Interview with Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman is one of the most legendary keyboardists in rock music history. From his early work with The Strawbs, through the halcyon years of Yes and into a solo career that has spanned hit albums, movie soundtracks, books and even comedy, Wakeman’s life has had a larger-than-life cast to it.
Perhaps Wakeman’s best-known solo work was 1973’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The ambitious concept record was a surprise hit, ultimately selling fifteen million copies worldwide even though it was a purely instrumental recording. In keeping with his proclivity for staging enormous live spectacles, Wakeman wanted to perform the album live in its entirety at Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace, but shelved the idea when he found it impossible to get the permissions he needed.
2009 marks the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s ascension to the throne, and with the album having been firmly embedded as a classic in England, Rick Wakeman was at last able to fulfill his long-held desire to perform the album live at Hampton Court Palace. The once-in-a-lifetime event is captured on the new CD/DVD aptly titled The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live At Hampton Court Palace, which features Wakeman’s original score, amended to include some new material and performed with a full orchestra and choir. The result is a once-in-a-lifetime musical and visual achievement that is as uncompromisingly brilliant and over-the-top as we’ve come to expect from a man who wears a cape onstage and has been known to perform concerts with dancers on ice.
I spoke with Rick Wakeman on December 8, 2009 by phone from his home in England. This was actually the third time we’d been scheduled; the first time our interview got pushed back because the time change in England wound up losing an hour out of Rick’s schedule, and the second time it was scheduled Rick’s entourage was involved in a minor accident and he could not make it back in time to take the call. The third time was the charm, as is Rick Wakeman himself. I have met Rick before, and I knew that he’s a good-natured gentleman; this interview is a reflection of that as Rick shares his music business stories with his trademark wry humor and wit. This is one of those scenarios where he has been giving many, many interviews about this same project for weeks and weeks, many of which by the very nature of the beast contain most of the same questions. Often that can result in a very dry interview, but Rick answered all of my questions as enthusiastically and with as much good humor as if it were the first time he’d been asked them. Hopefully I managed at least one or two that he doesn’t get every day!
Special thanks to Carol Kaye for arranging this interview, and to Rick Wakeman for his time and observations.
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[...] had the pleasure of interviewing Wakeman a while back in support of this release , and in the course of that conversation he lamented that if [...]