Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher "Rick" Wakemanis an English keyboardist, songwriter, television and radio presenter, author, and actor. He is best known for being in the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004 and for his solo albums released in the 1970s...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth18 May 1949
brain constantly due enjoy good imagination life slept work
I've got an overactive brain. I enjoy work, I enjoy life, and I'm not good at relaxing. I've also never slept very much due to this overactive imagination and my brain constantly thinking.
album bed best centre choir concert crystal describe felt four left numb orchestra playing remember solo south yes
I had just left Yes and had done a concert at Crystal Palace, South London, with a choir and orchestra playing my solo album 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth' when I had my heart attack. That day, I hadn't been to bed for four days. I don't remember much. I felt very numb during the day and airy, which is the best way to describe it.
fine funny grumpy line
There's a fine line between angry and grumpy. Angry isn't nice, but grumpy is funny.
cut great
I cut out bread, I don't eat after 6 P.M., and I go on walks, and it's had a great effect.
yes
I am a Yes fan, ultimately. I've been a member of the band, but I was always a fan of the band first.
belonged bought found grass jockey pulled settle televised tropical watch
I bought a racehorse, Tropical Saint, that belonged to the Queen Mother. I used to go down to Banbury and watch him train, but during a televised race, his jockey pulled up and said there was something wrong. They put him in the grass to try and settle him but found him dead in the field.
although amount best choosing diverse quite
I have done quite a diverse amount of music, and some were not always of my choosing - although I always give it my best professional attention.
apparently brown eyes notice splash
My eyes are green, and in one of them there is a splash of brown - apparently it is not a colour, but a freckle! Sometimes I notice that one eyelid droops more than the other.
alan bass funny giant happened hilarious lived people player scene simply spinal
There are people who think the film 'This Is Spinal Tap' is simply a very funny 'mockumentary.' Well, with Yes, we lived it. Take the hilarious scene in the film in which the bass player is trapped in a giant pod - that actually happened to Alan one night.
ahead embrace happens industry less means money people record refused
But no, the record industry refused to embrace the idea and so what happens is, people just go ahead and do it anyway, which means there is less and less money going into the industry.
early musical stan television ukulele uncle
Sunday's were musical evenings, as we didn't have a television in the early fifties. My uncle Stan would come over and play the ukulele as well.
farther frustrated hardly music played playing
To play music, you have to understand it. I didn't understand 'Topographic Oceans.' That's why I hardly played on it. It frustrated me no end - and playing the whole thing on tour, I got farther and farther away from it.
band chalk cheese generally great rest touring yes
Touring with Yes was generally great fun, and I got on well with the rest of the guys, but we were like chalk and cheese in many respects. I was unique in the band as a card-carrying Conservative.
attempts develop developing early helped slowly style within worked
All my early attempts at writing helped me to slowly develop a style and a way of writing that worked within the way I was developing as a player.