Why Flights of the Moorglade
C’mon, how cool is this ship?
“Even now, it’s impossible to separate Anderson’s music from the images on that sumptuous gatefold sleeve, with its intricate landscapes and its Moorglade Mover – part dragonfly, part pirate ship, part alien vessel.”
I’ll let LouderSound tell the story behind the making of Jon Anderson’s legendary album Olias of Sunhillow (you know I’ve got it in vinyl):
“One morning, around dawn, in spring 1976, Jon Anderson burst into tears. Yes’ lead vocalist was in his garage/home studio in Buckinghamshire, recording his first solo album, Olias Of Sunhillow.
The singer had spent days attempting to synchronise drums, bells, voices and what he calls “a Middle Eastern guitar” to create a vital passage of music. In 2016, this would all be done at the touch of a button. Forty years ago, it was still a painstaking process. Anderson was also playing every instrument on the record.
Late one night, after trying to co-ordinate the tracks yet again, Anderson dozed off at the console. When he awoke, he had no idea if the process had worked. As the dawn chorus began outside and hazy sunlight peeked through the studio window, Anderson pressed ‘play’.
A perfectly synchronised one‑man mini-symphony floated out of the speakers. Anderson felt a rush of relief and joy, after which the tears flowed. “I was in a state of madness making that album,” he says now. “But whenever I listen to it, I thank the gods.”
Still with me?
Here’s what I love about the description above:
First, it’s a classic portrait of the genius-artist. Though an archetype, it’s an intoxicating reminder of the talent which walks among us, today.
Hmm… may as well go all in and spell it artiste. Or what in film school we’d have called an auteur, a visionary who tackles the entirety of their presentation.
(Small aside: I met Jon Anderson at SeaTac once, and you know how they say never meet your idols? He was lovely. Fuck ‘em.)
The other thing that’s cool about Jon— and I’ve had trouble locating the original MelodyMaker interview in which he said this— is his approach to lyric writing. If you’ve listened to any Yes music, you may have intuited this for yourself:
He is oftentimes more concerned with the sound of the words than with their overt meaning.
Right on.