Search - Peter Banks :: Can I Play You Something

Yesroots

Brad Hancock | Dallas, TX | 06/03/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As someone who's waited 20 years to actually hear Syn after first learning about them, it's hard to be objective about this disc; hence the four stars for a disc who's sound quality ranges from passable to impossible. But this is history, dammit! Purists may balk at the insertion of the modern, moody guitar and found audio pieces between the older tracks, but it does give the overall impression of an aging rocker spending an afternoon with guitar in hand, playing old records and reminiscing over his youth spent in the hothouse atmosphere of late 60's London. The Syn included 19-year old Chris Squire and keyboardist Andrew Price Jackman (who later orchestrated Squire's "Fish Out of Water"). The a's & b's of both Syn singles are here along with 3 demos and 3 BBC cuts of Mabel Greer's Toyshop (Bank's and Squire's second band together). Get ready folks, it's pure British psychedelia with one Squire lead vocal, two pre-Yes versions of "Beyond and Before" and the birth of Squire's famous Rickenbacker sound (an effect resulting from multiple sandings of wallpaper off the surface of the bass during the Syn years, therefore making the body lighter and more trebly). "I Saw You" by the Affirmative Duo is actually an excerpt of Bank's and Bill Bruford's solos from a live Yes performance of "I See You". The Devil's Disciples are among us with two cover songs recorded in '64 and the Peter Banks Band is represented with a live cover of the "Peter Gunn Theme". No question about it, this is a real blast from the past. Buy it and store it alongside Tomorrow and Dantalion's Chariot."

A must for Yes fans!

A. Lesley | Conway, S.C. United States | 03/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Early versions of "Beyond and Before" along with Banks and Bruford jamming are essential for Yes fans."

Can Mott Play You Something

Kim Fletcher | Pattaya, Chonburi Thailand | 09/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a marvelous idea. You take one seasoned musical genius, put him in a room with a tape deck with all his archive material, and ask him to play a selection of his hidden treasures from the dark and murky past. This is exactly what happened here.



Peter Banks, the original and best guitarist from the band Yes, has trawled his back catalogue for some juicy rare and often unreleased back catalogue material. He was first asked to concentrate on his pre-Yes days from the sixties, when we were all reeling and a-rocking, quaking, and a-shaking, making and breaking, faking and mistaking, joking and smoking - everybody was loco from those years. This collection of songs is basically collected from Peter's early years 1964-1968, and gives a fascinating insight into a musician's formative years.



From his first tentative steps as a young seventeen year old guitarist with Devil's Disciples (after which the guitarist admits in the wonderful booklet that comes with this collection, that he found the whole experience so terrifying, he doubted he would ever pluck up the courage again to enter a recording studio. During that 2-hour session, both the tracks here from the Devil's Disciples were recorded) to Peter's solo spot with Yes on one of their first gigs, Peter Banks musical birth is laid bare. It certainly isn't all pretty, and to keep the listener's attention, neither is it in chronological order.



As well as the two Devil's Disciples tracks (quite honestly, their take on 'For Your Love' does not hold a light to the Yardbirds' version), you also get five cuts from Syn, where Peter Banks first teamed up with bassist Chris Squire. You get to hear 'Flowerman', the single from Syn's own Rock Opera, in which the band used to dress up as flowers for the stage production, and then finish the set with a huge fight featuring gardening implements. The Flowerman also sounds like very early 'Spinal Tap', and is made all the more galling as you get two versions of it back to back. Obviously, Peter Banks is proud of it all.



The bulk of the material here though comes from the second band that Banks and Squire formed after 'Syn' and were turned into compost. The magically monikered 'Mabel Greer's Toyshop' the music takes a cosmic leap forward with versions of 'Beyond and Before' written by Mabel Greer's Toyshop vocalist Clive Bailey with Chris Squire, which in a slightly amended version was to go on to be track one on side one of the debut vinyl recording of Yes.



The almost telepathic understanding between Squire and Banks is a wonder to listen to as you can hear them establishing the sound that was to become Yes' trademark, and still is today even though Peter Banks has not been in the ranks for over 34 years (mind you, just about every other jobbing musician has been through Yes' ranks with each guitarist having to copy Banks' original guitar template).



To kick start the proceedings, Peter Banks has included a version of Peter Gunn from his jamming band in 1980. Perhaps breaking the rules a little, but it is well worth the effort as it literally knocks heads together. A wonderful place to start. Then to finish off this collection, there are nearly nine minutes of Peter's solo section of the Yes set, which used to come during Yes' cover of the Byrds 'I See You', where the other musicians would depart the stage (at that time Yes had Chris Squire on bass, Jon Anderson on vocals, and Tony Kaye on keyboards), leaving our intrepid guitarist backed only by Bill Bruford on drums, to, in the vernacular of the day, completely freak out on the guitar. You will either love it or find it totally boring and pretentious. (This Dog loves it.)



All the songs are linked together by more sound bites from Peter Bank's musical library. The 12-page booklet of this collection is crammed full of informative facts and funny anecdotes written in the guitarist's own hand, with a wonderful Peter Banks Rock family tree from the era and the necessary embarrassing era photos. Although this collection does have its weak moments, they are made up for by the highs that are contained here. For another insight into this very underrated musician, read his autobiography "Beyond and Before'' or, to hear Peter Banks at the peak of his powers, try the debut album from Flash (1972), the band Peter formed after he was unceremoniously dumped from Yes, or Peter's second solo album Instinct (1993).







Pawed by Mott The Dog

Re-chewed by Ella Crew

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