ALAN WHITE

After the successful tour the Yes experienced that supported the album "Relayer", it was decided that the five members of the band at the time would each release solo albums. "Ramshackled" is drummer Alan White's attempt at a solo album. What White wanted to accomplish is to create an album that had a wide variety of tracks, and he definitely accomplished that in this album. He also created an album that was nothing like anything Yes had done. Instead of releasing tracks that reflected their progressive stylings, he reverted to some of the styles that he had delved into with his participation in various other bands prior to his membership in Yes in 1972, when he replaced Bill Bruford as drummer.

There is not much on this album that spotlights White's talent as a drummer/percussionist. White did not write any of the tracks, but left that up to his band members and friends, most of who had been in his prior bands Griffin, The Alan Price Set, Happy Magazine, and Simpson's Pure Oxygen. The music on the "Ramshackled" album would reflect the various styles by becoming a mostly uneven affair and the vocalists would have a hard time being believable, but instead would often be laughable as they would try to add inflection to the music.

In the end, the album ended up being made up of bad tracks. However, 3 of the tracks on the album are pretty good, namely "Avakak", "Spring-Song of Innocence" and "Darkness Pts 1-3, but they only help to accentuate how bad the other tracks are. Here is a run down of the tracks on the album:

Ooooh Baby - Cool, funky vibe introduced by effects, organ/synth bring in r&b plastic vocals. One Way Rag - a smoother sound with better vocals this time, but sticking with the r&b style. Avakak - Leads out with piano, a very nice solo that eventually turns into a tropical feeling rhythm. Horns take the lead while other instruments copy the theme. Later, things mellow out quite nicely as the brass continues to take the theme. The song continues to deconstruct itself and it becomes somewhat experimental, percussion comes back in to sew it all together to return to the main theme, this time taken by the electric guitar which is followed by the sax improvising upon the theme. A very nice fusion instrumental. Spring-Song of Innocence - includes fellow Yes-men Jon Anderson on vocals and Steve Howe on guitar. It begins with atmospheric and dreamy sounds from the instruments before smoothing out to bring in Anderson's voice and Howe's mellow guitar. Lovely and shimmery, this one is a nice homage to William Blake's verse of the same name.

Giddy - A smooth r&b inspired piece that brings in more of a rock sound, but the vocals are goofy. Silly Woman - an awful track with cliché reggae sound. Marching Into a Bottle - Folkish instrumental with pastoral guitar and flute leading chamber orchestra sound. Though it's pretty standard, it's a nice break from the rubbish from the two previous tracks. Everybody - Tries hard to rock, but is another embarrassingly bad endeavor with steel drums added in. Things just don't gel here at all. Darkness Pts 1-3 - Settles into a nice bluesy rhythm with a soulful spirit which later picks up a more complex rhythm that melds the verses together. Vocals are better at points, but other places are laughable. The ending part is a bit more free-form when the rhythm disappears and things become more pensive. The trumpet is a nice addition here. Overall, this is a passable attempt at a more progressive and fusion style sound.

Overall, this album is not that great, but is only salvageable because of the 3 better tracks on the album. Is it worth looking for? Well, not specifically, but if you can find a cheap, used copy like I did, then I wouldn't pass on it. However, just don't have real high expectations of it being like a Yes record, because you will be disappointed. Just know that there are a few passable tracks that are decent, the rest of it is quite questionable.

Review Nº 319

As we know, Alan White is better known as the drummer of Yes for more than forty years. But, before that, he was a very successful session drummer that played with a lot of musicians from local unknown bands as well as with many famous musicians and bands, such as, John Lennon, George Harrison and Joe Cocker, only to mention a few of them.

So, it was in this context that appeared his collaboration with some of the musicians that appear on "Ramshackled". He had worked with Pete Kirtley and Kenny Craddock in the Alan Price Set and Happy Magazine. White, Kirtley, Craddock and Colin Gibson worked together in the short lived Griffin in 1969. In the early of 1970, White, Kirtley, Craddock, Gibson and Bud Beadle played together in the band Simpson's Pure Oxygen. So, naturally he invited them to the album. Besides those musicians and a handful of others, he also invited his colleagues of Yes, Jon Anderson and Steve Howe.

