was announced, and then failed to appear at the last minute. One report said Kaye wanted to get a vocalist on it. Is there anything that could be released now?

Was Trevor Rabin originally supposed to be the guitarist for Circa?

The whole generation of CIRCA: must make for an interesting tale. The earliest stories had a plan involving Downes, Banks and Rabin, for example.

Henry

[CybrKhatru]

Earlie!

If you have a chance, please ask Tony what his memories are of Detective. I heard their first album a couple of weeks ago---good solid rock&roll, a little bit of Zeppelin-style!

[Earl Grey]

Thanks all!

I'm interviewing Tony today, and will certainly ask him the questions you posted here.

I asked Tony if he could talk about 'TALK', as there are so many rumors around the album...

EarlieGee:yesbird:

[Earl Grey]

Earl

In addition to Henry's questions I'd like to know the following:

1. What was Kaye's role other than Organ on TALK, it is stated he is uncredited co-producer and engineer, is that true, was he involving in arrangements and song writing ?

2. Kaye has previously said he enjoyed working on BG, what was different compared to TALK ?

3. Would Kaye play with YES again if he was invited to guest ?

4. What does Kaye do in his spare time, I read somewhere he likes hiking ?

5. Who else would he like to play with ? [I recall somewhere the Rolling Stones]

6. What is working in Circa like compared to YES [other than "YESolitics"] ?

7. How is that solo album coming along ?!

8. Which album and tour did he enjoy with YES the most ?

9. Does he have children ?

10. Does he enjoy composing ?

Hey xlink_nz,

There are a couple of questions here that I can already answer.

Tony says that his personal favorite album with YES is Big Generator. His favorite YES album that he didn't have anything to do with was Close To The Edge.

...I'll ask him a bit more about Big Generator today, as well as which tour was his favorite, and why.

Tony LOVES composing, and was instrumental in much of the composition for CIRCA: HQ. There is so much input from everyone in a band like YES, that Tony actually has trouble remembering which parts he came up with! He was involved in all levels of writing with the band though, and is quite proud of his input. A good rule of thumb is, if Tony is playing it, he wrote it. There is a fine line between composition and arrangement, as any good musician knows.

Things always start out as an unembellished pattern of chords, and what goes on beyond the initial idea is composition.

...Tony says that he wouldn't play with YES again, that he didn't think that would ever happen again...

Earl Grey:yesbird:

[Ron Drummond]

Hey Early -- Good luck bro'!

Ask Tony about his relationship with Peter Banks: were they friends? Did they get along okay? How was their musical compatibility? Was Tony bummed that the other boys fired Peter? Or was Tony in on the decision? Did he vote for getting rid of Peter or against? Did he even get a vote? What does Tony think of how the group handled the firing?

Ask Tony also about the transition from Banks to Howe -- ask him about Howe's reaction to Banks as a guitarist precisely at the point when Howe first took over guitar duties from Peter -- dig for anecdotes of Howe being a fan of Peter, you dig me man? How daunted was Howe by stepping into Peter's shoes? Did Howe have any kind of personal contact with Peter during the changeover, or before, or later, that Tony knows of?

Also, did Tony know keyboardist John Evan of Jethro Tull, back in the day? We're talking 1970 man.

And what does Tony think of how he left Yes the first time? I don't know -- was he fired? If so, did they handle it okay? Just how big an asshole is Chris, anyway?

Did Tony play keyboards on Talk, or not? If he did, to what extent? On which tracks? Is his playing often present alongside Trevor's keyboard playing? Get Tony to give you as many concrete examples as possible, preferably citing which songs and which parts of those songs.

Cheers!

Ron Drummond

[Earl Grey]

I'd be interested to know what sort of music he enjoys listening to...

Hey Rob,

Tony loves 'The Band': It's his favorite band. Tony is into anything 'groove oriented': R&B, blues. Motown.

But he always swings the conversation back to The Band, his favorite band!

:ele:

[Earl Grey]

Hey Early -- Good luck bro'!

Ask Tony about his relationship with Peter Banks: were they friends? Did they get along okay? How was their musical compatibility? Was Tony bummed that the other boys fired Peter? Or was Tony in on the decision? Did he vote for getting rid of Peter or against? Did he even get a vote? What does Tony think of how the group handled the firing?

Ask Tony also about the transition from Banks to Howe -- ask him about Howe's reaction to Banks as a guitarist precisely at the point when Howe first took over guitar duties from Peter -- dig for anecdotes of Howe being a fan of Peter, you dig me man? How daunted was Howe by stepping into Peter's shoes? Did Howe have any kind of personal contact with Peter during the changeover, or before, or later, that Tony knows of?

Also, did Tony know keyboardist John Evan of Jethro Tull, back in the day? We're talking 1970 man.

And what does Tony think of how he left Yes the first time? I don't know -- was he fired? If so, did they handle it okay? Just how big an asshole is Chris, anyway?

Did Tony play keyboards on Talk, or not? If he did, to what extent? On which tracks? Is his playing often present alongside Trevor's keyboard playing? Get Tony to give you as many concrete examples as possible, preferably citing which songs and which parts of those songs.

Cheers!

Ron Drummond

Hey Ron!

Tony told me that Peter Banks was/is a friend. That when Banks left YES, it was a mutual decision. Banks was done with YES.

Tony discovered Steve Howe, and was the guy who initially brought him to Chris's attention.

Tony hoped that Howe would bring a 'rock and roll' element to the band (And listening to Howe's early work, it's easy to see how he would have thought this). He was hoping that Howe would give the band a bit more of an edge, that the ensuing songs would be shorter, and more to the point: Not 'epic' in nature.

