Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Extended Play Lounge (Episode 19)
Added 2022-05-05 14:37:44 +0000 UTCI'm pleased to present our latest Extended Play Lounge, featuring the 1973 solo album from Rick Wakeman (most notably of Yes) called The Six Wives of Henry VIII. This one comes from our recommendations portal, brought to you by your upvotes. I was completely unaware of this recording, and this was a true first reaction for me. And, I LOVED the album. Rick's music is smart, sophisticated, and well-performed! I hope you enjoy.
Unlisted Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/706394986/609d7d6334
Comments
interesting thoughts Adie!
Trevor Cotterell
2024-09-16 22:50:22 +0000 UTCHugely Enjoyable Episode, thanks. I've always thought of this album as heavily programatic beyond just portaying the wives, and that you have to know the history in depth to get the references (and I don't know enough of that history to really 'get it'). e.g.: 1. One little reference at the end of the album (which I note but don't really understand) is the quotation from the folk tune Johnny is My Darling. Seems like this is a jokey reference, but to what? Is it to evoke the 'Charlie is My Darling' (the original version) combination of romance and politics, as being the theme running through the whole of the history of Henry's marriages? Or is it to Catherine Parr's approach to her marriage to Henry (pragmatic for her, sentimental for him)? 2. The end of Catherine Howard, which Doug commented on. The tune that fades to the end is simple and innocent, which I think references the naive Catherine, and it comes just after the harmony goes darker - the sudden change of her world when her 'indiscretions' are revealed to Henry and his infatuation bubble is burst. I hear the ceasation of harmonic backing as her sudden death. 3. The huge portamento in Jane Seymour - is this a reference to the birth of his longed for son and heir? Is the use of church organ referring to the marriage to Jane Seymour being approved by God, so that he could have his son? Doug references the religeous politics of the time, and since the politics was a major factor in some of the marriages, that has to be right to include for context. Other factors are the personalities of the wives, the motivations for the marriages, and the personal motivations of Henry. I think these illuminate the pieces too. RW himself said that the pieces represent the characters of the wives, but I think that the characters, the circumstances and the events all blur together in the pieces, as per the examples above. I know I can be accused of reading in too deeply - but it is openly programmatic, and I guess invites this kind of speculation. Doug pointed that the pieces are not in the order of the marriages. I can't decrypt the order, but I note that in the correct historical order, the first side would be 15 mins and the second side would be 21 mins, while the sides are roughly the same length using the chosen order. Enough of me spouting! Once again, an episode of BTS got be re-enthused about a much loved album. Hence my little essay!! 🙂
Adie
2024-02-11 12:11:02 +0000 UTCI became a Patreon member to check this episode out. Many thanks, Doug! One of my favourite albums.
Si
2023-01-07 20:51:05 +0000 UTCHis Cardiff gig was April 1976 when he was touring No Earthly Connection. Some really tight drumming on that tour, thanks to the brilliant Tony Fernandez. And "Catherine Howard" has snippets of "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin which tore the houses down!
Si
2023-01-07 20:50:25 +0000 UTC1975? I have a DVD of Rick live in concert in "Sydney Myer Concert Bowl in Melbourne" with the Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra. Journey plus some tracks off Six Wives and Arthur. Must have been the same tour, surely? Can't believe he went to Australia too often. I saw him in 1974 in Cardiff. He was touring with his English Rock Ensemble. Mostly did the Arthur songs in that performance.
Robert Pugh
2023-01-05 12:02:47 +0000 UTCThanks for this analysis, Doug. Would you please also consider analyzing some of Keith Emerson’s solo work? He has made some great music with an excellent guitarist named Marc Bonilla. One song based on a portion of Holst’s The Planets entitled Marche Train is especially great IMO. Cheers!
Gerard Dion
2022-06-12 08:24:23 +0000 UTCKeeping in mind Rick was 24 years old when making this album!
Rhesus Perplexus
2022-05-24 04:57:18 +0000 UTCThanks for this Doug. I saw Rick perform these (along with his Journey to the Centre of the Earth) as a teenager in Sydney in the mid 70s. He was like a Gandalf of the keyboards with his height and flowing white cape and hair. Great memories!
S M
2022-05-22 11:02:02 +0000 UTCSome other golden Rick Wakeman are his BBC Watchdog clips, especially his ones on Popcorn ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwYLIUhrqrM ) or Loyalty Programs ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-CehmuK3u8 )
Rick Morse
2022-05-15 00:59:19 +0000 UTCOn Discord > Recommendations Thread
Arrow2theACL
2022-05-13 19:35:51 +0000 UTCWhere can I find the recommendations portal?
