In 1975, his next album, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, was given a grand-scale premiere at Wembleys Empire Pool, although it also cost Wakeman a fortune to stage the event on ice. During this same period, Wakeman began working on film scores...
Wakeman being Wakeman, certain moments on THE SIX WIVES sail close to kitsch. 'Jane Seymour' is one of Rick's best church organ pieces - but was it really necessary to overdub the siren-like scream of a synth onto its dramatic climax? Such a trick may have seemed brave in 1973, but ...
Wakeman's solo career has been marked by sweeping concept albums likeThe Six Wives of Henry VIII,Journey to the Centre of the Earth, andThe Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. He's also worked as a first-call sideman withDavid Bowie,Lou Reed, Al ...
Late last month, Wakeman and his English Rock Ensemble released “The Red Planet,” an instrumental, prog-rock opus that harkens back to his most well-known and grandiose epic solo albums: “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” (1973), “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” (1974) and “The...
"The young pretender" does have one of Wakeman's "Merlin" like synth solos to finish, together with some fine violin work by Ric Sanders (Fairport Convention). "All in vain" also has some of Wakeman's soaring synths, reminiscent of his solo on "The black night" ("King Arthur"). ...
With all the other works Wakeman covered, he managed to squeeze in a few pieces of his own, namely “Catherine Howard” and “Catherine Of Aragon” from 1973’sThe Six Wives of Henry VIII. Coming out for an encore, he spoke about writing 1975’sThe Myths And Legends of King A...
Rick Wakeman Q&A: “Grumpy Old Rock Star” chats up new tour, working with yes and possibly rejoining the band
“Drama” album. Then at the end of the ’80s, Anderson Bruford, Wakeman & Howe was formed and now we had a real mess because ABWH was playing all the Yes stuff that we’d written, and what people came to call “Yes West,” which was basically Chris [Squire] and Alan [White] ...