''Beginnings'' is the debut studio album by English guitarist and songwriter

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to l ...

, released in October 1975 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. It was recorded and released during a break in activity from the progressive rock band Yes, after they agreed for each member to produce a solo album. Howe employed various guest musicians, including past and present Yes bandmates

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

, Alan White and

Patrick Moraz Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and The Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age a ...

, plus members of

Gryphon The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back ...

. The album reached No. 22 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and No. 63 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It was supported with promotional videos of "Ram" and "Beginnings".

Background and recording

In August 1975, Howe had been the guitarist in the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Yes for five years. After the band finished touring their seventh album ''

Relayer ''Relayer'' is the seventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released in November 1974 by Atlantic Records. After keyboardist Rick Wakeman left the group in May 1974 over disagreements with the band's direction following ...

'' (1974) that month, the group agreed to take an extended break and have each member record a solo album. Howe began by selecting demos that he had collected over the years, and aimed, before inviting guest musicians, to play by himself as many parts as was practicable.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's retrospective review deemed ''Beginnings'' an artistic failure, summarizing that "The playing is strong throughout, but towards what end is the mystery -- none of the songs are particularly memorable, nor is the production ..and Howe is such a weak singer that he'd have been better off ..sticking to instrumentals."

Track listing

All lyrics and music are by Steve Howe except where noted. # "Doors of Sleep" (Steve Howe,

Alice Meynell Alice Christiana Gertrude Meynell (née Thompson; 11 October 184727 November 1922) was a British writer, editor, critic, and suffragist, now remembered mainly as a poet. Early years and family Alice Christiana Gertrude Thompson was born in ...

) – 4:08 # "Australia" – 4:13 # "The Nature of the Sea" – 3:57 # "Lost Symphony" – 4:41 # "Beginnings" (Steve Howe, orchestrated by

) – 7:31 # "Will o' the Wisp" – 6:00 # "Ram" – 1:53 # "Pleasure Stole the Night" – 2:57 # "Break Away From It All" – 4:19

Personnel

– electric and acoustic guitars, bass,

lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ac ...

, mandolin, banjo, Moog, organ, washboard, vocals *

Graeme Taylor Graeme Taylor (born 2 February 1954 in Stockwell, South-West London) is a British guitarist. Taylor played lead guitar with 1970s medieval/rock band Gryphon, and leading folk rock bands including the Albion Band and Home Service. With Gryphon ...

– guitar (3) * Malcolm Bennett – bass (3), flute (8) * Colin Gibson – bass (4) * Chris Laurence – bass (5), double strings guitar (8) *

– piano (4), grand piano (4-6), harpsichord on (5), Mellotron on (6) * Bud Beadle – alto & baritone saxophones (4) * Mick Eve – tenor saxophone (4) * Patrick Halling, William Reid – violin (5) * John Meek – viola (5) * Peter Halling – cello (5) * James Gregory – piccolo flute (5) * Sidney Sutcliffe – oboe (5) * Gwyn Brooke – bassoon (5) * Alan White – drums (1, 2, 4-6) *

Dave Oberlé Dave Oberlé (born 9 January 1953 in Farnborough, London, Farnborough, Kent, England) is percussionist and lead vocalist with the 1970s band Gryphon (band), Gryphon. After the band split up in 1977, Oberlé went on to help launch the heavy rock ma ...

– drums (3) *

– drums (8, 9), percussion (9)

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Yescography entry
{{Authority control Steve Howe (musician) albums 1975 debut albums Albums with cover art by Roger Dean (artist) Albums produced by Eddy Offord Atlantic Records albums