Yes’ ‘Close to the Edge’: The Coda Key Change

Close to the Edge

This year marks the 50th Anniversary for Yes’ fifth album Close to the Edge. It was a popular, artistic, and even critical success that served as the culmination to date of the band’s hard work and undeterred vision.

The LP is also a major milestone for the venerable progressive rock band which, despite controversial changes to its lineup, is together today. Yes will celebrate this landmark by performing the entire album in its upcoming tour this year.

Hailed as a progressive-rock masterpiece, Close to the Edge consisted of three pieces, including the first time Yes tackled a composition that covered an entire side of a vinyl record. Prior to this, Yes had created many long-form songs that clocked in at around 10 minutes. The title track was almost double that length, but it held together as a cohesive whole because of the musical arrangements within the four movements: “The Solid Time of Change,” “Total Mass Retain,” “I Get Up, I Get Down” and “Seasons of Man.”



(Note that the song “Close to the Edge” will henceforth be abbreviated as “CTTE,” to distinguish it from the album title of the same name. All video embeds jump directly to the referred section.)

After a frenetic but solid instrumental introduction, the first two movements that followed shared a similar form, recapitulating themes between the two that were comparable yet incorporated minor variations that thwarted monotony and repetition. While the third movement took a detour in form, it repurposed the chorus from the first two sections, eventually racing toward the final movement.

“Seasons of Man” recapitulates the same themes presented in the first two movements. As the lyrics indicates – “now that it’s all over and done” – the piece’s coda packs an emotional wallop with a payoff that made the journey satisfying and worthwhile. This may all be a bit technical, but it points to why the song’s climax is so stirring. Credit the songwriting of Jon Anderson and Steve Howe; their performances along with that of Rick Wakeman, Bill Bruford, and Chris Squire; the production led by producer Eddy Offord; and the overall band arrangement, all of which contributed to the accomplishment of the composition’s cumulative impact. The end result appears to be amazingly accessible, despite the song’s overall length.

Arguably one big part of that is the coda’s key. (Note that while the first, second, and fourth movements are consistent in structure, the second half for each of the three are in different keys — C, D, and F, respectively.) What will be of interest is whether on the upcoming tour Yes will perform the title composition as was conceived on Close to the Edge, as there was one momentous change in the fourth movement that occurred for that song’s live performances after the album was released in 1972.

That major modification was preceded by a different kind of upheaval that would have a substantial impact. According to Will Romano’s book Close to the Edge: How Yes’ Masterpiece Defined Prog Rock, after principle recording for the album was completed Jon Anderson had a vision that drummer Bill Bruford was going to leave the band. Sure enough, Bruford announced during a mixing session for the album that he was leaving Yes to join King Crimson on Oct. 1, 1972.

Anderson may have simply seen the signs during the album’s sessions, and Bruford minces no words about this decision in his book Bill Bruford: The Autobiography. He succinctly encapsulated his feelings about Close to the Edge, and the reason for leaving Yes at this critical juncture: “I loved the record, hated making it, and was immediately certain I wouldn’t try to do that again.”

Bruford’s decision to join King Crimson may have been a blow to Yes, but he was eager to move on to new and different musical experiences. Despite his issues with the band, Bruford advised his distraught bandmates that he would not abandon them for the upcoming American tour, their first as headliners to commence on July 21, 1972. While some members were open to that plan, Steve Howe was the most vocally adamant that if Bruford was no longer committed to the band, then he needed to leave as soon as possible.

The presence of drummer Alan White during the Close to the Edge sessions would save the day for all. White had become friends with Yes’ producer Eddy Offord when both were involved with Terry Reid, and were also participants on John Lennon’s Imagine sessions. Seeing a path to a speedy and relatively painless transition, Bruford rallied for White to take over the drum seat.

There was little time to rehearse for America, so the revised lineup settled on performing the yet-to-be-released album’s two comparatively shorter tracks (relatively speaking, at around 10 minutes each): “And You and I” and “Siberian Khatru” would be unfamiliar to the American audiences.



The title tune would have to wait for the subsequent U.K. tour, which consisted of only six dates. The first performance of “CTTE” was on Sept. 2, 1972, at the Crystal Palace Bowl in London. Yes was supported by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, whose spiritually inclined and virtuosic brand of prog-tinged jazz influenced many in Yes. Close to the Edge would be released during this short tour on Sept. 8 in the U.K., with its U.S. release scheduled for Sept. 12 – just in time for the next leg of the tour where American audiences could experience “CTTE” for the first time.

