Monday 17 March 2014

In Conversation With - Rick Wakeman

A very warm welcome to my first guest in my occasional series of music specials, Rick Wakeman.

Rick describes himself as a 'Musician, Perpetual Weight Loss Failure, Senior Railcard Holder and Grumpy Old Man'. Born in West London, Rick bought his first electronic keyboard at the age of 12 years. He studied the piano, clarinet, orchestration and modern music at the Royal College of Music. Rick joined the band Strawbs in 1969. In 1972 he joined the band Yes for the first time. He left the band in 1974 to go solo. He rejoined Yes in 1976 and stayed with the band until 1980. In 1989 Rick joined a new band, 'Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe'. He left this band in 1992. Rick rejoined Yes on two further occasions, in 1995-97 and 2002-09.
As well as working with bands, Rick also produced many solo albums, with his works including 'The Six Wives  of Henry VIII', 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' and 'The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'.

Here is progressive Rick...


In 2010 Rick was awarded the Spirit of Prog at the Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards and in 2012 he received a Fellowship at the Royal College of Music. As well as performing and producing, Rick also had a radio show, 'Rick's Place', on Planet Rock and he is now familiar to many as a regular on the BBC television series 'Grumpy Old Men'.

When I asked Rick to be my guest today, he did warn me that I would "undoubtedly get completely different answers tomorrow...and different the next day too".

Read on...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Liive At The Empire Pool
CD - £9.99

Live in Lincoln Cathedral
2CD - £7.99

Live At The Maltings
DVD/CD - £9.99

Caped Crusader- Rick Wakeman in the 1970's
Book - £14.99

Video Vaults
6DVD box - £85.00

Cirque Surreal 
CD - £7.99

Gole 
CD - £9.99

1984
CD - £9.99

Cost Of Living 
CD - £9.99

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