upcoming reissue of Union Live from Gonzo

Spotted various places: news today that Gonzo Multimedia is releasing a super deluxe edition of their previous Union Live collection for the 30th anniversary of the release of the Union album and Around the World in 80 Dates tour.

https://www.musicglue.com/yes-union-30/products/yes-union-live-limited-edition-super-deluxe-flight-case-30-year-anniversary-edition

The Union Live release was controversial (in my estimation) from the outset, given that it was comprised of material already available in the collector's market/trading circles, and this reissue, even expanded by several magnitudes, does not appear to change that assertion in the least.

Also as a promo, this video has been posted on Rick's YouTube channel.  It's a performance of "Owner" from the Shoreline Amphitheatre show on August 8th which comprised the Japan-only Union Tour Live release from 1999.

Media Watch: another day, another listicle

With thanks to YF member flatopfreak for sharing the article.

Music writer Brett Milano offers his own list of the heavy hitters in the Prog world on guitar, published on the uDiscovermusic website, and in this "essential top 25 countdown" all of the Yesmen have made the cut, with Trevor in the top ten this time.

10: Trevor Rabin (Yes)
Long before he joined Yes, Trevor Rabin was known as a musician of prodigious chops; he’d already done solo albums playing all the instruments. While he did bring more of an arena-shredder sensibility than any other Yes guitarist, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t serve the song. One of 90125’s highlights, “Changes,” has a taste of everything he does well: Orchestral leads, Police-like rhythm parts, and those flashy cadenzas in the intro.

Here's the article link for those interested in the full lineup:

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/greatest-prog-guitarists/

Collector's Corner: the most amazing collectible which never was

I spotted this item via a mention on Twitter, originally - from pop culture blog PPGuru - and the entry is a few years old now, but I am incredibly fascinated by this particular byway of Yes-related ephemera, and I recommend the read if you also like to be in the know regarding any and all trivia.  Some may be familiar with the notion of rock n'roll-related comicbooks, and Yes had been considered as a subject for such publications, more than once.

For me perhaps the most interesting revelation is this:

The one featuring Yes was solicited in Diamond Comics Catalogue in March of 1994 for a June 1994 newsstand/comic book specialty store release to coincide with the release and tour of the album Talk, so the comic book wouldn’t have sported a Roger Dean logo, but rather the updated Peter Max painted logo that served as the album cover.

https://purplepinupgurupanacheplaza.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/yes-log-supplemental-late-2016-side-b-as-an-unpublished-yes-comic-book-mystery-opens/

The blog also features other Yes-related content, so it's worth perusing as a whole, IMO.

Media Watch: This Is Rock issue 200

Available now for purchase, Spanish-language music magazine This Is Rock features a story on YesWest in its' February issue.

Yes: 1983-1988 

Yes at the crossroads decided to embrace the Eighties with the arrival of the unknown Trevor Rabin.  A new, more guitar-based sound redefined Yes, leading to success with Jon Anderson on vocals, and souring the party for his die-hard '70s fans.  Still, it's the record that found many new fans of its progressive-meets-pop style.

The Secret Discography: a helping hand

One of a series which examines Trevor’s musical career in South Africa.

As I posted previously, Trevor gave another interview last year which I wasn't aware of at the time, but at least in terms of one particular detail it is one of the most interesting.

Discussing the history of Rabbitt with Sound of the Movies host Michael Hollands, Trevor related how Duncan Faure was brought into the band:

"After the army, I had produced a guy called Duncan Faure, just a single he had - it didn't actually catch and soon after then we thought it would be nice to have a keyboard player in the band and a second singer so we got him in the band and that's how it really began and how we went on."

Admittedly it surprised me because this anecdote seems counter to previous narratives, such as when T.H. Cutler noted in her history of the band that Trevor, Ronnie and Patric van Blerk attended a show of Duncan's (in either 1974 or early 1975 I would estimate) and they asked him to join the band.  Duncan had made his debut as a recording artist back in 1972 with the band Orange Cash Boat, dubbed - as Mary Fortney noted in her biographical essay on Duncan - "South Africa's Youngest Pop Sensation."  A few years later, Duncan would immortalize his early years in the song "I Was Eleven" which was recorded by Rabbitt as well as The Rollers.

Returning to Trevor's recollection...it is true that Trevor co-produced a single for Duncan - the release of which was also documented by T.H. Cutler - and the A-side was later re-recorded by Rabbitt for the "Morning Light" maxi-single.

"When You're Without Her"/"Ballad of a Human Being" released 1975.

