Rick Wakeman on rock music versus the classics

Ive never liked any of RWs music. Hes a very good musician just not my taste, but hes down to earth, a good talker, intelligent and can be very funny. Also hes been very successful for many years, but there is no swank about him. If I ever got the chance to spend an hour with him in a pub I would jump at the chance!

I think classical music as a "genre" and a way to "make it" as a musician simply had an irreversible brain drain after the war. Really creative and forward-looking craftsmen realized that the so-called "classical music world" no longer provided a viable platform for them to shine - in large part because it was overrun by a cabal of elitist morons who simultaneously push postmodern academic music nobody in the right mind enjoys and treats the old classics like untouchable museum pieces entirely above scrutiny (this attitude still persists in the year of our lord 2023, by the way). The few last great composers/innovators who still lived to see the 60s and 70s couldn't exert much of an influence over this anymore. Rick Wakeman is a case in point. He was classically trained, yet he fled to prog rock, a much more lucrative platform. I wonder why. There are an innumerable amount of musicians who received proper classical training yet make their living today in the world of popular music, jazz, film music, electronic music, etc… Our great contemporaries are not to be found on the concert stage anymore, folks. That ship has sailed a long time ago. I long for the day when this intangible idea of "classical music" dies off for good. By the way, one of the early electronic instruments, which can be considered a synth, the Ondes Martenot was readily embraced by the leading composers of the 20s/30s, such as Honegger, Florent Schmitt, and most famously Messiaen. Had this brain drain not happened, I’m sure the Moog would have made it into the orchestra as well, among other things. But this is such an elusive, intangible scenario anyhow that it’s not even worth speculating over.

My favorite keyboard player on the planet.

well said Rick

Glad you thought it up though, I might of never imagined what his first impression of a piano was back in the early 18th century. I didn't know there was a record of him actually trying out a forte-piano but it was rather funny what you said his reaction was! Speaking of might never have; had I not become a piano tuner, I might never have learned about it's developmental history. However when I mentioned it to people sometimes I feel they're ready to yawn with boredom which of course of hurts the hell out of my ego... LOL

The Rick Wakeman album I listened too a lot was Criminal Record, and then No Earthly Connection mostly when I was stoned,. I think Ricks appeal is in the way his humor comes through in his compositions much like Frank Zappa did in his music of course in a totally different style.

Amazing information... and not only about strip clubs, I like classical rant too... 😀😀😀

genius

Keyboard genius.

Sometimes classical music cooks. It's a similar vibe to rock.EDM....house music, same . Now, jazz, blues, hip hop.....hard for me to vibe to

Rick wakeman !!
Show us a wonderful amazing piano music performance for a long time.🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️

I would love to see an interview between of rick wakeman and nicko mcbrian. Must be a comedy show

Legend

I'm a Yes fan but not particularly a Wakeman fan: I think what I liked in Yes's music mostly comes from the other members. I always felt his contribution consisted more of anodyne embellishments that weren't always in the spirit of what the more innovative band members were coming up with. Maybe I'm underestimating his contribution though. I do like what he did on Close to the Edge, though on first listening I remember thinking that the church organ was a bit OTT. Anyway, as for the divide between rock and what he's pleased to call "classical", and the snobbery surrounding it, I certainly experienced that back in the seventies (the music teacher in my school tried to prevent me doing O level Music on the grounds that my instrument, the guitar, wasn't a "real orchestral instrument" - I ended up being the only person who got an A) but I think that's natural and to be expected. Most popular music, let's face it, and especially since it's developed into such a big commercial industry, is little more than inconsequential noise, often performed by talentless popinjays selected and marketed on the strength of a photogenic haircut. It takes time for the dust to settle and the really timeless stuff to become recognised. I think attitudes have changed since back then, though I doubt that overblown productions of things like Journey to the Centre of the Earth have had much to do with this process. It should also be noted, first, that romantic composers in the classical tradition (and some genuine classical composers) have always recognised the beauty of, and coveted, the popular music of their time (e.g. Dvorak borrowing Swing Low Sweet Chariot for his New World symphony) and second, that as in literature and the other arts, classical music has to be re-imagined for each new generation: I suspect Beethoven would have been stupefied at the suggestion that his symphonies would one day be listened to, not in a concert hall, but by someone chopping onions in a suburban kitchen. Music has to adapt to technology and circumstances, including the circumstances of listening (e.g. back in the 70s, prog rock evolved naturally out of the need for gimpy teenage boys to have something to do in their bedrooms other than read Fielding, wank over Mayfair and wait for the Third World War to start).

I remember an interview this real snooty fucker had with Roger Waters and Syd Barrett on a BBC arts program. They had just played Interstellar Overdrive with the band and all this guy would bitch about was the volume. Turns out he played with a string quartet. Now Roger and Syd did not answer very well, just saying that is how they like it. But this old guy should have had his ass handed to him. Beethoven, Mahler and Wagner both knew the power of volume. They did not have the technology then, but you can see in their music how they just seemed to be yearning for extra power.
If they had reinforced sound available you can be sure they would have used it to maximum extent.

Guys, check Hans Zimmer and Guthrie Govan and anyone else on that bunch.

Thanks, Rich, you did it!!!!

Ok so Rick, put out a Concerto for Moog and Orchestra.

Geniooooooooooooo

would love to see rick and yoyo ma together..both open to creative synthesis...

Totally agree 100 %. Classical music is for those far less creative and wanting to be perfectionists in playing somebody else's music who as been dead for years.

Classical music and fans don't have a huge population of addicts and other sad states of affairs.....much rock doesn't always encourage one to be at one's best.

his accent was a lot denser when he was younger. weird.

Interesting talk. Rick knows Music better than most but I'm not sure if Wagner would have put the Moog in the Orchestra.Johann Sebastian Bach didn't like the Piano as he thought it was modern rubbish, but he was an old man when it was invented. So while I agree with most of what Rick said here about bridging gaps, in the final analysis it depends on the individual and their ability to adapt to those changes. There are quite a few modern Musician's who will have nothing to do with the Internet for example because they have not adapted. When Beethoven died he said 'I shall hear in heaven'. It will be interesting to see what the heavenly Orchestra is like with Bach on Harpsichord and Wagner on Moog....and of course Keith Moon on Drums.

the one musician i would love to share a beer with.

Genius

I agree with Rick.  For the past thirty+ years (since high school), I have strongly felt that quality can be written in every genre of music - it takes effort on the composer and arranger to make that happen.  What the critics call "over-produced" is the stuff that appeals to me - where there is a sweeping melody, changing chord structure, wide instrumentation and an intertwining of melodic lines, weaving in and out, creating a masterpiece of continuity.  Music is a commodity to be bought and sold - just like a car, cell phone, house, etc. and with it, come standards of quality.  There are standards to writing a melodic line, limiting repetition, creating enough rhythmic continuity and motion that grabs the listener's attention yet doesn't bore the performer.  Unfortunately, too much of rock music is subject to mediocrity and poor musicianship with very little creative effort involved - all in the name of art.  Just because music is art, doesn't mean "anything goes."

Great interview! really great!

No Rick , there is a great difference .