--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had joined Yes in 1971. I was a…" description: "\"I had joined Yes in 1971. I was a classically trained musician who had worked with numerous artists as a session musician. I played on David Bowie's 'L..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/rick-wakeman-12343_art_i-had-joined-yes-in-1971-i-was-a-classic_2203163.jpg" --- # I had joined Yes in 1971. I was a classically trained… ![“I had joined Yes in 1971. I was a classically trained musician who had worked with numerous artists as a session musician. I played on David Bowie's 'Life On Mars,' Cat Stevens's 'Morning Has Broken' and even on some Des O'Connor records, though I kept that quiet.” quote by Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/rick-wakeman-12343_art_i-had-joined-yes-in-1971-i-was-a-classic_2203163.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/rick-wakeman-12343_art_i-had-joined-yes-in-1971-i-was-a-classic_2203163.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/rick-wakeman-12343_art_i-had-joined-yes-in-1971-i-was-a-classic_2203163.jpg) > “I had joined Yes in 1971. I was a classically trained musician who had worked with numerous artists as a session musician. I played on David Bowie's 'Life On Mars,' Cat Stevens's 'Morning Has Broken' and even on some Des O'Connor records, though I kept that quiet.” [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A skilled musician recounts his early career, highlighting notable collaborations while staying modest about his contributions. **In simple terms:** He worked with famous artists but kept a low profile. Key Takeaway Recognize and value your own contributions even if unnoticed. Themes humility career collaboration Mood reflective proud Type biographical inspirational When to use this quote - studio recording - career retrospectives - networking events Key Concepts session work music industry recognition Questions to Reflect On - How does humility shape professional growth? - What can you learn from quiet contributions? A Different Perspective May overlook personal impact when focusing on others' fame. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists/) [Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bowie/) [Bowie Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bowie-life-4848389/) [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/david/) [David bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/david-bowie/) [Even](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/even/) [Had](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/had/) [Joined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joined/) [Joined Yes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joined-yes-4848387/) [Kept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mars/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) [Musician Worked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician-worked-4848388/) [Numerous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numerous/) [Played](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/played/) [Quiet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quiet/) [Records](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/records/) [Session](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/session/) [Session Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/session-musician-1712956/) [Some](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/some/) [Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stevens/) [Though](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/though/) [Trained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trained/) [Who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who/) [Worked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worked/) [Yes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yes/) ## Related quotes > [I joined Yes in July 1971. I had heard Yes live, as Strawbs had supported them at a gig in Hull. I thought they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-joined-yes-in-july-1971-i-had-heard-yes-live-as-strawbs-had/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I'd become a corporate rock musician. I worked for 'Chris Rea.' He felt like another person. I even talked about him in the third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rea/i-d-become-a-corporate-rock-musician-i-worked-for-chris-rea-he-felt/) [Chris Rea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rea/) > [Bethann Hardison has been my collaborator, my closest friend, we've gone through starting businesses, losing businesses, kids, divorces, marriages, and she was my maid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iman-abdulmajid/bethann-hardison-has-been-my-collaborator-my-closest-friend-we-ve/) [Iman Abdulmajid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iman-abdulmajid/) > [I've had a high turnover of band members because I require something very specific, musically. I require someone who's really creative, as in someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cmat/i-ve-had-a-high-turnover-of-band-members-because-i-require-something/) [CMAT](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cmat/) > [What a good session musician does is listen to the song, to the artist, and to the other players. That way you can help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benmont-tench/what-a-good-session-musician-does-is-listen-to-the-song-to-the-artist/) [Benmont Tench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benmont-tench/) > [In most of the stuff that I've done over the years as a sideman, I wasn't really a session musician, because to me, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sanborn/in-most-of-the-stuff-that-i-ve-done-over-the-years-as-a-sideman-i/) [David Sanborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sanborn/) > [There's times I've been quite nervous doing session work, such as when I'm asked to play the violin in a 'country and western' style…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-sanders/there-s-times-i-ve-been-quite-nervous-doing-session-work-such-as-when/) [Ric Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-sanders/) > [When you're making a show or a movie, there are a million people and things in your way. As an actor, you're like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-badgley/when-you-re-making-a-show-or-a-movie-there-are-a-million-people-and/) [Penn Badgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-badgley/) > [As a musician and a guitar player, I can noodle as well as anybody. But from my background as a session musician, I always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richie-sambora/as-a-musician-and-a-guitar-player-i-can-noodle-as-well-as-anybody-but/) [Richie Sambora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richie-sambora/) > [I turn now not to the Bible but to Wallace Stevens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/i-turn-now-not-to-the-bible-but-to-wallace-stevens/) [R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/) > [Technically, maybe I learned most of all from George Stevens, and among his movies I learned the most from 'A Place in the Sun.