TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS
Tales from Topographic Oceans is the sixth studio album from the English rock band Yes, released as a double album on 7 December 1973 by Atlantic Records. It is a concept album based on singer Jon Anderson’s interpretation of a footnote in Autobiography of a Yogi (1946) by Paramahansa Yogananda that describes four bodies of Hindu texts, collectively named the shastras. The album was a commercial success, becoming the first UK album to qualify for Gold certification based on pre-orders alone. It topped the UK Album Chart for two weeks and reached number 6 in the US, where it reached Gold certification for over 500,000 copies sold. (More from Wikipedia)
Future keyboard superstar Rick Wakeman was in the Strawbs in 1970 and 1971; he remained with the band for three albums but eventually left when he decided that his presence was causing both he and the Strawbs to be creatively stagnant. Rick Wakeman joined Yes in 1971 and was with the band during their most productive period, for the albums Fragile, Close to the Edge, and Tales from Topographic Oceans. Rick Wakeman started his solo career by early 1974, though he continued to play with Yes off and on over the years, including their 35th anniversary concert in 2004.
(July 2014)
