Rick Wakeman: The rock legend that turned down joining David Bowie
Joining an already-established artist tends to be both a blessing and a curse for aspiring musicians. It might be fun working with a legend to help them flesh out their musical dreams, but it’s always got to sting having to play songs night after night, knowing that they don’t really belong to you anymore. Although David Bowie could have easily kept moving as a solo artist and put a number of different lineups behind him, keyboard Rick Wakeman had to admirably decline to join him on the road.
Looking through his back catalogue, though, Wakeman seemed to be easy to work with no matter what genre he played. While he might be primarily known for Yes, the fact that he was able to provide keyboards on albums by Black Sabbath is the kind of versatility that most artists would only dream of reaching at some point in their careers.
That kind of practice only comes from people who are seasoned in the session musician scene. Before joining Yes, Wakeman already had an extensive background working in the session industry, one of which included working with Bowie on his massive album Hunky Dory. Despite Bowie penning nearly every track and arranging a fair bit of it on piano, it’s hard to think of a song like ‘Life on Mars?’ without Wakeman’s signature keyboard lines.
Since Hunky Dory was practically a prototype for what Ziggy Stardust would become, Bowie set about finding his Spiders from Mars, and Wakeman was at the top of that list. While anyone would have given their left arm to play alongside someone like Bowie, Wakeman had the best work day possible when he was offered the gig by Bowie and then asked to join Yes a few hours later.
Considering Yes was more of a democracy, Wakeman decided to take a chance with the progressive rock titans, telling Louder, “It was like being asked to join Manchester United or Chelsea. I took Yes because, within the Spiders, David was always going to be the leader.” Then again, Wakeman probably knew what he was leaving on the table as well.
Throughout the 1970s, Bowie ruled the Spiders From Mars, eventually bringing them to a close after a handful of shows at the Hammersmith Odeon before shedding his skin again to create Aladdin Sane. A prog version of the glam rock icon would have been incredibly exciting, but could you imagine having someone with the wealth of musicality that Wakeman had suddenly disappear after just a few shows?
As opposed to Bowie’s signature sound, Wakeman had a chance to bounce off musicians as much as he wanted to in Yes. If you listen to songs like ‘Roundabout’, those extended solos sound like Wakeman, and bassist Chris Squire are talking to each other, each taking turns trying to get the perfect take down on paper.
For rock fans, it seems like history was done right, with Wakeman eventually turning in some of the best music that Yes would ever create on albums like Relayer and Close to the Edge. It seems that Wakeman did at least steal Bowie’s taste for theatricality, always dressing up like a wizard whenever he took to the stage in the 1970s. You can take someone out of Bowie’s studio, but you can’t take that kind of theatrical element out of his collaborators.
