I really enjoy the Band Geek YouTube channel. Richie and the band do amazing work. I recently found myself re-watching a bunch of videos there and landed on their version of the song Heart of the Sunrise by Yes. Amazing. The YouTube algorithm immediately offered me a look at the featured video. Wow.
My older brother introduced me to progressive rock when I was very young. I became a passionate fan of many of those groups, including Yes. I was fortunate enough to see them in concert 5 times during my formative years. The last time I saw them was in Park City, Utah, and I had a great seat. I have very strong memories from that night. The most striking to me was how much fun the band had playing their music. Jon Anderson actually made that comment in the middle of the show. He said, “I wish all of you could come up here and join us, this is so much fun.” Comically, Chris Squire came on stage at the beginning of the concert with a serious scowl on his face, but after a couple of songs, even he couldn’t hide the joy. What a presence that man had. He was very tall and made his Rickenbacker bass look relatively small. There is no doubt that he was one of the best bassists of all time.
This video shows a live performance of the song Heart of the Sunrise. This iteration of the band does not include Squire, but all the others from that period are there: Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford, and Howe. I will never get tired of Jon Anderson’s voice, and it was one that got better with age. When I was young, my ear was attracted to the keyboards and everything Rick Wakeman was doing. Now that I have converted to guitar, I am in awe of Steve Howe. There are many videos of this song, but I like this one the best.