+1,000,000. This can't be understated. Many other genres too--any kind of rock, electronic, pop, dance, etc. A true pioneer.
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Chris Squire Has Passed On..... So Sad...
- Thread starter FranF
- Start date
+1,000,000. This can't be understated. Many other genres too--any kind of rock, electronic, pop, dance, etc. A true pioneer.
Sitting here listening to Relayer and reading all of the wonderful tributes to Chris. I posted earlier today, but sitting here I just remembered a little story I would like to share.
In the late 80's I was living in the Calumet Region, Hammond, Indiana to be exact, and there was a local Yes tribute band called Drama that a band I was in was opening for at a local bar. We get done with our set, and being a Yes fan, I was looking forward to checking these guys out. So they're just about done setting up and I'm trying to figure out who the bass player is when up steps this guy dressed in a red flannel shirt, tucked into blue jeans, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, big belt buckle, wearing a sunburst Peavey T-40. Being young and naïve at the time, I look at my drummer, roll my eyes, and sarcastically say "this oughta be good".
Well they start to play, and he kills it! The tone the licks, everything! I was stunned! I'm looking at this cowboy playing a T-40 and I hear Chris Squire playing a Ric. The rest of the band was really good too and I remember staying most of their first set but had to leave before they took their break, so I never did get to talk to the guy and find out how he did that. I still think of it from time to time, and Chris' passing reminded me of it again today.
So once again, here's to you Mr Squire, may you sail on the silent wings of freedom. And here's to that cowboy playing a T-40. I hope he's still out their killin' it.
In the late 80's I was living in the Calumet Region, Hammond, Indiana to be exact, and there was a local Yes tribute band called Drama that a band I was in was opening for at a local bar. We get done with our set, and being a Yes fan, I was looking forward to checking these guys out. So they're just about done setting up and I'm trying to figure out who the bass player is when up steps this guy dressed in a red flannel shirt, tucked into blue jeans, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, big belt buckle, wearing a sunburst Peavey T-40. Being young and naïve at the time, I look at my drummer, roll my eyes, and sarcastically say "this oughta be good".
Well they start to play, and he kills it! The tone the licks, everything! I was stunned! I'm looking at this cowboy playing a T-40 and I hear Chris Squire playing a Ric. The rest of the band was really good too and I remember staying most of their first set but had to leave before they took their break, so I never did get to talk to the guy and find out how he did that. I still think of it from time to time, and Chris' passing reminded me of it again today.
So once again, here's to you Mr Squire, may you sail on the silent wings of freedom. And here's to that cowboy playing a T-40. I hope he's still out their killin' it.
Very sad news. First Jack and now Chris. I was just listening to Fragile in the car yesterday..."Roundabout" blasting away on my iPod, driving along 95! What a great talent. I Saw Yes a hundred years ago at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ, and more recently at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. They were great both times. Chris Squire was both amazing and inspiring. I'll miss him.
Roy Vogt
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truly a sad day for the music world
.. although i only heard owner of a lonely heart and not much of anything else from yes.. i was blown away that chris's bass line to that song..
.. although i only heard owner of a lonely heart and not much of anything else from yes.. i was blown away that chris's bass line to that song..
That would be interesting. Has he ever played with Yes? He already has one dead bassist to fill in for
I was thinking more like Tony Levin, who was really good in ABWH. Saw them live in Edinburgh in October '89, and although he wasn't Squire, he nailed it. I have no doubt Pino would nail it too though.
Everything said in this thread +1000.
Not sure I could be remotely as eloquent.
I've been a drummer much longer than I've been a bass player, but Squire was always one of those guys I paid close attention to. He demanded it. Any Yes song of that classic period will find you immediately drawn to his playing. And that tone. I can only imagine what that sounded like in 1970, that big trebly growl when everybody else in the world was still into that thumpy, Precision thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that.... but it must have been such a contrast.
Those records today.... it astounds me that they are going on 45 years old. They sound as crisp and fresh as anything made today and don't have an ounce of date in them. Chris has a lot to do with that. It's clear that this was a band that really was progressive, in every sense of the word.
For me personally... I absolutely count him as an influence, even if just learning a few Yes bits and pieces has helped me progress from a terrible bass player into a mediocre one.... hey, we can't all be him.
I'm not sure I've felt the loss of a musician, in my lifetime, as profoundly as I have felt today.
Not sure I could be remotely as eloquent.
I've been a drummer much longer than I've been a bass player, but Squire was always one of those guys I paid close attention to. He demanded it. Any Yes song of that classic period will find you immediately drawn to his playing. And that tone. I can only imagine what that sounded like in 1970, that big trebly growl when everybody else in the world was still into that thumpy, Precision thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that.... but it must have been such a contrast.
Those records today.... it astounds me that they are going on 45 years old. They sound as crisp and fresh as anything made today and don't have an ounce of date in them. Chris has a lot to do with that. It's clear that this was a band that really was progressive, in every sense of the word.
For me personally... I absolutely count him as an influence, even if just learning a few Yes bits and pieces has helped me progress from a terrible bass player into a mediocre one.... hey, we can't all be him.
I'm not sure I've felt the loss of a musician, in my lifetime, as profoundly as I have felt today.
truly a sad day for the music world
There's no time like the present! Fill your mind with Siberian Khatru, "Fish", Heart of the Sunrise, and Long Distance Runaround. Just for starters. I'm sure they're on YouTube.
I think one of the articles said this, and it's true: Chris had an amazing ability to harmonize his bass lines. It was more than chord knowledge and music theory. He had extremely good taste and knew what notes worked in a given tune, and they were rarely roots and fifths. His ability to do that and to hold down the rhythm on the many alternative time signatures/movements that characterize a typical Yes song, even sometimes playing counter to the guitar and keys, really was a key feature of Yes (to me, anyway).
One more thing. I don't know if anyone else said it yet (as I haven't thumbed through the entire thread on my iPhone yet), but setting the legendary bass playing aside for a moment: the guy could sing! Many/most of those harmonies you hear with Anderson on the iconic Yes tunes are predominantly Chris Squire.
His tone was like a foghorn and a chainsaw had a 4-stringed wooden baby that cried in stereo.
A gentleman named Billy Sherwood is playing bass for Yes now, as has been stated earlier in the thread. Not much is known about his ability to fill Mr Squier's considerable talents at this time. One thing certain is that Chris himself picked Sherwood as his replacement, in Yes.
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