(Music) Bio
Out of the Nutshell, A Tree Growed Tall...
England
At 13, I got my first guitar, an inexpensive, nylon-string classical guitar.
Before that I'd taken the obligatory piano lessons from an early age. Mrs. Robinson in Portola Valley, California was ever patient. But at age 10, the piano teacher at the first boarding school I attended in England, did not like "Yanks." At 12 I moved to Abingdon School and, remarkably, my new piano teacher didn't like "Yanks" either — so I was allowed to drop piano.
Ironically, the very first song I wrote — "In Your Eyes" — I wrote on the piano! Ironically, the 1977 recording of the song (see below) is on guitar.
The early 70s was an exciting time in music, and Abingdon was a music school. My friends were into The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra (John McLaughlin), Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Brian Eno, Frank Zappa, and Pink Floyd, as well as less-remembered bands such as Van der Graaf Generator, Status Quo, Hawkwind, Wishbone Ash, Greenslade, Captain Beefheart, Henry Cow, Budgie, Babe Ruth, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Rare Bird.
EKO 12-string
Genesis had started out at Charter House, a school a lot like ours. Years later, Radiohead would get its start at Abingdon.
But it was YES that caught my ear: Steve Howe's remarkable guitar playing, Jon Anderson's lyrics, Rick Wakeman's keyboard prowess, Chris Squire's melodic bass lines, and Bill Bruford's jazz-fueled drumming, not to mention Roger Dean's imaginative LP covers.
Inspired by Steve Howe I took up classical guitar (and now own a Gibson ES-175 that, I was told by the previous owner, had once belonged to Steve Howe). I also joined the chapel choir and took voice lessons. "A Distant Silence," written in 1975 when I was 15, was YES-inspired as the lyrics reveal in spades! "It Is Done" — music written in 1976, words written after seeing YES in 1991 — and the four-part "Touch the Earth" reflect strongly the same influence.
In Crescent House, Andy Faunch and David Blackburn both played EKO 12-strings, and it wasn't long before I had one too. That guitar went with me to Africa, to Princeton, and to Japan. I gave it to a good friend when I found a Taylor 12-string that sang to my soul — I hadn't even been looking for a 12-string.
Africa bound, guitar in hand
I played in Frame: Brian Jones (lead vocals), Dudley Philips (bass), Chris Wyatt (drums), and myself (guitar, vocals).
Our notorious claim to (local) fame: at a major recital, the Music School was empty until Frame went on; when we went on, suddenly Abingdon boys and St. Helen's girls packed the Music School to the gills; when we finished our songs, the Music School emptied; we were never invited to another recital!
I well recall what we played at the Music School event: "I Shot the Sheriff" (Eric Clapton), "Can't Get No Satisfaction" (The Rolling Stones), "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (Bachman Turner Overdrive), and for the finale, a YES-inspired song I'd written, "Eclipse of the Dying Sun." "Eclipse" was the crowd-pleaser.
Later, I played in Antigon. The Antigon keyboards player, Tim Hemmings, was a Grade 8 classical-piano wizard — the standard required for entry to higher study in a music college — who idolized Rick Wakeman, and could compose and play true, prog-rock YES brilliance. Today I look at our on-stage performance cues and wonder how we pulled it off!