Instead of taking YES in a more bluesy direction, Howe latched on to Jon's idea of YES being more classically oriented, and the songs became even longer and more intricate.

So bringing Steve Howe into the band actually took the band in the opposite direction that Tony was hoping for at the time.

All these years later, Tony is happy that things went the way they did. But back in the day, it wasn't the direction he was personally hoping that YES would go in.

Earlie:yesbird:

[JL]

Hey Rob,

Tony loves 'The Band': It's his favorite band. Tony is into anything 'groove oriented': R&B, blues. Motown.

But he always swings the conversation back to The Band, his favorite band!

:ele:

Incredibly interesting. RR's songwriting? Garth Hudson at the keys as an influence? The whole package? This would be interesting to explore, not to mention a major selling point for The Band to increase the fanbase at this late date by having a prog icon as one of their big boosters.

[Earl Grey]

Incredibly interesting. RR's songwriting? Garth Hudson at the keys as an influence? The whole package? This would be interesting to explore, not to mention a major selling point for The Band to increase the fanbase at this late date by having a prog icon as one of their big boosters.

Absolutely. I'm going to ask Tony what he thinks of Levon Helm's 'Barn' concerts... Whether he would ever consider playing keys for one of them...

Tony is a HUGE 'Band' fan.

:)
~~~~~~~~~~~

It appears that the big topic of the day is going to be the TALK album. Tony already told me that he'd love to talk about TALK, and that "Well, the first 30 minutes of the interview is already taken care of there..."

!

Thanks all, for the great questions. It's always the greatest pleasure, getting to pick the brain of one of my bona fide heroes.

Ya gotta love Tony. He's been there for SO many phases of YES, as well as Badfinger, Bowie, Detective, Flash, Badger... And CIRCA:!

A big-hearted soul, that TK. And the most honest and open of any YES member I've ever had the pleasure of speaking with.

eegee:yesbird:

[mmmYes]

Tony, will you have Earl home in time for dinner?

[Earl Grey]

Tony, will you have Earl home in time for dinner?

HAHA!

The answer is...

YES.

Next question... ;)

...Billy Sherwood says I should ask Tony about 'Tennis'.

He is supposedly a 'monster' on the tennis court.

:ele:

[luvyesmusic]

How long has Tony lived in the states ? Did he earn his way over here with Yes? Does he hold dual citizenship? And if he still owns the Pizza restaurant, why not give some free publicity here on yesfans. What exactly does Tony own as far as instruments/classic organs, keyboards. With his talented wife, do they have their own inhouse recording studio? Mary Hart reportedly had her legs insured by Lloyd's of London. Did Tony ever have his hands/fingers insured and for how much? And is Earl a big tipper? ;-)

[xlink_nz]

Hey xlink_nz,

There are a couple of questions here that I can already answer.

Tony says that his personal favorite album with YES is Big Generator. His favorite YES album that he didn't have anything to do with was Close To The Edge.

...I'll ask him a bit more about Big Generator today, as well as which tour was his favorite, and why.
Earl Grey:yesbird:

Why BG rather than TALK ?

Tony LOVES composing, and was instrumental in much of the composition for CIRCA: HQ. There is so much input from everyone in a band like YES, that Tony actually has trouble remembering which parts he came up with! He was involved in all levels of writing with the band though, and is quite proud of his input. A good rule of thumb is, if Tony is playing it, he wrote it. There is a fine line between composition and arrangement, as any good musician knows.

Things always start out as an unembellished pattern of chords, and what goes on beyond the initial idea is composition. Earl Grey:yesbird:

cool :-) but why no credits on TALK even for producing or engineering ?

...Tony says that he wouldn't play with YES again, that he didn't think that would ever happen again...
Earl Grey:yesbird:

He would refuse even if asked , even if Rabin, Banks or Sherwood were also asked or there ?

[Earl Grey]

Thanks everyone, for giving me your input as to questions for Tony.

The interview went amazingly well (All 90 minutes of it!).

Now I just have to transcribe the recording, and write it out so it's hopefully as much a pleasure for you to read as it was for me to hear.

Tony was affable and honest as ever, speaking freely about every subject. I didn't have to bring-up most of the questions in this thread, as the natural course of our conversation eventually hit the nail on every point.

It was an honor, a joy, and a pleasure, as always: You simply couldn't meet a more affable guy than Tony Kaye.

Anyway, I'll get this up and posted as soon as I can (A lot of transcribing ahead for 'Mr Earl' this week!).

Thanks again folks!

Earl Grey:yesbird:

[Earl Grey]

Why BG rather than TALK ?

Tony was much more a part of the writing process on BG than he was on TALK. But he loves both albums.



cool :-) but why no credits on TALK even for producing or engineering?

Because Tony didn't produce or engineer the album. It was very much a Trevor Rabin production. (...More on this in the interview itself; I promise, you won't be disappointed!).



He would refuse even if asked , even if Rabin, Banks or Sherwood were also asked or there ?

I would say, 'Never say never'. But Tony sounds pretty emphatic about it.

He loves YES, is proud of his work with the band. But is excited about CIRCA:, and the other projects he's working on right now.

Much more later, but WAY better than my hypotheses, as it will be in Tony's own words.


Earl:yesbird:

[JL]

Apparently one thing that Tony and I have in common is that BG is our favorite album by that particular Yes lineup.

[brianos]

looking forward to reading the interview!

[Jackaranda]

Earl you rock!

[Yes.2]

briefs or boxers?