Jon Anderson
|
Yes co-founder Jon Anderson |
Jon Anderson (born
October 25,
1944) is an
English musician, best known as the lead singer of the
progressive rock band Yes. He is also an accomplished solo artist, and collaborated for a number of years with the Greek musician
Vangelis, creating the duo "
Jon & Vangelis".
He was born as
John Roy Anderson in the town of
Accrington,
Lancashire,
England, in a family of
Irish ancestry, his parents being Albert and Kathleen Anderson. He was later to drop the "h" from his first name, as he had a dream where he was given the name "Jonathan".
He attended
St. John's Infants School in
Accrington, and made a tentative start to his musical career at an early age by playing the
washboard in "Little John's
Skiffle Group", which played songs by
Lonnie Donegan among others.
Anderson left school at the age of fifteen, and went through a series of jobs including working as a farm hand, a lorry driver, and a milkman.
He also tried to pursue a football career in the club he is still a fan of,
Accrington Stanley F.C., but he was eventually turned down because of his frail constitution.
In
1962, Anderson joined
The Warriors (also known as The Electric 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 bands
The Gun and
The Open Mind.
In the summer of
1968, Anderson met
bassist Chris Squire and joined him in a group called
Mabel Greer's Toyshop, which had previously included
guitarist Peter Banks. Anderson fronted this band, but ended up leaving again before the summer was over. He remarks on his website that his time with the band consisted of "too many drugs, not enough fun!".
Anderson, Squire, and Banks went on to form
Yes, with
drummer Bill Bruford and
keyboardist Tony Kaye. Their debut album was released in
1969. He stayed with the group until
1979, 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 is recognised 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 intrumental abilities.
He rejoined a reformed Yes in
1983, and 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 bizarre series of business deals caused ABWH to reunite with the then-current members of Yes, 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" 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 spectacular tour followed, but the eight-man lineup of Yes never recorded a complete album together before splintering in 1992. Many more personnel changes followed, but Anderson has been with the band ever since. He appears on all Yes albums except their
1980 album
Drama.
Nicknamed "Napoleon" by his bandmates for his diminutive stature and leadership of Yes, Anderson was fond of experimenting within the band, also adding to the conflict. He originally wanted to record the album
Tales From Topographic Oceans in the middle of the woods, and instead decided to put hay and animal cut-outs all over the recording studio, causing
lice to infest one of Rick Wakeman's keyboards. In another incident, Anderson had tiles installed in the studio, to simulate the echo effect of one's vocals in a bathroom.
Anderson's voice is often described as angelic. Though he considers himself an
alto tenor vocalist, Jon's performance on "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is an example of what is known by singers as "the blend voice": a technique where both the head voice (falsetto) and chest voice (speaking voice) are gradually blended allowing a smooth breakless transition to the male countertenor (soprano) register. The higher the voice gets, the more falsetto and less chest voice. The lower the voice gets, the reverse occurs. At the highest limit, (the high "yeeows" before the guitar solo) full falsetto is used.
Other practitioners of blended singing include
Steven Tyler (
Aerosmith),
Sting (
Police) and
Hugh Wilson (
Vertigo).
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, but have occasionally alienated some members of the band (most notably Bruford and
Rick Wakeman), causing them to leave the group. The lyrics are frequently inspired by various books Anderson has enjoyed, from
Tolstoy's "
War And Peace" to footnotes of the
Shastric Scriptures. Recurring themes include environmentalism, pacifism and sun-worship.
Anderson was a smoker in the 1960s and 70s, preferring
Benson & Hedges cigarettes. Before live performances he often meditates in a tent with crystals and dreamcatchers, a practice he started in the 1980s. Anderson is also a
vegetarian, as were most members of Yes during the mid-seventies.
In 1985 Anderson's song "This Time It Was Really Right" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie
St. Elmo's Fire.
In 1999 Anderson's vocal was featured with the
Contemporary Christian music band
4HIM on the song "The Only Thing I Need," which appeared on a various artists CD entitled "Streams."
Jon Anderson's children include daughter
Deborah Anderson (who has done work singing for the
French Electronica band
Telepopmusik on the album "Angel Milk," released in summer 2005),
Jade Anderson (who has released a solo album in Japan) and
Damion Anderson (also a musician).
*Solo:
*
Olias of Sunhillow (
1976)
*
Song of Seven (
1980)
*
Animation (
1982)
*
3 Ships (
1985)
*
In The City of Angels (
1988)
*
The Best of South America (
1994)
*
Deseo (
1994)
*
Change We Must (
1994)
*
Angels Embrace (
1995)
*
Toltec (
1996)
*
Lost Tapes of Opio (
1996)
*
The Promise Ring (
1997)
*
Earth Mother Earth (
1997)
*
The More You Know (
1998)
*With
Vangelis (
Jon & Vangelis):
*
Heaven and Hell (
1975)
*
Short Stories (
1980)
*
The Friends of Mr. Cairo (
1981)
*
Private Collection (
1983)
*
The Best of Jon & Vangelis (
1984)
*
Page of Life (
1991)
*
Chronicles (
1994)
*
Page Of Life (
1998) - alternate version not approved by Vangelis
* With
Kitaro:
*
Dream (
1992)
*
Jon Anderson online*
Jon Anderson's biography*
Jon Anderson discography
