In 1972 I was working with a band. During one of our rehearsals my drummer walked up to me with a record album in his hand and said, “Take this home and listen to it.” I curiously took the album. It was CLOSE TO THE EDGE by the group YES.
Later, in the quite of the evening, I slipped on my headphones, placed the needle on the record and sat down to listen. I was soon swept up in a whirled wind of sounds. I became both exhilarated and depressed at the same time. I was exhilarated because of the song structure, the time changes and those incredible performances and sounds. I was simultaneously depressed because as a musician I said to myself, “Why bother – I will never be this good.”
52 years later, while recording Old Blue 11, I decided to try to record CLOSE TO THE EDGE. Three months after I laid down the first track for the song, I completed recording the last track for the song.
When it came time to create the video, I simply re-created the images that were displayed in my head that the music had provided.
This is my version of CLOSE TO THE EDGE composed by Jon Anderson and Steve Howe of the group Yes.