I first saw Yes perform “CTTE” on this tour, and recall noticing that something was different at the conclusion of the song. Instead of the three beats that led into the coda on the album, there were now five. More consequentially was something that may not have been obvious to me at the time: the music that followed had been lowered a full step, from F to Eb. With that change, certain melodies were sung differently, and in the final chorus some of the lyrics had been rearranged. These changes were not lost on me, as well as countless Yes fans who were floored by the coda as presented on the album: That’s what we were eager to hear but that wasn’t what we got, even if the change in key was effective in its own way.

Over the years when asked about the reason for the change, Jon Anderson stated the original key didn’t allow him to sing that closing section consistently well in live performances, hitting the top of his soprano range and being expected to do so over multiple nights on long tours.

For this article, I set out to ask the album’s participants about when the key change had occurred, and ultimately received feedback from Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Alan White, Bill Bruford, and Eddy Offord. (Sadly Chris Squire is no longer with us, and Steve Howe did not respond to requests to participate.)

I first asked Rick Wakeman if the original key in the studio version of “CTTE” had been an issue during the recording. Wakeman responded: “In Yes music, keys will always present problems because the melodies nearly always cover a wide range and also the longer pieces rarely end up in the same key they started in! This always presents vocal problems, not just for Jon as the lead voice but also for the harmony singers, in this case Steve and Chris. Often or not, very high notes can be reached in a studio situation if everything is right to do so such as temperature, time of day and other factors, but often that will mean just one or two goes at it. Obviously, this can’t be replicated when playing live.”

I inquired as to whether there was any discussion that the key would need to be changed for live performances after the coda was recorded in the studio. Wakeman responded: “No, but I am sure we all knew that would be the case. Nothing wrong with that at all. The only thing in retrospect that I would have liked to have done would have been to have made the transition smoother. Easy to do and if the situation ever arose again, I would make the suggestion of the change.”



The big question is whether Yes ever performed “CTTE” with the coda in the original key? Wakeman wasn’t sure about that, and offered a reasonable explanation. “Not to my knowledge. … We may have tried it in rehearsal, but that’s about it. Decisions would have been taken at rehearsals. Singing live requires a different technique to that of the studio. In fact, so does all playing. You always have to adapt what you played in the studio for live performance, and I felt that Yes was very good at doing this.”

I told Wakeman that I had heard from many others (including many on the Notes From the Edge Facebook page) who agree with my assessment that the original key in the coda made the song really soar. When I stated that I wasn’t sure that it would have had the same impact if Yes had originally recorded the coda in the lower key, Wakeman agreed with that assertion: “It wouldn’t.”

Eddy Offord echoed much of what Wakeman stated. “When you’re in the studio, it’s easy to keep trying something until it’s perfect. But I think to make life easier, they did decide to take the end down a full tone.”

Alan White couldn’t accurately remember the details around the key change. This was understandable as White had other, more important items on his mind: “… What I recall is that around that period of time all of the key changes in ‘Close to the Edge’ were done when Jon’s voice was not up to scratch, so we tried to make it easier on him. … I was being introduced to many new pieces of music all at once, so my memory of these kinds of details are vague.”

Even though Bill Bruford had left the band when the key change occurred, I wanted to give him the opportunity to divulge any discussion about this during the actual recording. “Regret I have no recollection of a specific key change discussion from 50 years ago!” was Bruford’s response. “It’s safe to say discussions on key changes were beyond my pay grade.”

Anderson has been asked about the reason for the key change many times in the past, which he reiterated to me. But more importantly, he recalled when the key change occurred: “After the [U.K.] tour. … It was just toooooo high.”

While Anderson’s response was brief, it turned out he was correct on both counts. One indicator with regard to the singing issue could be found on YouTube, where so much archival content – including audio-only items — can be found. In studio outtakes located there, Anderson appears to have difficulty in singing the coda in the original key. While it might’ve been the first indication of the trouble that Wakeman alluded to, Anderson simply might have been saving his voice for the final recording. (Both of those things might also be true.)

