Rick Wakeman Mars, with guitarist Mick Ronson. Later the same day, he received a call at two in the morning from bassist Chris Squire of the progressive rock group Yes, who explained that Yes needed a keyboardist as Tony Kaye had been asked to leave, following his resistance to learn instruments other than the piano and organ. Wakeman agreed to meet the band as they rehearsed for their fourth album, "Fragile", in August 1971. During his first session, the basis of "Heart of the Sunrise" and "Roundabout" were put together. Thinking that Yes presented more favourable opportunities for his career, Wakeman declined
Rick Wakeman Wakeman left from the Ronnie Smith group and for several months, played in a pub band named the Spinning Wheel. In 1970, Wakeman performed on "Seasons" by Magna Carta, and records by Brotherhood of Man, Paper Bubble, Shawn Phillips, and White Plains. He soon became disillusioned with session work, "I was getting good bread, but I wasn't getting a chance to be part of the music". Wakeman's prominence rose during his tenure with the folk rock group Strawbs from 1969 to 1971. He first played the piano for them as a session on "Dragonfly", the first album released with Wakeman's