Steve Howe Autobiography

[Rarebird]

I hope I live long enought to read all 3 volumes.

[ronmac]

2023... maybe.

What are you basing that date on? Is it the fact that he hasn't started yet and it could take three years?

I hope I live long enought to read all 3 volumes.

I hope Lewisohn stays alive long enough to write them.

[Mister Triscuits]

What are you basing that date on? Is it the fact that he hasn't started yet and it could take three years?

I hope Lewisohn stays alive long enough to write them.

Hasn't started yet? Sheesh, he's had six and a half years since volume one was published--he'd better get cracking. According to an interview I saw recently, he expects to be in his mid-70s by the time he completes the trilogy, around "14 or 15 years" from now (or from last September, to be nitpicky).

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...d-hornsey-road

[Dan Roth]

New video from Steve about the book:

[Yestronomy]

My copy arrived yesterday and so far I think it's very good.

[SteveSly]

My download arrived the other day. Currently reading the new John Entwistle book, but the Howe book is next.

[Steve983]

New video from Steve about the book:

Thanks for posting that, I look forward to my copy arriving.

[Dedatolo]

I read it and I think it's one of the most boring autobiography I've ever read, really.

[Conti]

My copy arrived yesterday and so far I think it's very good.

Is the book mostly text only or does it have many nice high quality pictures? I'm on the fence about buying a printed copy or the kindle version of it.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Just read it. A few pictures, most of which have been seen before. The writing just looks like a dump from his diary. A lot of extraneous information that I could care less about: books that have influenced him, his philosophy regarding food, his favorite sport (snooker?). As far as any new information, there isn't much. Aynsley Dunbar wanting to join Yes after Bruford. Some arguments with Squire. Jon Anderson demanding a larger share of band proceeds because he's, well, Jon Anderson. It's a pass unless you're a real Howe fan, which I must confess to being! It's just another record of a big band being torn apart by bad business decisions, excess, and egos.

[Koreabruce]

[QUOTE=ronmac;970753]What are you basing that date on? Is it the fact that he hasn't started yet and it could take three years?

I'm basing it on what Mark Lewisohn himself says as of very recently. Go to his website and see for yourself. https://www.marklewisohn.net/volume-2/

[ronmac]

I'm basing it on what Mark Lewisohn himself says as of very recently. Go to his website and see for yourself. https://www.marklewisohn.net/volume-2/

Cool. I check his site every once in a while, but had not seen that post. Still, it's not much different than what he's been saying for a while now. He's just assuring it will happen and is throwing a bit of a rope to us.

[Rarebird]

[QUOTE=Koreabruce;971898]

What are you basing that date on? Is it the fact that he hasn't started yet and it could take three years?

I'm basing it on what Mark Lewisohn himself says as of very recently. Go to his website and see for yourself. https://www.marklewisohn.net/volume-2/

Nice information. I thought earlier he stated the next parts would take less time than the first part, because there was more information already available, while he had to do a lot of research for the first part. I think this year I will finish reading it. I got it in 2013 for my birthday.

[Conti]

Just read it. A few pictures, most of which have been seen before. The writing just looks like a dump from his diary. A lot of extraneous information that I could care less about: books that have influenced him, his philosophy regarding food, his favorite sport (snooker?). As far as any new information, there isn't much. Aynsley Dunbar wanting to join Yes after Bruford. Some arguments with Squire. Jon Anderson demanding a larger share of band proceeds because he's, well, Jon Anderson. It's a pass unless you're a real Howe fan, which I must confess to being! It's just another record of a big band being torn apart by bad business decisions, excess, and egos.

Thanks a lot. It seems I'll just go digital with this one.

[ronmac]

Nice information. I thought earlier he stated the next parts would take less time than the first part

He still stands by that. He was referring to the time it would take to write them without taking into consideration how many years it would take for him to actually get them started. He isn't jumping from one right into the other, which has been the reason behind the delays.

[floyd umma gumma]

I'm not quite half way through the Steve Howe book and I'm enjoying it. I enjoy the details about playing techniques, his influences and details about his gear. He kind of jumps around with his narrative - talking about the making of a record for a couple of paragraphs and then switching in the middle of it to comments about his views on food.

He does seem very interested in talking about what he likes to eat or what he doesn't like to eat, seems it's on his mind alot. The other thing that finds its way into the narrative frequently is a love of smoking dope. It comes up quite a bit. He's funny, clearly has strong views about people who abuse their bodies with booze or other drugs or meat - but really seems to have smoking hash or weed on his mind much of the time.

[revporl]

I'm not quite half way through the Steve Howe book and I'm enjoying it. I enjoy the details about playing techniques, his influences and details about his gear. He kind of jumps around with his narrative - talking about the making of a record for a couple of paragraphs and then switching in the middle of it to comments about his views on food.

He does seem very interested in talking about what he likes to eat or what he doesn't like to eat, seems it's on his mind alot. The other thing that finds its way into the narrative frequently is a love of smoking dope. It comes up quite a bit. He's funny, clearly has strong views about people who abuse their bodies with booze or other drugs or meat - but really seems to have smoking hash or weed on his mind much of the time.