It's possible that Patric was scouting for talent as per his usual and even though this particular single didn't succeed they appreciated Duncan's obvious abilities and appeal and figured he would be an asset to the band.  Duncan himself did assert in an interview from 2014 that when he joined the band it was before they had developed their local popular following.  However, the fact that Duncan's participation on Boys Will Be Boys! is limited to one song does suggest that he joined while they were finishing up work on the album at the very least, which was in 1975.

The DNA of a teen idol: Duncan in the '70s.

Speaking of Our Boys...eagle-eyed Cee noticed this about a particular upload of "Hold On To Love" - it contains what appears to be some additional footage of Rabbitt (after the 3-minute mark) performing the song on television with a string section, parts of which we've seen over the years (an excerpt from "Searching" for example).  Again, it's these rare glimpses which make me positively ache for some kind of in-depth career retrospective/compendium of the beloved Lekker Four.

Media Watch: (one more) interview from last year

Because I didn't see any publicity via social media for this one I missed it when reporting on interviews for the Changes promotional cycle, but Trevor appeared on the Sound of the Movies podcast last year, which focuses on film scorers and others involved in the industry.  It's a wide-ranging interview dealing with the whole of his career, so there's not much long-time fans don't already know.

imposter syndrome

I've previously blogged regarding people pretending to be Trevor on social media and it looks like there's another one now on Instagram - the account @tcryes.  I imagine this has already been discussed in some of the Facebook groups but as I'm not a member of any of those I only found out about it this week.

There's not much content - just a story linked and one post - but both of those things raise various red flags to me as well as any long-time die-hard fan who is familiar with Trevor's online presence and posting habits up to this point - a subject I have also covered/opined upon over the years.

In support of this impression I thought I would list my reasons as to why I am asserting this account is fake; and I certainly welcome any views/feedback/insight via email as to why someone might think I'm wrong or lacking particular information.  But I really do think it's fairly obvious.

The name: I honestly do not believe Trevor would name an Instagram account in that fashion, as I would imagine he'd be able to obtain a verified account as a public figure/celebrity in the same way he did for Facebook and Twitter.

Frequency of social media engagement: Most of us are fully aware that Trevor has not posted on Facebook (his primary venue for the aforementioned activity) in over two years now.  So why would he now create an Instagram account and start a podcast?  As someone who spoke with him over the past year, I can verify Trevor is focused on finishing his new solo album and even if he were to start another project or hobby, I honestly can't believe it would involve podcasting.  It's true that a lot of people are getting into podcasting - both as an acknowledgment of its' popularity as well as the way in which the online world has been impacted by the pandemic - but given Trevor's existing relationship to social media overall I would say he would be one of the least likely people to do this.

Bio: That bio is just...weird.  The whole thing.  I could break down every detail but I would hope it wouldn't be necessary for the people who read this blog.  But especially linking 90125 on Spotify because although Trevor has promoted his own work he's never been a shill for it.  If he was going to link anything in his bio it would likely be the Sharespace website he announced back in 2018.

Additionally, I will say that the choice of the user icon is the only likely thing which might be considered legit.

The story: as noted there is an story linked - we've seen details of Trevor and Shelley's house over the years via various sources and I really don't think that's it.  But I will say I believe that they do celebrate secular Christmas so it's not the presence of a Christmas tree which is the tell, so to speak.

The post: This is really the bait, of course, though to what end exactly I couldn't say. But I have not been able to find actual evidence of this alleged podcast anywhere, even beyond the outlets listed in the post.  There is a podcast with that name, but created by someone else.

I address these comments to "Trevor" in reaction to parts of the text:

-1- Behind the scenes producing our album "Close to the edge"

Uh...do you mean the 1972 Yes album Close To The Edge which you were not involved with at all?

-2- Episode 1 is joined with a good friend and film writer John Grey, John and I worked closely on one of my first film appearances in The Glimmer Man.

That guy you've got pictured there, that's director John Gray.  I mean, if it was someone you valued you'd want to get their name correct, right?  But also, the real Trevor wouldn't necessarily want to devote an entire podcast episode to that movie - and I know this because I've discussed it with him on two separate occasions and I know what he thinks of it.

In summation...it was fairly easy to debunk this for anyone, not just me, and I imagine there's other fans who've done just that in the two weeks since this account appeared.  I just feel bad for anyone who might have thought this was genuine.  As we know, if Trevor desires to give any update on social media he's going to post to his Facebook page (which will automatically crosspost to his Twitter account) and although I think many of us would love it if he decided to create his own podcast, I really don't see it happening.  And that's okay too, even if his current non-presence means that certain bad actors with parasocial fixations/lack of boundaries are attempting to fill the void.