"Ramshackled" is the debut solo studio album of Alan White and was released in 1976. It was one of the five solo music works released in the same period of time by all Yes' members, during a hiatus of time by the band, after the release of their seventh studio album "Relayer", in 1974. The other albums of their bandmates are Jon Anderson's "Olias Of Sunhillow", Chris Squire's "Fish Out Of Water", Patrick Moraz's "Story Of I" and Steve Howe's "Beginnings". Alan White's first solo album garnered its share of criticism, both from critics and Yes' fans, because it was associated with Yes and it didn't sound enough like Yes, really. But, remembering for the moment that White had only been with Yes a short while, his music naturally draws equally from his past employers, some of them already mentioned by me.

"Ramshacked" is a very strange album for a solo album of any solo artist. Not a single track on "Ramshackled" was written or even co-written by White. So, somehow, it's a band's project only tangentially related to Yes, released under the Yes' name due to a fluke of circumstances. For his solo debut, White returned to his side project with other session men, dating back to before his membership in Yes. So, due to his music past with so many collaborations with so many and diversified musicians with so many different styles of music, and none of them was a prog musician, naturally we would expect a strange album too. Even in terms of quality, as well, there's something about a 70's collaboration of session men from outside of the progressive scene that almost seems to doom the project from the beginning. Throughout the various styles that are featured on this album, and to be fair, it's rather diverse, or if you prefer, too much diverse, there seems to be a strange and exotic aura over the entire album. Perhaps, any such collection is bound to suffer in comparison with Yes. But even on its own terms, though, "Ramshackled" isn't all that so impressive, really.

"Ooooh Baby (Goin' To Pieces)" begins with some good drumming and the presence of a distorted saxophone. The sound is mainstream with a few prog inflections. It has nice moments, the introductory section the keyboard setting shifts and the acoustic guitars too. "One Way Rag" has jazz influenced. It's a sort of track that would dominate "classic rock" radio. The guitar solo and the wind instruments add a bit to the track. "Avakak" is the first instrumental, the most experimental and the most successful track. The piano introduction and the percussion section are good. It isn't Yes, but it isn't bad. "Song Of Innocence" features an arrangement that even Anderson couldn't save. Howe's role is good enough, but peripheral. The participation of the rest of the band is limited. "Giddy" returns the listener to the soul/funk of the initial track. The performances aren't really problematic, but there's still not much to recommend. "Silly Woman" is a reggae number. However proficient the musicians have been, the essence of the song isn't great. But, the lyrics are the most dismal part of the number. "Marching Into A Bottle" is a good and brief instrumental, somewhat atypical of the album. Acoustic guitar, flute and percussion dominate the track, featuring a pleasant melody and good performances by all musicians. "Everybody" is another rock/soul track vaguely with a prog form. The vocalist attempts a Joe Cocker impersonation. White isn't bad and the return of the steel drum is favourable enough. "Darkness" is a good track. The arrangement, the lyrics and the singing are really good. The subsequent keyboard and trumpet leads are good as well.

Conclusion: "Ramshacked" is an eclectic mix, sampling soul, rock, jazz, classical and even with a little bit of reggae. Somehow, you could say the same about Steve Howe's "Beginnings". But "Ramshackled" isn't as good as all that, with White ceding the song writing to his old Griffin's bandmates Craddock, Gibson and Kirtley. If "Ramshackled" fails, it's because the rest of Yes were talented musicians with a vision. White might just as well have gone fishing during Yes' hiatus. Instead, he recorded this low key album of songs. "Ramshackled" great sin may be that Yes' fans, who were curious for a window into what made White, knew so little about him now, as they did before. In reality, the revealing science of percussion it isn't, but approaching this with realistic expectations, will go a long way toward appreciating "Ramshackled" for what it is a solo album from a 70's session drummer who had only recently hitched up with Yes.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

ALAN WHITE (born 1949) is of course best-known as the long-standing (or long-sitting) drummer with YES, having taken over the drum sticks from Bill Bruford midway through the gruelling Yessongs (1973) tour. Alan White has appeared on every YES studio album from 1973 onwards, starting with the "Tales from Topographic Oceans" album right through to the final YES album "Heaven & Earth" in 2014. Alan White's first and last solo album "Ramshackled" (1976) was recorded at a time when all of the YES members were taking a well-earned break from the band after the rigours of recording the "Relayer" (1975) album. Amongst the guest musicians appearing on his one and only solo outing were Alan White's YES bandmates Steve Howe and Jon Anderson, who both appeared on "Spring - Song of Innocence".

