Billy Sherwood has returned to the fold as a second engineer on Yes' new studio project.
On his Facebook page Sherwood announced: “Got a phone call from the Yes camp tonight, asking me to engineer the backing vocal sessions for their new record. Got a phone call from the Yes camp tonight, asking me to engineer the backing vocal sessions for their new record. Tomorrow I start with Jon Davison, Squire comes in later in the day to sing, Steve Howe after that and so on for the next week or so... As Pacino said in Godfather 3 "They keep pulling me back in !!" lol. Looking forward to seeing the lads tomorrow, viva la YES”
Sherwood's Yes credentials cannot be denied. He started as a song-writing partner of Squire's before the Union album. He later appeared on the Talk tour, mixed both Keys to Ascension albums, then worked on Talk and The Ladder. He also formed Conspiracy with Squire and toured briefly as the Chris Squire Experiment (with Alan White and Steve Porcaro). He also formed Circa with Tony Kaye.
Sherwood has also been prolific on his own, working on different projects as producer, musician, or engineer.
Ahead of their Cruise to the Edge shows, Yes are in a studio in Los Angeles, recording new material under the watchful eye of producer Roy Thomas Baker. This will be Jon Davison's first time recording new material with Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, and Geoff Downes. The previous album, Fly from Here, had Benoît David on vocals.
The last time Roy Thomas Baker worked with the band was in 1980 during the aborted Paris Sessions which ended up with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman leaving the band. The remaining members then returned to England and ended up recruiting Geoff Downes and Trevor Horne and produced Drama.
Still, Thomas Baker met again with Jon Anderson, producing Jon's Christmas themed album Three Ships. He is also famous for having produced Queen in the early days up to and including Jazz.
Yes have posted about six pictures of them in the studio on their Facebook page. They have also added another performance ahead of their Cruise. This new date is at Sands, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on the 5th of April. After the Cruise they will embark on the European leg of their "Triple Album Tour" where they play The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One in their entirety.
Triple Album Tour of Canada:
March 19, 2014: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
March 20, 2014: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BC, Canada
March 21, 2014: Prospera Place, Kelowna, BC, Canada
March 23, 2014: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, AB, Canada
March 24, 2014: Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB, Canada
March 26, 2014: Pantages Playhouse Theatre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
March 29, 2014: GM Centre, Oshawa, ON, Canada
March 30, 2014: Southam Hall @ National Arts Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada
March 31, 2014: Le Capitol de Québec, Québec City, QC, Canada
April 2, 2014: Hamilton Palce Theatre, Hamilton, ON, Canada
April 4, 2014: Borgota Events Center, Atlantic City, NJ, USA
April 5, 2014: Sands, Bethlehem, PA, USA
April 7-12, 2014: Cruise to the Edge II, Caribbean
April/May/June - Tour of Europe.
