The Scene with Doreen

The Scene with Doreen

Episode 67 | Lead Vocalist of Progressive Rock Band, Yes, Jon Anderson / Vice President of Wish Upon a Wedding, Paul Costello | 09-05-24 Download

00:55 Download September 5th

Jon Anderson bio via JonAnderson.com

JON ANDERSON is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock as the lead vocalist and creative force behind Yes. Anderson was the author and a major creative influence behind the series of epics produced by Yes and his role in creating such complex pieces as Close to the Edge, Awaken, and especially The Gates of Delirium was central to the band’s success. Additionally, Anderson co-authored the group’s biggest hits, including I’ve Seen All Good People, Roundabout, and Owner Of A Lonely Heart.

Jon was born John Roy Anderson in Accrington, Lancashire, England, on October 25, 1944 to Albert and Kathleen Anderson, who were of Scottish (father) and Irish (mother) ancestry. Anderson dropped the h from his first name in 1970.

Early career

In 1962, Anderson joined The Warriors, where he and his brother Tony shared the role of lead vocalist. He quit this band in 1967, released two solo singles in 1968 under the pseudonym Hans Christian Anderson, and then briefly sang for the band The Gun. In March 1968, Anderson met bassist Chris Squire and joined him in a group called Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, which included guitarist Peter Banks.

Yes

Anderson, Squire, and Banks went on to form Yes, with drummer Bill Bruford and keyboardist Tony Kaye. Their eponymous debut album was released in 1969. Amongst the line-up changes (Rick Wakeman would replace Kaye in 1971 and Alan White would replace Bruford in 1972) Jon stayed with the group until 1980, and this period is now known as the classic period of Yes. Jon was a major creative force and band leader throughout the period (describing himself as the ‘team captain’ and ‘catalyst’; nicknamed by his band mates Napoleon for his diminutive stature and leadership of the band) and is recognized as the main instigator of the series of epics produced by Yes at the time. His role in creating such complex pieces as Close to the Edge, Awaken, and especially The Gates of Delirium is central, despite his limited instrumental abilities. Yes released 11 critically acclaimed albums (including one live album ‘Yessongs’ and one early compilation ‘Yesterdays’) between 1969 and 1979, including such classic titles as ‘Fragile’ (which contained the band’s first hit “Roundabout”), ‘Close To The Edge’, ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’, ‘Relayer’ and ‘Going For The One’.

Jon rejoined a reformed Yes in 1983, which produced their most commercially successful album ‘90125’ with newcomer Trevor Rabin. After a second album ‘Big Generator’ and several world tours, Jon departed again in 1988 over the band’s continued pursuit of major commercial success and mainstream radio play. In 1989, Anderson and other former Yes members formed the group Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe (ABWH), augmented by bassist Tony Levin who had played with drummer Bill Bruford in King Crimson. After the successful first ABWH album, a series of business deals caused ABWH to reunite with the then-current members of Yes (Squire, Rabin, White, Kaye), who had been out of the public eye while searching for a new lead singer. The resulting eight-man band assumed the name Yes, and the album ‘Union’ (1991) was assembled from various pieces of an in-progress second ABWH album as well as recordings that Yes proper had been working on, without Anderson. A successful tour followed, but the eight-man lineup of Yes never recorded a complete album together before splintering in 1992. Although many more personnel changes followed, Anderson would remain with the band until 2004. The ‘90125’ line-up recorded one more album in 1994 titled ‘Talk’. The ‘classic’ line-up (Anderson, Squire, Wakeman, Howe, White) reformed with ‘Keys To Ascension (1996) and Keys to Ascension 2 (1997). Wakeman was replaced by Igor Khoroshev, who was featured on ‘Open Your Eyes’ (1997) and ‘The Ladder’ (1999) along with guitarist Billy Sherwood. The album ‘Magnification’ released in 2001 marked the second album Yes recorded with an orchestra, the first being ‘A Time And A Word’ in 1970. In 2002, Rick Wakeman returned to the band to celebrate their 35th anniversary with a major worldwide tour. The band ceased to tour in 2004, partly due to health concerns regarding Anderson and Wakeman.

Vocal and lyrical style

It is a commonly held misconception that Jon Anderson sings falsetto, a vocal technique which artificially produces high, airy notes by using only the ligamentous edges of the vocal cords; however, Jon Anderson does not sing falsetto. His normal singing (and speaking) voice is naturally above the tenor range. In a 2008 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jon stated, “I’m an alto tenor and I can sing certain high notes, but I could never sing falsetto, so I go and hit them high.” He is also noted for singing in his original Lancastrian accent.

Anderson is also responsible for most of the mystically-themed lyrics and concepts which are part of many Yes releases. These elements are crucial components of the classic Yes sound. The lyrics are frequently inspired by various books Anderson has enjoyed, from Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ to Hermann Hesse’s ‘Siddhartha’. A footnote in Paramahansa Yogananda’s ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ inspired an entire double album ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ (1973). Recurring themes include environmentalism, pacifism and sun-worship.

VISIT WISHUPONAWEDDING.ORG

Wish Upon a Wedding grants weddings and vow renewals to couples facing terminal illness or life-altering health circumstances. We help couples alleviate the financial burden and time commitment that planning a wedding entails, focusing instead on dealing with their treatments and spending time with their loved ones.

Due to their health-related circumstances, the couples we honor have endured far more significant challenges than many of us could imagine, and we aim to celebrate their love for one another.

Today, our board members and local committees have grown to include professionals and partners from a wide range of industries across the United States. We’ve been able to grant more than 250 weddings and vow renewals through the generosity and kindness of individuals, wedding industry professionals who donate services, corporate sponsors, partnerships, and marvelous volunteers.

We are grateful for your generous support and the opportunity our couples have given us to take part in their love story. We are so proud of our organization and hope that you will follow us on our journey.

In 2009, while looking for ways to give back to her community, Liz Guthrie, a party and event planner, organized a Dream Wedding Giveaway in San Francisco for couples who couldn’t afford a high-end wedding. Although the giveaway received 350 applications from all over the country, the story of one couple warmed everyone’s heart.

Enter Vanessa Muza Teskey, a U.S. Air Force officer battling stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and her fiancé, Capt. Mike Hawkings, also an Air Force officer. After graduating from the Air Force Academy, the couple met and got engaged in 2008. Vanessa received her cancer diagnosis one day before Mike was deployed to Southwest Asia.

From 11,000 miles apart, the contest gave the couple hope for a brighter future and enough resilience to face Vanessa’s chemotherapy sessions. Vanessa and Mike’s love story ended up winning them a $100,000 high-end wedding package –all of the proceeds were donated by local businesses and wedding industry professionals.

And although the Hawkins’ wedding was a huge success, Liz felt a little bummed down: she thought that there were loads of people deserving of a wedding. What if there was a way to grant that dream wedding to more couples like the Hawkins? Couples with a moving love story who were entrenched in life-altering circumstances and lacked the headspace and the financial capacity to plan a high-end wedding.

And this is why, in November of 2009, Wish Upon a Wedding was officially born. Our original wedding industry founders came together with a vision to give couples and their loved ones a day away from terminal illness, helping them create memories to sustain them through the upcoming challenges.

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