Ooooh Baby, this powerful opening song is a real surprise because "Ooooh Baby (Goin' to Pieces)" is a complete departure from the proggy music of YES. This is a lively Blue-Eyed Soul number, featuring the deep soulful voice of Alan Marshall (who?) getting all emotional. There's a fast-paced Jazzy feel to the music with some resounding supersonic outbursts of Hammond organ and with Alan White pounding away passionately at an incredible pace on the drums. All in all, it's a great way to open the album. The second song "One Way Rag" has a funky syncopated groove, so if you're looking for fun and feeling groovy, you may be inspired to get up and dance, or get down and boogie to this stirring Soul number. The lovely three-part harmonies of the soulful backing singers - Madeline Bell, Joanne Williams & Vicky Brown - sound in mighty fine voice on this uplifting Jazz-Funk song. These three gospel girls have got SOUL! There's no clue as to what the next piece of music might be all about, because the mysteriously-titled "Avakak" is a Jazzy instrumental. It's the longest piece of music on the album at nearly seven minutes in duration, so there's plenty of time to unleash a wild foray into the weird and wonderful realms of experimental Jazz-Fusion. And now we come to the beautiful highlight of the album, "Spring - Song of Innocence", a bright and sunny song that's positively abounding with the innocent joys of spring. This truly gorgeous song features Alan White's YES bandmates Jon Anderson on vocals and Steve Howe on guitar. It's a lovely warm song that's all aglow with optimism and shining brightly with all of the radiant energy of a one million candle power lighthouse on full beam.

Side Two opens in stirring style with "Giddy", a soulful Jazz-Rock refrain, featuring a scintillating synthesiser solo. This is another rousing Blue-Eyed Soul number that barrels along non-stop at a giddy pace with Alan White's drums instilling the song with dynamic energy and power. The next song "Silly Woman" represents the silliest inclusion on the album. It's a playfully light-hearted pseudo Reggae song that sounds like a bright burst of Caribbean sunshine, but it's a long way distant from Bob Marley & the Wailers. It's as close to genuine Jamaican Reggae as "The Tide is High" by Blondie or "Tropical Loveland" by ABBA. It's time now to raise a glass for the brief alcoholic interlude "Marching into a Bottle", an instrumental flighty flute and guitar excursion to while away two minutes of spare time whilst sipping on your favourite aperitif. Gather 'round "Everybody", because that's the title of our next stirring Jazz-Rock song. This soulful Jazzy number storms along at a thunderous pace, and if you listen carefully, you can hear those same steel drum sounds of the Caribbean that we heard earlier on the "Silly Woman" song. "Darkness" is descending now for the closing song of the album. This lovely symphonic melody features a rich tapestry of lush orchestral strings - arranged and conducted by David Bedford - although it's still a Jazzy Blue-Eyed Soul song at heart.

If you're expecting to hear elements of the classic YES sound in Alan White's "Ramshackled", then you can expect to be sorely disappointed, because it's not in the least bit proggy. On the other hand, if you're in the mood for some stirring Jazz-Funk with a heart full of Soul, then this might just be the album for you. There's a couple of real shining highlights on the album: "Spring - Song of Innocence" to close out Side One, and "Darkness" to close out Side Two, and the album as a whole represents a good all-round debut from YES drummer Alan White. It's certainly not a "Ramshackled" album in any way, shape or form.

I was so excited to discover that this out-of-print LP was going to be released on CD - - Japanese CD, no less - - in the winter of 1990 as part of Atlantic Record's "AMCY" release campaign. I was a bit less excited when I heard the music. In short, I didn't feel my US$20 (roughly $40 today, thirty years later) was well spent, and as my post-Ramshackled purchasing pattern demonstrates, I can't even say that I learned an important lesson.

