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The phrase “Keyboard Wizard” was literally invented to describe this man. With an image unsurpassed in rock history he appeared wearing a long wizard-like cape (which also earned him the name “The Caped Crusader”) and long blond hair down his back.
He was the first to pioneer the idea of stacking keyboards, one on top of the other and is a technical master of his chosen instrument, recognised by his peers as one of the greatest pianists/keyboard players in the world. |
 | With a sound and style of his own, he has a huge fan base worldwide and has sold tens of millions of solo albums. This guy was staging spectacular live rock performances using full choirs and orchestras to back him and his band long before most had ever imagined it was possible.
He was among the pioneers of, what became known as, ‘progressive rock’ and is equally famed for his membership of the legendary bands “Yes” and “The Strawbs” with which he has sold more ‘tens of millions’ of albums and created some of the most enduring songs of his generation. His first solo album, heralded to be the first true concept album, was “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”.
His legendary album “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” was recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall in 1974 (for which he mortgaged himself to the hilt and got his pub mates to play the backline guitars bass & drums) and is still selling shed loads to this day. The follow up “Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” contains some of the most enduring rock themes ever created.
And that’s just where his solo career began
As if this weren’t enough, his immense talent has drawn other rock and pop legends to request his services and he has contributed his own unique style to their work. Not least among them being David Bowie (with whom he has worked many times), Lou Reed, and Cat Stevens….and the list goes on….a long way!.
This man, the legendary “Caped Crusader” and original “Keyboard Wizard” has kindly given his time to ne-music.co.uk in a recent interview.
First though, a bit of background for those who aren’t familiar with his career CV. This does not detail all his albums or involvements. There simply is not space, but it does give an insight into the legend that is…. Rick Wakeman
1960 - Rick was entered for his first music festival and duly won his class.
1961 - Rick is entered for loads of festivals and proceeds to win most of them.
1963 - Joined a local Blues band called The Atlantic Blues.
1964 - The Atlantic Blues obtain a residency at the Neasdon Mental Rehabilitation Club. Rick counts it as one of the most rewarding periods of his life.
1966 - Passes driving test and purchases a 1958 Ford 100E Anglia. This was prior to MOT testing, which was just as well, as the car had four odd tyres, little or no floor, was held together with more filler than metal and cost to buy £30 inclusive of tax and insurance.
Rick forms his own rock band Curdled Milk, named after Eric Clapton’s Cream. The band was a huge hit at the school dance which was marred only by Rick driving his car over the headmaster’s prize rose bed and subsequently forfeiting the fee.
Rick also did his first BBC sessions with the James Royal Set for Radio One. John Entwhistle played bass on some.
1968 - Attended the Royal College of Music where he studied piano, modern music clarinet and orchestration.
1970 - Joined The Strawbs. Made his first album with them.
1971 - Made a second album with Strawbs entitled From the Witchwood
The Strawbs grew in popularity and Rick became heavily in demand for session work with other artistes. At the height of his session career, Rick was doing eighteen a week. It is estimated that he has performed on over 2,000 different tracks by artistes as diverse as Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens (Morning Has Broken being the most remembered), Mary Hopkins, Cilla Black, Clive Dunn, Elton John, Edison Lighthouse, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Dana, Des O’Connor, Magna Carta, Al Stewart, Ralph McTell, Butterscotch, Biddu and Harry Nilsson.
Left the Strawbs in August and joined YES. Toured America for the first time and made the classic album FRAGILE, still regarded by many as the epitome of the progressive rock album.
At the end of the year signed a solo contract with A&M Records and recorded Catherine of Aragon at Trident Studios in London.
1972 - YES record Close to the Edge and the band establishes itself worldwide as one of the leaders in contemporary rock music. Rick continues recording the Six Wives of Henry VIII.
1973 - The Six Wives of Henry VIII was released and was a big hit worldwide. YES produced YESSONGS, a live three album set. At the end of 1973 YES produced Tales from Topographic Oceans which ultimately led to Rick handing in his notice the following year.
Rick appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2 and his new fangled idea of putting keyboards on top of one another, which he pioneered back in 1970, now seemed to be catching on.
1974 - Probably the most significant year in Rick’s career. In a nutshell he recorded Journey to the Centre of the Earth with the London Symphony Orchestra with the resulting record appearing in the top ten of virtually every country in the world and in May left YES, the band he felt he could no longer contribute to. He toured the world with Journey, taking around huge orchestras and choirs, resulting in him spending every penny he had earned.
