By Jeb
Wright
Rick
Wakeman has long been regarded as the God of the Keys in
progressive rock circles. His tenure with the band Yes raised
the bar for all who dared to follow. Aside from Yes, Wakeman
had a successful solo career. In 1973, Wakeman released a
concept piece based on the six wives of Henry the Eighth. The
heady piece of music featured the expected fine musicianship,
but in addition, Wakeman surprised his fans with a piece of work
that helped to define his musical persona and vision.
Now, 36
years later, on the 500th anniversary of King Henry
taking the thrown, Wakeman has again make musical history by
performing his classic work at the historical Hampton Court. A
DVD of the event was filmed and it is a grandiose, majestic and
magical as one would expect the often caped keyboardist to be.
In this
interview we discuss performing The Six Wives of Henry the
Eighth as well as other topics of legend in Wakeman’s
illustrious history. Topics breached include King Arthur
on Ice, bankruptcy, the current lineup of Yes, burning
keyboards and Rick’s weight.
Jeb: How
ingenious to perform this work of music at the Hampton Court!
Did you ever think this would be allowed?
Rick: I was turned down in the early seventies but things have
changed a lot since then. The people who manage, and look after
the Hampton Court, are a whole new breed of forward thinking
people who care about the past and making it relevant today.
They actually contacted me, which was tremendous.
Jeb: Was it your idea to choose the date to play on the 500th
anniversary of Henry's ascension to the throne?
Rick: It was their idea for it to pretty much launch the year of
Henry’s ascension to the throne and it was an opportunity too
good to miss and make the most of by producing something as
special as I could possibly make it.
Jeb: As I understand the story, financing started off easy
but then banks backed out and you had to use your own money.
Were you worried at that point that you may have another
financial catastrophe on your hands?
Rick: That’s not quite true. We did have sponsors who wanted
to come on board when we first put the whole plan together, but
then the recession hit and banks folded and that was that. We
did initially have a major bank pretty much on board that wanted
to be involved but, of course, the crisis that happened killed
everything. I decided to go ahead anyway because there’s only
going to be one anniversary, so there was little choice. Every
single penny earned from every single area from the concert, the
filming and the merchandising went towards paying for the final
production.
Jeb: What
challenges did you face setting up this event at such a
historical site? Did the venue cause any unique situations for
you and the crew?
Rick: They couldn’t have made life easier. Everybody kept in
close touch and we never planned anything without speaking to
them first. Communication is always the key when there are a
lot of people involved. Also, I love the palace. We really
wanted to only portray it in all its glory.
Jeb: The DVD came out very nicely. The colors, as well as
the music and stage all came across profoundly. Explain to us
what it was like to revisit such a historical piece of your work
in such a huge way.
Rick: It wasn’t easy with three new pieces involved and
extensions to all the original pieces. It was important that
they all matched in sound, format and performance. This took
months of preplanning but was worth every minute.
Jeb: Do you still get
nervous about performing?
Rick: I
don’t get at all nervous. Excited? Yes.
Jeb: You are a self-professed Grumpy Old Rock Star... yet you
seem pretty happy on the DVD. Is all this grumpy stuff just a
facade?
Rick: Grumpy is funny. We all get upset about things around us
and you can deal with it by getting angry, which isn’t nice, or
by being grumpy, which is funny. At the end of the day, the
English are naturally grumpy because we are pretty much run in a
dictatorial manner by the government. We don’t have any rights
about how our lives are run. So, all we can do is moan.
Jeb: Any
thoughts of a command performance... but this time on ice!
Rick: That’ll have to wait for the Return of King Arthur!
Jeb: When you did King Arthur on Ice, you ended up
taking bankruptcy but at the same time the ice capades ended up
selling ten million more copies of the album. At the end of the
day did you make a profit on it or did you lose your shorts?
Rick: Total lies! You’ve been reading Wikapedia. Wikapedia is
the worst thing that’s ever happened to the Internet. It’s just
total rubbish. I never went bankrupt. I never even talked
about going bankrupt either. The shows were never going to make
money, and indeed, they lost money but it doesn’t take a rocket
scientist to work out that the ten million plus units in sales
more than covered the show on ice!
Jeb: As a
father, is it gratifying to have your son stepping in to fill
your shoes as the new keyboard player for Yes?
Rick: I got him the job as it happens. But we don’t discuss it
at all because I don’t have any respect for the current tribute
band that is out there. You can’t have Yes without Jon
[Anderson, vocalist].
Jeb: I
talked to Jon Anderson last night. He is, obviously, not happy
that Yes went out without him. He said to me that he does not
think it is Yes unless Rick Wakeman and himself are in that
band. He said it just does not have the same energy, no matter
how good it sounds. Do you agree with that? Is he justified in
his frustrations?
Rick: He is completely justified. Yes is no longer a part of
my life so I have nothing to add except to say that Jon is
absolutely right. I think most fans would agree as well. But,
it’s all over with regards to the classic lineup now. I just
get on with my life and my music.
Jeb: Back
when you were getting famous, marrying a bunch of women and
having heart attacks, you were also rather famous for being the
life of the party. I have heard you kept a keg of beer amongst
all of you keyboards, as well as some hard liquor. Is that
true?
Rick: Completely true! Those were great days – and I survived
too!
Jeb: Was
it hard to play such complex music under the influence?
Rick: I never did. I would drink a few during the performance,
which didn’t kick in until after the set finished. I would
drink a load more afterwards. You can’t play the sort of stuff
we did if you’re ‘not very well’!
Jeb: Don't
take this the wrong way, but certain members of Yes are well,
rather stuffy. As unlikely as it would seem for a progressive
rock band, were Yes wild on the road? Were there any
televisions flying out of windows?
Rick: We actually kept ourselves to ourselves. Jon and I
socialized during the last load of touring and are really good
friends. In the early days, we had different ideas of what
socializing meant, so we went our different ways.
Jeb: If
this is true, then I want the entire scoop. Legend holds you had
a Mellotron but it was an awkward beast to play. So you took it
out to a field and burned it. True?
Rick: It is well documented I’m afraid, so there is no scoop
there. I burnt three of them in a field in Switzerland. They
had great sound but they were a total nightmare in every other
way.
Jeb:
Speaking of keyboards, legend also holds that you bought your
first electronic keyboard from a famous actor for half price
because he thought it was broken.
Rick: Wikapedia again! I bought my first proper keyboard at
age 12 from a music store in Wembley. The keyboard you’re
thinking of I bought in 1971 from the actor Jack Wild. It was a
mini moog and he did think it was faulty, which it turned out
not to be. I told him about it but he decided that he didn’t
want it anymore, anyway, so it became mine.
Jeb: It has
been said you left Yes, initially over musical differences. Yet,
some Yes fans whisper that you really left because you were a
meat eater and they were vegetable eating tree huggers and it
drove you crazy. It sounds like it could not be true but I had
to ask.
Rick: I need to write a book and dispel all these completely
stupid myths! Why on earth would other people being vegetarian
affect any relationships or, for that matter, any musical
writings or performances?
Jeb: You
have hit the big 6-0. Is this a time for you to move ahead with
your creativity or does it afford you some time to reflect back
and review what you have accomplished?
Rick: I never look back; only forward. Stopping doing major
tours has really allowed me to spend more time creating and
coming up with new ventures. I’ve never felt happier.
Jeb: Last
one: I heard you wanted to lose some weight. In fact, I have
heard you are losing weight for charity. What is the charity
and how is it going?
Rick: It’s going slowly but I am getting there. The charity is
The Salvation Army. I want to ditch at least twenty kilo if I
can. But I have one bad weakness: Food!
www.rwcc.com
