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The story behind the record cover - Beginnings (1975) - STEVE HOWE

Steve Howe. Guitarist of Yes' and later Asia. He has an endless love for guitars. He doesn't care what kind of guitar he is holding, Gibson, Fender, acoustic or electric, in no time he manages to extract the most wonderful sounds from his guitar. For years he has been my guitar hero. Or actually, he still is. I lost track for a while, but on the advice of one of my readers, I recently bought Steven Wilson's Yes-Remixes. Simply brilliant remixes of five Yes albums. It's almost like Steve Howe and his buddies are playing in your room, live in the flesh. Steve Howe also regularly produces solo LP's. It all started with "Beginnings". Yes had gone on a grueling world tour after the release of "Relayer". It didn't go smoothly with new Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz. The band decided to take a break for a while. In the meantime, record company Atlantic allowed them all to make a solo album. Steve Howe was the first to release one. It was a bit of a shock when he started singing on "Beginnings". It was not exactly the angelic voice we were used to from Yes singer Jon Anderson. For a moment I looked at my glass of beer to see if there were cracks appearing. I had just read the book "Die Blechtrommel", in which a boy has the ability to break glass simply by using his voice. But the guitar playing made up for all that. All different styles on different guitars. The cover is a typical Roger Dean cover, one of those exotic fantasy landscapes. There is a distinct difference between Dean's covers for Yes. On "Beginnings", Steve Howe is depicted in a photograph within the landscape together with some guitars. Five guitars from a collection of more than 200. Steve Howe's love for guitars has led to an impressive guitar collection. In the book "The Steve Howe Guitar Collection" they are beautifully portrayed with brilliant background stories. It all started with the Gibson ES175D he is seen holding on this cover. He got into a kind of love affair with this particular guitar. He bought it in 1964 and still uses it. No one is allowed to touch the guitar. As a 14-year-old boy, he saw the guitar for the first time on the cover of a guitar magazine. Jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery was pictured with the same Gibson ES175D. When Steve Howe bought this guitar himself, he got up and went to bed with it. So he says in the book, figuratively, but also literally. On Yes's first American tour, he was so frightened that something would happen to the guitar that he kept it close, even in bed in his hotel room. The sound of this guitar can be heard prominently on the first Yes record on which Steve Howe plays, "The Yes Album". In the background to the right is a masterpiece from his guitar collection, the "Gibson Style U harp Guitar" from 1924. This guitar simply demands to be seen. You can't actually see it that well on the cover, but if you look at the image on the triple page in the book, I fully understand its appeal. According to Steve Howe, the guitar sounds great but it's a monster to play because of its size and shape. Steve Howe likes to pound and bang on it at home, but this particular Gibson cannot be heard on any of his albums. In any case, the instrument is far too expensive to bring on tour or to the studio. It's too far-fetched to describe all the stories about the guitars on this cover. Still I'd like to sum up a few. On the right is the famous "Gibson Les Paul Custom" from 1956. A guitar that, I believe, every guitarist wants. Behind him on the left an acoustic guitar, the "Gibson Country Western", which can be heard on the track "Pleasure stole the night" on this album. And lastly, rear left, almost invisible, another masterpiece from his collection, the "Roudhloff lyre guitar" from 1815. In this "Beginnings" story quest, I learned that in 2017, Steve Howe's son, Virgil, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 41. That must have been awful. I think it's one of the worst things that can happen to you as a parent. The Yes tour was halted. Still, Steve Howe has managed to continue making music. That must have been his son's wish, because Virgil regularly played as a drummer on his father's solo albums. On the Progwereld website I also read that Steve Howe recently released both an autobiography "All my Yesterdays" and a new CD "Love is" last year. I am aiming to listen to the CD this afternoon. Just to be on the safe side, I'll remove all glassware and cups from the room, because he appears to be singing on this one too. Fun and games aside, the utmost respect for this master guitarist and my guitar hero from the seventies. Love and passion for music is not tied to age. In my opinion, that is the most fantastic thing about musicians. Most of them will never retire and continue to make music throughout their entire lives. Old Soldiers never die, they simply fade away. Gerrit-Jan Vrielink. By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink Translation: Alex Driessen

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