Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher "Rick" Wakemanis an English keyboardist, songwriter, television and radio presenter, author, and actor. He is best known for being in the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004 and for his solo albums released in the 1970s...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth18 May 1949
alan bass funny giant happened hilarious lived people player scene simply spinal
There are people who think the film 'This Is Spinal Tap' is simply a very funny 'mockumentary.' Well, with Yes, we lived it. Take the hilarious scene in the film in which the bass player is trapped in a giant pod - that actually happened to Alan one night.
amazing incredibly joined july supported yes
I joined Yes in July 1971. I had heard Yes live, as Strawbs had supported them at a gig in Hull. I thought they were amazing - incredibly different.
attempts develop developing early helped slowly style within worked
All my early attempts at writing helped me to slowly develop a style and a way of writing that worked within the way I was developing as a player.
airplay coming generation media radio whatever
The new generation is not coming from the media, from radio airplay or whatever because we don't get it,
facial nose realise tilt
I was 65 in May, and when I have just shaved, I see my father. I realise that I now have the same facial idiosyncrasies he had: little twitches here and there, mouth and nose movements, even the way he would tilt his head.
yes
I am a Yes fan, ultimately. I've been a member of the band, but I was always a fan of the band first.
sounds
I avoid preset sounds wherever possible, and all the sounds I use I have edited.
early musical stan television ukulele uncle
Sunday's were musical evenings, as we didn't have a television in the early fifties. My uncle Stan would come over and play the ukulele as well.
brain constantly due enjoy good imagination life slept work
I've got an overactive brain. I enjoy work, I enjoy life, and I'm not good at relaxing. I've also never slept very much due to this overactive imagination and my brain constantly thinking.
farther frustrated hardly music played playing
To play music, you have to understand it. I didn't understand 'Topographic Oceans.' That's why I hardly played on it. It frustrated me no end - and playing the whole thing on tour, I got farther and farther away from it.
garden buried
Success is buried in the garden of failure.
understanding secret way
The secret of breaking rules in a way that works is understanding what the rules are in the first place.
rocks play records
But I'd play on everything from pop records to a lot of the glam stuff to rock stuff to classical stuff. I used to get called to do all those things, it was great.
adventure player musical
My earliest professional musical experiences were really as a session player, and every day was an adventure. Three sessions a day, every day, and you never knew who you would be working with until you arrived at the studio.