Peter Banks

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Peter Banks (born July 15, 1947 in Barnet , Hertfordshire , † March 7, 2013 in London as Peter William Brockbanks ) was a British rock guitarist.

Early career

Peter Banks and Chris Squire played in a band called The Syn , which released two singles by 1967.

In 1968 Banks played for a short time in the band Neat Change , with whom he also recorded a single.

After Squire had joined his friend Clive Bailey in his band Mabel Greer's Toy Shop , Banks also played in this band for a period. Banks left the band. Meanwhile singer Jon Anderson and drummer Bill Bruford joined the group, and after Bailey left, keyboardist Tony Kaye also joined the band. Banks also came back and the band took on a new name suggested by Banks: Yes .

Career with Yes

Atlantic Records signed the band in 1969 and their debut album Yes was released. The next year they worked on a new album ( Time And A Word ). Anderson and Squire decided that the band would be accompanied by an orchestra , much to the displeasure of Banks, whose guitar parts more and more disappeared from the recordings or were overlaid note by note. After the album was released, Banks left the band and was replaced by Steve Howe (previously on Tomorrow ). On the promotional film clips that came out shortly afterwards, Banks can be heard playing, but Steve Howe can be seen. Steve Howe was also featured on the US cover of the album, which was also used for the later CD edition.

Work with other bands

After Banks left Yes behind, he played briefly with Blodwyn Pig in 1970 and was a guest studio musician on an album by Chris Harwood . In 1971 he formed the band Flash , which recorded three respected albums by 1973: Flash , In the Can and Out of Our Hands .

In 1973, shortly after the release of the last Flash album, Banks released his first solo album Two Sides of Peter Banks , on which a number of well-known guest musicians can be found: bassist John Wetton , drummer Phil Collins , guitarist Steve Hackett and fellow Flash players Jan Akkerman , Ray Bennett and Mike Hough .

Banks subsequently recorded three albums under the band name Empire together with his then wife and a few other musicians until 1980, but they were not released until the mid-1990s. Banks also continued to work as a studio musician.

In 1993 Banks brought out his second solo album Instinct , the exclusively instrumental pieces were recorded entirely by himself. On his next solo album Only Self Contained (1995) he was only supported by one keyboardist.

In 1997, Banks was primarily responsible for the release of a double live CD entitled Something's Coming (US title: Beyond and Before ) from the early recordings of the band Yes. He also released a live album by the band Flash, Psychosync . Banks contributed a new version of Astral Traveler to the Yes tribute album Tales From Yesterday in 1995 . Banks was again more active as a studio musician before he released his fourth solo album Reduction in 1999, which was kept in the style of Instinct and Self Contained . In 2000 he compiled the album Can I Play You Something? , the old, partly never released material from the bands The Syn , Mabel's Greer Toyshop , and Yes .

Recent work

In 1998, Banks performed with Geoff Downes at the “Yestival” (a festival for Yes fans in which various ex-Yes musicians play). The idea that arose there to bring Peter Banks to Asia was discarded a little later. Banks also performed with the Yes tribute band Fragile and also worked with Oliver Wakeman (son of Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman ) on his albums Jabberwocky (2000) and Hound of the Baskervilles (2002).

For a short time, Banks was a member of the reunited band The Syn .

Banks also formed a new improvisational band called Harmony in Diversity with Andrew Booker and Nick Cottam . They played a short tour in England in March 2006.

death

Banks died unexpectedly of heart failure in 2013 at the age of 65.

Autobiography

In 2002, Banks, in collaboration with the ghostwriter Billy James, presented his autobiography Beyond and before - The Formative Years of Yes , which, contrary to the title suggests, is not only dedicated to Yes's early years , but to Banks' entire career.

Discography

With Yes
see Yes

solo

  • Two Sides of Peter Banks , 1973
  • Instinct , 1994
  • Self Contained , 1995
  • Reduction , 1997
  • Peter Banks: Can I Play You Something? 1999

With The Syn

  • Created by Clive , 1967 [single]
  • 14 Hour Technicolor Dream , 1967 [single]
  • various artists: The Psychedelic Scene
  • various artists: The Freakbeat Scene
  • various artists: Rubble Collection 3
  • various artists: Nuggets II , 2001
  • Original Syn, 2004 / Original Syn 1965-2004 , 2005

With flash

  • Small Beginnings , 1972 [single]
  • Flash , 1972
  • In the Can , 1973
  • Watch Your Step , 1973 [single]
  • Out of Our Hands , 1973
  • Psychosync , 1997
  • Ray Bennett: Angels and Ghosts

With Empire

  • Empire: Mark I.
  • Empire: Mark II
  • Empire: Mark III
  • The Complete Recordings , 2017

With Harmony in Diversity

  • Trying , 2006
  • The Complete Recordings , 2018

With David Cross

  • Crossover , 2020

Compilations

  • various artists: Affirmative: The Yes Solo Family Album , 1993

Guest appearances

  • Chris Harwood : Nice to Meet Miss Christine , 1970
  • various artists: Tales from Yesterdays , 1995
  • various artistis: Encores, Legends, and Paradox, A Tribute To The Music of ELP , 1999
  • Clive Nolan & Oliver Wakeman : Jabberwocky
  • Clive Nolan & Oliver Wakeman: The Hound of the Baskervilles
  • Michelle Young : Marked for Madness
  • Funky Monkey : Come Together People of Funk
  • Funky Monkey : Join Us in Tomorrow , 2002
  • various artists: Return to the Dark Side of the Moon , 2006

literature

  • Peter Banks, Billy James: Beyond and before - The Formative Years of Yes . Bentonville 2002, ISBN 0-9710493-1-9 (softcover), ISBN 0-9710493-0-0 (hardcover with or without CD). Autobiography.

A comprehensive bibliography on Yes can be found on the pages of the Progressive Rock Bibliography , an English-language but German website.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary ( memento of the original from June 12, 2013 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / psychosync.info
  2. ^ Peter Banks, Original Yes Guitarist, Dead at 65 . Retrieved June 4, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Banks, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brockbanks, Peter William (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British rock guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Barnet , Hertfordshire
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 2013
Place of death London