Tony Kaye (musician)
Encyclopedia
Tony Kaye is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

.

Kaye was the original keyboard player for the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 group Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

 from 1968 to 1971, and rejoined Yes from 1983 to 1995. Between his stints with Yes, he was also a founding member of the 1970s rock bands Flash
Flash (band)
-Flash:Flash was an English progressive rock group, formed by former Yes guitarist Peter Banks and vocalist Colin Carter in August 1971. Bassist Ray Bennett and drummer Mike Hough completed the line-up....

, Badger
Badger (band)
-One Live Badger:The band was co-founded by keyboardist Tony Kaye after he left Yes, with David Foster. Foster had been in The Warriors with Jon Anderson before Anderson co-founded Yes. Foster later worked with the band on Time and a Word...

, and Detective
Detective (band)
Detective was an American/English rock band that toured and recorded in the late 1970s. Detective consisted of vocalist Michael Des Barres, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Bobby Pickett, ex-Yes organist Tony Kaye, and drummer Jon Hyde...

, and joined Badfinger
Badfinger
Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...

 for their last album in 1981. Kaye currently plays with Circa, which also features former Yes member Billy Sherwood
Billy Sherwood
William "Billy" Wyman Sherwood is a musician, record producer, and engineer.-Family:Sherwood comes from a musical family which includes his father Bobby Sherwood, who was an actor, musician, and big band leader, his mother Phyllis, a singer and drummer, and brother Michael, a keyboardist and...

, and formerly included Yes drummer Alan White
Alan White (Yes drummer)
Alan White is an English rock drummer known for his work with the progressive rock band Yes. White was also a member of the Plastic Ono Band, playing live in 1969 at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, which was recorded and released three months later as Live Peace in Toronto 1969...

; and with Yoso
Yoso
Yoso is a melodic rock/progressive rock supergroup combining former members of Yes and Toto...

, again with Sherwood, and former Toto
Toto (band)
Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...

 lead vocalist Bobby Kimball
Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy "Bobby" Kimball is an American singer, best known as the longtime frontman of the rock band Toto.- Early life:...

.

Early years

Kaye was only four years old when he started to receive piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 lessons. At twelve he started to play in local concerts and he attended the London School of Music, aspiring to be a concert piano player. Later on, when Kaye was fifteen, he discovered he preferred the music of both the Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...

 and modern jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 as well as the modern youthful sounds of the Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...

 days. He played in one jazz band when he was still a schoolboy and at 15 he joined the Danny Rogers Orchestra. Three years later he abandoned his classical music lessons completely.

Yes

During the 1960s he played with Johnny Taylor's Star Combo and later recorded a handful of singles with at least three different rock groups (The Federals, Jimmy Winston & His Reflections a.k.a. Winston's Fumbs and Bittersweet; during 1967 he was on tour with French singer Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...

 too) before being invited by Chris Squire
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...

 (at this time with Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...

 and Peter Banks
Peter Banks
Peter Banks is an English guitarist. He was the original guitarist of the progressive rock band Yes.-Early career:When Banks was a young boy, his father bought him an acoustic guitar...

 in the Mabel Greer's Toyshop) to join the future "Yes" in 1968. The original line-up of Yes featured Kaye on keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

s, Peter Banks
Peter Banks
Peter Banks is an English guitarist. He was the original guitarist of the progressive rock band Yes.-Early career:When Banks was a young boy, his father bought him an acoustic guitar...

 on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, Chris Squire
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...

 on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

, Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...

 on vocals and Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...

 on drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s. They released two albums: Yes (1969) and Time and a Word
Time and a Word
Time and a Word is the second album by progressive rock band Yes, released in mid-1970 in the UK and November 1970 in the US. This was the last Yes album to feature the group's original line-up, as Peter Banks was fired before the album's release....

