Continuing with the tribute to Chris Squire, this sweet Psychedelic gem is from pre Yes band, Mabel Greer’s Toyshop and sounds remarkably like early Pink Floyd. Hear that bass guitar – the sound of Yes is born! The band also featured the first Yes guitar player, Peter Banks, he and Squire had played together in pre Mabel Greer’s Toyshop band, The Syn.

The band was formed by drummer Bob Hagger and guitarist/vocalist Clive Bayley joined by Squire and Banks when The Syn broke up. Later Jon Anderson joined as first Hagger and then Bayley left, before Bill Bruford joined and later Tony Kaye as they changed their name to Yes. You know the rest…

Peter Banks went onto form Flash in the seventies and released three albums, Flash (1972) In The Can (1972) and Out Of Our Hands (1973). After that band’s demise he made the solo album, Two Sides Of Peter Banks, played sessions and then formed Empire. I’ve never actually seen Empire’s records although I do have the Flash records and the first two solo albums in the archive. Banks continued as a session guitarist with the occasional solo release until his death from heart failure in 2013 at the age of 65.

Mabel Greer’s Toyshop reformed earlier this year with Bayley and Hagger and with help from Yes producer and bass player Billy Sherwood released the album, New Way Of Life that features new recordings of old songs plus new compositions. It’s a re-visit to their Psychedelic roots in a modern setting, you can hear it on Spotify.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Squire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_(band)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Syn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Banks