Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans! 

I really started out to celebrate this day with a good degree of optimism and good will...BUT....
I have to say i'm dismayed by the number of people who use this day as an opportunity to essentially crap on their country...posting derogatory memes that paint the USA as some kind of dysfunctional aberration. This is a shame, because we have some things we can really celebrate and be proud of in America.

We started with a really well thought out, but admittedly imperfect, democracy 239 years ago. Since then we have abolished slavery and championed equal rights for everyone. It has been slow in coming....but it has been progressive and inevitable. As Americans, we realize perhaps not entirely individually, but as a whole, that freedom must be the right of all people, regardless of faith, ethnicity, age, color or gender. We set out to do this in the beginning, and we are accomplishing it.

We have been leaders in science, education, medicine and technology. Our inventions and discoveries have made the world a better place. We were the first to set foot on another world. 

That's not to say that we haven't done things we should not be proud of. The list of our sins is somewhat longer than we should expect from a country that praises itself as a leader in liberty, democracy and morality. It's a good thing to criticize America and point out where we went wrong...informed criticism actually makes us stronger.

But today is not the day to trash America for its shortcomings. It's a day to celebrate our accomplishments. Tomorrow we can roll up our sleeves and work to make things better...to fix what doesn't work and improve what does.

Today, let's celebrate our Independence Day!

Chris Squire

The world of Progressive music has lost a true pioneer, innovator and a great artist recently; Chris Squire passed away on 27 June 2015 at the age of 67. The band YES has had a huge influence on me over the past 45 years. I felt the need to put this into words somehow....so, here we go....

Although i listened to and was aware of music all my life, my first major musical influence was The Beatles. From the first two chords of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" i was hooked. Here was a sound so unique, so captivating that i literally couldn't resist it. Beatlemania itself was secondary to that incredible sound. Four guys playing in a way that i had never considered possible. After they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show i knew i wanted to be a drummer...music had called me. When The Beatles broke up i didn't know what to do. I had relied on their creativity and diversity for inspiration. Although i listened to and played other music, few of the other bands "did it" for me.

One night my friend Fred (the guitar player in our band) stopped over my house. He said, "Ya gotta hear this music!" He dragged me (not much of an effort was required...there was nuthin' else to do) over to Mike Gallo's house (Mike was the bass player for our band "The Marauders" and later "The National Tube Pipe Co."). We knocked on his door and Fred said, "Ya gotta let Phil hear that music"......So we went up to Mike's room and he put on the vinyl of The YES Album. After about two bars of "I've Seen All Good People" i was really interested...by the end of "Yours Is No Disgrace" i had found my new Beatles.
This was really something that caught my ear....It wasn't simply more loud blues-based rock...it was totally fresh, new and inventive. YES seemed to me at the time to be the next logical musical step after The Beatles. 

When i thought about it, it had all of the essential elements. Clear high vocals (devoid of shouting and screaming) and great harmonies, poetic and thoughtful lyrics, truly creative guitar parts, high tech keyboards, drumming i had never conceived of....and bass playing that went (like Paul) far beyond just keeping the beat and playing "in the pocket". 
Like The Beatles, every album had a different sound and feel. You were always full of anticipation for the next one. When different members came and went, it made this even more pronounced...and the new players were always great musicians with unique sounds. 

YES has taken a lot of criticism from the R&R establishment. Some called them "pretentious"...others claimed the music was impossible to dance to...or that the general public (non musicians) couldn't appreciate it. But their continued success and popularity proved this to be wrong. If any band belongs in the R&R Hall of Fame, it's YES...with all of its members.

I thank Fred and Mike for turnin' me on to them, and YES...and Chris...for all the years of wonderful music!

This is Homeworld from the album The Ladder. It's one of my favourite tracks by them. As a science fiction fan i spent untold hours playing Homeworld, the video game. It was the best of both worlds...Great music and immersive science fiction...what could be better?