What influences do you hear in Yes songs?

[Yesed]

The first time JA saw King Crimson live he was rather impressed, and thought Yes needed to sound as good, at least technically. I've always thought Heart of the Sunrise sounded influenced by KC.

Do you hear any influences in Yes songs, or just hear other artists in particular Yes songs, when you hear them?

[Chris2210]

We know about some stated influences: Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Mahavishnu Orchestra, KC, Stravinsky and Sibelius.

The great thing about Yes - especially in the 70s - is that the influences were absorbed organically and they always sounded uniquely like themselves. I can hear Sibelius’ influence and they obviously sound nothing like Sibelius - the experiments with rhythm seem to me to nod very much in that direction. But they didn’t imitate.

[Yesed]

We know about some stated influences: Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Mahavishnu Orchestra, KC, Stravinsky and Sibelius.

The great thing about Yes - especially in the 70s - is that the influences were absorbed organically and they always sounded uniquely like themselves. I can hear Sibelius’ influence and they obviously sound nothing like Sibelius - the experiments with rhythm seem to me to nod very much in that direction. But they didn’t imitate.

True. Yes is one of the original classic progressive rock bands and their influences are for the most part well absorbed. My question is almost a moot point, and when more overt, like in Sound Chaser, where you can hear Zappa, its rather deliberate.

[Ash Armstrong]

Jon Anderson has cited the Everly Brothers and Lonnie Donegan as early influences.

[pianozach]

King Crimson
Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Mahavishnu Orchestra, KC, Stravinsky and Sibelius.
Zappa
The Everly Brothers and Lonnie Donegan

There's an obvious CLASSICAL influence as well . . . especially once Rick joined . . . hell, his contribution to Fragile was an adaptation of Brahms' 4th Symphony. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music. Rick's dad played the piano in a dance band. Before that, Peter Banks was interpolating Bach and other Classical composers into his solos.

Hell, they used Stravinsky's Firebird Suite to open their concerts, and later ABWH used Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide To the Orchestra". You can also hear the influence of Stravinsky in The Ancient.

Rabin brought a wealth of influences as well. His mother, Joy, was a painter, ballet dancer, actress, and classical pianist, and his father, Godfrey, was a lawyer, musician, conductor, and the lead violinist in the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

And Tony Kaye brought that vibe from Jerome Moss' soundtrack of The Big Country to their cover of Richie Havens' No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed.

Oh, and Pat Moraz brought some jazz and funk influences to Relayer, and was trained at Lausanne Conservatory.

I find it interesting the other covers the band chose to record, as it gives an insight to what they may have been listening to:

I See You, from The Byrds (David Crosby, Jim McGuinn)
Every Little Thing, from The Beatles (I think it's funny that Banks threw in the guitar lick from Day Tripper)
I'm Down, from The Beatles
Everydays, from Buffalo Springfield (Specifically Stephen Stills)
Something's Coming, from the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story
America, from Simon & Garfunkel
Chris Squire contributed solo tracks of both Amazing Grace and Dvořák's New World Symphony
It's Love, from The Young Rascals
Imagine, from John Lennon

There's also the literary influences as well, as evidenced on TfTO and Relayer (The Gates of Delirium: Tolstoy).

[Bill M]

I think that starting at the very end of the seventies and going into the eighty's era there were influences from bands that emerged after YES. In some instances, they could have been influenced by bands that were originally influenced by them.

[Yesed]

King Crimson
Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Mahavishnu Orchestra, KC, Stravinsky and Sibelius.
Zappa
The Everly Brothers and Lonnie Donegan

There's an obvious CLASSICAL influence as well . . . especially once Rick joined . . . hell, his contribution to Fragile was an adaptation of Brahms' 4th Symphony. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music. Rick's dad played the piano in a dance band. Before that, Peter Banks was interpolating Bach and other Classical composers into his solos.

