1. Rick Wakeman

Rick Wakeman – The Six Wives of Henry VIII. At this point Rick Wakeman was mysterious and cool. The Progressive Aspect (TPA). Information about Rick Wakeman. The Six Wives of. The Six Wives of Henry VIII is undoubtedly a classic and should be listened to by Progressive. The Six Wives of Henry VIII, an Album by Rick Wakeman. Released in February 1973 on A&M (catalog no. SP-4361; Vinyl LP). Genres: Symphonic Prog, Progressive Rock.

. 'Catherine Parr'/'Anne Boleyn' Released: 23 March 1973 The Six Wives of Henry VIII is the first by the English keyboardist, released in January 1973 on. It is an instrumental album with its based on his interpretations of the musical characteristics of the of. After signing with A&M as a solo artist, Wakeman decided on the album's concept during a tour of the United States as a member of the rock band. As he read a book about the subject on his travels, melodies he had written the previous year came to him and were noted down.

Musicians from Yes and from, the group Wakeman was in prior to Yes, also play on the album. The Six Wives of Henry VIII received mostly positive reviews from critics.

It reached number 7 on the and number 30 on the in the United States. It was certified by the in 1975 for over 500,000 copies sold in the United States. In 2009, Wakeman performed the album in its entirety for the first time at as part of the 500th anniversary celebration of Henry's accession to the throne. The tracks were rearranged with sections, including a track dedicated to Henry himself, that were left off the original album due to the limited time available on a single vinyl.

The album was reissued in 2015 with a mix and bonus tracks. Contents. Background In August 1971, joined the band as a replacement to their original keyboardist. Towards the end of the year, he signed a five-album deal as a solo artist with. While touring the United States with Yes on their promote (1971), Wakeman was informed by his manager that A&M co-founder and executive wished to meet him at in Los Angeles. Moss wished for Wakeman to record a solo album and offered an advance of $12,500, around £4,000, to produce it which Wakeman accepted.

As part of his signing on fee, Wakeman received a from A&M which he claimed was once owned by and had it shipped to England. Wakeman chose it after the label asked him what he would want as a present and remembered he had seen the car in the building's parking lot. During the Fragile Tour, Wakeman bought four books at an airport bookstall in, including one about and his titled The Private Life of Henry VIII (1964) by Scottish writer. As he read about on the subsequent flight to Chicago, a theme he recorded in November 1971 ran through his mind which he wrote on some hand drawn and played during the sound check and the subsequent concert. Said Wakeman, 'I had been searching for a style to write in and suddenly I found it in writing music about these six ladies.I would concentrate on one of the wives and then music just came into my head and I would write it down. Sometimes I was flying, other times I was on stage, or just in front of the piano at home.

The six wives theme gave me the thread, the link, I needed to give me a reason for putting these pieces of music together.' He explains the album's concept further in its liner notes: 'The album is based around my interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII. Although the style may not always be in keeping with their individual history, it is my personal conception of their characters in relation to keyboard instruments.' Wakeman elaborated and wrote the music as if he was doing a, 'sketches of how I felt about them at the time'. Recording and music. The organ for 'Jane Seymour' was recorded at in London.

Recording took place in London at and between February and October 1972 during gaps in recording and touring with Yes. Seven musicians from Yes and, the group Wakeman performed with prior to Yes, perform on the record.

The album was to be titled Henry VIII and His Six Wives with a track dedicated for Henry himself, but Wakeman had recorded the tracks on the wives first and used up the available space on a vinyl. He decided to leave the Henry track and rename the album accordingly. The basis of 'Catherine of Aragon' was originally a piece that Wakeman wrote for Fragile with a working title of 'Handle With Care'. Its title came about as staff at Trident Studios recommended the tape's storage box be labelled something misleading to lower the risk of theft and the tapes being sold as bootlegs. The box that had the song's tape in had a label that read 'Handle with care for the Orchestra', which Wakeman took and adapted for the track's title.

'I thought, 'No one is going to nick that!' , and they didn't'.

Recorded at in London, the track features Yes's guitarist and bassist with percussionist. By the time production began on 'Catherine Howard', engineer was replaced by Paul Tregurtha. Strawbs member, who plays the bass guitar on the track, recalled the 'total confusion' during the recording and 'couldn't make head or tail of what we were doing. We were going through it part by part and I couldn't see how all the parts were going to match up.'

