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Chris Squire

#62
hrodbert696 said:
More broadly, it seems that everybody in the band was ..... jockeying for control. .
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I listened to Close To The Edge last night, which is my favorite Yes album, and it occurred to me that Squire was/is a total musical 'bully.' It's like his instrument was fighting with every other instrument in the band. And winning. He's got a tone that doesn't NEED a kick drum. HE, CHRIS SQUIRE, determines the cadence and rhythm of the song....the drummer can just try to keep up. And his tone battles directly with the guitar too. Squire occupies a massive space in that mix. If it were a basketball game, Squire would be in the center of the key, swinging elbows.
 
#65
Old Fart said:
I listened to Close To The Edge last night, which is my favorite Yes album, and it occurred to me that Squire was/is a total musical 'bully.' It's like his instrument was fighting with every other instrument in the band. And winning. He's got a tone that doesn't NEED a kick drum. HE, CHRIS SQUIRE, determines the cadence and rhythm of the song....the drummer can just try to keep up. And his tone battles directly with the guitar too. Squire occupies a massive space in that mix. If it were a basketball game, Squire would be in the center of the key, swinging elbows.
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Did you ever see the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe dvd for the late 80s?

Without Chris Squire on Bass that band lacks something. Also Chris was better in the old days. The bass had more low end and more distortion. I think the problem is he now uses multiple basses. Old Ricks have weak pickups and don't sound as full as new Ricks or other modern basses. So his amp gets eq'd for the new and old basses and something has to suffer. In the old days he could eq just for his 60s 4001 and it would sound great.

I ran into this problem around 2000. I got into a band where I needed to play a low D so I started using more basses. I discovered that my old 60s 4001 was weak sounding compared to other basses. Jazz basses and p-basses were louder. Active basses were a lot louder. Even newer Rics were louder. I got a 70s 4001 and it was much better than the 60s 4001. Then I got an 80s Ric and it was better yet. The new 4003 basses are as loud and full sounding as an active bass.

Also you take on Squire could also be applied to Entwistle or Geddy Lee or Billy Shehan ... Great bass players have a dominating presence on the stage.
 
#67
preside said:
Has anyone else read Bill Brufords book? It does give some insight into why he left Yes and , as much as I love the guys playing, something tells me CS may be kind of a jerk.
But I overlook that for the sheer wonderfulness of his 70's era playing.
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In a lot of interviews,as well as his book,Bill comes off as pretty jerky himself. (Arrogant,condescending,pretentious,even) He is still one of my favorite rock drummers ever,even if in his mind he thinks of himself of a jazz drummer. I love his playing,at least up to his last band Earthworks,which i found really uninteresting.
Doesn't Chris reside in Scottsdale now? Maybe you'll run into him sometime getting a Starbucks around noon....;)
 
#68
woodyng said:
In a lot of interviews,as well as his book,Bill comes off as pretty jerky himself. (Arrogant,condescending,pretentious,even) He is still one of my favorite rock drummers ever,even if in his mind he thinks of himself of a jazz drummer. I love his playing,at least up to his last band Earthworks,which i found really uninteresting.
Doesn't Chris reside in Scottsdale now? Maybe you'll run into him sometime getting a Starbucks around noon....;)
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I'm a huge Bruford fan but even I will admit that he can be a bit douchy. The thing that is kind of sad about him is Bruford will go out of his way to put down Squire in interviews, all because he didn't get along with him personally.

Yet, when you read Squire talk about Bruford, he always takes the high road and only has nice things to say about Bill. That doesn't make Bruford look very good, imo. :scowl:
 
#69
Ric5 said:
I think the problem is he now uses multiple basses. Old Ricks have weak pickups and don't sound as full as new Ricks or other modern basses. So his amp gets eq'd for the new and old basses and something has to suffer. In the old days he could eq just for his 60s 4001 and it would sound great.
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Don't assume he ONLY played the 4001S/1999 "In the old days". He played a Fender Telecaster Bass on several early tracks, also a 4001MG, Fender Jazz Bass, etc.
 
#71
Saw Yes at Wisconsin State Fair this past thursday, August 8, 2013. GREAT GREAT show! Classic Yes at it's best. Jon Davidson's vocals where superb. Squires bass was vintage sounding and satisfying. White on drums was perfect. Keyboard player was hot. Steve Howe was absolutely on fire on guitar. The band played three albums back to back. Close to the Edge, Going for the One and The Yes Album. Twas my best concert experience in years. Looking forward to seeing them live once again and a new studio album.

Thanks Yes for performing in Milwaukee. You made my summer. Please come back again soon!
 
#72
It's funny this thread should get revived right now. I just re-mastered "Close to the Edge" for my car, (boosted some bottom end, added a slight bit of compression -NOT TOO MUCH!, and just made it so it cranks better in the car,) and on Saturday night, I cranked it on my drive home IN THE FOG at 3:00 am, after our show.

I sometimes think people forget what Squire did; he basically played and amped the Rickenbacker 4001 WRONG, per the thinking of that time, and in doing so, reinvented bass guitar in rock. That fat bottom end you're hearing is exactly what the people at Rickenbacker had in mind, and what people had been using them for, but that crisp attack? Sure, the Ox had tapped into some of that already, but for my money, nobody, (sorry Geddy) did it better than the man himself, Chris Squire. And on the big three (The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge,) Yes made the very finest progressive rock that has ever been recorded. I love my King Crimson, and ELP and Genesis, and lots of other great stuff, but those three albums are pure perfection from start to finish. Yes themselves would never top them, as hard as they tried.

I feel so privileged to have even heard such sounds. I like a lot of different styles of music, but Yes at the peak of their powers really transcended rock, classical, and all forms of music to create a monster that was purely their own, and that monster couldn't have lived without Chris Squire driving the beast with that sick, WRONG sound.
 
