Dan Hedges

[gbh90125]

I had this back in the early 80's and lost it ( well i know exactly where it is so is it really lost?) but anyways, I picked up another copy recently of ebay and re-read it. it's pretty good, though his writing style is ... em ...a bit informal to say the least.

Still a decent read with fab pix throughout .

my beef - there had to be one- is that of the colour pics in the middle of the book.

Several are reproductions of album covers that most Yes fans of the era would already have - on the albums! Whats the point of a colour shot of Fragile reproduced when I can go and pull out the album version and look at it in larger scale? - Plus a two page splash of topographic? waste of paper, surley. what makes it worse is that whoever edited it, then squeesed in tiny photos of the band or individuals that could have been bigger, or had allowed for more diverse shots

One other interesting thing is there are few/no photo credits so I'm guessing Hedges must have taken them.

still it was a good book at the time and was a nice walk through memory lane for me.

[True]

I remember buying it when it came out - I think it was the first Yes book I ever read - perhaps it was the first one written.

I read it in a day. I remember feeling a bit sad toward the end as it seemed that the days of Anderson and Wakeman as a part of Yes were over.

I enjoyed the Hedges book at the time - I do remember Wakeman saying he thought it was a horrible book (but he did not explain what he did not like about it) but I don't recall any other reactions from members of the band.

[madbear]

I think Wakeman realised how badly researched and written it was. It's full of factual errors, unsubstantiated opinions and is clearly a potboiler, write-to-order volume

[michelforest]

I bought it in 1985. It was pretty informative back then. I learned a lot on the early days of the band. I believe it was an authorized bio, written at the time of the Drama lineup. It was far from perfect: I remember the author being quite dismissive of Tales and Relayer.

It would be nice to have a new bio of Yes. The last one was by Chris Welch, about 20 years ago. It was alright, but it was not very well edited and Welch had an annoying tendency to insert himself in the narrative, something a biographer should never do.

[True]

I've just pulled out my copy of the Dan Hedges book, probably have not looked at it in 20 years. My copy is in very good condition. The outside cover has yellowed just a little bit but the interior is almost like new. Just flipping through it now. I think I'll keep it out for a day or two and look through it. Seeing a very brief mention and photo of the Topographic balloon and remembering how I wondered, while reading the book, what the story was behind that balloon.
Also seeing the reference to the Times review of Topographic, predicting that side 3 would be studied "25 years hence as a turning point in modern music"

Twenty five years hence would have been around 1998 - I think in 1998, only the hard core Yes fans were even aware of Topographic. Kind of like today!
I must have missed those studies about it being a turning point.

I suppose it was a turning point, in that it added to the growing view that many of these 70's bands had jumped the shark, as they say.

[brianos]

Dave Watkinson wrote a piece on the Yes balloon a while back - I was very happy to get the backstory!

https://www.yesworld.com/2020/10/the-yes-balloon-story-by-david-watkinson/

[Somis Sound]

I've just pulled out my copy of the Dan Hedges book, probably have not looked at it in 20 years. My copy is in very good condition. The outside cover has yellowed just a little bit but the interior is almost like new. Just flipping through it now. I think I'll keep it out for a day or two and look through it. Seeing a very brief mention and photo of the Topographic balloon and remembering how I wondered, while reading the book, what the story was behind that balloon.
Also seeing the reference to the Times review of Topographic, predicting that side 3 would be studied "25 years hence as a turning point in modern music"

Twenty five years hence would have been around 1998 - I think in 1998, only the hard core Yes fans were even aware of Topographic. Kind of like today!
I must have missed those studies about it being a turning point.

I suppose it was a turning point, in that it added to the growing view that many of these 70's bands had jumped the shark, as they say.

I remember the first time I heard The Ancient. Absolutely blew my mind how adventurous it was. I didn't think music like that was possible. Same with Relayer. They broke new ground in a heavy amazing way...

Never read the Hedges book. But sure loved Yesstories!

[Yorkshire Square]

I think Wakeman realised how badly researched and written it was. It's full of factual errors, unsubstantiated opinions and is clearly a potboiler, write-to-order volume

I'm struggling to remember any substantial errors in the book - I've not read it in a while, and opinions are simply that, opinions.

I'd guess that Rick had a downer on the book as it was released at a time when he and Jon had seen the band carry on without them although he was interviewed for the book at an earlier date and perhaps he regretted being involved once it went to print.