Prog masters pay tribute to the genius of John Lennon
To mark John Lennon's 80th Birthday on 9th October, YES are releasing IMAGINE as the first single to be taken from The Royal Affair Tour Live From Las Vegas album which is released on 30th October. The track was recorded in Las Vegas on the final night of the YES tour in 2019. YES were joined onstage by John Lodge of the Moody Blues who joins Jon Davison on guest vocals for the track.
Alan White was a founder member of The Plastic Ono Band with John and Yoko, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann - Phil Spector produced the album. The Lennon estate gave YES permission to show footage of the recording of Imagine when they performed the song on The Royal Affair Tour last year.
YES are Steve Howe (guitars), Alan White (drums), Geoff Downes (Keyboards), Jon Davison (Vocals) and Billy Sherwood (Bass).
The track was recorded at the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas during the encore on the final night of their 2019 US Royal Affair Tour and will be included on The Royal Affair Tour Live From Las Vegas album due for release on 30th October 2020.
John Lennon would have celebrated his 80th birthday on 9th October 2020. As one of the creative forces in The Beatles, John Lennon remains one of the most influential musicians of all time and Imagine is one his best-loved songs. It was recorded in May 1971, after The Beatles’ split, in Lennon’s studio at his home in Berkshire and featured soon-to-be YES drummer Alan White who was a member of Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band ensemble.
YES first covered a Beatles track on their eponymous debut album and chose to include Imagine in their set for the Royal Affair Tour in recognition of Alan White’s part in this iconic recording, almost 50 years before. As YES played Imagine, a film was shown behind the band of John Lennon recording the song in his studio with George Harrison, Klaus Voormann and a very youthful Alan White. “They put a special film together with footage from that time. We played Imagine on the Yes tour, and they’d run it behind me. The first time I saw it, I turned around and went, ‘Who the hell is that guy?!’” Alan laughed.
YES are Steve Howe (guitar), Alan White (drums), Geoff Downes (keyboards), vocalist Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood (bass/vocals) with additional drums by Jay Schellen. For the final night of the Royal Affair Tour, YES were joined by John Lodge of The Moody Blues for the encore of Imagine, the recorded version, on which he shared the vocals with Jon Davison.
Recorded live at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel, Friday 26th July 2019, The Royal Affair Tour, Live From Las Vegas was mixed by Billy Sherwood and is released by BMG Records. Customers who order via the YES Store will receive their albums on 2nd October with the album on general release from 30th October.
For customers purchasing a download or physical copy of The Royal Affair Tour Live From Las Vegas album from 2nd October Imagine is available to download and stream.
The Royal Affair Tour – Live From Las Vegas track listing:
1. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
2. Tempus Fugit
3. Going For The One
4. I’ve Seen All Good People
5. Siberian Khatru
6. Onward
7. America
8. Imagine
9. Roundabout
10. Starship Trooper
For half a century YES have been one of the most innovative, influential and best-loved bands in rock music history and consistently at the fore-front of the progressive rock movement. Formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson and the late, and much-missed, Chris Squire, their 1970s albums The Yes Album, Fragile, Close To The Edge, the triple live album set Yessongs, Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Going For The One were ground-breaking in musical style and content. Their music also became synonymous with artist Roger Dean whose distinctive YES logo design and artwork adorned the lavish gatefold presentation sleeves of many YES albums.
With sales of over 50 million records, the Grammy-award winning YES were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017.
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