An Interview With Rick Wakeman

Rick Wakeman has had a fascinating career that has spanned 4 decades and shows little sign of slowing up anytime soon. Perhaps he is best known as the master of the Moog synthesizer for the bands The Strawbs and Yes, but he is also a very, very accomplished solo musician. Over the past couple of months he has released two DVD’s, while widely divergent in intention they are both delightful, and should be part of everyone’s collection. I had the opportunity to chat with Rick recently, and what an engaging guy he is. Oh, and Rick, my address is on its way for that Christmas card!

I loved the concept of “Amazing Grace”, take some well known Hymn tunes and rearrange them for the grand piano. How did this project come about? Where did the inspiration come from?

It started quite a few years ago when someone was talking to me about ‘The day thou gavest’ which I had used on the end of Anne Boleyn on the Six Wives album. They asked me why I had used the hymn. I explained that the music was not the hymn, but simply a tune that church ministers used, amongst many others, to fit the stanzas of the hymns that had been written by various writers. No tunes were actually written at that time with the specific purpose of use for a specific hymn. Amazing Grace is a classic example. The words by John Newton must have had at least 20 tunes used before the excellent tune we all know today came along.

It is ironic that it was used in the William Wilberforce film called Amazing Grace, as it had not even been written at the time… Oh well… that’s ignorant film makers for you!

Anyway, I just thought it would be nice to take some of the more well known tunes that had been used for hymns and had become synonymous with them and literally perform them as instrumental variations

I first did this with a CD called ‘Morning has Broken’ and when that ceased to be available I thought it would be a nice idea to re-mix, add new hymns. And make visuals to go with the music, and so Amazing Grace was born.

Your daughter sings on the title track, and a very fine musician she is. Do you plan on working with her more in the future?

We’ve done a few things together. She sang on both my retro albums, and has a band of her own. She’s a beautiful piano player too… I’d love to do more with all the kids… they’re all great players in their own right. But I don’t think I can afford them anymore!

The videography on the DVD is nothing short of stunning. The use of time lapse captures the mood of the music so well. Can you tell us a little about where the ideas behind that came from, and what your involvement was?

I have to be totally honest here and own up that all of the visuals were the brainchild of Robert Garofalo. I left that side of things to him because of his expertise. I am absolutely thrilled with what he did. Choices of footage I would never dreamed of, such as the Pan Am disaster.

I must say that I was delighted that you included “All things bright and Beautiful”, it was my late fathers favorite hymn, and your version I know would have pleased him greatly. Do you have any personal favorites in this collection?

To be honest the hymn you mention is a personal favorite because it’s probably the first hymn I ever learned as a young kid. It is indeed bright and beautiful and timeless too. I really do love hymn tunes as they are in general so melodic and so adaptable.

You have had an outstanding career spanning 4 decades, and I know that in my collection I still have ‘Antiques and Curios’, which I believe was one of your first recordings. Looking back at the many, many projects you have worked on, is there a pet one?

Political answer here.. There isn’t a favorite to be honest. They all mean something to me, although admittedly some more than others. Some of the more obscure I am fond of too, such as A Suite Of Gods which I did with the operatic tenor Ramon Redios, Classical Variations on the President label was fun too. Return To The Centre Of The Earth was a milestone for me, as were the early albums from the 70’s.

Following on the heels of ‘Amazing Grace’ you released The Other Side Of, which I think is very entertaining. Was it a hard decision to try the comedy format?

I’ve been doing it for such a long time now, since the 70’s really, but the comedy side of things really took off in the 80’s when I appeared on the Danny Baker Show and told a few anecdotes. The national press gave the show rave reviews and my double life started! I’m a comedy freak and just love laughter, and so I combine the two wherever possible. Hosting 8 years of The Comedy Show Live at Jongleurs didn’t do any harm either! I am also part of a huge TV series here called Grumpy Old Men. I’m as well known in the UK for being a TV comic as I am a musician these days!

The stories came across as very unscripted, and in my opinion that was part of the charm. Were they as ‘off the cuff’ as they appeared?

Oh very much so. When I tell them on other occasions they are never the same, I always seem to go off on tangents.

‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘The Other Side Of’ are certainly a far cry from the world of Progressive Rock, but I was wondering if you still keep in touch with that genre. I reviewed a couple of DVD’s recently by, Neo and Pendragon, they share the same keyboardist Clive Nolan, not only does he look like the Rick Wakeman of the 70’s and 80’s he plays like him! Have you seen any of his work?

Bits and pieces, as he worked with my eldest son Oliver on a couple of projects. I still keep the Prog Rock flame alive with concerts with the English Rock Ensemble (ERE) here and there. This year we have played Norway and Canada very successfully, and the last two albums have been very much Prog Rock (Retro and Retro 2).

A question just for fun. Who is the better Moog player, you or Keith Emerson?

That’s like asking if a football player is better than a baseball player, we are so totally different. Keith does stuff I couldn’t do and I think the same applies the other way round. I have the utmost respect for Keith in all he has done and all he is doing.

I understand that you have recently completed the music score for a movie about Aleister Crowley, can you give us some clues about the soundtrack, when will we in North America be hearing it?

