And You And I (eve)

The Zoo Crew is spinning "And You And I (eve)" by Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe from that live album An Evening Of Yes Music Plus, and man, this one still hits the sweet spot for every Zoo Freak tuned in. Recorded out at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California back in September of 1989, this version captures the band in full flight on a night that was originally beamed out on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and as a pay-per-view special. Jeff Berlin stepped in on bass that evening because Tony Levin was sidelined with hepatitis, yet the whole unit locked in tight on this classic. Bill Bruford later noted how much of a buzz it was to play material from Fragile and Close to the Edge for the first time since he recorded those tracks about seventeen years earlier, and that feeling comes through clear in the performance. The drumming stays simple and fun, with a lovely medium-slow 3/4 passage that lifts the middle section, and there is not a wasted note anywhere in the piece. Bruford said the whole song has grown on him over the years and every component feels foundational, just like the best of the old Yes material. Fans who caught the shows remember the energy of hearing four-fifths of the classic lineup deliver it live, even if the mix on the original release left Berlin a bit low and the electronic kit gave everything that late-eighties sheen.

The song itself goes way back to the Close to the Edge sessions in 1972, where Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford and Chris Squire built it in sections that they later fitted together. Anderson has said it started as a pretty folk song he wrote with Howe, then they surrounded it with big themes so it would work on stage. He still loves singing it, and in one interview he explained the title begins with "and" simply because that is how the line came out when he was working it up with Howe: "And you and I climb over the sea to the valley." The "you" in the lyrics, he has suggested, is probably God, or maybe all of us collectively reaching for the light and a true understanding of the beauty of life. Rick Wakeman has called the piece everything the critics hated and the fans loved, pure emotion built from movements that flow into one another. On this ABWH night the band stretches it into Cord of Life, Eclipse, The Preacher the Teacher and Apocalypse, and the overhead shots of Wakeman at the keys remind you why the spectacle mattered so much. One reviewer noted a great moment between Anderson and Howe near the end, with Anderson sounding like an angel, and plenty of listeners still rank this live take right up there with the old Yessongs version.

That whole ABWH project started when Jon Anderson walked away from the commercial Yes lineup after Big Generator. He had felt sidelined and wanted to get back to the progressive spirit of the early seventies. On a trip home from writing with Vangelis on the Greek island of Hydra he ran into Howe in London, and Howe handed him a cassette full of ideas including the chorus for Brother of Mine. Five weeks of demos followed at La Frette Studios in Paris, and Anderson began moving the old mates around like chess pieces. Bruford tells the story of turning up at the airport thinking he was only going to play on an Anderson solo record, only to find Wakeman, Howe and manager Brian Lane already there. "Oh hello fellas… what are you doing here?" he asked, and then it dawned on him that Anderson was forming a new Yes whether they liked it or not. Fortunately they did, at least for a while. They could not use the Yes name because Chris Squire held the rights, so they simply called themselves Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Anderson had floated "The Affirmative" and someone suggested "No," but the surnames won out even if it made them sound like a law firm. Howe still recalls the moment he learned they could book Madison Square Garden without the Yes moniker and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. The self-titled studio album arrived in 1989, peaked at number fourteen in the UK and thirty in America, and the subsequent tour billed as An Evening of Yes Music Plus gave fans the classic material plus the new songs. A lawsuit came and went, the shows were a success, and the live album documenting the Shoreline date finally saw release in 1993 with that Roger Dean Floating Islands cover. For the Zoo Freaks who have been riding along with the deep cuts for years, this version of And You And I remains a reminder of how those four players could still light up a stage when they got together.

You can catch more of the story and the continuing adventures over at THE ZOO, where the Crew keeps the freeform rock spinning. For the official word from the voice himself, head to the Jon Anderson site, and follow along on his Facebook, Instagram and X accounts. Steve Howe keeps his own space at Guitar Rondo, while Rick Wakeman’s corner is RWCC and the broader Yes world lives at Yesworld. The old Yes fan circles on Facebook stay active for anyone who wants to trade stories about nights like that Shoreline show and the songs that still climb over the sea to the valley. Keep the dial locked, Zoo Freaks, and we will keep the deep cuts coming.