Spotted on Facebook: in yet another of those endless fandom dicussion permutations of Howe vs. Rabin, this purported quote from an interview Trevor supposedly gave at a Toronto radio station during publicity for Union (which would place its' possible occurrence in April 1991) was trotted out as evidence of...something, I guess.
"From the time I was 11 Steve Howe has been my idol."
As someone who has made it her avocation to study the whole of Trevor's career in excruciating detail, I can honestly state - and plainly assert - that if Trevor did make this exact statement it was purely in jest. Trevor has a wicked, often smartass, sense of humor (which I have personally experienced) and I wouldn't put it past him to be a bit of a troll - though not on the level of Geoff Downes, for example - but...I think most readers of this blog would agree with me that it beggars belief to insist he meant such a thing.
But if you would prefer not to take a Rabid Rabinite like me at my word, then let's break it down, shall we?
This fan photo, taken during the Eighty Dates tour, is the only one I am aware of where the lead guitarists willingly posed together outside of official publicity shots. Seriously now, do they look like they want to be posing together? In my estimation Trevor is mustering little-to-no enthusiasm in the moment.
Trevor has cited his influences on various occasions over nearly the entirety of his career, including when I interviewed him in 2012. In none of the interviews I have ever read/heard, nor in the interview I conducted, did he ever name Steve Howe as an influence or an "idol." In my interview he said his hero was Arnold Schoenberg (fitting for a classically-trained musician). In the YesYears documentary - which would have been an appropriate opportunity to state this alleged idolatry of his then-bandmate, and which occurred in roughly the same general timeframe as Trevor's purported declaration - who did Trevor say was his primary influence?
John McLaughlin.
The exact quote was: "Primarily I think John McLaughlin’s been a major influence."
Trevor has invoked Johnny Mac so many times over the years that I was - frankly - surprised when he backed away from that assertion in my interview with him. He related the influence of Johnny Fourie, for example, who as far as I knew Trevor had never mentioned previous to writing about him in the liner notes of Jacaranda, and I brought up that observation to him. He wasn't entirely certain why that was, but we discussed why Trevor considered Fourie a formative influence on his playing, and Fourie's unsung status in South African music history - something entirely unique to my interview with him, I might add.
Read my interview - heck, read just about any interview from the Jacaranda promotional cycle - and you will see the pantheon of guitarists Trevor admires. Steve Howe is not among those names. Which is not to say he does not respect Steve's work, but Steve did not influence him, much less become his "idol."
Let's also consider that Trevor was 11 years old in 1965, and it's true that Steve had made his professional debut the previous year. But if any guitarist was Trevor's "idol" at that particular time, it was Hank Marvin. When Trevor was winning piano competitions so that his parents would buy him rock n'roll records, he was asking for records by Cliff Richard, and also The Shadows. I doubt if anyone in Johannesburg knew who Steve Howe was in 1965. But also, Trevor has stated - again, numerous times - that he was not a fan of Yes in the 1970s, he was in fact far more familiar with the solo work of Rick Wakeman.
A few more things to consider: if Steve was Trevor's "idol" then why didn't he jump at the chance to join Asia in 1981? But he didn't, and it cost him his contract with Geffen Records. And wouldn't Trevor have been more apt to actually sound like Steve when he was in YesWest? But he didn't, and that is what Classic Yes fans have been complaining about for the past three decades, give or take. It's an argument which has been going on so long, I refer to it as - in the minds of those who will never give Trevor any credit at all - "the genius vs. the hack" debate. And what about Trevor declining Steve's invitation to rejoin the band, as he noted he had done in a 2010 interview with Classic Rock Presents: Prog? One would think he would welcome an opportunity to play with his "idol" once more. But he didn't.
And why, of all things, would Trevor make a joke about Steve's classic solo spot "Clap" when introducing "Solly's Beard" as he did on the club tour of 1989, referring to it as "the other guy's." Mocking someone - good-naturedly or not - who was his "idol" certainly doesn't appear to be customary worshipful behavior to me. Keen observers of Yes internal politics recognize this as a joke which references how Trevor couldn't ever escape not only numerous comparisons to Steve, but having to play Steve's material in his day job.
All of these historical details just don't add up to support the alleged citation as strictly fact. Now I may not know the history of Yes as thoroughly as some out there in the wilds of the Internet who have staked that particular claim, but I do know Trevor's history, and therefore I must completely disavow this notion simply because if it were true, don't you think we would have better evidence of it beyond one supposed comment? Supposedly it was "well-reported" but having read/heard dozens of interviews from that era, I have never come across any mention of it at all. We do, on the other hand, have a preponderance of evidence against its' veracity.
Nice try, though...just sayin.'
However, if anyone can actually provide evidence of this purported interview I'd love to hear it, because I imagine the context will prove my assertions completely.
