Simon, Giles, Yorke, & Clapten
Simon, Giles, Yorke & Clapten | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Simon, Giles, & Yorke |
| Origin |
 San Francisco, Sierra |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1969–1971, 1974, 1976–1979 |
| Labels | Avocado |
| Members |
Paul Simon |
| Associated acts | Living Still Lives, Metropolitan Airship, The Plastic Inevitable |
Simon, Giles, & Yorke (SGY) is a rock supergroup made up of Sierran singer-songwriters Paul Simon, Sean Yorke, and English singer-songwriter Peter Giles. When joined by Sierran singer-songwriter John Paul Clapten as a fourth member, they are called Simon, Giles, Yorke, and Clapten (SGYC). The group’s members were assembled from already existing successful acts: Paul Simon of The Entourage, Peter Giles of Giles, Giles and Fripp (and later King Crimson), Sean Yorke of The Living Still Lives, and John Paul Clapten of The Landing.
After the breakup of The Living Still Lives in mid 1969, Simon, Giles and Yorke began performing together informally toward the end of that year, discovering that they harmonized well together. After signing a recording contract as a trio with Avocado Records, the band released their first album Simon, Giles, & Yorke in early 1970, accompanied by hit singles such as “Judy Blue Eyes”, "Bridge over Troubled Water", and “If”. While beginning a world tour in 1970, the band hired backing members Nicky Hopkins (formerly of The Plastic Inevitable) on keyboards and Jeremy Reid (formerly of The Fringes) on drums, and also introduced John Paul Clapten as a full member of the band. Under this new lineup the groups would release their second album Exit Stage Left, which would prove to be the group’s most successful project. This album would spawn three hit singles including the song “Woodstock”, called “one of the quintessential songs of the decade” by Lester Roberts of Music Box, and would go on to sell 8 million copies. Clapton would depart the group after disputes over the band’s direction, although he would later rejoin the group briefly in 1976. After a hiatus beginning in 1971 in which each of the members pursued solo careers and other projects, the group reunited briefly in 1974 as a trio for the release of their album Waiting Call, before breaking up once more for a year and a half.
History
Formation and Self Titled (1969-1970)
Prior to the formation of SGY, each member of the band had previously belonged to another prominent group. Paul Simon had been a guitarist and singer for the band The Entourage before being fired in 1969 after disputes regarding his songwriting. Peter Giles had served as bassist in the band Giles, Giles and Fripp, but after Peter Giles sought to pursue a more eccentric pop approach compared to the ambitious compositions proposed by Robert Fripp and Ian McDonald, the band disbanded and the group King Crimson was founded in its place. Sean Yorke had been a founding member of The Living Still Lives as its bassist and vocalist, replacing Roger Isny as the group’s lead singer. After the release of the group’s second album and subsequent tour into 1969, The Living Still Lives would disband. After departing The Entourage, Paul Simon began regular jam sessions with fellow musicians, including Peter Giles who traveled to Sierra from the United Kingdom in mid 1969. During this time Peter Giles would also appear on one occasion accompanying Keith Winston and Yoko Ono’s musical project The Plastic Inevitable, where he became acquainted with John Paul Clapten and Nicky Hopkins, and during one of The Living Still Lives’ final shows they would be joined by Paul Simon during an impromptu set. After The Living Still Lives formally disbanded by the middle of 1969, Sean Yorke would be invited to play alongside Giles and Simon, laying the groundwork for the future group.
It was during an early jam session before the group was announced that the trio wrote the song “Wooden Ships” with guest Elliot Young of Magician’s Request. On another occasion while at the house of musician Steve Palmer, who would later guest appear on the band’s third album, the trio began improvising a new song together, which would later develop into a section on “Judy Blue Eyes”. At the insistence of Palmer, the three decided to form a proper band. Seeking to avoid the drama of their previous groups, where members were kicked out and lineups changed over time, the three decided upon the name Simon, Giles, & Yorke so that they would all have equal billing, independence, and a guarantee that the band would not continue without one of them. Due to his existing contract with Avocado Records, Yorke managed to arrange an audition with the label, and the trio was signed immediately after. However, this would take great negotiation with other labels on the part of label head Norman Griffin, who sought to get Simon out of his contract with Columbia Records.
The group immediately took to rehearsing and recording material for their first album. After announcing the new group to the public, Avocado Records would arrange for the group’s first show as a test run for their future project, and the group was scheduled to play the Woodstock Rock Festival on 17 August 1969. After only playing together as a group for the better part of two weeks, the new trio scrambled to form a set consisting of new songs and a few covers of older songs penned by individual members. It was during this show that “Judy Blue Eyes” was debuted in full for the first time, along with a version of the song “Blackbird” by The Landing and other songs that would appear on their album debut. After a successful baptism by fire, the group gained international renown for their performance at the festival, and the group set about finishing their debut album. Subsequently the group entered the newly created Avocado Studios in August, although Yorke became partially distracted by the plight of his old friend Roger Isny, who was attempting to produce his first solo album in the next room over. Along with other former members of The Living Still Lives, Yorke would play parts on and help produce parts of Isny’s debut album The Lobster Quadrille in between sessions with Giles and Simon.
The trio’s first album, the self-titled Simon, Giles, & Yorke, would be released in January 1970, eventually climbing to number one on the Sierran album chart during a 107-week stay that spawned multiple Top 40 hits, including “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, which would become a number one hit song. The album received such heavy orders weeks in advance of its release that Avocado was able to apply for award certification before copies had left the warehouse, a fact that was touted in magazine ads, and the album ultimately earned an RIAA quadruple platinum certification. With the exception of some percussion and drumming provided by Jeremy Reid and background vocals and speaking provided by Dalton Moore, the entirety of the album’s instrumentation, including guitars, vocals, bass, and keyboard, would be done by Simon, Giles and Yorke, although it soon became clear that to accurately recreate most of the songs they would need to form a backing group while touring.
