The former Yes lead vocalist and long-time creative force in modern music has been working on a new song for a year. On Oct. 25, his 67th birthday, he'll release "Open" as a digital download. On Oct. 29 he'll be playing the Tropicana Atlantic City with Rick Wakeman.
Rick Wakeman (left) and Jon Anderson will perform at the Tropicana in Atlantic City on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011.
UPDATE: 10/24/11: Jon Anderson is a man of his word. His brand new, exclusive digital download "Open," which Atlantic City Weekly broke the news about in September, is going to be available on Oct. 25, his 67th birthday. He plays the Tropicana with Rick Wakeman on Oct. 29.
ATLANTIC CITY — Jon Anderson, one of the most recognizable voices in classic rock as the long-time lead singer and songwriter with the progressive-rock group Yes — and as a member of numerous incarnations of bands with many of the same members of Yes, in addition to other artists such as Kitaro — is giving himself a birthday present for his upcoming 67th birthday on Oct. 25.
Anderson, who spoke with Atlantic City Weekly on Thursday, Sept. 29, from his home in central California, where he has a cottage recording studio, is about to embark on a tour with sometime Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.
The pair's tour of the U.S. and Canada will stop in Atlantic City at the Tropicana on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Four days before the Atlantic City date, Anderson, who recently wrapped a successful tour of the East Coast, dubbed “An Acoustic Evening with Jon Anderson," will release a brand-new song called "Open."
The song, which Anderson has been working tirelessly on for several months, will only be available as a digital download — at least upon its initial worldwide release on Oct. 25, Anderson's birthday.
"I'm releasing a 20-minute work on my birthday," Anderson tells Atlantic City Weekly, "on the 25th of October. I'm just finishing that up now. It's called 'Open,' and you're the first person [from the media] I've spoken to about it, so — exclusive!"
Anderson says he composed the song in 2010 and since then has had neighbors, friends, colleagues and musicians from just about everywhere help him construct the piece.
"Last summer I was with the young teenagers from the Paul Green School of Rock on Long Island, and they just did a tweak here, a piano part there, and this and that and that was sounding great, so they helped. And then I brought in other people a couple months ago. Then I started singing it and I thought, 'OK, I think it's getting ready to be finished now.'"
Anderson worked on "Open" between a couple successful tours. Since getting off the road from his latest acoustic tour, he says he has been able to hone in and put the final touches on the song, which is actually 21 minutes long to be exact.
In June of this year, Anderson released a new solo album, filled with 11 new compositions and entitled Survival & Other Stories.
Anderson suffered serious health issues in 2008, which put a halt to his busy work schedule. For decades he had been the driving force behind Yes, but in recent years the band has continued with a new lead singer.
Anderson says he doesn't hold any grudges, and is just happy to be creating music.
The song "Open," he says, is in "what you would call the Yes classic style of music. That's what I did for 35 years. And I would always go in with these crazy and wild ideas with Yes [to] try big pieces of music, [teling the other band members}: 'don't be afraid,' and [meanwhile] the record companies and managers are all tearing their hair out."
Anderson has always felt very strongly that music is a powerful medium.
"We shouldn't have to stop short at three minutes and thirty seconds simply because [a song] is not able to be played on the radio," says Anderson. "You should always create music for what it is — and that's what I do."
Music, says Anderson, is art — not a commercial product.
Alan White: “We’ve also got a lot of stalwart fans who I’m sure include people who have seen Yes shows 50 or 60 times. I had a guy come up to me at the start of this tour and tell me ‘This is my 80th show.’ I thought, oh my God, you’ve got to get a life, guy.”
A comprehensive listing of entertainment coming to the Atlantic City casinos, Boardwalk Hall and Bader Field.
Last March, members of the British progressive rock band Yes announced plans to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary with its first North American tour in five years. The tour was to feature the gro...
Jon Anderson has one of the most recognizable and memorable voices in rock 'n' roll. His soaring falsetto, whether with his band Yes or in one of his many side projects, has always made for a captivating musical presence. For the first time since 1982, Anderson is touring as a solo act, and fans in Atlantic City will have a rare opportunity to see the performer singing a more intimate set at Trump Marina. Whether wailing away over epic rock jams, spacing out to New Age soundscapes or going rootsy with Celtic traditional music, Jon Anderson has made consistent and significant contributions over four decades of music. Entitled the Work in Progress Tour, this outing takes Anderson on a worldwide solo tour and is every bit a one-man show. A variety of the instruments will be hooked up to an electronic system that will cue animations, films, lights and other images. There is a method to this madness however, as the visual elements reflect Anderson's appreciation of Chakra color healing, an ancient Indian healing system based on vision. He will be performing hits from all eras of his career - as a solo artist, with Yes, and with such collaborators...
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1. Paul John said... on Sep 29, 2011 at 09:22PM
“21 minutes - that's about the shelf life of a pop singer these days!!”
2. Anonymous said... on Sep 29, 2011 at 09:45PM
“Come talk about the new tune at...
www.yesfans.com”
3. Anonymous said... on Sep 29, 2011 at 09:46PM
“www.yesfans.com”
4. Bill Agy said... on Oct 24, 2011 at 12:13PM
“$8.99 for one song?”
5. Jeff S said... on Oct 24, 2011 at 03:35PM
“Are you going to download the track?”