#73
iamthebassman said:
Don't assume he ONLY played the 4001S/1999 "In the old days". He played a Fender Telecaster Bass on several early tracks, also a 4001MG, Fender Jazz Bass, etc.
Click to expand...

I saw Yes live in the old days ... he played a jazz bass on one song and an acoustic bass on one song and the reast was all Rickenbacker.

Also back then his 4001 pickups were still fairly new and had not degaussed yet.
 
#74
How can I resist a thread on Christopher Russell Edward Squire!

I've been a Yes fan ever since I first heard that grinding Ric of his in 1971 (when I was 15) with Yours Is No Disgrace. My mouth fell open and I said, "what the he!! is THAT!" I was hooked from then on. I bought my first bass the very next year.

I didn't see Yes perform until 1979 at the Long Beach Arena in southern California. They opened with Siberian Khatru. It was that moment when I became a dedicated Yes fan for life.

I have seen them many times since then.

Fast forward to 2000 when I was in a Yes tribute band. We played mostly their 70's material. Our keyboard player Tim Morse (author of the book Yes Stories) got me a backstage pass at the Concord Pavilion in northern California. It was then that I finally got the opportunity to meet Yes, one by one, and chat when each Yes band member individually. Jon Anderson is very short! I told him I had waited 29 years to meet him. Chris is huge! When I shook his hand, my hand got lost! I told him I was playing a Ric 4001CS at the time. He asked in his British accent, "how does it sound?" I respectfully replied, "it sounds good, but when I play mine it never sounds as good as when you play yours." He smiled. When I shook Steve's hand, I felt like I was shaking the hand of a frail 95 year old woman. I was afraid to squeeze too hard out of fear of breaking a multi-million dollar hand. Alan is just a chill, laid back, easy going guy...they type you would have over for a BBQ.

I still have the program from the concert that night, with all of their autographs. I actually have a bunch of programs from the various Yes concerts I have attended, but the one with the autographs is the special one!

Chris Squire........the bass deity.

EDIT: I agree 100% with everything Mellowinman said in post #72 above regarding those three albums. Two thumbs up, Mellowinman!
 
#75
Squire played his j bass on a couple songs last thursday and it was punchy with that j bark. He also played what was perhaps an Alembic and a custom three neck bass, very cool. His White Ric had that great clank. What amazes me is that Chris came up with this great tone at a young age and it still is just as cool and fresh to this very day.
 
#77
mellowinman said:
It's funny this thread should get revived right now. I just re-mastered "Close to the Edge" for my car, (boosted some bottom end, added a slight bit of compression -NOT TOO MUCH!, and just made it so it cranks better in the car,) and on Saturday night, I cranked it on my drive home IN THE FOG at 3:00 am, after our show.

I sometimes think people forget what Squire did; he basically played and amped the Rickenbacker 4001 WRONG, per the thinking of that time, and in doing so, reinvented bass guitar in rock. That fat bottom end you're hearing is exactly what the people at Rickenbacker had in mind, and what people had been using them for, but that crisp attack? Sure, the Ox had tapped into some of that already, but for my money, nobody, (sorry Geddy) did it better than the man himself, Chris Squire. And on the big three (The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge,) Yes made the very finest progressive rock that has ever been recorded. I love my King Crimson, and ELP and Genesis, and lots of other great stuff, but those three albums are pure perfection from start to finish. Yes themselves would never top them, as hard as they tried.

I feel so privileged to have even heard such sounds. I like a lot of different styles of music, but Yes at the peak of their powers really transcended rock, classical, and all forms of music to create a monster that was purely their own, and that monster couldn't have lived without Chris Squire driving the beast with that sick, WRONG sound.
Click to expand...

Would you be able elaborate on the "mistake" that was made? I'm not trolling or anything, I'm just really curious. I figured he got his sound by having a clean bass rig and a dirty guitar rig with fx, never thought about the way his amps were being mic'd. This is also something i'm going to be trying to see what results i get. Idk how I'm going to eq the bass and guitar amps, but I guess that's part of the journey. I'd be using my bass driver to send one clean signal and a dirty affected signal
 
#78
jeffgnr90 said:
Would you be able elaborate on the "mistake" that was made? I'm not trolling or anything, I'm just really curious. I figured he got his sound by having a clean bass rig and a dirty guitar rig with fx, never thought about the way his amps were being mic'd. This is also something i'm going to be trying to see what results i get. Idk how I'm going to eq the bass and guitar amps, but I guess that's part of the journey. I'd be using my bass driver to send one clean signal and a dirty affected signal
Click to expand...

Mel said "wrong, per the thinking of the time," not that he got his tone by mistake. Before Squire, everyone thought bass was supposed to sound clean and warm and bassy, not trebly and edgy. Entwhistle had started to change that, but Squire really pushed the limit and revolutionized how people thought about bass tone.
 
#79
Ric5 said:
I saw Yes live in the old days ... he played a jazz bass on one song and an acoustic bass on one song and the reast was all Rickenbacker.

Also back then his 4001 pickups were still fairly new and had not degaussed yet.
Click to expand...

When I wrote "on several early tracks" I was referring to studio recordings, not live.
 
#80
I've been going to Yes shows since 1972,the last one i was able to get to was in 2008. The RM sounds as good as ever,and in some ways even better than it did in the early days,mostly i believe because Chris has added an Ampeg rig for his bass tone,while still keeping his original Marshall for the "edge" portion of his rig. It results in a lot more deep good bass than what he had in the early 70's,which seemed to be ALL about the clank. When i saw them last,they played "machine messiah",Chris played it on his new custom ric with the much hotter pickups. Compared to the RM,it sounded like crap. I imagine the settings on his amps have probably mostly been calibrated using the RM.
 

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