1969 - In the Beginning

This is a bootleg that puts together three small conserts from 1969.
The first one has the worst sound quality, and features different versions of songs that can be better heard live on the BBC Sessions (Beyond and Before).
From the second show, only Eleanor Rigby survived. Their rendition of that Beatles' tune was as original as everything they did at this time, featuring loud organ and Squire's distinctive bass sound. Peter Banks said about it:
People were bemused because we didn't do the 'covers' like the original tunes. We went down pretty good in London, but outside of town we had a lot of very puzzled faces when Jon would say , 'we're now gonna do a Beatles' tune.' And we'd kind of do Eleanor Rigby at 150 beats per minute It wasn't quite what they expected. We didn't want to sound like The Beatles. The whole point was 'let's do it our way'
The third concert features another version of Eleanor Rigby, this time with the beginning cut.
The last song is probably the biggest surprise: a 21 minutes version of I See You.
Peter's long solo starts at 3 minutes, with a violin-like guitar sound that was very new at the time. At 4 mins, he quotes Bach's "Jesu, joy of men's desire". At 6 mins he's with a more jazzy guitar sound, accompanied by Bill's soft jazz drumming (Bill plays with him for the whole 21 mins, while the rest of the band has a break during most of the time) . At 7 mins he shows us he knows what is wah-wah. At 8:50 Peter quotes Bizet's Arlésienne Suites, a famous classical melody that would be played later by Wakeman in Catherine Howard. By 10 mins Peter seems to go on for further improvisation, and at 16 mins the dialogues between loud drums and distorted guitar ressemble some things that Bill would do years later in King Crimson. At 20 mins the rest of the band (which must be mad at Peter) comes in to finish the song.

Peter himself has a lot to say about I See You:
It was certainly spontaneous and I tried to make it different every night. We had good nights and bad nights and sometimes if it wasn't happening on a gig, I'd go on longer and longer out of frustration and take all my aggression out on the guitar. (...) I did some kind of fugue line but none of it was really worked out for the recorded version. On stage I'd end the piece by throwing my guitar in the air and catching it. (...) This was my post-Townshend angst period and to be honest, it did go on too long. The band used to complain about it and that just used to make me go on even longer." I was an experimental player and not all that would fit in with the concept of Yes. Bill was the same. (...) I can remember him saying, "I'm going to play everything different tonight" just before we went on stage. It was the sign of a very inventive drummer but of course I'd think, "Well, so will I!" Poor old Jon would be going, "What the hell is going on?" We were like misbehaving kids, really.

Peter Banks' quotes were taken from the book Close to the Edge, the story of Yes, by Chris Welch. Very recommended book, buy it if you can:
http://www.amazon.com/Close-Edge-Story-Chris-Welch/dp/0711995095

October 09, 1969 - Essen, Grugahalle, Germany:
1. Introduction
2. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
3. Dear Father
4. Every Little Thing
5. Something's Coming
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August 20, 1969 - Hamburg, Star Club, Germany:
6. Eleanor Rigby
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December 21, 1969 - Sheffield, Kingston Hotel, England, UK:
7. Dear Father
8. Eleanor Rigby
9. I See You

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