A bit of context which is probably widely known by anyone looking up this album - - but just in case: after the Relayer recording-release-touring cycle, each of the five members of Yes recorded a solo album. This kind of made sense for singer/bandleader Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire, and wasn't a terrible idea for guitarist Steve Howe or keyboardist Patrick Moraz. But it seems obvious in retrospect that drummer Alan White just made Ramshackled because everybody else was making solo LPs. And Atlantic Records went along with the plan for the same reason.

Anderson, Howe, and Moraz made traditional solo albums, writing and producing most of the material themselves, with session musicians as needed.* Squire's album was more of two-person collaboration, made with substantial and crucial input from arranger-conductor Andrew Pryce Jackman. As White's contribution to the pentalogy, Ramshackled was essentially a reunion of his band Griffin, which released the 1969 UK single "I Am the Noise in Your Head" / "Don't You Know" and, with the horn section of Ginger Baker's Airforce, re-formed and toured the US in 1972 as Simpson's Pure Oxygen. The core of Griffin was White, guitarist Peter Kirtley, bassist Colin Gibson, and keyboardist Kenny Craddock; Kirtley, Gibson, and Craddock wrote Ramshackled and performed most of the instrumentation other than the drums. The duties of White himself consisted of co-producing the album (with future Hawkwind producer Bob Potter) and playing the drums.

The album was an obligatory product with surprisingly limited participation from the man whose name was on the cover - - but that doesn't mean it couldn't also be an excellent album.

But as it happens, there apparently was a reason that Griffin and Simpson's Pure Oxygen were short-lived bands. Ramshackled sounds like a compilation of b-sides from unsuccessful early-1970s pop-rock singles. It's well-performed and well-intentioned. Everything about it is professional, but little of it is memorable. Sadly, the only song that sticks out, so to speak, is "Spring - - Song of Innocence," which is a showcase for White's Yes mates Anderson and Howe. This was the album cut for which a video was filmed, and Yes performed it (along with "One Way Rag") on tour a few times. But "Song of Innocence" pales when compared to nearly any track of any of the other four Yes solo albums from 1975 and 1976.

There are two bright spots: the lead brass lines of "Avakak" and the really cool groove, beginning at 1:12 but unfortunately lasting less than twenty seconds, in "Darkness, pts. 1-3." These are, however, more than counterbalanced by the regrettable reggae of "Silly Woman," the greeting-card sentimentality of "Song of Innocence," and the way-too-soft pastoral flavor of both "Song of Innocence" and the time-filler "Marching into a Bottle." Still, most of Ramshackled is marked by the utter forgetability of songs like "Everybody," "Giddy," and probably some others I'm forgetting at the moment.

As a rule, albums should be judged on their own merit. By that standard, Ramshackled is pretty poor. But in this case I think it's fair to consider the album as advertised - - as an Alan White solo album or as one of a set of five debut solo albums. Either way it falls even shorter of the mark.

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*Anderson apparently performed, wrote, and produced Olias of Sunhillow entirely by himself, and although I've never been completely convinced of this, I can't point to any part of the album as evidence to the contrary.

Better than Ramshackled

Solo albums by drummers do not grow on trees, but Yes' Alan White has two under his belt. Or, strictly speaking, unlike Ramshackled from exactly three decades earlier, the present album is by a band called White led by Alan. Graced by a nice Roger Dean cover picture and featuring also another Yes man in Geoff Downes on keyboards, one could easily be led to think that this album will sound like Yes. But while Alan's drumming is recognizable and the bass guitar is in the style of Chris Squire, overall this does not sound similar to Yes. Downes' keyboards take the back seat throughout to guitars that have a contemporary, "grungy" Alternative Rock kind of sound while the lead vocals remind me of Fish of Marillion. This is an interesting combination of sounds and the end result is a decent Rock album, but not really a progressive Rock album. There are influences from Pop, American Folk, and even Reggae, but very little Prog. The best track is the acoustically driven closer Waterhole.

While this album is much better than the awful Ramshackled, this is not a terribly impressive effort either.

