Music
Rick Wakeman’s “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”
Rock Masterpiece, Pretentious Drivel, or Both?
I was only eleven years old in January 1973. I was beginning the journey from short trousers and knowing only nursery rhymes and church hymns to wearing faded, patched jeans and being a teenage devotee of progressive rock. And it was at that tender age that I heard for the first time the debut solo album from the virtuoso keyboard player of the band “Yes.”
I was mesmerized!
Most of the music had no words. Surely songs had to have lyrics? There was a theme, each track representing one of the wives of the English Tudor King, Henry VIII. It sounded complicated and thought-provoking. There were no simple three-chord progressions but “proper” music that even my parents might like, with bass, drums, and guitars all thrown in for good measure.
It was my epiphany, the start of my love for a genre that defined my awakening years. It set me on the road to discovering “Genesis”’ “Camel” “Pink Floyd” and far too many others to mention here, right up to the paradigm shift that was punk rock.
That, however, is another story for another day.
I agreed with most of the reviews at the time. The album was a masterpiece, an essential addition to the…