(1970), and a few singles. In 1971, Yes released The Yes Album
The Yes Album
The Yes Album is the third studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released on Atlantic Records. It is the last record to feature keyboardist Tony Kaye until 1983, and the first to feature guitarist Steve Howe, who replaced Peter Banks in 1970...

with guitarist Steve Howe
Steve Howe (guitarist)
Stephen James "Steve" Howe is an English guitarist, known for his work with the progressive rock group Yes...

 replacing Banks. The opening track, titled "Yours Is No Disgrace", was the first song featuring Kaye as co-composer. But after a last concert that year at The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...

 in August 1971, Kaye was asked to leave the group. Kaye had rehearsed some songs that appeared on Fragile
Fragile (Yes album)
Fragile is the fourth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released on Atlantic Records. It is the first to feature keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who replaced Tony Kaye in 1971, and the first to feature cover art by Roger Dean, who would design many of the band's records.Upon its...

, such as "Heart of the Sunrise", with his keyboard parts being re-recorded by Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...

.

Other groups

While Yes went on with other keyboardists until 1981, Kaye went in and out of quite a few groups as well. In 1972, he joined ex-fellow Yes member Peter Banks on the (eponymously titled) first album by Flash. Shortly thereafter, he formed his own group: Badger, together with bassist David Foster, a sometime songwriter for Yes. Badger released only two albums: One Live Badger (1973, with co-production help from Jon Anderson) and White Lady (1974).

Kaye moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 in 1975. After a brief period touring with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

 during 1975-1976, Kaye joined Detective
Detective (band)
Detective was an American/English rock band that toured and recorded in the late 1970s. Detective consisted of vocalist Michael Des Barres, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Bobby Pickett, ex-Yes organist Tony Kaye, and drummer Jon Hyde...

, releasing two albums: Detective (1977) and It Takes One To Know One (1977), as well as the promo-only Live From The Atlantic Studios (1978). Kaye then moved on to join Badfinger in 1979, playing on their 1979 tour and their 1981 album Say No More
Say No More (Badfinger album)
Say No More is the last studio album recorded by Badfinger that contained new material. Issued in January 1981 on Radio Records, the LP was the second and last attempt by Tom Evans and Joey Molland to recapture Badfinger's earlier market success, which was lost after the death of band founder Pete...

.

Kaye auditioned for the part of the Hammond player in the mock-documentary This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is an American 1984 rock musical mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap...

.

As Badfinger was going on hiatus, Kaye was making up his mind to record a solo album when he met Chris Squire
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...

, and was invited to join him in some free studio sessions. This encounter led to Kaye joining Cinema
Cinema (band)
Cinema yes were a short-lived band started in 1982 by former Yes members Alan White and Chris Squire, with guitarist Trevor Rabin. They had plans to release their debut album in 1983, and were working on a number of songs, most of which had been written by Rabin.Eventually, these musicians were...

, a new group formed by Squire, drummer Alan White and South African guitarist Trevor Rabin
Trevor Rabin
Trevor Charles Rabin is a South African born musician, best known as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British progressive rock band Yes from 1983–1994, and since then, as a film composer.- Early years :...

.

Reunion

Some sessions were produced by Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....

 and an album was prepared. In the final stages of production, the name Cinema was discarded and Yes was reborn. Kaye was absent for the latter part of the 90125
90125
-Yes:*Jon Anderson – lead vocals*Tony Kaye – keyboards*Trevor Rabin – guitars, additional keyboards, backing vocals*Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals*Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals- Studio personnel :...

recording sessions, so Rabin played all of the keyboards in the recorded songs. He was also absent in the video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (replaced by Eddie Jobson
Eddie Jobson
Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...

).

Kaye had left Yes and rejoined Badfinger for a tour in 1983, but elected to re-join Yes at the tour's conclusion in October. He therefore re-joined just before the release of 90125. The tour that followed ended in February 1985 in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. In January 1985 Yes played at the Rock in Rio
Rock in Rio
Rock in Rio is a series of music festivals held in three cities: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal and Madrid in Spain.Four incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001 and 2011, four in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, and two in Madrid in 2008 and 2010....

 festival in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. An EP, 9012Live
9012Live: The Solos
† – Recorded at Edmonton, Canada at Northlands Coliseum, 28 September 1984, as part of the soundtrack of the movie "9012Live"‡ – Recorded at Dortmund, Germany, 24 June 19849012Live: The Solos reached #44 in the UK...

and a couple of singles were released, but a video of the same name was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

.