1975 - Rick performed Journey on stage at the Crystal Palace Bowl. He collapsed at the end of the show and later the following day was admitted to Hospital following a suspected minor heart attack. He remained in hospital for some weeks and whilst incarcerated wrote The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The album story became as much about the composer as it was about King Arthur, although this was never ever mentioned in any articles or interviews.
Rick also ventured into films by working with Ken Russell on Lisztomania at Shepperton Studios. King Arthur was performed as an ice show for three nights at Wembley Empire Pool and in spite of selling out lost a small fortune due to Rick’s extravagant production.
1976 - Recorded No Earthly Connection in France with the English Rock Ensemble and also the music for the film White Rock and toured Europe, America and Brazil where Rick broke every indoor attendance record, all of which still stand to this day.
1977 - Released Going for the One with YES.
Recorded Rick Wakeman’s Criminal Record. YES had a top ten single with Wondrous Stories.
1978 - Released Rhapsodies, a double solo album, produced by Toni Visconti.
1979 - With the real emergence of punk YES and Rick were very out of fashion.
1982 - Records a new solo album, Cost of Living, with lyrics by Tim Rice and featuring some fine narrative work by Robert Powell. Records the TV series Gastank with Tony Ashton for Channel 4 and finally releases Rock and Roll Prophet. Also the soundtrack from the World Cup is released entitled G’ole!
1984- Rick loses his driving licence after failing the breathalyser.
1985 - Rick embarks on a massive tour promoting Silent Nights. In Australia he is taken seriously ill and gives up drinking for good. Records Country Airs for Coda Records which stays at number one in the new age chart for over twenty weeks. Rick tours Australia with the band SKY
1989 - Touring continues but is cut short with the reformation of four of the old members of YES. Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe has a million selling CD worldwide and a massive world tour is undertaken
1991 - YES tour Europe and America and the Union album sells close on two million copies worldwide. Rick makes an album with his great friend Norman Wisdom.
1994 - A year in which speculation rises and then falls about Rick’s likely participation with YES. A cracking double CD, “The Official Live Bootleg” is released from 93’s South American tour. Rick appears to be making a bid for Terry Wogan’s TV appearance record with appearances as a judge on Masterchef, with Steve Wright and a host of other shows, culminating in a six week run as a team captain on Danny Baker’s show “Bygones”, the musical highlight of which was Rick’s astounding multi-stylophone set-up.
1998 - EMI signed Rick to compose and record Return to the Centre of the Earth in February. Rick also managed to fit in numerous television and radio appearances as well as being featured on This Is Your Life.
2000 - Just like three thousand two hundred and eighty six other artists, Rick decides it would be a good idea to record an album especially for the new Millennium. His is a piano album entitled Prelude to a Century and had a similar impact on the general public as did the Dome.
The English Rock Ensemble is reformed and the band tours South America producing a live DVD and a CD.
Rick’s third wife decides she wishes to be Rick’s third ex-wife and subsequently Rick leaves the marital home with two suitcases. (This is somewhat of an improvement on the previous one where he left with one suitcase)!
2002 - The English Rock Ensemble tour Indonesia and perform a few shows in the UK in-between completing the recording of the new studio album entitled Out There. Rick completes an album with the English Chamber Choir entitled The Wizard and the Forest of all Dreams.
2003 - A year of touring and more touring. YES perform all over America.
2003-2006 Rick makes more and more appearances on TV (Grumpy Old Men and many others) and establishes himself as one of the coolest DJs on the airwaves with “Ricks Place” on Planet Rock. His sense of humour, natural talent for ‘telling a tale’ and his multitude of experiences make him the one to listen to. If you like Rock music from every genre, this show will blow you away!
2006- Release of new album Retro in March.
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The Interview
Mark: In view of your long friendship with the late Bob Moog and in homage to
him, I'd like to start by asking you what, in your opinion, makes the
MiniMoog synthesizer so unique? It played a part in establishing your own sound in the early days of your commercial success and you established your own
'signature' techniques and 'frills' which remain uniquely 'Rick Wakeman'.
Rick: Keyboard players suffered for years trying to be heard whenever it was solo
time! As a poor old organist you would push the volume pedal to the floor,
(the rest of the band would drop in volume so you could vaguely be heard),
the guitarist would smirk and then when you'd finished the guitarist would
whack his volume up again and make you look like a wimp. As far as they
were concerned, keyboard players of any sort were there for show.....
