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Rick Wakeman on His Proudest and Most Baffling Music
“People sometimes say prog rock’s too serious. No, it’s not!”
Wearing a flamboyant wizard’s cape and perched behind a bank of cutting-edge synthesizers, Wakeman blasted lore-heavy songs derived on Arthurian legends. At the height of Yes’s popularity, Wakeman left to release three enduring, chart-topping classics: the instrumental The Six Wives of Henry VIII, the Jules Verne–inspired Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and the most British of all concept albums, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. We recorded that in about half an hour, then David asked me to do some more piano playing on “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud” and “Memory of a Free Festival.” We became good mates and I came back for Hunky Dory.
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