Marc La Porte
2022-05-12 17:01:19 +0000 UTCI first saw Rick from the front row in Bristol England, staring up at his trousers and so his movement around the keyboards. I could not see Yes' drummer. Around the same period, Rick appeared on TV's Old Grey Whistle Test to find my parent's friends who saw the same programme to be genuinely shocked at his ability to switch key boards, playing his 'rig' as if it were one piano. Rick was the first person do do this, by the way. Now it is common for several keyboards to happen simultaneously. I bought this album on its first day, to listen to it on a mono type of box which my family owned. The sound was much like a radio play where there individuality of the instruments and phases of the music shrinks. Later, after a summer job I bought a proper stereo to put it in my cupboard and relay the speakers on the side of my room. Now, I listen on headphones. I have seen Rick Wakemen many times and have had the privilege of speaking with him and corresponding. For me, he is a reason why this period of music is the most profound of the last few hundred years. It is interesting that Rick was steeped in classical training whereas David Gilmour cannot read music. The above comment says there are many notes. Yes, there are. Like much prog rock, it takes a while to disseminate. Rick was a great friend of Jon Lord ( they composed and played together) and Keith Emerson. He and Keith wrote an album together which was never recorded, of which Rick still has the score. Thanks Doug for playing this.
Andrew Wingham
2022-05-09 19:59:23 +0000 UTCHis second album Journey to the Centre of the earth was recorded live including full orchestra and choir. He also did a live version of the six wives at Hampton Court (Henrys Palace) on the anniversary of his ascension to the throne with orchestra and choir and including the missing track Henry. The music is based on the wives personality not their history.
Terence colin Shortman
2022-05-09 16:59:14 +0000 UTCI can't say, I didn't like it, but too many notes for me. In Yes he is not in front all the time, and that's cool. But now he is always 'the person in charge', and that makes the listening experience quite irritating. Nobody can't say, that the man is brilliant musician and composer but...huhhuh!
Harri Hietajärvi
2022-05-09 10:23:05 +0000 UTCOn the Jayne Seymour comments around rock/pop/church organ - have folks heard the Sky version of Bach's Tocctta in Fugue?
Geoff Budd
2022-05-08 22:48:34 +0000 UTCOK - briefest summary of Henry VII's wives I can find is from the IMDB page on the 1972 BBC Drama - but seems to work! - "On his deathbed Tudor-king Henry VIII remembers his long reign and especially the crucial part his six marriages played in it, without producing the male heir he desired most to prevent civil wars for the succession as England suffered before his father's ascent. His first queen, Spanish princess Kathryn of Aragon, had one fatal flaw: her children died, except daughter Mary, so he pressed Rome for an annulment, and when that failed out went cardinal Wolsey as chief minister and Henry made himself head of the Church of England instead of the papacy and married Anne Boleyn. When she too failed to produce a male heir [and amid allegations of infidelity], just princess Elisabeth, he had her head roll for 'infidelity'. The third queen, gentle Jane Seymour, died giving birth to sickly prince Edward. For diplomatic reasons Henry married minor princess Anne of Cleves, whose utter lack of female charms causes another annulment and the fall of Thomas Cromwell, who recommended her. Fifth is the lovely Catherine Howard, cousin of Anne Boleyn, but again childless and found to have been carnal with servants before and after her royal marriage, so also decapitated. Finally Catherine Parr, a young widow, stands at his deathbed.
Geoff Budd
2022-05-08 22:23:33 +0000 UTCLoved this, thanks Doug. Now, Journey to the Centre of the Earth? Myths and Legends...? Criminal Record...? (please! organ included) The Red Planet? To many to choose from I guess. Rick is a great raconteur - it would be great if you can get an interview with him on the channel sometime.
Les Mable
2022-05-08 12:30:37 +0000 UTCReal time notes while listening to the Six Wives EPL: I must be more used to listening to the live Excerpts version from YesSongs than to the actual studio recording, because what felt like a slower intro at the start of the album really took me by surprise. I know Wakeman plays multiple keyboards with both hands at the same time, much like Keith Emerson did, when playing live. So, he’s capable of playing two different keyboards at once, especially monophonic key instruments. But, with the capability to overdub and concentrate on one layer at a time in the studio, I wouldn’t be surprised if each keyboard instrument was overdubbed. But, it isn’t necessarily the case. I would suggest listening to, or watching a video of, the live Excerpts when you can to hear how he layers these parts live. Alan White joined Yes in 1972. Six Wives was recorded from February to October 1972, so Wakeman asking both Bruford and White to play on the album is not surprising. Movie soundtracks? Still looking forward to Koyaanisqatsi by Philip Glass…
Illume Eltanin
2022-05-08 01:32:09 +0000 UTCEtudes are typically for developing technique, so I wouldn’t use that term here. I think they’re simply movements within a large piece. The piece could be called (classically) a concerto, since it really features the keyboard instruments throughout.
