YES

Fragile
5.1 SURROUND SOUND MUSIC

(1972 / 2002)

Five tracks on this album are the individual ideas, personally arranged and organised, by the five members of the band.
"Cans And Brahms" is an adaptation by Rick WAKEMAN on which he playes electric piano taking the part of the strings, grand piano electric harpsichord taking reeds, and synthesizer taking contra basson.
"We Have Heaven" is personal idea by Jon ANDERSON in which he sings all the vocal parts.
"Five Per Cent For Nothing" is a sixteen bar tune by Bill BRUFORD, played twice by the group, and taken directly from the percussion line. In Chris SQUIRE's
"The Fish", each riff, rhythm, and melody is produced by using the different sound of the bass guitar. Steve HOWE concludes with a solo guitar piece "Mood For A Day".
The remaining tracks on the album are group arranged and performed.

1. Roundabout 8'33
(Jon Anderson / Steve Howe)
2. Cans And Brahms 1'43
(Extracts from Brahms’ 4th Symphony in E Minor Third Movement; Arranged by Rick Wakeman)
3. We Have Heaven 1'31
(Jon Anderson)
4. South Side Of The Sky 8'08
(Jon Anderson / Chris Squire)
5. Five Per Cent For Nothing 0'38
(Bill Bruford)
6. Long Distance Runaround 3'31
(Jon Anderson)
7. The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) 2'41
(Steve Howe)
8. Mood For A Day 3'03
(Steve Howe)
9. Heart Of The Sunrise 11'30
(Jon Anderson / Chris Squire / Bill Bruford)

Bonus Track

10. America 10'32

(Paul Simon)

Total Time: 52:50

ORIGINAL ALBUM CREDITS:

  • Jon Anderson - Vocals
  • Bill Bruford - Drums, Percussion
  • Steve Howe - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
  • Chris Squire - Bass Guitars, Vocals
  • Rick Wakeman - Organ, Grand Piano (Electric Piano and Harpsichord), Mellotron, Synthesizer

    Produced by YES and Eddie Offord
    Engineered by Eddy Offord
    Assisted by Gary Martin
    Sleeve Drawings, Photography and Logos     ©1972 Roger Dean
    (Colour Photograph of Bill Bruford on drums by David Wright)

    Rick Wakeman appears Courtesy of A & M RECORDS LIMITED

    DVD-AUDIO CREDITS:
    Surround Sound Remix Produced, Engineered, and Mixed by Tim Weidner
    Surround Sound & Stereo Mastering: Steve Hall at     FUTUREDISC
    Authoring Supervisor: Spencer Chrislu
    Authoring: Craig Anderson and David Dieckmann
    Authoring Coordinator: George Lydecker
    DVD-Audio Produced by Robin Hurley
    Art Direction and Package Design: Greg Allen@gapd
    Screen Design: Andy Thomas for Thomas & Friends
    Photography: Roger and Martyn Dean
    Editorial Supervision: Cory Frye
    Project Assistance: Ginger Dettman, Steve Pokorny, and Steve Woolard
    Timeline Copyright     GOTTLIEB Bros. (2002)
    Special Thanks: Jordan Berliant and Jeff Varner
    Management: The Left Bank Organization YesWorld, The Yes Online Service - www.yesworld.com

    To Join YesWorld, send an e-mail to yes@yesworld.com with SUBSCRIBE as the subject heading.

    Recorded at ADVISION STUDIOS, London, September 1971

    Music's ñhosen words (move the feeling)
    Directed to our soul
    War music
    Peace music
    Lîve music
    We move to it all

    YES were anything but Fragile when they convened in the summer of 1971 to work on their fourth LP. The quintet had just enjoyed its first taste of significant commercial success earlier that year with The YES Album, which brought the group to America for the first time—with a demand for a quick return. Fragile also marked a transitional point, however. Owing to musical and personal differences, keyboardist Tony Kaye was out, and former STRAWBS member Rick Wakeman was in, bringing with him a classical-inspired virtuosity that fit well with YES' intricate approach and heady creative ambitions. The combustion of the two forces would craft a landmark album in the general landscape of progressive rock, giving both band and genre one of their greatest and most enduring international triumphs. Recorded at London's ADVISION STUDIOS with longtime Yes engineer Eddie Offord, Fragile skied to #4 in the U.S. (three notches higher than in the group's homeland), went gold, and brought the band the hit single "Roundabout", which peaked at #13 on the Billboard "Hot 100". Fragile also introduced Roger Dean's sci-fi inspired cover art, as well as YES' first logo (which was soon modified). But its format is what had considerable impact; with four bona fide songs and five solo showcases, Fragile was one of the first records to demonstrate the importance of musicianship in the realm of progressive rock. Performances were given equal footing with the compositions, ensuring that each of YES' five members — vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bill Bruford, and keyboardist Wakeman — would be recognized as individuals as well as a formidable ensemble.
    Where would you say YES were at—cognitivelyr emotionally, creatively — as you prepared to make Fragile?