Before I obtained most of those previous comments, I hadn’t thought to search online to see if there might be audience recordings of the U.K. tour from the fall of 1972. Of the six dates performed, I could locate only two and they were audio-only, including the premiere of “CTTE” on Sept. 2 at the Crystal Palace Bowl (starting at 16:42). While that recording is poor, it is evidence that Anderson is correct that the key wasn’t changed for the song’s original incorporation into Yes’ tour of the U.K.

At that first show, the arrangement in the final movement mirrors the studio recording, where three beats lead into “On the hill …” That and what follows are in the same key as the recording. When the song transitions to “Now that it’s all over and done,” Anderson is clearly struggling to sing it in the original key – but as it was the first time the title tune had been performed, that might have been a contributing reason for its rough quality.

The second show from tour to be found online was on Sept. 10 at Manchester. The recording for the penultimate concert on that short tour is relatively clear and free of distortion. At this show, there are now five beats leading into “on the hill …” instead of three, but here all five notes are identical – probably as they are leading into the coda in the original key. On subsequent tours, the last two notes of the five were probably modulated to provide a better transition, as Wakeman mentioned. The reason it went from three to five might have been to provide a larger breathing space between sections.

At the first show, the chorus had already been slightly rearranged from the original recording, to “Close to the edge, round by the corner; down at the end, round by a river.” In Manchester, those lyrics were closer to what was on the album. What happened before and after Manchester is anyone’s guess, but the lyrics performed would permanently match what was sung at that first show following the U.K. tour.

What is startling about this recording is that Jon Anderson’s performance seems to be generally free of any perceptible strain. From these two audience recordings, the harmony vocals aren’t as distinct as Anderson’s, It appears to be Chris Squire who can be heard, and he sounds fine on both. If Steve Howe’s vocals are in in the mix, it isn’t as apparent.

The final show on that U.K. tour was on September 12. Close to the Edge was released in the U.S. the next day. Yes flew to America to perform “CTTE” with the key change, starting on Sept. 15 in Hollywood, Fla.

When Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe performed “CTTE” on their 1989 and 1990 tours, the key change was still present. Instead of the five beats Yes had incorporated, ABWH instead used the original three.

Spot checks confirm the assumption that Anderson never reattempted the original key as a member of Yes. Nor did the band retain the key when Benoit David “stood in” during the Fly From Here era, or when it was performed with current lead vocalist Jon Davidson.

On the 50th anniversary of what might be Yes’ highest musical achievement, it remains to be seen if the band will reinstate the original key for its anniversary tour. Whether that happens or not, Anderson is performing “CTTE” during his current tour with the School of Rock. While he is a great deal older than when he first started performing the song in 1972, Anderson has shown in recent years that his voice is stronger than ever.

That may be why in 2022, Anderson is now singing the conclusion to “CTTE” in its original key and with those same vocal melodies, totally free of deviation.

When I spoke to Eddy Offord about the coda changes he asked me, “Why do you care?”

It was a good question, and the reader might have wondered that as well. Fans may not have noticed said changes at Yes concerts where the song was performed, or possibly had the same reaction from some when I mentioned this topic on the Notes From the Edge Facebook group many years ago: “It’s Yes’s song, and they can do with it as they please.”

However, I wasn’t surprised to hear many more fans echo my own feelings. I heard the title track from Close to the Edge when it was new, when no other Yes music existed beyond that yet: This was something fresh and exciting. The coda as presented brought tears to my eyes, and even five decades later it still does.

But what if the key change was incorporated into the final recording? If it had been, would the melodies have changed as well? And would I have had that same emotional reaction if those changes were in the original track? Would the track, and its parent album, still be hailed as representing progressive rock at its best?

All speculative, of course, and hard to say. Maybe this all goes back to Offord’s earlier comments about getting it right in the studio. Perhaps the thought of making those changes crossed the minds of the members of Yes during the recording, and would be addressed if there was an issue after they had actually performed the piece.

When all is said and done the coda for “Close to the Edge” is what it is, and it is for that reason that 50 years later the recorded work as we have it endures.

Thanks to Forgotten Yesterdays, which was instrumental for researching timelines and tour dates. Yes later reinstated the original key for a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of ‘Close to the Edge.’

© 2022 Mike Tiano. All Rights Reserved.


Mike Tiano

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