Q: Steve Howe has no "guitar heir"...Is Yes "done" after Steve's done?

[tumnus]

Being a guitarist who channels Steve, I also would add that many modern "shred" lead guitarists don't exactly play (or seem to know how to) play like Howe does. There's a ton of intricacies in Steve's phrasing, note choices, and approach that somewhat "break the rules" of most acknowledged music theory. Even guitarists I've known who think they can play Yes - can't.

+1 what Bill said. Steve is so distinctive that anyone else going to seem 'mainstream' in comparison. I know Steve privately ragged on the playing on 90125 going 'this could be anybody playing this!' which at the time and in comparison seemed true, but of course scratch the surface and TR is a pretty distinctive guitarist and not just an 80s shredder... but it sure seemed like that at first.

if you just grab someone from the long list of players about you'll end up with this. I mean tbh Steve Morse seems like it compared to Blackmore, and I've been a fan of Morse since before he joined purple. They've got Danny now who is an excellent player, but still... (im not ragging on that guy either, mind, he IS a great player)

but maybe its worse if you get someone and try and mimic the playing. They lost their confidence and tried to get Tommy Bolin on the tour to play exactly like Ritchie, he got depressed and put a sign round his neck saying 'clone' - which is a big missed opportunity as Bolin was really a titanic player with his own style (i got those reheasal tapes and it is a really funky cool band)

Jimi Haun at least has spent some time studying the style to get away with it. That interview where he breaks down all the union parts he played on (!!!!! what an eye opener, it is so detailed) and so I never got to see Circa live, there is a really good youtube vid of one of there shows and it is really ripping. Tony Kaye is blasting "looking around" on the hammond organ and Haun works really well with some 175 lines (on a song Steve Howe never played on haha)

as im writing this its now reminding me of peter banks' lovely jazzy rickenbacker playing on the first album, and i should give that a spin, and my flash records. Now that would work.

I agree that if steve retires Yes would not continue, but i'd still follow those guys and sure they'd make some good music.

[luvyesmusic]

Johnny Bruhns, or Jimi Haun. Those are my top two.

[josuev80]

Billy Sherwood

[BillGuitar]

I see two parts to this question. Part one is can Steve be replaced, and I'm sure they can find someone to fill his shoes if they want to keep going as Yes. The second part is the bigger question to me - what is going to happen to the Yes LLC business and brand and who is next in line for CEO (so to speak) that will call the shots? There is zero chance Jon Anderson will be brought back into the fold with the business of Yes and that will limit any chance of him being in the band ever again. It will be up to the remaining business partners, which no doubt will include Steve until he is no longer with us and whoever he chooses to pass his share off to after that, and I would think Chris' and Alan's heirs would also be part of that group. Based upon Chris' prior statements about Yes moving forward in the future I think it's very likely that Yes will continue for as long as they want as long as they can find replacement pieces that fit the puzzle that keeps fans buying tickets and albums into the foreseeable future.

Being a guitarist who channels Steve, I also would add that many modern "shred" lead guitarists don't exactly play (or seem to know how to) play like Howe does. There's a ton of intricacies in Steve's phrasing, note choices, and approach that somewhat "break the rules" of most acknowledged music theory. Even guitarists I've known who think they can play Yes - can't.

[kkleinschmidt]

I see two parts to this question. Part one is can Steve be replaced, and I'm sure they can find someone to fill his shoes if they want to keep going as Yes. The second part is the bigger question to me - what is going to happen to the Yes LLC business and brand and who is next in line for CEO (so to speak) that will call the shots? There is zero chance Jon Anderson will be brought back into the fold with the business of Yes and that will limit any chance of him being in the band ever again. It will be up to the remaining business partners, which no doubt will include Steve until he is no longer with us and whoever he chooses to pass his share off to after that, and I would think Chris' and Alan's heirs would also be part of that group. Based upon Chris' prior statements about Yes moving forward in the future I think it's very likely that Yes will continue for as long as they want as long as they can find replacement pieces that fit the puzzle that keeps fans buying tickets and albums into the foreseeable future.

[Yesed]

Definitely not over. Jimmy Haun.

[BillGuitar]

If asked, I would certainly audition for it.

Howe is one of the sole reasons I've never stopped playing guitars. Because if you stop practicing the guitar you won't be able to continue playing Yes music on that guitar!

I would need to buy another console steel guitar for AYAI.

We can all dream.

Can't we?

