4 minute read
Rick Wakeman Interview by Martin Hutchinson.
Rick Wakeman
Rick’s Being Grumpy Again!
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Interview by Martin Hutchinson.
Keyboard player / composer / raconteur Rick Wakeman CBE’s Grumpy Christmas tours are now as traditional in the festive season as mince pies and pantomime (oh yes, they are …!) and 2022 is no exception.
Audiences can expect music taken across the breadth of Wakeman’s career, with work from his days as keyboard player in legendary Prog Rock band Yes, his solo career and session work, plus a variety covers, given an unexpected twist. Meanwhile, festive tunes have been uniquely rearranged Wakeman style, performed on grand piano and electric keyboards.
All of this musical virtuosity will, of course, be punctuated by Wakeman’s typically ridiculous stories, which, as he himself states, “... always contain
an element of truth ... it’s up to the audience to decide how much!”
This year, ‘Rick’s Grumpy Christmas Stocking Tour’ will be taking him to some cities of the UK that he hasn’t visited for several years. The tour kicked off in Croydon on the 24th of November and concludes in Worthing on the 21st of December.
This year has been another busy one for Wakeman, and he is optimistic that the worst of COVID is behind us, as he tells me from his Norfolk home: “I’m sort of tentatively happy that normality is coming back. I can plan things with a bit more confidence.”
Apart from the tour, one of the things that is planned is the release of Wakeman’s new album, ‘A Gallery of the Imagination’ on the 24th of February next year: “That’s right. It’s
now mastered and I’m really happy
with it. One of the things with COVID was that there was no rush to get things done and I wanted everyone to be happy with what they
were doing.” He continues, in his usual exuberant way: “It’s quite a departure
from other albums I’ve done. There’s lots of ‘Proggy’ elements [laughs), I can’t do anything without Moog solos!”
Expanding on what we can expect from his new album, whilst praising his collaborators this time around, Wakeman says: “There’s eight songs
with Hayley ‘Strictly’ Sanderson singing and she did a fantastic job. And the guys in my band were as brilliant as ever. To be honest, I spent a long time on the lyrics , about three months and there’s a real mixture of music ... in fact, like an art gallery where there’s lots of different styles, hence the title.”
As for what we can expect from the tour, there will of course be the usual mix of music and chat, but Wakeman is being a bit cagey about the set: “Well,
there are two piano tracks on the new album and I’ll play them. Also, there’ll be some festive numbers and Christmas carols that can be played around with.”
But there are some numbers that feature at almost every show: “Yes, I wouldn’t
like to do a concert without ‘Life on Mars’ [David Bowie, ‘Hunky Dory’, 1971]; ‘Morning Has Broken’ [Cat Stevens, ‘Teaser and the Firecat’, 1971], and some Yes classics. It would be like seeing Frank Sinatra and him
not singing ‘My Way’!” He adds with a twinkle, “Also, I like to put in a few
surprises and new stories.”
Wakeman’s workload gets bigger and bigger. “I’ll be brutally honest”, he tells me. “I’m trying to cram in a lot
while the hands can do it. I realised that I lost nineteen friends due to COVID, so the future is now. I’ve got a big whiteboard in my office with all the things I want to do. I should have them all done by the time I’m 97!”
And he is looking forward to touring
again: “Of yes, very much! I’m not
looking forward to the travelling though. I used to drive home after every show, but not so much now. But I still love playing and meeting friends.”
“I love Christmas”, continues Wakeman. “It’s just as well, as this
will be my 74th Christmas. I will admit that I don’t remember 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952 very well, but after that, little bits of memory start to trickle back. I’m hoping this will be my best Christmas ever, but if not, well, there’s always next year!”
Wakeman’s new album, ‘A Gallery of the Imagination’, is to be officially released on the 24th February 2023, but he hopes copies will be able to be purchased at the live shows. For all tour dates and other news, visit the links below.
rwcc.com
www.facebook.com/ RickWakemanMusic