It is very much a soundtrack where musically I try to follow the film and the story.. and an amazing story it is too. Very fascinating how evil one man can be. The film is called Aleister Crowley – In Search Of The Great Beast 666. The official movie site is: www.aleister-crowley-666.com

What other projects are you working on?

I’m currently involved in a stage musical, two other films and a stage juggling show! I’m doing a lot of television as well, and have a short tour starting in the UK in October called Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Picture Show, and I’m pleased to report that tickets are flying out of the box office. It’s a very busy period, and already I am booked for Brazil next August to perform King Arthur with a symphony orchestra and choir.

Posted on August 24th, 2007

by Simon Barrett in All News, Interview, Movie Reviews, Music Reviews, Reviews

New DVD Classical Wakeman Volume 1 - Live in Lugano released

The latest Rick Wakeman DVD is a live orchestral DVD entitled Classical Wakeman Live In Lugano. The DVD was filmed in Lugano Switzerland and features the tracks The King Arthur Suite, Gone But Not Forgotten, Catherine Howard 2009, Merlin The Magician and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. This will be an important release for Rick Wakeman and as such will be of interest to the massive Rick Wakeman fan base.

http://www.rwcc.com/new.asp

Rick Wakeman: Faith and Music (Part 2)

Rick Wakeman: Faith and Music (Part 1)

Rick Wakeman At Lincoln Cathedral

Rick Wakeman si orga sa, intr-o demonstratie de maiestrie la Lincoln Cathedral.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCAvpxkIBIs Auditie placuta!

Trilogia Soarelui

Trilogia Soarelui, este formata din trei albume Rick Wakeman, pe care le recomand tuturor celor ce vor sa asculte o muzica calma, relaxanta, plina de sensuri si pusa in opera de unul dintre cei mai mari artisti ai pianului si ai orgii electronice. Muzica de inalta clasa. Auditie placuta!

Cite ceva depre Rick Wakeman:

Rick Wakeman was born in the suburb of Perivale, West London, and attended Drayton Manor Grammar School. He initially studied piano, clarinet, orchestration and modern music at the Royal College of Music, but he left of his own accord after a year and a half in favour of work as a session musician.

In 1970, Wakeman played with Strawbs and was an active studio musician, playing with such artists as David Bowie, Cat Stevens and Al Stewart. He joined Yes in 1971, following keyboardist Tony Kaye's departure. His first album with the band was Fragile released 1971 in the UK and 1972 in the US, and very nearly his last was Tales from Topographic Oceans, released in 1973. He also played on the studio album Close to the Edge (his favourite Yes album) and his live performances with the group were released as Yessongs. He left the band following the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour. During his time with Yes, he released his first solo album, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, which showcases his skills with various electronic and acoustic keyboard instruments. Some members of Yes played their respective instruments on certain tracks. Of all the members of the band, Wakeman is the only non-vegetarian, a difference which contributed to his first departure from the band^{[citation needed]}. The primary reason for that initial departure, however, was musical differences. Wakeman felt Tales from Topographic Oceans was thin on substance and did not connect with its themes. Further, he did not enjoy the experience of reproducing the entire work on stage each night. Following the tour, as the band began work on what would become Relayer, Wakeman felt further alienated from the group. Disenchanted with the direction Yes were going, and already into a successful solo career, Wakeman jumped ship. He rejoined Yes for their 1977 album Going for the One. He remained until their next album, Tormato, a year later. He is reputed to have given the album its name by throwing a tomato at a showing of the art used for the album's cover.^{[citation needed]} He rejoined the band in 1991 but left a year later. He then returned in 1996 for the Keys to Ascension albums but left before the band could tour. In 2002, he rejoined Yes and has been with the group ever since, but also enjoys a successful solo career.

He has also performed as a guest or session musician for artists as disparate as John Williams, Brotherhood of Man, Elton John, Lou Reed, David Bowie (notably mellotron on 'Space Oddity', piano on 'Life On Mars' and 'Changes'), Cat Stevens (including piano on Stevens' hit cover of the hymn "Morning Has Broken"), T. Rex, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath (under the nickname Spock Wall), Brian May and played piano on "There's no one quite like Grandma" by St. Winifred's School Choir.

Rick Wakeman played the Mellotron – an electronic musical instrument that used a bank of prerecorded tape strips, activated by each key on its keyboard. He worked with David Biro to develop the Birotron. The Birotron was not a commercial or technical succes. He has written the soundtracks for two films by Ken Russell: Lisztomania (1975), which features vocals from Roger Daltrey and which takes as its starting point the music of Liszt and Wagner; and Crimes of Passion (1985), much of which is built around themes taken from Dvorak's New World Symphony.

http://www.rwcc.com/

Rick Wakeman

In fiecare simbata, Rick Wakeman, claparul de la Yes, este invitatul postului de radio PlanetRock.
In mare verva si la fel de bun minuitor al cuvintului cum este si atunci cind trece in fata clapelor, domnul Rick Wakeman face un show total si una peste alta, rezulta o emisiune foarte interesanta, care merita ascultata, atunci cind va nimeriti prin fata computerului, simbata la prinz.

PlanetRock emite la Londra, dar poate fi ascultat si pe internet, la adresa: http://www.planetrock.co.uk