Click here to play the episodeYes were at their peak when they released their Close To The Edge album in 1972. This episode, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of what many consider to be the greatest Progressive Rock album of all time with a deep dive into the song “Siberian Khatru”.
“Siberian Khatru” (Jon Anderson; Themes by Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Rick Wakeman) Copyright 1972 Topographic Music Ltd
And if you enjoyed this episode, check out our previous episode on Yes:
lovethatsongpodcast.com/yes-owner-of-a-lonely-heart/
TRANSCRIPT:
You your passage on the river of time has brought you here to the next edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, one of the many stops along the Pantheon Podcast Network. My name is Brad Page, the host of the show, where we take a song and poke it and probe it together, in the hope that we get a better understanding of what makes a great song.
Now, if you go all the way back to the very beginning of this podcast, even before our first episode, in the introduction to the show, I laid out a few parameters. One of which was that I wasn’t going to cover much progressive rock, because the complexity and length of the songs were just outside the scope of this show. I didn’t want to be doing an hour and a half long marathon episodes, but I am going to make an exception this time… because this is a special occasion.
In September 1972, 50 years ago this month, yes released “Close To The Edge”, a monumental album in the history of progressive rock, and considered by many to be Yes’s greatest achievement. You could make an argument that “Close To The Edge” is the defining album of the Prog Rock era. So, in tribute to this milestone, put on your lab coats and those safety goggles, because on this episode, we’re going to delve into one of the three masterworks from this album. This is Yes, with “Siberian Khatru”.
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More band members have come and gone than I can keep track of, so we’re not going into an extensive band history here, but this is the brief backstory that gets us to this album. Yes formed in 1968 with John Anderson on vocals, Chris Squire on bass, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Kaye on keyboards, and Peter Banks on guitar. This original lineup released two albums, neither album having much impact on the charts.
The first big change happened in 1970, when Peter Banks left the band and was replaced by Steve Howe. Howe was a stellar guitarist, really versatile, and he brought a whole new dimension to the Yes sound. Howe had been paying his dues in and around London, and he was a member of the band Tomorrow, which released one of the seminal psychedelic tracks, a song called “My White Bicycle”, in 1967. Someday we’re going to talk about that song on this show.
This new lineup of Yes released “The Yes Album” in 1971. And this is where the band really found its footing and started sounding like the Yes that we know today.
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But there were more changes to come. Tony Kaye preferred to play piano & organ, but the band was eager to explore synthesizers and the Mellotron. So Kaye was out, and Rick Wakeman was in. Wakeman had made a name for himself playing keyboards with The Straubs, and he was doing a lot of session work, too. He played the piano on “Morning Has Broken” by Kat Stevens and “Get It On” by T Rex; he played the Mellotron on David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”. And that brilliant piano part on Bowie’s “Life on Mars”– That’s Rick Wakeman, too.
So it’s worth noting that at this point, Yes featured some of the most gifted musicians in the business. Steve Howe was quickly establishing himself as a guitarist to be reckoned with; Chris Squire was inspiring bass players around the world with his style and his sound; Bill Brewford was becoming a legend among drummers, and Rick Wakeman is one of the greatest keyboard players in rock history. And they were about to prove all of this on their next album.
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The album called “Fragile” was released in November 1971, and it was their breakthrough album. “Roundabout” and “Long Distance Runaround” would become hit singles and drive sales of this album, reaching number four on the Billboard album chart. It was also the first of many albums to feature Roger Dean’s iconic artwork.
So, what do you do to top an album like “Fragile”? You make “Close To The Edge”.
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By all accounts, making the “Close To The Edge” album was a difficult, painful process. Yes had developed an approach where they would work out songs, one small section at a time, and then record just that section. They would record these short bits one at a time and then edit them together. It was only after the recording and editing were finished that the band would go back and actually learn the complete song. So, we gotta stop and acknowledge producer Eddie Offord. Eddie was really like the 6th member of the band. He would produce over a half dozen of Yes’ albums. He also produced records for Emerson, Lake and Palmer too. He was behind the glass for some of Prog Rock’s most essential albums, and he certainly earned his pay on this record.
“Siberian Khatru”. Is it KAT-ru or Kat-TRUE? I’ve heard it pronounced both ways. At any rate, this song is credited to John Anderson, with themes by Anderson, Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman.
The song kicks off with a guitar riff by Steve Howe. That’s a perfect example of how he could blend rock, country and jazz all into his own signature style.
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There are multiple riffs and sections to this song. I’m going to refer to that one as the “country-fried” riff. That only lasts for about 10 seconds. And then we get to the main riff.
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This section is divided into three measures of four beats, and one measure of three beats. It’s a little easier to follow or count if you just listen to the acoustic guitar track.
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Let’s listen to this section again.
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Steve Howe is going to re-enter with a new guitar riff. This is really his main riff for the song.
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And here comes the riff for the verse.
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I love this part! The guitar and the organ are doubling each other on the riff.
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And Chris Squire is playing a really driving bass part.
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And Bill Bruford is just laying down a great groove on the drums.
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I just love the way it all comes together.
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Here’s where Jon Anderson’s vocals come in for the first verse:
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Anderson is overdubbed harmonizing with himself, as well as some backing vocals from Chris Squire and Steve Howe. Here’s Anderson’s part:
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All right, let’s talk about these lyrics. I think John Anderson is a great singer, he has such a pure voice. But as a lyricist, he’s not really my cup of tea. I like to be told a story. I like to hear the singer pour their heart out or make a statement. In general, I’m not a big fan of very abstract lyrics. And John Anderson’s lyrics can range from vague to downright impenetrable. Anderson himself has said that this song is, “just a lot of interesting words”. And he said before that he likes the sounds of words as much as their meaning. He also said that this song is about Siberia being so far away, such a remote place, and yet the people that live there still have the same experiences, they have the same wants and needs that we do. There is a bond that we all share, even in the most isolated places. So, it’s impressionistic, it’s open to interpretation, I get it. It’s just not my preference.