....and then along came Bob Moog!
........the shock horror that went through guitarists was extremely pleasurable. Suddenly here was a keyboard, albeit monophonic and short on octaves, that could not only produce fabulous sounds, but cut through concrete and sound fatter than anything some guy with a ‘Strat’ round his neck could produce...
...the smirk had left the stage!
It's an instrument that inspires you.
You can not only play the notes you want but play with the sounds at the same time, it's totally interactive and never ever sounds the same twice. I love the mini moog like no other electronic instrument. Really! Which means I'm either getting old or am
turning a bit strange?
Nothing has come close to replacing the MiniMoog, which I suppose means
that it is probably irreplaceable!
Mark: When you recorded "Six Wives of Henry VIII" you had already undertaken
many sessions and contributions for various 'up and coming artists' and
established bands, but did you sense that you were on the verge of massive
commercial solo success or were you simply 'plying your trade'? (How did it
feel as your success was unfolding? So many artists claim to have 'known'
that success would come if they persisted; almost a sense of 'destiny’.
Is this true also in your case?)
Rick: Nope! I just went along for the ride. Every day was an adventure, but an
adventure of discovery. Managers and agents and record companies left
musicians alone to do what they wanted and that was the key. As it happens,
A&M records didn't like the “Six Wives” at all and the MD, at the time,
predicted it would be a total disaster. He said they would struggle to sell
the 12,500 necessary to break even. The last I heard it had sold
14,000,000. When I played it to them after the final mix their only comment
was..."When are you putting the vocals on?" Not an auspicious start. The
reviews stunk as well but thankfully initially the rest of the world gave it
great reviews and word spread to the UK and at the end of the day it sold
pretty well everywhere. I never felt like I was having success though, it
was just a great path of making music.
Mark: You famously turned down the chance to be in David Bowies "Spiders from Mars" in favour of touring with and joining "Yes". Do you have some sense of pride
and pleasure knowing that your contribution to the classic "Hunky Dory"
album is one of the key features which defines it as a 'classic'? (With any
other pianist it would have been an entirely different sound and arguably no
longer the same album. Incidentally, is it true that you provided the
handclaps on space oddity as well as your other contributions?)
Rick: True about the handclaps....and did you spot the Stylophone in there as
well...David played that. Working on Hunky Dory was an honour. I still
think David is the most talented songwriter I have ever worked with. He
would not be influenced by any other people than musicians he respected.
Managers would waste their time telling him what they thought as he totally
disregarded them...and quite right too!!!
Mark: Your own albums were influenced by keyboard and recording technology,
which is always developing. Is there any stage of keyboard, synthesiser and
recording development which you can identify as your favourite? (I.e. is
there any point at which you feel technology detracts from musicality? For
example, digital verses analogue in terms of keyboard control, synthesis and
recording)
Rick: There were a series of changes. In the 70's it was simply play anything
that worked when you plugged it in really ...then along came the DX7 and
Prophet 5 and things started to take a different shape musically. As MIDI
improved, so did the keyboards and by the time digital sampling came in
nothing was impossible and then the dangers that had arisen took over music.
In other words the machines dictated the sounds and what was written.
Sequencing meant people didn't have to play very much anymore and there was
a terrible techno spell in the 80's where music hit rock bottom, basically
because it was all producers and no musicians allowed in the studio!
Mark: I know this is a difficult question but, among your own albums, what is
your favourite and why? (This could also include 'most pleasurable to
record' for whatever reason, but I am interested to know which one you like
most as a 'piece of work')
Rick: You'll probably know that I am going to say there isn't one….and that's
because there isn't really. They all mean something to me in different ways.
.
Mark: Your career expanded into TV work and many people have enjoyed seeing you on BBC TVs “Grumpy Old Men” and many other shows. (My mother now thinks you are a lovely man, but used to think you were a long haired hippy layabout when I had your posters on my wall!) What has been your favourite non musical involvement?
Rick: I do like your mum!!!!
I love doing TV, especially “Grumpy Old Men” and, of course, “Countdown!!!”
I thoroughly enjoy doing my radio show on a Saturday morning with Planet Rock as well. I enjoy everything really. Every day is so different.
