A TRIBUTE TO PETER BANKS

Peter Banks, original guitarist for progressive rock legends Yes, has passed away, confirms former band member Billy Sherwood. Banks, 65, played on the first two albums by Yes, suggested the name and even created the band’s first logo. He was the initial Yes member to be fired, starting a long string of ugly departures, and he is now the first to pass.

“As a Yes fan, this is sad news indeed,” Sherwood said, via Facebook. “It was an honor to work with Peter on many productions. He will be missed.”

Banks was part of both Yes’ 1969 eponymous debut and the 1970 follow up Time and a Word, having first played with stalwart bassist Chris Squire when they were in the Syn — a precursor to Yes, it turns out, in more ways than one.

“When I joined Syn I inherited the Rickenbacker which belonged to the previous guitar player, John Painter,” Banksonce said. “I remember feeling bad about that and it was a bit strange. I actually went to see some Syn gigs with John Painter playing that Rickenbacker guitar and then they got rid of him and I came in. Other bands would do the same thing, particularly Yes, they’ve kind of used people and then when they’d found somebody better they would just say: ‘OK, we’re getting rid of you.’”

[SOMETHING ELSE! REWIND: 2011's 'Endless Journey' by ANT-BEE gave us one of our last chances to witness the underrated Peter Banks, and the underrated stylist made good on the opportunity.]

Banks would split with Yes just before its breakthrough release, 1971′s The Yes Album, replaced by Steve Howe. Banks later formed Flash (which briefly featured former Yes bandmate Tony Kaye), issuing three albums under that moniker through 1973.

By then, Banks had moved on to a jazz-rock outfit called Zox and the Radar Boys, which featured Phil Collins of Genesis. Banks’ debut as a leader, called Two Sides of Peter Banks, included Collins, John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson) and Steve Hackett (Genesis, GTR). Banks would eventually issue five solo albums, with the latest being 1999′s Can I Play You Something — which focused on pre-Yes recordings from 1964 through 1968, including music from the Syn and even an early version of the Yes track “Beyond and Before.”

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