Alan White RIP

Trubute to the drummer of Yes

Slowly, we’re losing them. Just a few days ago we said goodbye to Vangelis. Now it’s the turn of Alan White, drummer of progressive rock band, Yes, for the the past fifty years, who died yesterday, 26th May 2022, at the age of 72. He was the creative powerhouse within the band.

And was an acclaimed drummer already, before joining Yes in 1972. He had worked with John Lennon on the hugely successful album, Imagine, as well as with the Plastic Ono Band. He also worked with other notables such as George Harrison, Ginger Baker, Joe Cocker and Steve Winwood.

When he received the call from Yes, the band were riding high from the success of their definitive album, Close to the Edge. Yet all was not right. Preparing for a world tour to promote the album, their virtuoso drummer, Bill Bruford, had promptly defected to the chilly climes of their rivals, King Crimson. Alan White was welcomed on board to the Yes camp and given three days to learn the band’s entire repertoire. For a band known for their complex arrangements and challenging time signatures, this was a Herculean task. But, nevertheless, White rose to the challenge and proceeded to join them on their Close to the Edge Tour, starting in Dallas, Texas. The results can be heard on the magnificent, triple, live album, Yessongs, that shows a band on fire at the peak of their game.

Bill Bruford was a hard act to follow. His legendary skills had brought a jazz sensibility and subtle creativity to the rhythmic energy of their compositions. White, though just as skilled, brought a heavier rock vibe to the party. They lost some, they gained some.

The world tour wasn’t White’s only baptism by fire. Returning home, his first studio album with Yes just happened to be the proggiest of prog albums: Tales from Topographic Oceans. The album that became the last straw for keyboardist Rick Wakeman and sent him screaming for the hills. I would add, ‘never to return,’ but that would be a lie. But White got stuck into the four compositions of around 20 minute each in length with an array of time signatures worthy of Stravinsky.

More of that was to follow. Their next studio album, Relayer, with Patrick Moraz replacing Wakeman, was a one-off exploration into the dizzying complexities of jazz fusion. White was more more than up for the task of contributing significantly to an album that stretched the band to their farthest reaches. On some polls it even snatches the number position from Close to the Edge as their best album ever.

Going For the One showcased a more nuanced and sensitive side to the drummer. Check out the track, Awaken. With Wakeman returned from his topographic sulk to deliver a stunningly beautiful organ solo, it puts this track up there as one of the band’s finest moments. But White reveals an extraordinarily delicate touch in his tinkling percussion serving both Wakeman’s grand organ flourishes and Anderson’s celestial harp. It is his tireless, understated work that helps to release the full potential of the track — its beauty, its majesty.

White stuck with Yes throughout all their albums, their highs and lows. After bassist, Chris Squire’s death in 2015, Alan White became the longest remaining member in the band. The iconic rhythm section that played such an important part in creating their unique sound is now gone.

During the last couple of tours, as his health began to deteriorate, he was replaced on some of his drumming by Jay Schellen.

As a member of Yes he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

No doubt he is playing up there with Chris Squire and all the other greats we have recently lost.

Alan White RIP

If you like my work and wish to support my struggle, you can buy me a coffee, here. Please sign up for my weekly newsletter and/or sign up to receive an email whenever I publish on Medium.

If you’re thinking of subscribing to Medium at a mere fiver a month, giving you access to thousands of gifted writers, ranging over a huge variety of subjects, please support me by using this referral link. This is at no extra cost to you, but will assist me in developing an income, and save me from starving in my artist’s garret.