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/technically-maybe-i-learned-most-of-all-from-george-stevens-and-among/) [Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/) > [Our artistic heroes tend to be those self-exercisers, like Picasso, and Nabokov, and Wallace Stevens, who rather defiantly kept playing past dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/our-artistic-heroes-tend-to-be-those-self-exercisers-like-picasso-and/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [My big influences are Joni Mitchell, and a lot of classical and Indian music, as well as Nina Simone and the personal blues and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yael-naim/my-big-influences-are-joni-mitchell-and-a-lot-of-classical-and-indian/) [Yael Naim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yael-naim/) > [Even in the beginning, when we knew there was a legal argument about how much our song sounds like his song, as one songwriter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-coyne/even-in-the-beginning-when-we-knew-there-was-a-legal-argument-about/) [Wayne Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-coyne/) > [True enough, Osama bin Laden is dead and other al-Qaeda leaders have joined him. But, the assassination of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-beauprez/true-enough-osama-bin-laden-is-dead-and-other-al-qaeda-leaders-have/) [Bob Beauprez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-beauprez/) ## More by Rick Wakeman > [Even the two times that I left, I never really felt like I left the band. It's very bizarre. It's like there's sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/even-the-two-times-that-i-left-i-never-really-felt-like-i-left-the/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [Actually, I only left twice. I left then, and then rejoined literally two years later for Going For The One.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/actually-i-only-left-twice-i-left-then-and-then-rejoined-literally/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [My mother had never had a day's illness in her life and never thought to have checks. Then, at 78, she discovered she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/my-mother-had-never-had-a-day-s-illness-in-her-life-and-never-thought/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I read numerous books - loads in fact - and, as I always do when recording a historical project, immersed myself into the subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-read-numerous-books-loads-in-fact-and-as-i-always-do-when-recording/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [My faith is very private to me. It plays an important part in my life, but I do not try and throw my beliefs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/my-faith-is-very-private-to-me-it-plays-an-important-part-in-my-life/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I'm always writing or playing because that is my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-m-always-writing-or-playing-because-that-is-my-life/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I was 65 in May, and when I have just shaved, I see my father. I realise that I now have the same facial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-was-65-in-may-and-when-i-have-just-shaved-i-see-my-father-i-realise/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [My eyes are green, and in one of them there is a splash of brown - apparently it is not a colour, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/my-eyes-are-green-and-in-one-of-them-there-is-a-splash-of-brown/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [My life revolves around music and always will. I need to be a part of music and not an observer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/my-life-revolves-around-music-and-always-will-i-need-to-be-a-part-of/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I've got an overactive brain. I enjoy work, I enjoy life, and I'm not good at relaxing. I've also never slept very much due…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-ve-got-an-overactive-brain-i-enjoy-work-i-enjoy-life-and-i-m-not/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I cut out bread, I don't eat after 6 P.M., and I go on walks, and it's had a great effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-cut-out-bread-i-don-t-eat-after-6-p-m-and-i-go-on-walks-and-it-s/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [When I die, I'll probably climb out of the coffin and play the organ at my own funeral!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/when-i-die-i-ll-probably-climb-out-of-the-coffin-and-play-the-organ/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I always say that it's about breaking the rules. But the secret of breaking rules in a way that works is understanding what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-always-say-that-it-s-about-breaking-the-rules-but-the-secret-of/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [When the first list was being drawn up in the rock and roll book of Genesis, it would have been: In the beginning, God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/when-the-first-list-was-being-drawn-up-in-the-rock-and-roll-book-of/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) > [I avoid preset sounds wherever possible, and all the sounds I use I have edited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wakeman/i-avoid-preset-sounds-wherever-possible-and-all-the-sounds-i-use-i/) [Rick Wakeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) [Explore all 55 Rick Wakeman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wakeman/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had joined Yes in 1971. 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