Rick Wakeman

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Image:Rick wakeman on stage with cape.jpg

Richard Christopher Wakeman (born May 18, 1949) is a British progressive rock keyboard player. He is currently the keyboardist for legendary progressive rock group Yes. He is a classically trained pianist and has been highly acclaimed for his virtuosity. In his early years he was a pioneer in the use of electronic keyboards, and his name has become a byword for a keyboard player surrounded by a vast array of equipment.

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History

He was born in Perivale, Middlesex, England.

Wakeman initially went to a formal music school, however he was expelled due to the fact that he preferred playing in local clubs to his lessons.

Wakeman came to fame in 1970 playing with The Strawbs and David Bowie, he joined Yes for the first time in 1971, following keyboardist Tony Kaye's departure. His first album with the band was Fragile released 1971 in the UK and 1972 in the US, and his last was Tales From Topographic Oceans, released in 1973. He also played on Close to the Edge (his favourite Yes album) and Yessongs.

Many fans consider Anderson-Bruford-Howe-Squire-Wakeman the classic Yes lineup.

In addition to his skills, Wakeman is also known for wearing long silvery capes on stage. This tradition began early on after he joined Yes and a review in a Connecticut newspaper referred to his movements while playing more than one keyboard as resembling those of a spider (though the review did compliment his performance). Their next show was in Hartford and the local DJ that introduced the band was wearing a silver cape. After he introduced the band, Wakeman, backstage, offered him $200 US for his cape. After some haggling, Wakeman went onstage with the cape, which he still owns to this day.

He left the band following the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour, and reportedly was unhappy with their selection of which material to use for the final cut of the album.

Shortly before his first departure from Yes, during a live performance of a song from the album, Wakeman ordered a curry meal from a local restaurant to be delivered to him on the stage, and consumed the food behind his keyboards in a well-known protest against the music.

Of all the members of the band, Wakeman is the only non-vegetarian, a difference which contributed to his first departure from the band. An 1973 article in Rolling Stone magazine summed up the differences by quoting both Anderson and Wakeman; the former, upon entering a new city or town, would often ask for health foods and vegetables, while Wakeman would simply inquire "Where's the bar?"

He discussed his culinary differences in the same article, saying

"I find health food pretty tasteless. I've tried quite a few things out, and . . . I find it very boring. It's not particularly exciting sitting there with a knife and fork over a lettuce leaf."

During this time, he released his second solo album, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, which showcases his skills with various electronic and acoustic keyboard instruments. Some members of Yes played their respective instruments on certain tracks.

He rejoined Yes for their 1977 album Going For The One. He remained until their next album, Tormato, a year later. He is reputed to have given the album its name by throwing a tomato at a showing of the art used for the album's cover. He took action on a sentiment felt by the rest of the band, that the artist, who was used to replace Roger Dean, had ripped them off.

Wakeman has had a turbulent long-term relationship with Yes. He rejoined the band in 1991 but left a year later. He then returned in 1996 for the "Keys to Ascension" albums but left before the band could tour. In 2002, he rejoined Yes and has been with the group ever since, but also enjoys a successful solo career.

Wakeman has enjoyed a long, extremely prolific, but only occasionally successful solo career. He has also performed as a guest or session musician for artists as disparate as John Williams, Brotherhood Of Man, Elton John, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, and Black Sabbath.

Wakeman became highly skilled at playing the temperamental and notoriously intractable Mellotron – an electronic musical instrument that used a bank of prerecorded tape strips, activated by each key on its keyboard. He went on to invent the Birotron, developed with David Biro, and designed to overcome the quirks and challenges on the Mellotron. The Birotron was not a commercial or technical success.

Once known as one of the hardest-partying rock musicians, and a self-confessed former alcoholic, he has been calmed down somewhat by several heart attacks in his 20s, marriage (to former Page 3 model Nina Carter, although they have since divorced), children and renewal of his Christian faith. Children include Adam Wakeman, Oliver Wakeman and Jemima Wakeman, who are all musicians too. Despite once being a director of Brentford F.C., he now supports Manchester City F.C. after a disagreement with the board.

He is a strong supporter of the UK's Conservative Party, and performed a concert in September 2004 for the benefit of the party and the Arthur section of his King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table suite is used as the theme tune to the BBC's Election Coverage since 1979 (with the exception of 2001). Despite his former partying lifestyle, Wakeman abstained from all narcotics (he refers to himself as having been more of a "beer-and-chips-guy"), and he believes, among other things, that drug pushers should receive the death penalty.

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Discography (solo and with his son Adam)

1971 Piano Vibrations
1973 The Six Wives of Henry VIII
1974 Journey to the Centre of the Earth
1975 The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
1975 Lisztomania (also acted in the film)
1976 No Earthly Connection
1977 Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record
1977 White Rock (soundtrack to winter Olympics)
1978 The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Performs the Best Known Works of Rick Wakeman
1979 Rhapsodies
1981 The Burning (soundtrack)
1981 1984 (soundtrack)
1982 Rock 'N' Roll Prophet
1983 Cost of Living (soundtrack)
1983 G'ole! (soundtrack to 1982 Soccer World Cup)
1984 Black Nights in the Court of Ferdinand IV
1985 Silent Nights
1985 Live at Hammersmith
1986 Country Airs
1986 Crimes of Passion (soundtrack)
1987 The Gospels
1987 Family Album
1988 Time Machine
1988 Suite of Gods
1988 Zodiaque
1989 Sea Airs
1990 Night Airs
1990 Phantom Power (soundtrack)
1990 In the Beginning
1991 Rock'n'Roll Prophet Plus (reissue of Rock'n'Roll Prophet plus 4 new tracks)
1991 Aspirant Sunset
1991 Aspirant Sunrise
1991 Aspirant Shadows
1991 Suntrilogy
1991 The Classical Connection (remakes of earlier works)
1991 2000 A.D. Into the Future
1991 African Bach
1991 Softsword: King John and the Magna Charter
1993 Heritage Suite
1993 Classic Tracks
1993 Wakeman with Wakeman
1993 No Expense Spared
1993 The Classical Connection II
1993 Prayers
1994 Wakeman with Wakeman: The Official Bootleg (live)
1994 Live on the Test (live – recorded in 1976)
1994 Rick Wakeman's Greatest Hits (remakes of old works)
1995 Seven Wonders of the World
1995 Cirque Surreal
1995 Romance of the Victorian Age
1995 King Biscuit Flower Hour – In Concert (live – recorded in 1975)