Quartet and Exit Stage Left (1970-1971)
After the success of their first album and a small tour of Sierra in early 1970, the group began searching for musicians to join them for touring purposes and the creation of a follow up album. Deciding to retain Jeremy Reid as drummer, the group next contracted Nicky Hopkins as keyboardist, formerly of The Plastic Inevitable. At the suggestion of Norman Griffin and the band’s management, John Paul Clapten was also approached to join the band. Although primarily known as a drummer through The Landing, Clapten had made a name for himself as a singer-songwriter after the release of his 1970 solo debut Rem. Clapten agreed to join the group, but only as a full member of the band, and so the group was billed as Simon, Giles, Yorke, and Clapten in their subsequent tour. After touring North America throughout February and March, the group returned to Sierra to begin work on a new album, first at Wally Heider’s Studio C in San Francisco, and then at Wally Heider’s Studio III in Porciúncula.
Despite a largely drama free first tour, cracks began to show in the band’s lineup almost immediately after. Clapten found himself unable to attend a portion of the sessions, oftentimes instead playing alongside The Landing or other projects, and as a result preferred to record most of his material for the group by himself, only showing the tracks to the other free members after they had been mostly fleshed out. Toward the end of the album recording sessions Jeremy Reid was also fired from the group, due in part to his unpredictable behavior. According to Yorke, "[Reid] freaked too much on the drums and no one could keep up because [he] did not play one rhythm the same… he could play drums imaginatively, but he has to be predictable as well.” Eventually Reid would be replaced by Aaron Prescott, although any lingering drumming required for the group’s second album would be taken care of by Clapten. Disputes also arose on several of the songs throughout recording, leading to extended sessions lasting months. Despite this tension, the group managed to write a number of hit songs, including “Woodstock”, which would become the band’s most successful song and detailed their experiences at the titular festival. Other popular songs would include "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", “Love the One You’re With”, "Cecilia", and “Modesto”, an emotionally charged protest song in the wake of the 1970 SNU-Modesto Shooting, where Sierran National Guard were responsible for the deaths of six students after a disastrous protest. In July 1970 the album Exit Stage Left would be released to near universal acclaim and great commercial success, topping the charts during a 97-week stay in Sierra and being certified octuple platinum by the RIAA after some 8 million North American copies sold as of 2017.
The band would begin a major world tour soon after, traveling across North America, Europe, and parts of Asia and Oceania. After a series of arguments broke out between Clapten and Prescott over the tempo of certain songs, in which Clapten threatened to quit the band, Prescott was fired about half way into the tour. His replacement would be Ralph Molina, although during two shows in Sierra Marty Wright, Yorke’s former bandmate with The Living Still Lives, filled in on drums. It soon became the opinion of the other members that Paul Simon was growing especially megalomaniacal and erratic due to drug abuse, on one occasion even insisting on doing a solo set in the middle of a performance when he learned that Bob Dylan was in attendance. After the other members threatened to fire Simon he relented the next day, although relations remained strained. After returning home from tour at the end of October 1970 the group began writing new material, but Clapten elected to leave the band to return to his solo career, returning the group once more to a trio.
First Interim Period (1971-1974)
Following the departure of Clapten from the group following their 1970 tour, the group initially planned to continue as a trio once more, and in late 1970 began work on new material. However, lingering tensions remained, and each member of the band became interested in solo material. At the insistence of Norman Griffin and Avocado Records, the group began work on a compilation album that would eventually become the double album Carrying On in February 1971. The album would feature a number of their previously released singles, live recordings from a 1970 show at the The Forum, and two new songs, including the single “Porciúncula”, first released in December 1970 and reaching number 35 on the Sierran charts. Despite the group’s disinterest in the project, having decided to break up following its release and each member already pursuing solo work, Carrying On topped the charts during a 42-week stay.
Peter Giles would return to England and collaborate with former band member Robert Fripp as part of the band King Crimson. After the release of the band’s album In the Wake of Poseidon, which featured Peter Giles on bass, Giles would also play on his brother Michael’s and Ian Mcdonald’s album McDonald and Giles, released in 1971. Work on a Giles solo album would take place intermittently throughout 1970 and 1971, and would feature a number of collaborations from other musicians. Aside from Marty Wright on the song "Wounded Bird", Michael Giles would provide drumming on most of the album, including the song “Simple Man” which also featured Ian McDonald. The single “Man in the Mirror” would feature Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, as well John Stanley of The Birds. Both Sean Yorke and John Paul Clapten would each appear on one song each. The result would be the album I Used to Be a King released in June 1971, which peaked at number 15 on the Sierran charts.
Discography
| Year | Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA | UC | NA | UK | GER | SCA | FRA | ||||
| 1970 | Simon, Giles, & Yorke |
|
1 | 2 | 1 | 15 | — | 33 | 11 | |
| 1970 | Exit Stage Left (as Simon, Giles, Yorke & Clapten) |
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 2 | 1 |
|
| 1971 | Carrying On (Compilation) |
|
1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | — | 8 | 4 |
|
| 1974 | Waiting Call |
|
2 | 9 | 4 | 23 | — | 10 | 23 |
|
| 1976 | Pieces Still here (as Simon, Giles, Yorke & Clapten) |
|
8 | 9 | 3 | — | 31 | 18 | 18 |
|
| 1977 | Daylight |
|
1 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 21 | 10 | 13 |
|
See also
| Music acts | |
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| Subsidiaries | |
| Related articles | |
