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John Roy Anderson is born in Accrington, Lancashire,
England to Albert and Kathleen Anderson. (Of course, later in
life he will drop the "h" in his first name.) |
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"Snow would fall in the winter, sun
would shine in the summer, I was quiet a lot of the time, my mom
thought I was a dreamer, my dad was very handsome and popular."
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1944-1959
Jon attends St. John's Infants School in Accrington. Teachers
remember him as a happy, bright student. |
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"I just wanted to play soccer all the time. I was a good organiser,
arranging kick-off times, picking the teams. I sang into a microphone
for the first time. They (teachers) were seating us at the time."
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1954
Jon's first "band" is "Little John's Skiffle Group". At
the age of 10, Jon plays the washboard!
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"Playing 'Lonnie Donegan' songs, 'Rock
Island Line', 'Bet On Stewball', very early Rock and Roll. We never
ever did a gig, just made a hell of a noise - but it was fun!!"
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1959
Jon leaves school at age 15 to help support his family by working
as a farm hand. |
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"Sadly, my dad got very sick so I needed to help in bringing
money home. Deep inside I wanted to go to university
and get an education and travel the world, eh! It happened
but not the way I expected!"
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1960
Jon works as a lorry driver. He delivers bricks, and has a milk
route for a while. As he drives, he listens to music that will influence
his future artistry: Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, The Everly Brothers,
and others.
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"On on trip to Liverpool, March 1963,
I went to look at the Cavern Club ... a band was playing 'Big Three'
the lunchtime session. I was smitten, I wanted
to be a Beatle, or at least come from Liverpool..."
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1962
Jon joins The Warriors (sometimes called The Electric Warriors),
his first band, where he shares lead vocal duties with his brother
Tony. Other members of the band are: Michael Brereton-Lead Guitar,
Rodney Hill-Rhythm Guitar, David Foster-Bass, and Ian Wallace-Drums*.
* Ian Wallace would later play for King Crimson,
Bob Dylan, and in countless studio sessions.
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"We had an orange van with longhorns stuck on the roof rack
(very dangerous). I used to drive and pick everyone up,
set up the drums and carry the gear. Such was the
life of a singer in the band!"
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1963
The Warriors perform shows around the North of England which
include The Cavern Club in Liverpool, birthplace of Beatlemania.
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The Warriors, Jon at left-center
(courtesy David Foster) |
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"We had the best of times being screamed at and chased all
over the streets, it was the thing to do in those early days. We
thought we were famous. We rehearsed a lot and got very
good as a band!"
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1964
The Warriors release two singles for the Decca label: "You
Came Along" and "Don't Make Me Blue"
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"We were approached by this risky business
man to make another record, but we had a prior engagement at a 'working
men's club'. He said, 'OK, I'll get another band.' He
did, and the record got to number one in the U.K. The
song was 'Juliet' by The Four Pennies."
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1967
Jon quits The Warriors as the band is gigging in Germany.
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| (photo courtesy David Foster) |
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"Too much fun, not enough rehearsal,
too many drugs, not enough fun!! I got crazy for a while."
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Spring 1968
Jon releases two singles under the name "Hans Christian" titled
"Never My Love" (a remake of The Association's 1967 hit)
and "The Autobiography Of Mississippi Hobo"
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"Didn't like that song at all, started
to mistrust producers and the business, in general..."
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Early Summer 1968
Jon joins The Gun for a short-lived stint as their singer. He
performs only one gig with them.
Jon is introduced to bassist Chris Squire by mutual friend
Jack Berry at the La Chasse club in London. The two hit it
off, and Jon joins Chris's group, Mabel Greer's Toyshop which
also includes guitarist Peter Banks.
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"Great band, they sacked me! Oh!
"
"These were the wonderful early days. We
felt we were pretty good, great rehearsals!"
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Mid-Summer 1968
Yes is formed by Anderson, Squire, Banks, drummer Bill Bruford
and keyboardist Tony Kaye. The band begins rehearsals.
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"...at the 'Lucky Horse Shoe' cafe."
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August 4, 1968
Yes play their first show ever at East Mersey Youth Camp, Essex.
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"I think
we knew five songs, so we played 'Midnight Hour' for an 'Hour'.
Went down OK!!"
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Late Summer 1968-Spring 1969
The band tours England extensively, performing numerous high-profile
gigs incuding London's Marquee Club and Cream's farewell
concert at Royal Albert Hall. They also open for The Who
and The Small Faces.
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"Great
chances coming our way. We were more excited than
ever. We really worked so hard in those days!! Still
do!!"
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Spring 1969
Yes are signed by Atlantic Records by Ahmet Ertegun, after the
record mogul catches a performance at London's Speakeasy Club.
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"Over
the years, I came to thank Ahmet for letting Yes do music not many
bands get to do, longer works that as we have proved still stand
today in the 21st Century as good honest compositions..."
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Spring-Summer 1969
Amid their hectic touring schedule, Yes record their self-titled
debut album at Advision studios in London.
Yes, 1969
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"Studio
work was very new to us, but we just enjoyed the idea, not really
aiming to make a hit, just to be as good as we could be!!"
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August, 1969
"Yes" is released in the U.K.
"Yes" cover (UK)
The band continues to tour, with excursions
into Europe.
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"We got booed in Paris and adored in Amsterdam, loved in Sweden
and lost in Italy. Touring was such an adventure, oh yeah! We
crashed on the way to Hamburg, still did the show!!"
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Autumn 1969
Yes record their second album at London's Advision studios.
Several of the songs feature the band accompanied by a full orchestra.
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November, 1969
"Yes" is released in the U.S.
"Yes" cover (US)
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"Didn't
even know about the U.S. Never thought we would
get that far!"
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