[Somis Sound]

Their last reunion as Yes, at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, appears to have been painful and difficult with arguments over the line-up.

More generally, note my phrase there at the beginning of that last sentence: "their last reunion". They keep doing reunions. There was the song together on Jon's 1000 Hands, there was the Hall of Fame, there was the 2002 reunion, there was San Luis Obispo, there was the Union album, there was ABWH before that. If we don't specify Howe and Anderson being together, there have been further reunions: in 2008, and then with ARW. For nearly as long as I have been a Yes fan, other fans have said they wanted a final tour or song(s) back together... and then a "classic" line-up reunited for a period, and within a few months of that latest reunion ending, the same calls would return. Can we have just one (more) final tour or song(s)?

If Howe and Anderson did a show together, within 6 months, people would be asking for a final, final tour before they call it a day.

Haha. Good points Henry. I agree. For me, 2004 Lugano is my favorite final reunion farewell with my favorite guys... I was just having one of those one more reunion moments

[OB1kenOB]

Just thinking about Alan today. Just kind of heavy... both what he means to YES (a hell of a lot), and what "YES" means with one member left from the 1970s.

The band had an "heir apparent" for both Chris Squire / bass, AND drums with Jay Schellen.

But what happens after Steve's done? What does / can YES actually "mean" in the 2020s and beyond...when NO members in the band are left from the halcyon days of YES in the 1970s...???


-Douglas

I don't know about you all, but I've been playing AIR guitar to Steve Howe for years. hmmm.... never mind.

[Soundwaveseeker]

Me personally, I would not want a 'final tour' or an overhyped 'reunion', as it places an expiration date on Yes. I would want Yes to continue whether it was a classic Yes with Anderson Howe and Wakeman with Sherwood and Schellen subbing for their departed musical comrades, or a future Yes where Jay Schellen was the last guy left out of the Quest era on a new album with all new personnel adhering to the Yes mission statement, whatever that was.

Other than that, there's tons of releases coming out of the Yes Cinematic Universe brand, like the ones mentioned above. I look forward to these. As for forcing Anderson & Howe together to 'come up with more of the magic', it's possible that to maintain a level of friendship they choose not to work together so they don't jeopardize their good will for each other. It's possible to like someone as long as you don't work with them. That happens a lot in music. Genesis for example - still good friends with Peter Gabriel, though any sort of reunion with him in unlikely - apparently they like each other as people with shared history, but they may not be too keen on jumping into the fire again together. Not counting a one off reunion in 1982 and doing documentaries and reissues together and stuff, the last time they worked closely together was The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway almost 50 years ago, and it was a lousy experience for them. I guess it's like that for Jon Anderson & Steve Howe - just leave it in the past and get on with the music.

I'm in it for new music from whatever incarnation, bring on the next ten Yes albums!

[Gary Betts]

I am enjoying Brad Mehldau's Jacob's Ladder.

Just as a slight sidebar life is short and there is a lot of music out there. I listen to lots of music that I like but never return to but this Brad Mehldau release is one I keep returning to again and again.

[bondegezou]

Everyone just make new albums. . Especially new Yes official albums!

I agree with much of what you said, dbar.

For me, "Yes" is still about the future, not just the past. By that, I mean I am excited in the new music that Howe, Anderson, Downes, Rabin, Sherwood, Horn, Davison etc. are making. I look forward to the new Yes album, and the new DBA album, and hopefully, eventually, that new Trevor Rabin solo album. I look forward to Horn's Eighties Chill project, to the second Arc of Life, to hearing a John Lodge solo project with Downes and Davison, to a new Kansas album with Brislin contributing. I am enjoying the stream of Jon Anderson recordings on social media (even if I wish he'd package them up and put them on Bandcamp). I am enjoying Brad Mehldau's Jacob's Ladder.

[bondegezou]

But this Howe quote leaves me baffled. Sure, he is in control and really the only (70's) creative force left who now runs everything with no conflicts or Anderson objections or taking control. But, as time is ticking, and as others have said, it would be nice for a final tour or song(s) in light of the Yes message and legacy. At this point they aren't committed to doing multiple albums or tours, just a one off in good will and the spirit of Yes would be nice. That's all. Maybe just 1 freaking big show, or a song before they call it a day ! How difficult would that be without getting kicked in the head?

Their last reunion as Yes, at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, appears to have been painful and difficult with arguments over the line-up.

