Prog Legends FLASH Featuring Peter Banks “In The USA Live 1972-73” 3-CD Set Available Sept, 9, 2022

Available on Sept. 9th, restored live recordings from 1970ʼs classic prog rock group FLASH featuring ex-YES guitarist Peter Banks. Twenty-two tracks from seven shows across 3 discs; a majority of them previously unavailable. Best known thanks to their YES connections, the band nevertheless held their own across three Billboard charting albums, and the top 30 single hit “Small Beginnings.” Includes 32-page booklet with exclusive band interviews, unpublished photos and tour itinerary. A true time capsule back to the golden age of US rock concerts.

• Carefully restored and previously unreleased recordings
• For fans of progressive rock, guitar heroes and YES
• Previously unpublished photos
• Detailed US tour history with exclusive band interviews and memorabilia

“Capturing the collective during seven of their American shows of 1972-1973, one of those preserved for posterity in its entirety, the digipack will allow the listener to savor most of the three LPs in rather different performances than those laid down in the studio and the uninitiated will have the opportunity to see how brilliant these musicians were. Colin and Ray worked for a while under the old name relatively recently, but it’s the old recordings their followers are after, so there’s something to look forward to.” – Dmitry Epstein https://dmme.net

Says Ray Bennett: “What ‘Think Like A Key Music’ set out to do here, on this multi-disc set, is to gather together whatever was left out there of live FLASH stuff regardless of quality and present it in the best possible way. Whatever improvements could be made to the audio were done. Quite a bit of it is rough sounding, but I found that even with the poor sound issues there was something coming across from the live experience. Some surprisingly good moments. A fair bit of this material was fan-recorded, probably on cassettes, some possibly from rough mixing board recordings; some is much better studio type quality, and some has been online for years on obscure websites, but in the worst possible form – awful sound, complete with extraneous noise and talking in the recordings. So all that has been cleaned up and the sound mastered as well as possible. Overall, I think this is a worthy project for the historical record at the very least. Other than the ‘In Public’ CD which is already available, this new set is it as far as we know. Pretty much all that there is of live FLASH performance.”

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YES Original Founding Guitarist Peter Banks Showcased in Two Separate Compilations – The Best of Empire and The Best of Harmony in Diversity. OUT NOW!

Two very different aspects to the career accomplishments of original YES guitarist Peter Banks are being celebrated in the release of two separate compilations. Peter Banks passed away in 2013 but his repertoire has been carefully curated so it can be appreciated for generations to come.

 

 

 

The Best of Empire

Peter Banks co-founded Empire with co-writer and lead vocalist, Sydney Foxx, and the band recorded three albums of material in the 1970s, however, it all remained unreleased until the 1990s.

This hard-to-find material was collected together into a 3 disc set, The Complete Recordings in 2017, and The Best of Empire draws on that material. These recordings showcase Peter in a rock band setting and include their best-known song, “Sky at Night”.

Empire was very much a collaborative band between Banks and Foxx and this compilation was overseen by Foxx who recalls, “Working with Peter was a wonderful experience. Although he was the 'leader of the band' and the 'producer', he allowed me total freedom to write the melodies and lyrics that I wanted to. We never had any disagreements about the music we worked on. We split everything 50/50 and got on with it. He was inspiring, fun, and always creative. Never running out of ideas! I enjoyed the long rehearsals getting everything perfect, and our many 'all night' mixing sessions in the studio. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him. And so proud of the work we did together.”

The Best of Empire is available on CD here: https://geni.us/BestEmpCD

Empire’s The Complete Recordings 3 CD set is still available here: https://geni.us/PBME1

The Best of Harmony in Diversity

Peter Banks co-founded Harmony in Diversity in 2004 with the band also featuring Andrew Booker and Nick Cottam. The musical style of this trio significantly differed from Empire with a repertoire of improvised instrumentals.

The music of Harmony in Diversity was collected together into a 6 disc set, also called The Complete Recordings, so this compilation gives fans a selective taster.

Andrew Booker said, “This is a terrific selection of HiD pieces that pushed the needle uppermost on our 'ooooh, I really like that bit' detectors. It’s a surprisingly multi-directional mixture too, from bare-faced live improvisations, to the highly structured latter-day arrangements, with some oddball fun here and there, and Peter’s sublime and searing guitar coursing through the whole lot.”

Nick Cottam added, "It is great that the eclectic elements of HiD will now be available on a more easily digestible one CD format."

The Best of Harmony in Diversity is available on CD here: https://geni.us/BestHiDCD

Harmony in Diversity’s The Complete Recordings 6 CD set is still available here: https://geni.us/PBME4