    Jon Anderson: Well, we'd just had three major experiences. We'd toured America for the first time. We were also sort of having difficulties with a manager during that period. And, having just brought Steve into the band on The YES Album, I'd become very adamant about dedication: "We're not taking any prisoners. If you're going to be into the band, you've got to be into the band-totally dedicated ..."

    Steve Howe: When I joined Yes, I discovered the magnetism of finding great people with this kind of hunger/quest for better music, with the prowess, the steam, the virtuosity. We were reveling in the anticipation of what we could achieve. There was this whole criteria of how you played and what you were capable of. You could go forward and achieve it with somebody who, in your opinion, was a really stunning player. How was it that Tony Kaye was bumped from the band and Rick Wakeman brought in?

    Chris Squire: We'd done an American tour following The YES Album, and for some reason or another Steve and Tony weren't seeing eye to eye — more as musicians, though it may have been personal as well. It was something I wasn't aware of until the tour ended, when I noticed that Steve was kind of unhappy. And since Jon and I were both very happy with Steve, I said, "Well, if we're not happy with the way it's going, perhaps it's time to make a change."

    Anderson: We'd actually seen Rick with The STRAWBS, when they were supporting YES on a gig. I watched this young kid play, and I was mesmerized. So when the time came, we approached Rick. It seems like Rick brought a larger arsenal of instruments with him, like mellotron and synthesizer, that rapidly became a fixture in the YES sound.

    Squire: Obviously we leaned toward featuring his style of keyboard playing, but we'd actually used a bit of the MOOG synthesizer on The YES Album, on tracks like "Yours Is No Disgrace". But when Rick joined, he purchased all these instruments. He joined us, really, as a Hammond organ player and pianist; it was during the course of Fragile that we began introducing the mellotrons and Minimoogs. "Roundabout" is perhaps the best-known song in YES' catalog. How did it come about?

    Anderson: If s a very simple story. We played a show in northern Scotland; it was our last show, in Glasgow, at the end of this very long tour. And on the way down, we drove through these glens where the mountains came out. You couldn't see their tops because of low clouds. You saw these things near the top of the sky. They're called "roundabouts", coming out of the sky. So the song really came out of driving together in this little bus, with a couple of guitars, and writing about what we saw outside. Did it scream out "hit single!" right away?

    Anderson: No. It was a good song, but it was more than seven minutes long! Then the record company edited it down for a single. We didn't know anything about it till it was a hit — we were too busy writing Close To The Edge or touring or something. Then someone said, 'They edited 'Roundabout'". And we asked, "Why?" "Well, it's gonna be on the radio". We heard the edit and said, "That's OK, but it'll never work". Then, of course, it became a hit record, and the album became a hit album.

    Squire: Strangely enough, my approach on that was influenced by my love of SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, to whom I became totally attached in the early '70s. I borrowed quite a bit of stuff from Larry Graham and "white-ized" it a bit. But when you think about the success they were having on the radio at the time, maybe it wasn't such a surprise that ["Roundabout"] was a hit too.

    Anderson: Again, we were never put in that promised land of hit records. After ["Roundabout"] did what it did, we said, "OK, that's that. Let's get on with the world. Music is where we're going". But along the way, people have had different interpretations of the word "success". To me it meant dedication to something you're building and striving to improve upon each time out. Whose idea was it to do the solo showcase pieces?

    Anderson: In the old days you always had a drum solo, right? This was taking it a little further and letting the guitar and keyboard player have a performance part too.

    Squire: A lot of that had to do with the pressures of popularity. We'd play in England on the weekends, then go back to the studio during the week. And after the success of the first American tour, there was a desire for us to return to the States as quickly as possible. So we found ourselves working on [Fragile] and realizing that a second American tour was looming. We realized we weren't going to have enough time to do a whole album. At a certain point everyone said, "Why don't we just work on five individual pieces, and we'll just slot them between the four main tracks?" That's pretty much what happened; it was done to save time.

    Anderson: We felt it would help the live shows too. When you'd see Yes, you wouldn't have to suffer through three hours of just the band. You could actually enjoy the band and how each individual member performed on his own. Fragile also marked YES' first collaboration with Roger Dean. How did you find him?

    Squire: Actually, he just walked into the ATLANTIC RECORDS office in London, trying to sell his album cover ideas. And Phil Carson, who was pretty much becoming the main guy in charge of the London office, knew we were working on Fragile. Roger Dean walked in with that cover, finished, and Phil said, "I found this great guy. He's got a great cover. Let's use it."

    Anderson: The logo he came up with was excellent. Perfect. We put it on the bass drum right away. I said, "Let's get T-shirts done"—nobody knew about T-shirts so much in those days. It took Roger a couple of years before he realized the potential value of what he was doing. I was in there right away. I knew that logo would look great on T-shirts and that YES fans would buy them.

