Rick Wakeman - The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973)

Rick Wakeman's first solo album - and in my opinion his best...

Track listing
1. Catherine of Aragon (3:45)
2. Anne of Cleves (7:50)
3. Catherine Howard (6:36)
4. Jane Seymour (4:44)
5. Anne Boleyn 'the day thou gavest Lord is ended (6:31)
6. Catherine Parr (7:00)

Total Time: 36:36

An impressive line-up of musicians on this album:

- Rick Wakeman / pianos, organ, harpsi chord, synthesizers, mellotrons
+ Bill Bruford / drums (1-5)
- Ray Cooper / percussion (1-5)
- David Cousins / electric banjo (3)
- Chas Cronk / bass (3)
- Barry de Souza / drums (3)
- Mike Egan / guitar (1-2-5-6)
- Steve Howe / guitar (1)
- Les Hurdle / bass (1-5)
- Dave Lambert / guitar (3)
- Laura Lee / chorus (5)
- Sylvia McNeill / chorus (5)
- Judy Powell / chorus (1)
- Frank Ricotti / percussion (2-3-6)
- Barry St.John / chorus (1)
- Chris Squire / bass (1)
- Liza Strike / chorus (1-5)
- Alan White / drums (2-4-6)

Rick Wakeman began work on his first solo album, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, prior to the release of Yes’ Close to the Edge. This all-instrumental album purports to be, as the artist himself states, “my interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII.” It’s an interesting goal -- one worthy of the progressive rock genre it fits into -- with the keyboardist conjuring various personalities through sentiment, devoutness and drama. Despite the presence of several Yes band mates (including Alan White, who had yet to appear on a Yes album), Six Wives doesn’t recall the work of Yes in any direct sense. Wakeman, though a pioneer of the synthesizer and mellotron, is well attuned to the keyboard’s history, and his melange of sounds both old and new is unique. Having revealed himself to be something of a history buff, Wakeman is also outed as an Anglophile, not just in his choice of subject matter but in his decidedly structured approach to song writing. The music is steeped in English idioms, from the staid religious passages (going so far as to emulate a church organ on “Jane Seymour”) to the rural quality of his melodies (which achieves a lovely effect on “Catherine Howard”). Perhaps most impressive is Wakeman’s ability to fuse different sections together using a variety of sounds, without making the music feel unnatural or forced. “Catherine of Aragon” and “Catherine Parr,” for example, cover a wide range of emotions and actions in a relatively short span of time, yet Wakeman avoids overwhelming his listeners by creating respiteful passages in between the more active sections. The Six Wives of Henry VIII is regarded by many as Wakeman’s best solo album. His animated arrangements and sympathetic storytelling, tinctured with a sense of humour and a flair for the dramatic, should please both realists and escapists.

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