Exploring how Steve Howe created the triumphant solo in Yes song ‘Starship Trooper’
Say what you like about prog rock, but it has got some damn fine solos. The 1970s had no shortage of pioneering guitar bands, but Yes were by far one of the most mesmeric. Blending complex jazz rhythms, glimmering guitar arrangements and soaring organ lines, they have come to embody all that was sweet and pure (some might say indulgent) about the prog era. I assume that if you’re reading this, punk did little to distract you from bands like Jethro Tull, Roundabout and the like, but if you’re in need of a reminder of why prog was such a big thing, there’s no better person to turn to than Steve Howe. Here, the Yes guitarist explains how he came up with the solo for the group’s classic track ‘Starship Trooper’.
The origins of ‘Starship Trooper’ lie with a song called ‘Nether Street’, which was recorded by Howe’s pre-Yes band, Bodast, in 1968 or ’69. Sadly, the song made little impact on the charts. Still, the guitarist remained loyal to the group despite recruitment attempts by Jethro Tull and Keith Emerson’s The Nice. However, he could only hold out for so long and eventually packed it in. By 1971, Yes were in full swing. Looking for a hit, Howe reworked ‘Nether Street’ for ‘Würm’, the third and final part of ‘Starship Trooper’
Speaking to Music Radar, Howe explained: “The song wasn’t rehearsed; it was constructed in the studio from various pieces. I had the Wurm part from another band I used to be in called Bodast. It was in a song called ‘The Ghost Of Nether Street’. We’d recorded an album, but the label closed down, and so the record never came out.”
Despite the record’s fate, Howe remained enthusiastic about the music, so decided to give it another chance with Yes. “I like the way it goes from G to E-flat to C, but different things happen on the roots,” he continued. “Although it repeats endlessly, it sometimes has the fifth below roots on the chords. It sounds like a lot going on, and of course, it’s flanged.”
‘Würm’ is, by far, the most impressive element in the whole recording. It’s mind-bending that the whole thing was recorded on a 16-track tape machine. Producer Eddie Offord worked like an experimental filmmaker creating a surrealist collage, taking fragments from various takes and stitching them together.
Howe explained how Yes recorded the build-up section in the studio, adding: “It splits into two guitar tracks, one side taking a solo. Somehow, we did a bunch of takes, and so we’d pick the best of each. They were all done as complete takes. I remember thinking that I was sort of jamming with myself.”
Stream the track, below.