He noted that Rick 'knew exactly what he was going to do although he had nothing written down. It was all stored in his head.' Wakeman describes 'Anne of Cleves' as a 'rather free-form' track, 'almost having no form at all, there was a contradiction in what everyone was playing. The guys in the band thought I was completely barking, but it had to be like that.'

The organ on 'Jane Seymour' was recorded at church in London. 'I couldn't reproduce the sound I needed on an electronic organ, so we got permission to move the recording equipment into St Giles' said Wakeman. 'It was quite an experience playing a lovely instrument like that.' While recording 'Anne Boleyn' at, featuring Yes drummer, a dream Wakeman had about attending her execution caused him to include a version of ', the tune to the hymn 'The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended' written. Hopkins is credited on the album, the piece is generally attributed to Reverend Clement Scholefield. Wakeman also plays a rare made in the 1700s with reeds and wooden pipes, giving it a 'breathy' sound that he compared to someone's breath. When the album was finished, its final production cost had reached around £25,000.

Wakeman described working on it as 'difficult and cumbersome', but said the project was eventually a rewarding one. He was excited when it came to presenting the album to A&M management at their London office, which included a lawyer who represented the label's US division.

After the album was played in the office, Wakeman 'sensed that something was not right in the room. There was pretty much silence as it finished'. The lawyer thought it was a good work in progress and looked forward to hearing vocals added to the music, yet Wakeman explained that he wished to produce an instrumental keyboard album.

To make matters worse, Wakeman recalled the head of the label's UK division felt the album would be too difficult to sell, and another attendee estimated that around 50,000 copies had to be sold to become profitable. With little faith in the album, A&M pressed an initial 12,500 copies in hope of earning back their money. Wakeman summarised: 'I was absolutely deflated'.

The album's cover photograph was taken at the wax museum in London, where a figure of can be seen in the background as the curtain was not fully closed. Release and commercial performance To promote the album, Wakeman played excerpts from it on the television music show on 16 January 1973. Show producer Colin Strong and director Mike Appleton contacted A&M who got staffer Tony Burdfield to send them a copy, and liked the album which led to Wakeman being invited on the show. Wakeman brought along Cronk and Cousins to play the additional parts. Prior to recording they got drunk in the studio bar. An audience of around 10 million planned to watch a controversial film about American pop figure on, but was temporarily banned for screening. Wakeman recalled: 'It seems most of them, rather than watch repeats, switched over to Whistle Test and saw my preview of 'Henry'.and suddenly it seemed as if the whole country had discovered my music.it was a tremendous break'.

Rick Wakeman

Following the album's release on 23 January 1973, it topped the album charts in four countries. It entered the at number 12 before it climbed to its peak position of number 7 the following week on 3 March 1973, and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks during its initial run. The album reappeared on the chart for seven non-consecutive weeks in 1973 alone, and twice more in 1975. In February 2015, the album re-entered the UK chart for one week at number 86. In the United States, the album reached a peak of number 30 on chart for the week of 30 March 1973, during a 45-week stay on the chart.

By July 1973, the album had sold 300,000 copies. In the following year, Wakeman was presented a platinum disc at the for sales exceeding two million. On 20 October 1975, the album was certified by the for 500,000 copies sold in the United States. Wakeman claimed the sales figure grew to six million five years after its release. Modern reports indicate the album has sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide.

Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating (favourable) The album received a mixed reaction from music critics upon release. Though the album was seen by some as one of the worst examples of the progressive rock genre, the record was well received by others. Magazine named it one of the best pop albums of 1973, describing the album as 'an astonishing classic-rock hybrid'.

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Steve Apple wrote a review for in 1973, noting Wakeman had 'made his bid for 's place as the master of keyboard electronics' but thought his playing suffered a little in technique. Apple noticed 'a brilliant feel for tasteful impressionistic composition', having made 'an exceptionally interesting instrumental album with superb production'. He also praised the production and mixing, and picked 'Catherine Howard' as the album's best track. Henry Mendoza reviewed the album for and noted that despite the album's 'interesting format' and its 'excellent showcase' for Wakeman's keyboard skills, Mendoza thought the music sounded too much the same and was 'monotonous and boring'.

Printed a very positive review from Peter J. Barsocchini, who thought the album is 'something just short of amazing' and 'a supremely textured work which transcends most of the finest keyboard work being done in pop music today'. He loosely compared the music to that of progressive rock band, and mentioned Wakeman's 'lyrical' and 'deep, vast sound'. In a retrospective review, Mike DeGange of described Wakeman's use of his synthesizers as 'masterful' and 'instrumentally stunning', and rated the album 4.5 out of 5. Live performance Excerpts from the album were first performed during Wakeman's solo spots on Yes's from 1971–1972.

