The Original YES ‘Close To The Edge’ Crystal Palace Bowl Show Poster, 2 September 1972
by David Watkinson
Much will be written about in the classic rock press this year, on the ground-breaking progressive rock album, Close To The Edge. But this area of classic YES memorabilia won’t be written about, so I aim to put that right with this special piece.
I am relentless in collecting memorabilia, and this persistence pays when off when some gems come my way. I loved adding this key piece of YES memorabilia to the collection and now with the upcoming UK tour on the horizon, I think it is time to share it and talk about this rare item and the important day to which it is linked.
The first live performance of ‘Close to the Edge’ was a very important concert for YES and one that gave us many firsts for the band.
It was the first live debut of this iconic album, which was performed at the south London venue called the Crystal Palace Bowl.
It was the grand first outing of what is often voted to be the greatest Progressive Rock album of all time. With Bill Bruford having moved to King Crimson, the UK audience was presented with one of the most important members to have ever played for YES, drummer Alan White. Alan had played with Yes in America for around twenty gigs but had officially only been with YES for a few weeks at this stage, before ‘Edge’ was shared.
Another ‘first’ was the hugely important addition of the key artwork presented, in the form of a new Yes logo. This momentous event gave us one of the most recognisable logos in music history, the all-time classic YES logo by Roger Dean.
It was at this stage that YES moved forward, with the best sound system on the market with an expensive purchase and constant upgrades on up-to-date technologies, to enhance YES live in any way possible.
We also had the beginnings of touring memorabilia such as stickers and T-Shirts. These Dean logoed items were handed out to the crew and family members, all sponsored by Atlantic Records. YES, in collaborating with Rogers Dean’s otherworldly artwork, found a perfect match with the music from the band.
Back to the venue: the ‘Bowl’ as it became known, was quite unlike any other in the UK at that time, it featured the outdoors half-circle canopy (now nicknamed the ‘laptop’, due to its current squared design) with grassy grounds and trees all around, in what is known as an English Garden Landscape.
YES had played at the ‘Bowl’ in 1971 when they supported Rory Gallagher, and the headline act Elton John. YES made quite an impact on the audience and music journalists such, as Richard Greene, whose article in the New Musical Express at the time said, ‘Once on stage, YES push music, not egos, and the result is total captivation of the audience. YES are a very tasty band.’
The unique selling point of the venue was the addition, in front of the stage, of an ornamental lake, where many odd things occurred: cavorting members of the audience, high-flying fans smoking interesting substances, naked dancing, Keith Moon being a pirate on a boat on one occasion and Rick Wakeman having inflatable dinosaur-wars on the water, which ended with deflation.
As YES fans know, the making of ‘Edge’ was a lengthy, complicated, intricate, tiring yet ultimately totally fulfilling process. The final recording, the band knew was special. But just how special, would take some time to realise. But to get to that final vinyl ending (and before the performance to the crowds) YES went crazy in the studio. Below we have a press cutting and an album review by the legendary author Chris Welch, a long time YES supporter, which takes us to the heart of the recording process and the stress involved.
Jan Onderson, Total Mass Return or Puke!
The making of a masterwork was not easy! Read on, as the band go slightly mad, as they produce an iconic album. Below Chris Welch takes us through a great section of an interview.
Adverts and reviews for the show popped up in the music press pages of the day, usually the Melody Maker and Sounds, as these popular publications sang the praises of new rock bands like YES. They became hugely important mouthpieces for YES, with Chris Welch of the Melody Maker writing many features promoting the band. YES, had moved rapidly ahead with this album and it was time to share it with the world.
The three press adverts for the show in the UK, usually taken from one of the three key music newspapers, Melody Maker, New Musical Express or Sounds, with all of these from the Melody Maker. It’s interesting to see the small differences in them all, as they progress through the month up to the show date.
YES were on the way up in the fan recognition stakes with the Melody Maker Poll Awards in 1972 showing YES coming 7th in the Group section and 4th for Jon Anderson in the Male Singer section.