More generally, note my phrase there at the beginning of that last sentence: "their last reunion". They keep doing reunions. There was the song together on Jon's 1000 Hands, there was the Hall of Fame, there was the 2002 reunion, there was San Luis Obispo, there was the Union album, there was ABWH before that. If we don't specify Howe and Anderson being together, there have been further reunions: in 2008, and then with ARW. For nearly as long as I have been a Yes fan, other fans have said they wanted a final tour or song(s) back together... and then a "classic" line-up reunited for a period, and within a few months of that latest reunion ending, the same calls would return. Can we have just one (more) final tour or song(s)?

If Howe and Anderson did a show together, within 6 months, people would be asking for a final, final tour before they call it a day.

[downbyariver]

I feel like Yes has been doing reunions of various sorts ever since Rick Wakeman reunited with the band in 1977, Jon Anderson and Tony Kaye in 1983, the entire 70s and 80s lineups minus Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes, and Peter Banks in 1991, YesWest in 1994, a take on a fan favorite 70s Yes lineup in 1996 and again in 2004, Downes and Horn (kind of) in 2011, Sherwood in 2015, Kaye, Moraz, and Brislin in 2018, etc.. There was also the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance featuring 5 of the 8 inducted members.

Keys to Ascension's live half was explicitly kind of an effort to get some of the main guys on tape 20 years later doing some of their 70s songs live with more modern technology.

Howe added some remote guitar work to a song from a recent Anderson album.

Various current and former members of Yes (Though not Anderson or Howe) were on Prog Collective (self-titled), and Prog Collective Epilogue, as well as on Billy Sherwood's solo Citizen album.

At some point, one wonders just how many reunions people should feel obligated to do with folks who they've spent a lot of their lives essentially living with (on the road) and not getting along with. I mean, a lot of adult children become estranged from their parents (or just relatives becoming estranged from relatives in general) because they reach a point where they say "How many more decades am I supposed to tolerate this behavior from them messing up my life and adding to my unhappiness?". People freely find and choose spouses, and voluntarily choose to be with them until death do them part, but it's not considered at all weird for them to later divorce and avoid each other. Band mates are just coworkers who have a lot less social obligation to each other than relatives or spouses, with no ties of blood or marital type unions (Sometimes you just join a band by answering an ad in the back of a newspaper and having a 30 minute tryout), but sometimes spend just as much time with each other and have this huge joint venture to fight about, and for some reason are sometimes expected by some fans to stay together forever or engage in a neverending series of reunions until death do them part even if they've spent decades together already and all they do is fight and make each other miserable.

Apart from the human angle, I also don't really fully see what people expect to get out of forcing Jon and Steve together. A lot of the guys one might expect in a classic lineup reunion have passed away or retired. Some of the guys who've been involved in Yes for a while who are still alive and playing music professionally might have no interest or be vetoed by one party or the other (Examples: Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman each individually vetoed having Sherwood play at the HOF induction. There seems to be some friction between Howe and Rabin. Anderson has vetoed having Downes in Yes in the past and Downes has criticized Anderson online. Etc.).

I also wonder if it'd really be fulfilling for audiences to see people who don't want to be around each other charge big bucks to play a carefully negotiated set of classic songs for the umteenth time, each time progressively worse than their last, while all new music and hopes of a long-term continuing Yes are put on the back burner indefinitely.

I'd rather see a band that focuses on creating new Yes music and getting younger and not older to deliver more rock and roll energy to performances of existing songs and to the creation of new ones. It was neat when Yes brought out Tony Kaye for encores in 2018, and if Anderson were willing to do something like that at a low cost and pass the torch, that'd be cool, but it isn't going to happen.

I know that Jon Anderson and Jon Davison talking about making new music together some years ago wasn't a serious thing, but I'd be much more interested in hearing that album than in Steve and Jon touring the world and trying not to kill each other.

Everyone just make new albums. . Especially official new Yes albums!

[Somis Sound]

I think the 2004 tour was really the big send off so to speak. The big party. I am glad that things have continued in different iterations and all, but in hindsight, I view the 35th anniversary tour as the send off for Yes with a capital Y. Heck, some might even say that the Union tour was that. Make no mistake, I do like the post Anderson albums, and will continue to support them, but it has been a different animal since 2004 is all I mean.

For me, with Squire and White gone, there is not much joy in a reunion. Howe and Anderson are still only part of the puzzle, and two of the other pieces are gone forever now. A new song or show would be cool and all, but it would feel no more “complete” to me than ARW or Yes O as it stands.

I have to agree.... Well said.