    Squire: I really like the YES logo on Fragile. That's the only time we ever used it. By the time we got to Close To The Edge, he had developed the "bubble logo", as we call it Between Fragile and its successor, Close To The Edge, this lineup of YES has long been regarded as the band's best. Would you concur?

    Anderson: I think so, yes. Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, Chris, and I were locked into being adventurous. We had no regard for the business in terms of sales. We knew in a way that we weren't pop-commercial material— we didn't look at ourselves as commercial; we saw ourselves more as adventurous musicians. We've been attacked a lot because of that, but then again, we've survived.

    — Gary Graff

    ©1972 & 2002 ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, Inc. WARNER MUSIC GROUP, an AOL TIME WARNER COMPANY.



    1. Roundabout

      I ll be the round about
      the words will make you out n out
      you change the day your way
      call it morning driving thru the sound and in and out the valley

      The music dance and sing
      they make the children really ring
      I spend the day your way
      call it morning driving thru the sound and in and out the valley

      In and around the lake
      mountains come out of the sky and they stand there
      one mile over we ll be there and we ll see you
      ten true summers we ll be there and laughing too
      twenty four before my love you ll see I ll be there with you

      I will remember you
      your silhouette will charge the view
      of distance atmosphere
      call it morning driving thru the sound and even in the valley

      Along the drifting cloud the eagle searching down on the land
      catching the swirling wind the sailor sees the rim of the land
      the eagles dancing wings create as weather spins out of hand
      go closer hold the land feel partly no more than grains of sand
      we stand to lose all time a thousand answers by in our hand
      next *to* your deeper fears we stand
      surrounded by a millions years

    2. Cans And Brahms

      ( instrumental )

    3. We Have Heaven

      Tell the Moon-dog, tell the March-hare
      Tell the Moon-dog, tell the March-hare
      We...have...heaven
      To Look around, to look around
      Yes, he is here; Yes, he is here

    4. South Side Of The Sky

      A river a mountain to be crossed
      the sunshine in mountains sometimes lost
      around the south side so cold that we cried
      were we ever colder on that day a million miles away
      it seemed from all of eternity

      Move forward was my friends only cry
      in deeper to somewhere we could lie
      and rest for the day with cold in the way
      were we ever colder on that day a million miles away
      it seemed from all of eternity

      The moments seemed lost in all the noise
      a snow storm a stimulating voice
      of warmth of the sky of warmth when you die
      were we ever warmer on that day a million miles away
      we seemed for all of eternity


      The sunshine in mountains sometimes lost
      the river can disregard the cost
      and melt in the sky warmth when you die
      were we ever warmer on that day a million miles away
      we seemed from all of eternity

    5. Five Per Cent For Nothing

      ( instrumental )

    6. Long Distance Runaround

      Long distance run around
      long time waiting to feel the sound
      I still remember the dream there
      I still remember the time you said goodbye
      did we really tell lies
      letting in the sunshine
      did we really count to one hundred

      Cold summer listening
      hot colour melting the anger to stone
      I still remember the time you said goodbye
      did we really tell lies
      did we really count to one hundred

    7. The Fish ( Schindleria Praematurus )

      ( instrumental )

    8. Mood for A Day

      ( instrumental )

    9. Heart Of The Sunrise

      Love comes to you and you follow
      Lose one on to the Heart of the Sunrise
      SHARP-DISTANCE
      How can the wind with its arms all around me

      Lost on a wave and then after
      Dream on on to the Heart of the Sunrise
      SHARP-DISANCE
      How can the wind with so many around me
      lost in the city

      Lost in their eyes as you hurry by
      Counting the broken ties they decide
      Love comes to you and then after
      Dream on on to the Heart of the Sunrise
      SHARP-DISTANCE
      How can the wind with its arms all around me
      SHARP-DISTANCE
      How can the wind with so many around me
      I feel lost in the city

      Lost in their eyes as you hurry by
      Counting the broken ties they decided

      Straight light moving and removing
      SHARPNESS of the colour sun shine
      Straight light searching all the meanings of the song
      Long last treatment of the telling that
      relates to all the words sung
      Dreamer easy in the chair that really fits you

      Love comes to you and then after
      Dream on on to the Heart of the Sunrise
      SHARP-DISTANCE
      How can the sun with its arms all around me
      SHARP-DISTANCE
      How can the wind with so many around me
      I feel lost in the city

    10. America

      Let us be lovers
      We'll marry our fortunes together
      I've got some real estate here in my bag
      So we bought a pack of cigarettes
      And Mrs. Wagner's pies
      And walked off to look for America

      "Kathy" I said
      As we boarded a Greyhound to Pittsburgh
      Michigan seems like a dream to me now
      It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
      I've come to look for America

      Laughing on the bus
      Playing games with the faces
      She said the man in the Gabardine suit
      Was a spy
      I said "Be careful, his bow tie is really a camera"

      "Kathy, I'm lost" I said
      Though I knew she was sleeping
      I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
      Counting the cars
      On the New Jersey Turnpike
      They've all come to look for America
      All come to look for America