Chris Squire of Yes, photo by Larry Marano/Getty Images Entertainment
When legendary Yes bassist Chris Squire died last week at 67 years old, a significant part of music history died as well. As one of the first successful progressive rock bands, Yes helped establish the genre, and Squire was their low-end lynchpin. He was the only member of the groups 18 in total to play on every album (21 studio recordings), to be part of every lineup, and participate in nearly every tour for a staggering 47 years until his passing from Acute Erythroid Leukemia.
Squire was a hero to many prog fans for his dexterous bass lines, terrific compositions, his well-known stage presence, and of course the ever-present Rickenbacker bass. Playing in a band of virtuosos, Squire always allowed others to shine, yet was one of the foremost lead players on the instrument of all time. He commanded entire sold-out arenas with a wave of a hand or a funny pose. Anyone who has seen the band live can tell you of the feeling of an eternity passing in mere seconds between the first few notes of his lead part in ‘Heart of The Sunrise’, done solely for dramatic effect. In many cases Squire’s bass held down the main riffs of Yes tunes, whilst a country-jazz-funk guitar flight started or million-note fugue broke out on the synthesizer; the bass was constant, substantial and never dull. Squire was also underrated as a vocalist and provided a tenor counterpoint to singer Jon Anderson’s dog-whistle soprano. Thus he helped formed the basis of the hallmark of the Yes sound, harmonized vocals and Jazzy scat-singing passages which rock bands had barely dared to try until then.
Lovingly known as “The Fish”from “The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)” from Fragile) Squire’s 1975 album A Fish Out of Water (Atlantic) is heralded among fans as nearly the equal of his best known work. Of course it was through enduring hit songs such as ‘Roundabout’, ‘Starship Trooper’, ‘Long Distance Runaround’, ‘Close To The Edge’, ‘Wonderous Stories’ Time And A Word’, and ‘Owner of A Lonely Heart’ plus countless more tracks co-composed by Squire that are instantly recognizable, even by non-fans.
Not only did Squire have a hand in authoring some of his bands biggest hits, he ushered them into different eras, past drastic lineup changes, while still churning out consistent albums and popular songs. Yes was one of the few bands in music history to carry the high-minded artistic ideals, and still be a commercially viable in the now dead age of album sales. The list of other bands in this category is extremely tiny.
His influence has been felt for decades. From the heavier end of the spectrum there are many disciples. In his first book Making Music Your Business… A Guide For Young Musicians (Howard Books) David Ellefson of Megadeth talked about his transition from finger-style to picking, which was inspired by Squire’s pick hand and pick grip (with the thumb nail also striking the string) to get a unique attack that would cut through live and on records. Bands such as Tool, Cynic, Opeth, Steven Wilson, Devin Townsend Project, Scale the Summit, Dream Theater, Steve Harris of Iron maiden, Between The Buried And Me, Riverside, TesseracT, Soen, Primus, Spock’s Beard, The Great Discord, Lesser Key and others have cited Squire’s playing as impactful.
Rest in Power Chris Squire.
“Soon oh soon the light
Pass within and soothe the endless night
And wait here for you
Our reason to be here”
‘Soon’, from ‘The Gates of Delirium’ – Relayer (Atlantic)
KEITH CHACHKES