Mark: Your new album "RETRO" is due for release late march and, I believe, has been recorded using many of the old keyboards you have 'stashed away'. What inspired you to do this in favour of the more recent technology and in what ways (if any) was it better than the new technology?
Rick: Pure accident...after my last divorce, (an unfortunate recurring hobby), all my equipment needed to be moved off of the Isle of Man to the UK. My
engineer helped me do this and he kept opening flight cases and saying
things like "what the bloody hell is this?" (He's 29).
He kept asking if any of the stuff still worked and I said I hadn't a clue.
Some of the cases hadn't been opened for nearly thirty years and were
waterlogged. He said...”why don't you do an album with this lot...nothing
newer than 20 years old” (As it happened it was closer to 25 years old).
It was great fun and brought back good memories of how to singularly build
up sound. All young keyboard players should do this as an experiment at
some time, I reckon. A bit like modern day pilots love to fly an old plane
just to know how it was done!
Mark: You host your own radio show, "Ricks' Place" on Planet Rock radio, every Saturday morning and I have to say that it is the best show on the airwaves that I have heard for a long time.
Rick: Thank you Sir! I'm humbled. I don't do much really, just play great
classic rock and moan and tell silly stories!!!!
Mark: Your musical involvements have been so wide and varied that your taste in music is an education in itself for many. But here's the killer
question. What are your favourite three albums of all time? (And, if you
could expand, please also tell us why?)
Rick: If you ask me the same question next week you'd probably have three
different albums and the same for the week after!! Anyway, this week....
The Who. “Tommy”.......because it's a work of art, way ahead of it's time.
Buggles... “Plastic Age”.....sensational production again light years ahead of
it's time. The album that changed production techniques really! Trevor
Horn at his best!
David Bowie… “Hunky Dory”...... not because I played on it, but because of the incredible quality of songs and great production. There is not a weak track
on this album ...a true classic!
Mark: It has been claimed that you were responsible for the sacking of the
"Sex Pistols" from A&M, though some of us know better! Could you please put the record straight for our readers?
Rick: I am so fed up with answering this to be honest. I've done so many articles on this and DVDs… and… TVs… and Radios…. and still it comes up ...but here we go!!
1. Sex Pistols sign for A&M in the UK.
2. Sex pistols record “God Save the Queen”.
3. President of A&M in America orders A&M England to sack the Sex Pistols.
4. Publicity department in UK comes up with a plan to say that I had said
that if the pistols stayed on the label I would leave. They thought I would
not find out because I was living in Switzerland at the time and of course
communication was virtually nil back then. This would exonerate the chairman and other directors.
5. Plan backfired because it became world wide press.
6. Publicity agent at the time finally admitted it was made up but damage
was done.
7. I left A&M and that was that.
The ignorance of journalists at the time really hit home as I realised that
the new journalists appearing on the scene never did any research or
homework. It was claimed I hated punk....but any journalist worth his salt
would have easily found out that I was the person who discovered The Tubes
in America in the early/mid seventies, became great friends with Fee Waybill
and signed them to A&M in America....
Ah well! Lessons learned the hard way.
I normally refuse to answer this anymore when asked in person by a
journalist and I simply say, "Go away and do your “*@!!@* Homework", but I appreciate that this is different ...so no problem!!
Mark: Finally Rick, we at ne-music.co.uk aim to encourage the musicians and
artists in our region to pursue their dreams. Without wishing to sound
trite, are their any words of encouragement or 'pearls of wisdom' that you
can offer to them in this regard, from your own experience as a genuine
'Rock Icon' that has sold millions of albums worldwide and experienced just
about everything the industry has to throw at you?
Rick: My father always said to me that if I aimed for the Sun, I stood a good
chance of getting to the Moon. If I just aimed for the moon, I might not
even get off the Earth.
Set your goals and look beyond. There is no end to what can be achieved and, to that extent, there is no end!
(There is a poem quoted by Rick on his website attributed to an unknown soldier whom Rick considers to be a kindred spirit: It seems appropriate to quote it at this point.)
I asked for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I had asked for.
But everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.
(© Rick Wakeman/RWCC/Wayne Smith 1996-2006)
Mark: Thank you Rick, both personally and on behalf of ne-music.co.uk
Rick: Thanks a lot Mark ...all the best.
(I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Rick again for agreeing to the interview and for the use of pics and biography information from his website http://www.rick-wakeman.com/message.asp)
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