The strange case of an ex-Yes man

by Chris Welch
from Melody Maker June 19, 1971

 

“Group split” Announces the MM headlines. “Musician to quit.” What happens when a top player decides to make a break and leave a successful band?

All too often, whatever the reasons for a sudden and hasty departure, often wrapped up in rumors, denial and counter denial, the bold decision to split results in disappointment, failure and a degree of heartbreak.

There are many examples of singers and players who have walked-out of a winning situation, taking a chance on future success and finding times getting tougher and tougher.

Peter Banks, aged 24, is a good guitarist. He was with a good group. Yes. He left them in April 1970. Since then he has done next to nothing.

Some would agree that Peter is more than just a good guitarist. He is an exceptional player - inventive, individual and with uncompromising standard.

 

Determined

 

It is probably the latter characteristic that has made life so difficult for Banks.

It is an open question whether Peter’s situation is indicative of the music business today, or merely a combination of bad luck and missed opportunities.

Whatever the answer, P. Banks, musician of Fulham with two kittens and a girlfriend to support, is not bitter or complaining. He is merely, worried, anxious and determined to find the right outlet.

Like a dozen others, he is looking for a gig. What makes Peter’s case interesting is that he was in the midst of furthering his career, gaining recognition, improving his technique and ability when suddenly cut off from his audience, and then cut off from his life-line to the business.

In the desire to progress he has suffered a communication breakdown that has blocked him off the mainstream of events.

“That’s his fault. He should get it together.” One can understand that kind of reaction.

But this week, just for the record, and as a kind of explanation for his apparent lack of activity, Peter tried to piece together the reasons for an involuntary drop-out.

In a red jacket, and blue costermonger’s cap, he put together enough new pence to buy a Coke in a plastic egg palace and talked with a mixture of shrugs, wry grins and hope.

 

Auditions

 

“When I left Yes I never had a definite plan for what I was to do, but I had an idea of getting a band together. What foxed me was getting the people. I even had a company that would have put the money. For once bread was no problem. But I couldn’t get the people.”

“The people I approached were already in established bands and didn’t want to leave. Ian Wallace with King Crimson was interested but Bob Fripp rang him the next day and that blew it out.

“The only other thing I could do was audition musicians and I got a thousand bass players and drummers ringing me up. I just couldn’t listen to twenty bass players and decide what each one was going to be like. You have to work with a guy to find out how he can play. I got calls from Scotland, Wales - all over the place.

“I’m not the sort of person who can lead a band, the sort of guy who would be head boy at school. I’m no good at understanding business either.

“I did a few sessions to earn some bread, but I’m not too good at reading, and anyway that’s not really very creative work.

“After I left Yes, Blodwyn Pig came along and that was very disappointing. We did three weeks’ rehearsals after Mick Abrahams split, and we went on the road, six nights a week. The band was completely under rehearsed and of all the gigs we did, I only enjoyed the last one. I just didn’t fit in. I stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a bad marriage and needed a divorce. Although they were really nice guys, musically we didn’t see eye to eye.

 

Problems

 

“After that I spent two months trying to get a band together but got into financial problems. I’ve got pretty set ideas about what I want to do, but I don’t want to be a leader.”

“I don’t want to tell other people what to play. It’s got to be co-operative.”

What sort of bands would Peter like to play with - Soft Machine for example?

“I’ve always been a great fan of Soft Machine, and personally I’ve always thought ELP need a guitarist. Oh, what a give away! But then, I’m biased. What I don’t want to do is start all over again from the bottom, getting into heavy debt paying for equipment and earning 20 pounds a night. That’s just chopping off your legs.”

 

Incident

 

Is Pete just being lazy?

“Oh no, it’s not that. Lots of bands have asked me to join, but Ia lot of them have been semi-pro bands. I won’t mention any names.”

Peter related a recent incident, “A manager of a group kept asking me to go down to Southend to hear them. He rang me up and said how good they were. So I finally went down to Southend, and wondered why the band weren’t talking to me. They just didn’t want tot talk and seemed very embarrassed. And they wouldn’t play. It was a joke you see. They hadn’t really expected me to come down, and they couldn’t really play. I got embarrassed as well. They had just asked me down as awoke. So I get suspicious now when people ring me up.:

 

Discipline

 

Would Peter’s kind of music have to be free and heavily improvisational?

“No, no - basically it would be carrying on where I left off with Yes. It would have to be a band with discipline. I don’t like overlong solos and its important to have things like the bass and drums working together. Wishbone Ash are an example of a very good band who play on a nice level. They are the best band I have seen in a year.”

How has Peter survived financially?

 

Bankruptcy

 

“I’ve scraped through, but I’m on the verge of bankruptcy. I have to sell my equipment which is only a further hindrance. I’ve got so involved in keeping the wolf from the door, I’ve forgotten why I’m doing it! I’ve got to keep alive, but I couldn’t do anything else but play music.

“I feel a bit like a war veteran come back from the group wars, and wondering what’s going to happen next.”

Does Peter regret leaving Yes?

“YES. I REGRET LEAVING THEM. NOW I JUST WANT TO JOIN A GOOD BAND AND GET BACK ON THE ROAD. IN THE MEANTIME IT’S JUST SIT BY THE TELEPHONE AND HOPE.”