Good Bye, Chris.

What an unpleasant surprise tonight when I learned Chris Squire died yesterday of leukemia.  He was 67.  Squire was the only consistent member of Yes from its formation in 1968 to his death, and was one of the most influential rock bass players of the 1970s.  In memoriam here are a couple of great examples of his playing with Yes.

 

Goodbye, Peter.

Original Yes guitarist Peter Banks has died.  He was 65, and apparently died of a heart attack.  Banks had played with Yes bassist Chris Squire in the bands The Syn and Mabel Greer's Toy Shop before the latter mutated into Yes, a name Banks came up with.  Although only supposed to be temporary the name stuck.  Banks appeared on the group''s self titled debut and the followup Time and a Word.  He and the rest of the band because increasingly at odds, and he was kicked out in 1970, to be replaced by Steve Howe.  Banks continued in the music business with the bands Flash and Empire during the '70s, along with several solo albums and various collaborations. 

In tribute, here is Yes's "Astral Traveller."

Just Because.

I'm linking to this for no other reason than that it's fun if you're a Yes fan.  They did a very good job in my opinion of adapting it to the videogame music genre.