1980s and 1990s

Big Generator
Big Generator
Big Generator is the twelfth studio album by progressive rock band Yes. It was released in 1987 on Atlantic Records' Atco subsidiary label and was the follow-up to the massively successful 90125 album.- History :...

(1987) was the next album, followed by a tour. During this time, Kaye committed to doing an album for Cinema Records, an electronic new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...

 label, but it was never released. In an interview with Keyboard Magazine
Keyboard Magazine
Keyboard Magazine is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, including those not strictly pertaining to the...

in 1991, Kaye stated that while he liked the material, he felt it really served only as background music needing a singer, and as such he abandoned the work.

In 1991, Yes's line-up exploded with three former members (Wakeman, Howe and Bruford) joining forces with the band's five-man lineup. They all toured together in 1991 and 1992, in a show called "Around the World in 80 Dates," with a revolving stage at the center of each venue. In 1994, Yes released Talk, Kaye's final album with them. Kaye only played the Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...

 on Talk, however the tour that followed saw him using a wide array of keyboards.

In late 1997, a live
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 of early Yes material, Something's Coming (UK) AKA Beyond and Before (US), was released.

Recent activity

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Kaye was largely retired from the music industry, although he did appear on a number of archival Yes releases, including The Word is Live. More recently, he has been involved with several projects, including a Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 tribute band called The Neil Deal and executive producing singer Daniela Torchia. Kaye has also been working extensively with former Yes colleague, Billy Sherwood. Kaye and other past and present Yes members appeared on three Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

 tribute albums. He is now in Circa and Yoso
Yoso
Yoso is a melodic rock/progressive rock supergroup combining former members of Yes and Toto...

 with Sherwood. In 2008, Kaye toured with Badfinger again, mostly in the Hippiefest concerts.

Personal life

Kaye was engaged to Chris Squire's stepdaughter, Carmen Squire, but he married singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Daniela Torchia. He began a series of small businesses apart from music. He has been involved in a number of legal actions against Brian Lane (Yes' former manager) and Yes over unpaid royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...

. Although living in the US for many years, Kaye has not become a US citizen.

Discography

  • 1969 : Yes (Yes)
  • 1970 : Time And A Word (Yes)
  • 1971 : The Yes Album (Yes)
  • 1972 : Flash (Flash)
  • 1973 : One Live Badger (Badger)
  • 1974 : White Lady (Badger)
  • 1974 : Yesterdays (Yes)
  • 1977 : Detective (Detective)
  • 1978 : It Takes One To Know One (Detective)
  • 1981 : Say No More (Badfinger)
  • 1983 : 90125 (Yes)
  • 1985 : 9012Live: The Solos (Yes)
  • 1987 : Big Generator (Yes)
  • 1991 : Union (Yes)
  • 1994 : Talk (Yes)
  • 1997 : Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969–1970 (UK) (Beyond And Before (US)) (Yes)
  • 1999 : Astral Traveller (Yes)
  • 2004 : (Re)Union (Yes)
  • 2005 : Original Syn : complète history of The Syn 1967 - 1969
  • 2007 : Circa: 2007 (Circa)
  • 2008 : Circa: Live (DVD)
  • 2009 : Circa: HQ (Circa)
  • 2009 : Circa: Overflow (Circa)
  • 2009 : Yoso (Yoso)
  • 2011 : featuring John Wetton
    John Wetton
    John Kenneth Wetton is an English bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He has been a professional musician since the late 1960s...

    on his LP Raised in Captivity: songs 6 The Human Condition, and 10 Don’t Misunderstand Me (July 1).

External links

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