Jon Anderson Blames Yes Producer for Disastrous 1979 Sessions

Founding frontman Jon Anderson‘s left Yes the first time after failed attempts to record their ninth album.

He’d started the group with bassist Chris Squire in 1968, and a decade of groundbreaking prog-rock success followed. Then Anderson found himself working with Roy Thomas Baker of Queen and Journey fame.

“We were trying to make an album in Paris with a producer who had hit records galore,” Anderson tells Classic Rock, but he says Baker ended up doing far more harm than good. “He was worse than anybody else for wanting to be a party rock n’ roll star. He ruined the whole thing.”

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In truth, however, Yes faced problems beyond their producer – beginning with a key injury to drummer Alan White. The era’s outsized hedonism played a role. They were struggling to agree on a musical direction, too.

“Alan, who was there with his girlfriend, he went roller-skating and broke his ankle,” Anderson noted. Meanwhile, Yes couldn’t decide on how to approach things, with Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman pushing for lighter, theatrical tunes while Squire and the rest wanted a heavier sound.

“It was as though this big collision was waiting to happen,” Anderson argued, suggesting this inner-band tension had built over some time. “We all said: ‘Okay, I’m going home’ – and that’s what we did.”

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Jon Anderson Says He Now Has the ‘Yes I Wanted’

Today, Anderson argues that Yes simply due for a break. “It’s impossible to change people when they’re partying and the music’s the last thing they’re thinking about,” he said. “After 10 years of Yes, we needed that explosion – ‘I’m going this way; you’re going that way.’”

Anderson returned for two more runs with Yes, fronting the group from 1983-88 and again from 1990-2004. He also formed two spin-off groups, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (1988-90) and Yes Featuring Anderson Rabin Wakeman (2016-19).

Anderson has since focused on his solo work, while Yes continued with Jon Davidson on vocals. Anderson’s most recent album, True, was released in August.

Asked if he was hurt after being replaced in his former band, Anderson was forthright: “No, because I’ve got my new band together now,” he said. “I’ve got the Yes that I wanted.”

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