Rick Wakeman looks back on his life in music, from 'Henry VIII' to Yes and David Bowie

He launched his solo career in spectacular fashion in 1973 with "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," an instrumental concept album whose individual pieces were based on his interpretations of the title characters. 

Two years later, a third solo album explored "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table," complete with an opening track called "Arthur" that the BBC used as the theme to election night coverage for more than a decade.

In 2017, he took his rightful place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes. 

And yet, when Rick Wakeman was told that Queen Elizabeth II planned to recognize him as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) at last year's Birthday Honours, the quintessentially British keyboard legend thought they must be joking.

"When I got the phone call, I thought it was one of my friends," he recalls, with a laugh.

"It was only when they called back that I realized that it was for real. I was really surprised and very honored. It is quite amazing. I didn't think they give things like that to people like me."

Rick Wakeman on what to expect on tour

Long before he'd sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide of "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," Wakeman took a crucial step toward one day being honored by the Queen when he quit his studies at the Royal College of Music to devote himself to full-time session work. 

The details of those sessions, from Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" to classic tracks by David Bowie, Lou Reed, Elton John and more, are among the anecdotes he'll likely share when The Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour! hits Phoenix on Wednesday, March 2. 

"I tell stories between each of the pieces I play," he says. "Some of the stories are related to the pieces. Others have no relation at all except that they all start with a little modicum of truth."

One of his earlier sessions was adding the Mellotron part to David Bowie's breakthrough hit, "Space Oddity."

He got the call while in rehearsals with a 17-piece band in a ballroom 40 miles outside of London.

It was Tony Visconti asking him to come to Trident Studios in London, where Gus Dudgeon was producing Bowie's record.

As Wakeman recalls, "He said, 'They want to put Mellotron on it and they're having difficulty keeping it in tune. I know because of what we did together on the Junior's Eyes album, 'Battersea Power Station' that you're one of the only people that can keep a Mellotron in tune."

Wakeman explained to Visconti that it was a two-and-a-half-hour drive.

"He said, "It doesn't matter. We'll wait,'" Wakeman says. "So I drove up to London."

After nailing the Mellotron part, he was invited by Bowie to play piano on another session.

"So a few weeks later, I went in and did 'Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud' and 'Memory of a Free Festival,'" Wakeman says. "That led to a very long and happy relationship."

Wakeman on working with David Bowie

Writing parts that worked on Bowie's songs came naturally to Wakeman.

"When David played me a song on acoustic guitar, I already knew what he wanted piano-wise," he says. "So there was very little spoken about the piece because I did tune into his music very easily."

He did ask Bowie what he wanted him to play on "Life on Mars?," a highlight of the "Hunky Dory" album.

"He said, 'You know how I want you to play it,'" Wakeman says. "I said, 'I don't. That's why I'm asking you.' He said, 'Well, you know how you want to play it, so play it.'"

Wakeman played it how he thought it should be played. 

"And David said, 'There you go — that's how to play it,'" he says, with a laugh.

"Hunky Dory" was the highlight of the keyboard player's session years.  

"I remember sitting in his house at the piano while he played me all of the songs that he was gonna put on 'Hunky Dory,' everyone being a winner," Wakeman says. 

"And instinctively, I knew what he was after. Same with Mick Ronson. Mick knew exactly what he wanted guitar-wise. So did Woody and Trevor on bass and drums. They knew what David wanted. He didn't have to tell them."

The ups and downs of studio work

Wakeman figures he did about 2,000 sessions over a five-year period. And they were definitely not all up to "Hunky Dory" standards.

"I'll be honest with you," Wakeman says.

"A lot of sessions, I did sit there and wonder 'Who on Earth put the money up to record this rubbish? Are they off their heads?' But even those, I tried to do the best I could."

After doing some sessions for Strawbs in 1969, he joined the folk-rock group in April 1970.

"I loved playing with them," Wakeman says. "It was great fun to do."

After maybe a year and a half as a "full proper member," he quit.

"John Ford and Richard Hudson, two lovely guys in the band, wanted to introduce pop songs into the Strawbs format," Wakeman says.

"I just felt 'This is going in the wrong direction.' And I thought, 'I'm off.'"

Shortly after leaving Strawbs, he got another phone call, this one asking if he might be interested in joining Yes.

How Wakeman got involved with Yes

They'd seen each other play at a concert in the north of England, where Strawbs opening for Yes.

"After we played, I stayed behind and listened to this set, which I thoroughly enjoyed," he says. "Because it was so different from what any other rock band was doing. In every single way."

Years later, he was told that Yes had shown up early to that concert to see Wakeman play with Strawbs.

"I had said in some interviews what I wanted to do, which was to go more down the orchestral, progressive-rock road, which is exactly what they wanted to do," he says.  

It was a perfect fit. Until it wasn't. 

"Yes is a strange band," Wakeman says.

"Is everybody always comfortable with the music? No, Yes is never a band where everybody is comfortable with what's going on. Never was and never will be."

As a rule, it was only a matter of time at rehearsal, a concert or recording session before "a massive argument" broke out. 

"But I learned very quickly that these arguments produce results," he says.

"I've never ever worked with any people quite like them. On paper, it shouldn't work. But it did. You know how the old expression goes. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Why he decided to walk away from Yes

Wakeman has been in and out of Yes several times. 

"There were always valid reasons why I left," Wakeman says.

"Always musical reasons. I didn't like the direction. Music is give and take. You've got to be able to take as much from music as you give. And if the balance is wrong, then you shouldn't be working with the band."

When it came time to start work on the follow-up to "Tales From Topographic Oceans," 1974's "Relayer," Wakeman says, "I felt I had absolutely nothing to offer that album. Therefore, it was best to walk away and see if they could find somebody who was able to offer something to that album."

It wasn't long after leaving the group that Wakeman topped the U.K. album charts with "Journey to the Center of the Earth," his second solo effort in two years.

"I'd often be writing music and go, 'This is something I could offer Yes that we could fool around with, pull apart and make different,'" he says.

"And sometimes you write pieces and you go, 'You know what? I don't want this messed around with. And the only way that this stays as I want it to be is if I keep it for myself. So that was the great advantage of having a solo deal for the music that I didn't want to have mucked around with."

Wakeman made his first return to Yes after being brought in as a session player for 1977's "Going for the One."

"Somebody once wrote, which I thought was brilliant, in a magazine," he says.

"'Rick Wakeman and Yes are like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. They can't live with each other, but they can't live without each other.'" I think there's a lot of truth in there."

If you add up all the times he's been in Yes, he's pretty it would come out to 14 years. 

"All of which have been, shall we say, interesting," he says. "Some much more joyful than others. But on the other hand, there was always something good musically that came out of it. That's the thing that counts, I suppose."

Rick Wakeman tour

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 2.

Where: Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix.

Admission: $35-$95.

Details: 602-267-1600, celebritytheatre.com. 

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

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