I was surprised to read (elsewhere, can;t remember where) that he was sidelined from Union by the producers for allegedly being too stoned to perform properly, as I thought he was very much into the clean living thing an surprised that he used any drugs at all.

[Jaco]

I was surprised to read (elsewhere, can;t remember where) that he was sidelined from Union by the producers for allegedly being too stoned to perform properly, as I thought he was very much into the clean living thing an surprised that he used any drugs at all.

Also half way through and also quite surprised at the references to dope when he keeps mentioning clean living in the same breath . Bit incongruous.

[Rarebird]

Also half way through and also quite surprised at the references to dope when he keeps mentioning clean living in the same breath . Bit incongruous.

That's what people mostly are.

[The Crimson King]

Nothing wrong with weed. It’s completely natural and naturally therapeutic. It fits well in a healthy lifestyle.

[Rarebird]

Nothing wrong with weed. It’s completely natural and naturally therapeutic. It fits well in a healthy lifestyle.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with that. Just because something is natural, doesn't make it healthy. There is not much prove for weed being therapeutic. Besides it has side-effects.

[malgeo]

FWIW, here's my review of Steve's book:

https://medium.com/@matthewalgeo/all...w-73815316ac38

My best friend John P. was visiting his family back in Montana a few years ago when he happened upon his grandfather’s diary. The grandfather was a farmer during the Great Depression, so John blew the dust off the cover and cracked open the old book, eager to learn more about his long-dead ancestor’s thoughts on the New Deal, the Roosevelt administration, and the ominous storm clouds in Europe.

But all he found was a dry recitation of daily weather reports and crop prices.

After reading Steve Howe’s deeply uninteresting new autobiography All My Yesterdays, I now know exactly how John felt.

Howe, guitarist for the British prog rock giants Yes (full disclosure: my favorite band), makes being a rock star seem about as fun as accountancy (a topic that he mentions frequently). To be fair, though, there are no doubt many accountants whose autobiographies would be more exciting than Howe’s, which ticks off name, dates, and places without the benefit of insight or reflection. Much of the book consists of lists of tour dates, obviously gleaned from the excellent fan site Forgotten Yesterdays, which Howe acknowledges backhandedly by noting that “we hope they were correct.”

Throughout the book, musicians come and go from Yes with absurd regularity, but these shifts in the band’s delicate dynamics Howe dispenses with in just a few lines. In trying to be diplomatic, he often comes across as cryptic, frustrating the reader. At one point he writes that “some members of the group were contributing less than satisfactory performances due to their indulgences in habits or vices.” Which ones? What vices? Who knows. By refusing to name one he implicates all.

The book is also that rare autobiography in which the author can come across as a dick. Howe belittles the Heathrow customs officer who hassles him (with good reason) because the receipt for the expensive watch he brought back from Switzerland apparently reflects not the actual value of the watch, but the price Howe paid for it. (He bought the watch from a shop whose owner was a fan and gave him a discount.) For some reason, this incident from 1977 merits several paragraphs.

Howe makes clear his love of cannabis, which is apparent from the numerous errors that riddle the text. The popular Philadelphia DJ Ed Sciaky, who championed Yes in their early years, is twice referred to as “Ed Sharkey.” Alan White’s first concert with the band in 1972 was in Dallas, not Edwardsville, Illinois (it’s correct on the Forgotten Yesterdays site). At one point he even refers to the band’s most audacious album as Tales of [sic] Topographic Oceans.

My admiration of Howe’s musical talents is undiminished, but after reading All My Yesterdays, I hope he now devotes his energy to producing a new Yes album and not another book.

[Rarebird]

FWIW, here's my review of Steve's book:

https://medium.com/@matthewalgeo/all...w-73815316ac38

Howe, guitarist for the British prog rock giants Yes (full disclosure: my favorite band), makes being a rock star seem about as fun as accountancy (a topic that he mentions frequently). To be fair, though, there are no doubt many accountants whose autobiographies would be more exciting than Howe’s, which ticks off name, dates, and places without the benefit of insight or reflection. Much of the book consists of lists of tour dates, obviously gleaned from the excellent fan site Forgotten Yesterdays, which Howe acknowledges backhandedly by noting that “we hope they were correct.”

Didn't Bill Bruford study accountancy?

[ronmac]

Nothing wrong with weed. It’s completely natural and naturally therapeutic. It fits well in a healthy lifestyle.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with that. Just because something is natural, doesn't make it healthy. There is not much prove for weed being therapeutic. Besides it has side-effects.

I dunno, it keeps me from killing people.

It also added a year to my cancer-stricken friend's life by enabling him to eat.

[bondegezou]

I was surprised to read (elsewhere, can;t remember where) that he was sidelined from Union by the producers for allegedly being too stoned to perform properly, as I thought he was very much into the clean living thing an surprised that he used any drugs at all.

http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/iv/jeinterview.htm is the Jonathan Elias interview where he complains of Howe being stoned.

While I'm here, Simon Barrow has reviewed the Howe book here: https://yessolidmentalgrace.com/2020...nd-beyond-yes/

Henry