The lyrics don’t make any sense when you just read them on paper. But they do sound beautiful when John Anderson sings them with that voice.
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Here’s what I think of as the chorus.
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Okay, let’s take a closer look here, because there’s some great stuff going on. First, here’s what the guitar is doing.
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I love that. Now, here’s what the bass is doing
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And of course, the drums:
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There aren’t really any keyboard parts here, so let’s listen to the guitar, bass and drums together, without the vocals.
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And you can hear that there’s an acoustic guitar that comes in at the end there. Now let’s hear just the vocals.
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Now let’s hear all of that together again.
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Once you add the vocals, the whole feel of that section changes, right? Now, the next section features sort of a vocal round that happens, almost a chant. This idea will return later in the song.
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The main guitar riff returns and listen to what the bass is doing underneath it.
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Back to the verse. Let’s hear that bass lick again.
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Back to the verse
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And let’s hear a little bit more of that bass, the way it walks down the scale there.
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And this time around, let’s bring up the vocals.
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Let’s have a closer listen to what we were hearing there. This song is just throwing something new at you around every corner. First, let’s go back and listen to some of those guitar licks.
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Then there’s the vocal break. And that leads us into the next section, which features Steve Howe on an electric sitar. This isn’t an actual sitar, it’s a standard guitar that’s fitted with extra resonant strings and a special bridge to emulate that sitar sound. Let’s just hear that part.
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Let’s hear this section altogether:
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So far, Rick Wakeman has been laying low on the keyboards for a while, but now he gets to step forward on the harpsichord.
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Let’s hear just that harpsichord.
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And here’s what the bass and drums are doing to complement that.
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Let’s put that all back together the way we found it, and see how it sounds.
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And that transitions immediately into a new section featuring Steve Howe on steel guitar.
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Between the crying sound of the Steel Guitar and that deep echo, it really gives this part a ghostly air. Underneath that haunting sound, the bass and the drums are playing a pretty heavy part and totally locked in with each other. Let’s listen to that.
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Man, Bill Bruford and Chris Squire, just two masters of their instruments. Okay, once again, let’s put it all back together and hear this as one piece.
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And now Steve Howe is just going to let it rip with a good old fashioned guitar solo.
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And here’s what the bass, drums and keyboards are doing behind that:
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All right, let’s hear it all together.
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And then there’s a variation on the “country-fried” riff from the beginning.
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OK, Chris Squire is doing something interesting on bass here, he’s playing harmonics. Let’s listen to that.
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Here’s Rick Wakeman on the Mellotron
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…And back to the verse riff:
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Let’s listen again to how tightly locked in the guitars and keyboards are on that riff.
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Here, the chant we heard earlier returns, but this time it continues to escalate, becoming more intense, building for almost a minute and a half.
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The Mellotron adds to the drama.
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Bruford’s giving his snare drum a workout.
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The main guitar riff returns, this time doubled with a swirling effect on it in stereo. Legend had it that this sound was achieved by swinging a microphone around in a circle. But producer Eddie Offord said that they might have swung a microphone around at some point, but not for this track. The effect here was created using some pitch-shifting and an auto panning device.
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Now, as the song reaches its climax, we get to probably the most intense part of the song, as the main riff swirls underneath, the drums and the vocals come at you in sharp, staccato stabs
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That sounds almost random, but obviously not, as the voices and the drums are all perfectly in sync.
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OK, so we know the Yes methodology was to record a section at a time and edit them together. That transition there is the first time in this whole song that I can hear what sounds like an edit. The rest of the song flows pretty seamlessly, but that does feel like an edit point to me.
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Still, over the course of a nine-minute composition with God knows how many edits, pretty remarkable that only one stands out. Let’s pick it up from that point.
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Let’s hear more of Chris Squire’s bass.
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Wakeman is playing a couple of synthesizer parts in the background. Here’s one of them.
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And on top of all that, Steve Howe is playing a very jazz influenced solo. Check out Bruford’s drum fill there.
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“Siberian Khatru” by Yes.
Though their “Fragile” album would eventually sell more copies, “Close To The Edge” would be Yes’s highest charting album. Can you imagine there was a time when music this complex and adventurous could reach the top five? “Close to the Edge” has sold over a million copies.
Drummer Bill Bruford found the whole experience recording this album excruciatingly painful, and quit the band before the record was even released. Rick Wakeman would last one more album and then he left, too. Yes became a revolving door of members, coming and going. I can count at least 15 people who were in the band at some point, and I know that’s not a complete list. Chris Squire was the only person who was in every version of Yes and played on every album from the beginning, right up until his death in 2015. One of the greatest bass players in rock history.
Thankfully, at the time of this recording, the other players on this album, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and John Anderson. are still with us today. And producer Eddie offered he’s still alive and kicking, too.
Well, this has been the most challenging episode I’ve ever put together, and one of the longest, too. So, thanks for sticking with me. If you’re a Yes fan, I hope I did it justice. And if you’re not really a fan of Yes or Prague Rock in general, I hope this episode gave you some appreciation for the creativity, the vision and the amazing musicianship that goes into making a song like this.
Thank you for listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. New episodes are coming at you on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so I’ll be back soon with another show. You can find all of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com as well as on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, Amazon, wherever you can find podcasts, you’ll find us.
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Thanks again for joining me for this episode on “Siberian Khatru” by Yes.