A recording of his solo was included on the band's first live album (1973) titled 'Excerpts from 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII', as well as their same-titled (1975) and the box set (2015). 'When the opportunity came to re-score all these pieces for Hampton Court suddenly, there was no time limit. There were no rules and regulations about how the music had to be. And I could go back, revisit them, keep all of the elements that there were originally, and add the other little elements that could never be there.' Rick Wakeman In 1973, Wakeman wrote a letter asking to perform the album live. He was denied permission, and 'got the impression that what he had asked was tantamount to treason'.

A full performance of the album was never held until he was asked to perform it in its entirety for the 500th anniversary to Henry's accession to the throne, 36 years after the album's release. A stage was constructed outside the main palace entrance to seat 5,000 people. Wakeman performed with his band The English Rock Ensemble, the and the Orchestra Europa, on 1 and 2 May 2009. Featured in the setlist was 'Defender of the Faith', the track Wakeman wrote about Henry before it was omitted from the album due to time constraints. The shows were released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray titled on 5 October that year.

Track listing All tracks written by Wakeman. 'Anne Boleyn' incorporates ' written by Rev. Clement Cotteril Scholefield arr. Title Length 1. 'Catherine of Aragon' 3:44 2. 'Anne of Cleves' 7:53 3.

'Catherine Howard' 6:35 Side two No. Title Length 1. 'Jane Seymour' 4:46 2. 'Anne Boleyn ' 6:32 3. 'Catherine Parr' 7:06 2015 Deluxe Edition bonus tracks No. Title Length 7.

'Catherine of Aragon (First Mix )' 3:48 8. 'Anne Boleyn 'The Day Thou Gavest Lord Hath Ended' (Single Edit)' 3:13 9. 'Catherine Parr (Single Edit)' 3:41 Chart performance. Charts Chart Peak position (1973) 7 Australia (1973) 9 (1973) 12 (1973) 17 (1973) 30 (1975) 21 (2015) 86 Certifications Date Country Certification Certified units/Sales 1975 United States Gold 500,000 1974 MIDEM Festival Platinum 2,000,000 Personnel Credits are adapted from the album's sleeve notes. Music. – 2 synthesisers, 2 400-D (one for vocals, sound effects and vibes; the other for brass, strings and flutes), custom, 9', custom-built, and, synthesiser, Thomas Goff harpsichord, church organ at, Additional musicians.

^ The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Media notes). Wakeman, Rick. This Is Money. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2010. ^ Wooding, p.

Retrieved 12 January 2010. The Village Voice. 29 March 1973. Retrieved 27 June 2016. Wakeman, Rick (15 February 2015). Retrieved 2 September 2017.

^ Wooding, p. ^ Behind the Scenes with Rick from The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace DVD. 5 October 2009.

Eagle Vision. Wooding, pp. ^ Wooding, p. ^ Wooding, p. ^ Pavia, Will (7 February 2009).

Retrieved 8 May 2010. Wooding, pp. Christiansen, Rupert (22 September 2007). The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 June 2010. ^ Campbell, Mary (17 July 1973). York Daily Record.

Retrieved 6 August 2017. ^ Wooding, p.

^ The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace DVD insert booklet. October 2009. Accessed April 3, 2011. ^ Wakeman, p. Wooding, p. ^ Wooding, p.

Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.

Archived from on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2010. Mike DeGagne., sputnikmusic.com, Retrieved February 15, 2014. ^ Apple, Steve (21 June 1973). Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

Time Magazine. 31 December 1973.

Retrieved 21 June 2010. Wooding, p. Retrieved 12 January 2010. Mendoza, Henry (8 April 1973). The San Bernardino County Sun.

Retrieved 6 August 2017. Barsocchini, Peter J. (28 April 1973).

San Mateo County Times. Retrieved 6 August 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2010. Evans, Jim (14 May 2009). Retrieved 10 April 2011. ^ Snider, p.

Retrieved 19 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.

Books. Kirkman, Jon (2016). Yes: Dialogue.

Stereo33 Books. Snider, Charles (2008).

The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive Rock. Strawberry Bricks. Wakeman, Rick (1995).

An Autobiography. Hodder & Stoughton. Wooding, Dan (1978). Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader. Granada Publishing Limited.