R. Douglas Helvering
2022-05-07 14:27:32 +0000 UTCI must agree. While I very much enjoy the other albums, No Earthly Connection does have a special place in my heart/mind. I remember my album came with a special piece of stiff mylar that you had to tape into a cylinder of a particular diameter, and then place it at the right point on the album cover to get an image in the circular reflection. Impressive at the time.
Great Scott
2022-05-07 06:43:29 +0000 UTC@Doug - you should also listen to other mainly instrumental 70’s concept album. 1) Heaven & Hell by Vangelis, the choir plus Jon Anderson’s song are unbelievable, the collaboration with Jon was a spring board for a successful string of charting singles etc. 2) Hamburger Concerto by Focus, it will blow your mind and has a lot of Baroque influences 3) Incantations by Mike Oldfield, the choir and vocals by Sally Oldfield are amazing and the running theme of Diana the Huntress including Hiawatha are inspired.
Itsfun2listen
2022-05-06 17:23:09 +0000 UTCThis EPL episode was wonderful. No more comments needed.
Eusebio R-Z
2022-05-06 05:15:41 +0000 UTCThanks for giving Rick a ride (which is something akin to a Rick-roll); he was very prolific during the 70's (while still holding his own with Yes); it doesn't get a lot of "love", but probably my favorite from this early period is No Earthly Connection - it's a little more song-oriented, but his melodies are so strong and the performances with the English Rock Ensemble (aye, it's a wee bit pretentious) are really good. Thanks again and keep 'em coming!
Steve MacArthur
2022-05-06 00:48:00 +0000 UTClove the whole album and then comes Catherine Parr and just mindblown. Let me know how much it would take to do extended play of "Journey" and I will find it from somewhere :)
Steeleye 2112
2022-05-06 00:28:48 +0000 UTCHave not seen the BBC series, but does not write or play this for the original movie with Keith Mitchel
Newt
2022-05-05 22:42:35 +0000 UTCThank you for this, Doug. I have been hoping for a Wakeman solo reaction since first discovering your channel. So happy this won the poll, and it did not disappoint. I've always considered his Criminal Record (1977) to be two sides of the same coin along with Six Wives. If you like his pipe organ stuff, "Judias Iscariot" is a must listen. And "Chamber of Horrors" is just amazing. Possibly containing my favorite Chris Squire bass playing.
Evan Marshall
2022-05-05 22:32:07 +0000 UTCHey Doug. Just a heads up about all the political intirgue leading to beheadings/annullments. One, Henry had a strong libido and was often flirting as king when a young girl caught his fancy. Second, a few of his marriages were for poltiical convenience (and he never fell in love with them). Third, there was always some advisor or counselor behind the scenes (e.g., Thomas Cromwell) hoping to empower England as a Great Power against Spain, France, etc. As you mentioned, when you add the Reformation into the mix, it was a volatile time for royal marriages. Hope that helps.
Allen
2022-05-05 21:36:01 +0000 UTCAs I understand it, the best the Beatles had were 4 track recorders which they had to keep remixing on to overdub. It was probably around this time that they had the first 8 and 16 track recorders, 16 tracks on 2 inch wide tape at 7.5 or 15 IPS (inches per second). Made it easier to overdub.
Great Scott
2022-05-05 21:34:30 +0000 UTCThanks Doug, for reminding me why I owned this LP 3 times and ultimately gave them all away. Some inspired work here, but the mash up never really worked for me.
Jim Reeves
2022-05-05 21:09:03 +0000 UTCDoug, I Have always loved this album. So many fun surprises and musical nuggets to uncover. For your own musical benefit (and on your own time), you MUST listen to Rick's solo on the YESSONGS album, where he uses many of these themes as launching pads into other styles. - Buffalo Fred
Fred Beaulieu
2022-05-05 19:26:34 +0000 UTCQuestion for you, Doug: Would these pieces constitute Etudes, or is there some other Classical terminology which would describe them?
Dave Cohen
2022-05-05 18:46:45 +0000 UTCWas truly hoping for this one, after seeing your reactions to his organ playing on Close to the Edge and others!
Tudor Simionescu
2022-05-05 18:37:56 +0000 UTCYes, he just kept marrying and divorcing them in search of one who could bear him a son. He had three children, all of whom held the throne at some point: Mary I, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I. The only one who turned out to be worth a damn was Elizabeth, of course, one of England's most able and worthy rulers. I have always loved his ending "Anne Boleyn" with the tune ST CLEMENT, one of my favorite Evening hymns.