This is an album recorded by YES`s drummer ALAN WHITE while he was working with some musicians from Seattle (Kevin Currie, Steve Boyce and Karl Haug) with the addition of Geoff Downes from ASIA on keyboards. White has lived in Seattle for several years, and after YES`s last tour with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman in 2004, YES was inactive as a band until 2008. So, White, like Chris Squire (who worked a bit with THE SYN during those years) worked for a time with these musicians from Seattle , and they recorded and released this album, which is not really a solo album from Alan White, but more a collaboration album which was released in 2006 under the band`s name WHITE. Alan White has credits as songwriter in 5 of the 10 songs of this album, but the main songwriters are Haug, Currie and Boyce, with some collaborations from other musicians like their former keyboard player Ted Stockwell.

The musical style of this band is more Hard Rock with some Prog Rock arrangements and sometimes sounding a bit Pop Rock. Currie`s vocals (who by the way has the same name as one of Supertramp`s former drummers from the early seventies) sound more oriented to Pop Rock and Hard Rock than to Prog Rock. The rhythms are not very complicated and are very related to Hard Rock and Pop Rock too. The main instruments in this album are the guitars played by Karl Haug, who is a very good guitarist, and the keyboard arrangements are more in the background, playing a more supportive role.

The listener can`t really expect this album to sound related to YES`s musical style, like in Alan White`s first solo album from 1976, titled "Ramshackled", which also was more a collaborative effort with other musicians than a real solo album by White. But at least in this WHITE`s band self-titled album Alan White collaborated to the songwriting. He plays the drums very well, as always, and his style of playing shows his talent for playing several musical styles very well. The recording and mixing of this album is very good, but the mixing gives more emphasis to the guitars and the drums.

The cover art was done by Roger Dean, and it is maybe the most YES-related thing in this album, more than the musical style of the band by itself.

Certainly a departure from his day job, 1976's 'Ramshackled' proves the real oddity amongst the numerous Yes solo albums issued in the wake of both 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' and 'Relayer'. Whilst his cohorts produced either classy symphonic rock(Squire's excellent 'Fish Out Of Water'), classically-influenced piano prog('Story Of I' by Patrick Moraz) or glacial art-pop (Jon Anderson's delicate 'Olias Of Sunhillow') White opted to a navigate a different path, cooking up a funky, jazz-rock mixture glazed with cool pop melodies and augmented by the occasional fusion-laced instrumental flight-of-fancy. Strangely, a glance at the writing credits reveals not a single mention of the name 'White', with 'Ramshackle' written entirely by the little-known trio of Peter Kirtley, Kenny Craddock and Colin Gibson. White does contribute a collection of impressive percussive displays - check out the whirring, rock-solid beat of the groove-licked 'Avakak (a.k.a. Twelve Ways To Drink Meths)' - yet he is by no means the star performer. A slick, polished and slightly over-sweet album, 'Ramshackled' nevertheless exudes a certain infectious charm, the streamlined blend of rock, fusion and funk tinged with just enough progressive artfulness for it to maybe catch the ear of the odd Yes aficianado and beyond. Some may find it all a bit too close to Weather Report or suchlike for their liking, those who dabble in the occasional slice of classic 1970s funk - Green, Gaye, Hayes etc - may just find their next favourite album. Kudos to Alan White for treading such an unexpected pathway. Yes this certainly ain't; 'Ramshackled' really does proves a very apt title. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2013

White goes black!

After the release of the Relayer album, the members of Yes decided to all release solo albums. Jon Anderson released his Olias of Sunhillow, Steve Howe his Beginnings, Chris Squire his Fish Out Of Water, Patrick Moraz his The Story Of I and Alan White released this. While none of these solo albums are similar to the style of Yes music, Ramshackled is definitely the least Yes-like of them all. This is a laid-back, very funky, jazzy and soulful album! Ironically this White album has a very black sound!

This is not poorly performed or badly recorded; Alan enlisted a number of talented musicians and helpers here. However, this is just not my cup of tea at all. Also, the role of Alan himself is very dubious. He played drums for sure, but everything else, including all the writing as far as I understand, was handed over to other people. This is an Alan White album in name only.