Hell, they used Stravinsky's Firebird Suite to open their concerts, and later ABWH used Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide To the Orchestra". You can also hear the influence of Stravinsky in The Ancient.

Rabin brought a wealth of influences as well. His mother, Joy, was a painter, ballet dancer, actress, and classical pianist, and his father, Godfrey, was a lawyer, musician, conductor, and the lead violinist in the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

And Tony Kaye brought that vibe from Jerome Moss' soundtrack of The Big Country to their cover of Richie Havens' No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed.

Oh, and Pat Moraz brought some jazz and funk influences to Relayer, and was trained at Lausanne Conservatory.

I find it interesting the other covers the band chose to record, as it gives an insight to what they may have been listening to:

I See You, from The Byrds (David Crosby, Jim McGuinn)
Every Little Thing, from The Beatles (I think it's funny that Banks threw in the guitar lick from Day Tripper)
I'm Down, from The Beatles
Everydays, from Buffalo Springfield (Specifically Stephen Stills)
Something's Coming, from the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story
America, from Simon & Garfunkel
Chris Squire contributed solo tracks of both Amazing Grace and Dvořák's New World Symphony
It's Love, from The Young Rascals
Imagine, from John Lennon

There's also the literary influences as well, as evidenced on TfTO and Relayer (The Gates of Delirium: Tolstoy).

Cool! Thats comprehensive.

[Yesed]

Call me crazy, but Im getting hints of Monkman on The Ice Bridge.

[Ash Armstrong]

Call me crazy, but Im getting hints of Monkman on The Ice Bridge.

You scamp!

[Yesed]

You scamp!

[Gilly Goodness]

Playin' TIB as I type. A mighty,juicy slab of highly marbled prime Prog. A mighty beast. It is unrelentin'!

Elsewhere on TQ I hear Local Hero by Knoppfler in the intro to Minus the Man. Christopher Cross in early parts of ALI and then Queen in the final minutes. Floyd in the languorous beauty that is DTK. Beatles in MT. As well as an Aussie band called Mental as Anything. ATOTT Genesis in intro to MTME.

Quite a lot really. More influences than most YES albums. But that may come down to the fact that there are now more writers in the band than ever before. 4. Count 'em. 4. All with diverse interests. Oh. And Juano has been influenced by Lodge.

She's got him dressin' and eatin' better 😋

[Soundwaveseeker]

Yes influences are many, some blatant and some subliminal. Throughout the band 's history you can hear traces of:

Beatles,
Beach Boys,
King Crimson,
Sibelius,
R&B/Stax/Motown,
Lonnie Donegan,
TV themes,
psychedelia,
cowboy music,
AOR/hard rock,
Stravinsky,
Everly Brothers,
Mahavishnu Orchestra,
Kosmiche musik,
Chuck Berry,
The Association,
film/soundtrack music,
Chet Atkins,
Elton John,
Zappa,
music concrete,
hillbilly music,
The Who,
Simon & Garfunkel,
electronic music,
Bob Dylan,
world music/ Native American music,
Romantic period classical music,
20th century period classical music,
Santo & Johnny,
new wave/post-punk,
spiritual/church music,
children's music/nursery rhymes,
60's spy music,
jazz/funk/fusion,
Les Paul,
minimalism,
heavy metal,
Eastern/mystical,
The Nice,
West Coast/San Francisco,
nature sounds,
and even a trace of hip-hop on 'State Of Play'.

and probably more.

All of this absorbed into the collective known as Yes, where it becomes part of the very fabric of its being.

[Gilly Goodness]

Hillbilly music?

Oh, wait.


There was a hoedown section in the middle of Sound Chaser. Appalachian. Possibly Northern Kentucky.

[Yesed]

Hillbilly music?

Oh, wait.


There was a hoedown section in the middle of Sound Chaser. Appalachian. Possibly Northern Kentucky.

I think your being Disillusional, that aint no Chet Atkins.

[alex peters]

For JA the 1970's was his Ravi Shankar period