Matthew Weber
2022-05-05 18:22:56 +0000 UTCA fun listen, and guided journey through this album. I haven't heard this all the way through since the album first came out. I always got hung up on the first few tracks, and rarely progressed farther. Fun fact: Bassist Dave Wintour also worked with the British 'jazz-rock' group "If", and appears on the original Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack (along with two Procol Harum members) on the tune 'Dammit Janet'.
Peter Tutak
2022-05-05 18:10:41 +0000 UTCJust realised you haven't quite got the whole context to this Doug - these pieces were commissioned by the BBC to accompany the series "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", in which the actor Keith Michell played Henry VIII from start to finish. It came out in about 1973, from what I recall - I was in secondary school at the time and they were shown to us at school by our history teacher, who I was later to find out was a prog fan!
Chris Ramsbottom
2022-05-05 18:00:09 +0000 UTChis Grumpy tours are great... lots of great music and humor.
Juan Ignacio Quesada
2022-05-05 17:52:55 +0000 UTCIf ever you get the chance to interview him Doug, do so. He is absolutely hilarious! And if you go and see him, you will thoroughly enjoy yourself as a classically trained keyboard player. I've seen him 3 times solo and once with the English Rock Ensemble now, his gigs are a real treat!
Chris Ramsbottom
2022-05-05 17:40:33 +0000 UTCWhenever you have a chance, take a listen to some kids tunes arranged by Rick, like Twinkle twinkle little star, Humpty Dumpty and some others. Fascinating what he's done with them
Juan Ignacio Quesada
2022-05-05 17:36:18 +0000 UTCI had forgotten the similarities to Rick’s riffs in “Anne of Cleves” and “The Ancient” by Yes…
Randy Hammill
2022-05-05 17:20:53 +0000 UTCCatherine Howard ain't a-gunna wind up in no Smokey and the Bandit, methinkums. The rest of it was more reflective of her soul, so far as I conceive it to be. Maybe someone was holding a mirror up to Henry during that hillbilly section. He had to be an asshole.
MrWondrous David Beckwith
2022-05-05 16:23:53 +0000 UTCRick is always interesting and technically first class! I hope you get to Red Planet, his latest, some really good old school style work. As a side note, for my electronic fabrication class back in the 70's, I built an ARP synth. All analog with patches to modules, no keyboard and that is why on the 2nd piece there is some quirky stuff. He's using the same style synth by fiddling with the wave forms and using a few mod knobs to find the pitch and modulation on the fly ... fun time for me in my life! He may have even used an oscilloscope like I had to!
Stop Propaganda
2022-05-05 16:22:59 +0000 UTCwhen he plays live he quite often is playing one keyboard with the left hand and another with the right hand. He was also classically trained at the royal college of music.
Terence colin Shortman
2022-05-05 15:29:56 +0000 UTCLooking forward to this. The album graced my first apartment, along with the other Prog to-be-classics. Now that I know more about the wives, I might better appreciate the nuances, and maybe even a few oldances. Back later.
MrWondrous David Beckwith
2022-05-05 15:28:05 +0000 UTCThis album is by far his best, and is my favourite albums list. Looking forward to listening in over the weekend, thought you would appreciate the content and excellent execution of the pieces. Rick has fond memories of this album, it’s also never needed to be remastered due to the performance and production
Itsfun2listen
2022-05-05 15:12:25 +0000 UTCI was already a Yes fan when this came out and snapped it up at once. Then I played it almost to death. I came away with the impression that Wakeman had a soft spot for the executed wives as their pieces seemed more delicately beautiful than the others. I also noticed that when he drops into that groove on Anne of Cleves, it sounds like he's quoting the Hollies 'Bus Stop' which really doesn't mean anything, but I hear theme. Catherine Howard was always my favorite of the pieces. Wakeman as a composer is fascinating. I think his ability to latch onto a story is marvelous! Much of Henry's motivation had to do with the need for a male heir. Both Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard faced accusations of infidelity and worse which led to their executions. It is said that Henry was so disappointed with Anne of Cleves ugliness that he could barely stand to keep her for long. Apparently the portrait he was given was misleading. One final extraneous note: if you are interested in hearing a composer use synthesizers to emulate voices, check out the recordings of Isao Tomita who reproduces classical orchestral pieces on keyboards.
Randy Gibson
2022-05-05 15:10:46 +0000 UTCMy favorite of his is a toss up between this and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. That album is absolutely amazing. I listen to both of them so much.
Noah Hallman
2022-05-05 14:55:40 +0000 UTC
