Not every music fan goes through a prog-rock phase, but if they do, they almost always spend a little bit of time exploring the Yes catalog. As such, Q decided that - with today being the birthday of Tony Kaye, onetime keyboardist of Yes, not to mention a founding member of the band - it would be a good time to honor Kaye with a playlist devoted not only to the time he spent within their ranks but, indeed, some of the material he's recorded over the years with some other bands and singers.
Yes, as featured on the cover of 'The Yes Album'
Born in Leicester, England, Kaye - birth name Anthony John Selvidge - may have come from a working-class family, but his grandmother was a concert pianist and his grandfather was a jazz saxophonist, so it would be accurate to say that he had music in his blood. Starting piano lessons when he was all of four years old, he'd formed a jazz trio before finishing grammar school, and by age 15 he was a member of the Danny Rogers Orchestra. Although he'd originally had visions of pursuing the more classical side of piano, he soon found himself favoring pop and rock material, and by 1963 he was a member of the Federals, who can be heard kicking off this very playlist.
Of course, it will come as no surprise to you that Yes features heavily within the playlist, since Kaye was a founding member of the band and remained with them through their third album, The Yes Album. He would return to their ranks for their '80s comeback LP, 90125, and remained for the three subsequent studio album, leaving after 1994's Talk. But Kaye also spent time as part of a few other bands over the years, even if some of them were only short stays. For instance, between his stints in Yes, he recorded an album with Flash, two albums with Badger, two with Detective, and one with Badfinger, whereas after leaving Yes again, he joined CIRCA, and in 2010 he took time to record an album with Yoso.
Yes, we've got at least one song in the mix from Kaye's work with all of these bands, along with a few other guest appearances he's made along the way. Prepare to prog-rock out to your heart's content...and while you're at it, send some happy-birthday vibes in Mr. Kaye's direction, won't you?