The following reviews and photos come from the music press of the day and the YES song books released, which include the ‘Bowl’ concert images. Three versions of the songbook came out, one came with the 14-minute 7-inch vinyl interview record, 33 ⅓ RPM, maxi-single, promo, and the same book was produced with a plastic flexi disc/soundsheet, on the EAV-TONE label. The YESsongs song book in 1973 also had twenty-four pages of photographs of the Crystal Palace Bowl concert.
In the images, it is interesting to see the record executives, Roger Dean, road crew and a few policemen! These may be the first images of the crossover time from the original logo to the Dean classic logo. If you look carefully, you can see both styles embodied in the patches and stickers.
Some of the best photographs of the events are captured by Roger Dean and Doming-Hamilton in the pages from the songbook. Depicting classic images from that heady day, including family shots mixed with backstage and live photographs. It shows a lively, hectic yet purposeful vision of the young YES build up to the performance on stage to a large crowd on a summer’s evening.
The Poster
The early YES posters are becoming very rare and collectable. This one is both those things, as it is likely to be the only one left from that date.
An incredibly rare, genuine, large original poster from the outside of the iconic London Crystal Palace Bowl (Garden Party) gig, featuring YES for the first time at the top of the bill. Nothing mentioned regarding CTTE or Alan, but still a striking image.
To the acquisition story then: I acquired it from a record shop owner in south London, and she explained how she obtained it.
“Just to let you know that the original owner of your CTTE poster was in the shop today and we asked him how he came by it. He was also a local record shop owner and had kept it folded and stored from the day he picked it up outside the venue.
He said he been to see a Genesis gig the night before, which he remembers cost him 70p, and had tickets for YES at Crystal Palace Bowl gig the next day.”
“On his way home from Genesis he saw this poster at Richmond Circus roundabout. It had started to peel and was hanging off the billboard, so he helped to finish the job and has kept it ever since! I hope you don’t mind that it was somewhat ill-gotten – but at least it gives you some history.”
As you can see, the lucky moment of foresight means we can now all benefit from it and see such memorabilia even if we have waited fifty years!
The line-ups of Lindisfarne, the well-known folk band would have been popular and a perennial favourite of Jon Anderson and Steve Howe, the Mahavishnu Orchestra supported for the first time in the UK, along with Wright’s Wonderwheel (Gary Wright ‘Dream Weaver’ hit single, who would support YES a few years later on tour) and the band Capability Brown.
The legendary UK compere and DJ, John Peel was on the microphone, which is ironic really, as the BBC DJ was later completely negative about the excesses of the whole progressive rock genre.
YES, supplied their newly acquired sound system, which had some issues early in the gig, but picked up as the show progressed. All the days entertainment for a ticket price of £1.50, which now sounds incredible value.
The poster still has stunning colours all round with vivid contrasting blue and neon orange. Likely to be the only one left, especially in this size from September 2nd, 1972. It has some ageing and folds, parts missing, but it is in lovely condition and now framed.
Interestingly, it will be one of the last posters for YES with a non-Roger Dean designed logo. It was at this show that the classic Dean logos are shown on the album cover and some merchandise for the first time.
The now regular events held at the ‘Bowl’ were successful with big audiences attracted, YES were no longer the support band down the bill as in a previous year, but out-front top of the bill, in what was the ‘Garden Party V’.
The poster measures a huge 101 x 75 centimetres or 39-inch x 29-inch and presents extremely well. It has been folded and stored away from 1972, so it is astonishing it looks this good fifty years later.
Having collected YES memorabilia for decades, I would say the key to success is persistence above all other traits. One can still be surprised and delighted at what has been hidden away either in lofts or drawers or even inside an album cover, surprisingly reappearing many decades later. Real gems like these should be seen in the flesh of course just like Roger Dean’s paintings, as they take on another level when in front of you. The joy never fades in finding a lost item, so, keep looking, and keep YESsing.
Click here to read more of David’s articles & essays on YEShistory.