Posted on 05/26/2022 11:09:42 AM PDT by chuck allen
Drummer Alan White, the longest-tenured member of Yes, died at age 72 following a "brief illness."
White's family announced the news on Facebook, noting the drummer died at his Seattle-area home on May 26. "Throughout his life and six-decade career, Alan was many things to many people: a certified rock star to fans around the world; bandmate to a select few, and gentleman and friend to all who met him," they wrote.
On Twitter, Yes expressed their "deep sadness."
White, who also performed with John Lennon, George Harrison, Ginger Baker’s Air Force and Joe Cocker early in his career, had suffered from health problems in recent years. He was forced to sit out of Yes in 2016 due to back surgery, and he guested as the second drummer (alongside Jay Schellen) in 2018 while recovering from a bacterial infection. White then sat out of the band’s 50th anniversary U.K. tour due to what Yes described as "current health issues."
White was born on June 14, 1949, in Pelton, England, and took piano lessons as a child. His interests later moved to the drum kit, and throughout the '60s he played with several smaller bands, including Griffin — a gig that ultimately changed his life. Lennon and Yoko Ono happened to attend one of that group’s club gigs in London, and the next night White received a surprising phone call at home.
“A voice announced, ‘Hello, this is John Lennon,’” White told The Seattle Times in 2021. “I thought it was a mate pulling my leg, put the receiver down and went back to the kitchen. Luckily, the caller rang back. This time I listened and thought: Hang on. Maybe it is John Lennon.”
Lennon, impressed with White’s drumming, invited him to play with his Plastic Ono Band — featuring Ono, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann — the following night at the Toronto Rock and Roll Festival. That set led to further session work, including performance on Lennon’s 1970 single "Instant Karma!" and 1971 LP, Imagine, along with Harrison’s 1970 triple album, All Things Must Pass.
After a couple of years of hopping around, White found a permanent home in the world of prog: In 1972, after losing cofounding drummer Bill Bruford to King Crimson, Yes recruited White to join the lineup — and, in a mind-boggling feat, he learned the band’s complex repertoire in just three days ahead of their Close to the Edge tour.
"I got to know Eddy Offord, who was the producer for their first few albums," White told Rolling Stone in 2019. "I was sitting in a pub with him in London. We got to be very good friends. One day [Yes singer] Jon [Anderson] and [Yes bassist] Chris [Squire] came around and he said, 'Yes want you to join the band.' I think Chris Squire saw me play with Joe Cocker previous to that. I was just finishing a Joe Cocker tour when Yes asked me. I agreed and said, 'When are we rehearsing?' They said, 'We don’t really have any rehearsals and we’ve got a gig on Monday. Can you learn the repertoire between now and Monday?’ It was a Friday. I said, 'Well, I’ll give it a shot, but it’s a long shot.'"
That long shot paid off for everyone. White gave Yes a powerful rock edge and sonic consistency, the latter a rare commodity for a band that routinely switched members. He played on dozens of concert and studio albums, starting with the divisive 1973 double-LP Tales From Topographic Oceans.
"I was very impressed by the different time signatures and just creating new and adventurous music," he told UCR of that record in 2013. "I thought it was just exciting the whole time, and I think that's what you hear: a bunch of musicians trying to find an alleyway into progressive music. I think it worked, personally, and I think a lot of people appreciate it. And like I said, people would say, "I can't believe you did the whole thing [live]!"
His Yes run lasted more than a half-century, up through 2021’s The Quest, making White the band’s longest-remaining member. And the drummer's versatility anchored the band's numerous shifts in style, from the jazz-fusion pummel of 1974’s Relayer to the sleek, arena-friendly stylings of 1983’s 90125.
White, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Yes in 2017, released one solo album, 1976’s Ramshackled. He also collaborated with several other bands, including the Yes offshoot supergroup Circa; famously, he and Squire briefly worked on ideas with Jimmy Page for an aborted supergroup named XYZ (Ex Yes-Zeppelin) in 1981.
Yes, though, became his home.
"Every album is different in its own way," he told Examiner in 2013. "Relayer was a great album that I enjoyed playing on. 90215 had a lot of memorable songs on it. After that, it would be Talk, which is a great underestimated album. The Ladder is another. There’s a lot of them, they’re all different and parts of the band’s life. I enjoyed all of them."
Always sad, even if one doesn’t like the music.
White was an excellent drummer. Maybe not as good as Bill Bruford but who is.
Always found it ironic that Instant Karma was referenced in “I’ve Seen All Good People” when Bruford was still their drummer.
I’m probably one of the few that thinks “Drama” was one of the best Yes albums.
Back when catching that hi-hat at the exact moment to make it sizzle was so cool, even disco picked up on it, Alan did this four banger during an instrumental section of “Gates of Delerium” on the “Relayer” album which I still think is the hottest hi-hat punch I ever heard.
Always wondered if “Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe” wouldn’t’ve just been named “Yes Minus White” if people wouldn’t;ve thought it was referring to a color. (Not exactly: Squire was also from that era of Yes.)
While he didn’t play on it,
more weed was smoked with “Close to the Edge” than with any other Album.
He joined right after.
If I remember correctly . . .
What?
Yes...yes you are...
That’s a major blow. Loved his drummingand unique feel with Yes. Just damn
I was at one of their shows at Jones Beach in the late 80’s.
The only time I saw Yes without Alan White
Well it certainly blew Tormato out of the water.
Tempus Fugit flat out rocks.
I saw Yes twice. They did not try to copy pop culture and I appreciated that. They were unique and made their own way. I first heard of them when I was in high school with the song “Starship Troopers” a Robert Heinlein-inspired song. RIP Alan White.
What I find sad is that with each of these rocker deaths we realize we are witnessing an end of a marvelous era of music in the late 50's thru the early 80's.
I was a fan of Yes, having found them as an adolescent when “Owner of a Lonely Heart” went huge. White’s was probably the best drum smash-in I can think of (although Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” is a good runner up).
No-one take this personally, but I think the big limit to their popularity was that Yes fans were among the worst of what we now would call “gate-keepers,” though. It’s like you weren’t ALLOWED to call yourself a Yes fan if you liked 90215 without first finding their older albums divinely bestowed upon humanity.
Neil Peart, Phil Collins, too. Seems like drumming takes a heavy toll over the years.
Genesis fans are just as bad, especially those who think they didn’t do anything worthwhile after Gabriel left.
Thieves steal piece of rock and roll history from local hall of fame drummer
www.q13fox.com/news/thieves-steal-piece-of-rock-and-roll-history-from-local-hall-of-fame-drummer.amp
Man, nothing makes you feel out of touch when you realize one of your favorite “Dad rock” bands released a new album (”The Quest”) in 2021, and you didn’t even realize it.
Any opinions? Worthy of Yes? NOT worthy of Yes but still worthy of a listen (like, for instance, Pink Floyd’s sleepy-time album, “The Endless River.”)?
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