''Beginnings'' is the debut studio album by English guitarist and songwriter

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, London, Holloway, North London, Howe d ...

, released in October 1975 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. It was recorded and released during a break in activity from the progressive rock band

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

, after they agreed for each member to produce a solo album. Howe employed various guest musicians, including past and present Yes bandmates

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...

, Alan White and

Patrick Moraz Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and the Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age an ...

, plus members of Gryphon. The album reached No. 22 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and No. 63 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It was supported with promotional videos of "Ram" and "Beginnings".

Background and recording

In August 1975, Howe had been the guitarist in the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band

for five years. After the band finished touring their seventh album '' Relayer'' (1974) that month, the group agreed to take an extended break and have each member record a solo album. Howe began by selecting demos that he had collected over the years and aimed, before inviting guest musicians, to play by himself as many parts as were practicable.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's retrospective review deemed ''Beginnings'' an artistic failure, summarizing that "The playing is strong throughout, but towards what end is the mystery -- none of the songs are particularly memorable, nor is the production ..and Howe is such a weak singer that he'd have been better off ..sticking to instrumentals."

Track listing

All lyrics and music are by Steve Howe except where noted.

Personnel

– electric and acoustic guitars, bass,

lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of play ...

, mandolin, banjo, Moog, organ, washboard, vocals * Graeme Taylor – guitar (3) * Malcolm Bennett – bass (3), flute (8) * Colin Gibson – bass (4) * Chris Laurence – bass (5), double strings guitar (8) *

– piano (4), grand piano (4-6), harpsichord on (5), Mellotron on (6) * Bud Beadle – alto & baritone saxophones (4) * Mick Eve – tenor saxophone (4) * Patrick Halling, William Reid – violin (5) * John Meek – viola (5) * Peter Halling – cello (5) * James Gregory – piccolo flute (5) * Sidney Sutcliffe – oboe (5) * Gwyn Brooke – bassoon (5) * Alan White – drums (1, 2, 4-6) *

Dave Oberlé Dave Oberlé (born 9 January 1953 in Farnborough, London, Farnborough, Kent, England) is an English musician, best known as percussionist and lead vocalist with the 1970s band Gryphon (band), Gryphon. After the band split up in 1977, Oberlé went o ...

– drums (3) *

– drums (8, 9), percussion (9)

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Yescography entry
{{Authority control Steve Howe (musician) albums 1975 debut albums Albums with cover art by Roger Dean (artist) Albums produced by Eddy Offord Atlantic Records albums