All this make this album into a typical example of an album that is for completionists only - people, like myself, who wants to have everything Yes related just because it is Yes related and for no other reason. But this album stretches the boundaries even of how far even I am willing to go for Yes related stuff.

Alan was smart to enlist Steve Howe and Jon Anderson to perform on one track making the album more interesting for Yes fans. But even with this song included it is not enough to make this album really interesting for more than one listen. All five 1975-76 solo albums by the Yes members took fans far away from Yes in many diverse and interesting directions, but this album simply took us too far away!

This is perhaps not a poor album, but the Prog quotient is very poor indeed. And the relevance of this album to Yes is almost none. Therefore, one star only.

Been getting into Billy Cobham,Lenny White,Soft Machine,Larry Coryell's Eleventh House ,Perigeo and the likes lately.Was browsing I-Tunes for something new and stumbled upon this one.Listened to the snippets and read the reviews here.Thought what the hell and bought it.

I can see where EasyLivin's review is coming from, but I tend to lean towards Guillermo's review myself.

There is some great drum and bass play on here.I am not gonna go into the song by song review,'cause Guillermo's review nails it pretty good.I am not sure if I like these tracks totally,as I think I would prefer the music here to be instrumental,but it ain't half bad and adds some soul to the whole picture.

I guess my point here is,if you like the music I mentioned in the beginning of my review there is a good chance you will like this.

I will rate this album 3 *s since there are a couple of out of place tracks on here,but what the hey. Had they been replaced with another track like the last one,and this been an instrumental record,I would have rated this 4 *s.

So for the $9 I spent ,I would say I got great value.

The (ALAN) white album

Alan White's only solo album to date is this 1976 release recorded subsequent to Yes' "Relayer", when the entire band decided to indulge themselves in solo activities.

White, probably wisely, chose not to try to create an album which sounded anything like his mother band, but instead went down the jazz funk route. He gathers together a proficient band, White's roll appearing to be primarily one of co-ordinator and co- producer, apart of course from being the drummer! White is not involved in the song writing either, leaving that aspect to the principal musicians on the album.

After a couple of vocal dominated funky numbers, "Avakak", which according to the lyric sheet also has a number of rather silly alternative names, is a piano based jazz instrumental which drifts through a number of moods and lead instruments. I have to confess it is too jazzy for my tastes, but those who enjoy the music of bands such as Soft Machine may find it appealing.

The only other Yes members to contribute are Jon Anderson and Steve Howe who appear on "Song of innocence", written by William Blake. The song is the most orthodox on side one of the LP (yes, I still have the record!), essentially sounding like an Anderson solo work.

Things take an unfortunate dip on side two on the second track "Silly woman", which is a second rate clone of 10CCs "Dreadlock holiday". According to the lyric sheet, the title of the following instrumental was to be "Darch of the lesbian Mwarphs", but the more prosaic "Marching into a bottle" was used instead. The track is quite different to the rest of the album, being a flute based acoustic piece with baroque influences. It sounds like Alan White may not actually perform on this track at all.

"Everybody" sees things take a turn for the worse again, in an rather unfocused melee which sounds like "Captain Beefheart" on an off day. The best is however saved for last. "Darkness" has an impressively progressive structure, and much tighter composition. The first section is a bluesy vocal performance which leads into an orchestrated jazz rock burst. A delicate latter section, with good vocals and a trumpet voluntary concludes the album in fine style. This is undoubtedly the finest track on the album. Had the rest of the tracks been of a similar style and quality, White could have been competing with Squire for the best Yes solo album award. As it is, this is a competent but unexciting offering which is a solo album in name only. The fact that it took Alan the best part of 30 years to take one the role of leader on an album again (see WHITE) perhaps indicates that he recognised that he could achieve far more as 20% of the finest prog band ever.

The album sleeve is, unsurprisingly, similar to that of "The White Album", inside though is a colourful print of the hand written lyric sheet, and an insert with an illustration by Henry S Hodgson which at first appears to be a sophisticated old man, but closer inspection reveals his face to consist of a number of naked ladies.