Chris Squire 1948-2015

Tempus Fugit

Founding member and bass guitarist for Yes passed away of Leukemia. The news of his illness was on Facebook some weeks ago, revealed during the same week we found out John Wetton had surgery to remove a large tumour. That was a bad news week for Prog Rock Bass Players. Since then there was one report he was responding well to treatment. It's hard to imagine what that meant. I guess we were briefly given the false hope that things were going to be okay, although in retrospection it is clear such hopes were wildly unlikely.

Chris Squire inspired a generation of bass players through his work with Yes. The distinctive cut in his tone from his trusty Rickenbacker 4001 was the hallmark of their sound for much of the 1970s, and even in the 1980s he was steering the band towards success. His approach to bass playing was heavily influenced by John Entwistle of The Who, using the bass as a lead instrument, playing it like a guitar. He had a sophisticated sense of harmony whereby he would shift and redefine the chord by avoiding the root note for whole passages and then come back to the root note with vengeance.

His playing was also inflected by his experience as a choir boy in his early years. There was a lot of contrapuntal movement in Chris Squire's lines that unlikely as not originated with J.S. Bach. But that was prog Rock for you. You could always tell his playing - he built and perfected a distinctive style and approach that at once combined phenomenal dexterity with tremendous feel. He was the master at pulling and pushing on the beat as well as simply delivering powerful runs and phrases that defined the entire music of Yes. His early work with Yes are now etudes for young bass players.

As the only member to have recorded on every Yes album, Yes music is stamped with his signature playing. It is difficult to imagine Yes recording more albums without him. They may, but it is unlikely they would sound like Yes records. Live, in the absence of Jon Anderson, he became the front man for talking to the audience. Again, it is difficult to see how Yes continues without Chris Squire in a way you can recognise as Yes. As a long time fan, I'm devastated. Ever since I heard 'Drama' with that bounding bass sound, I have been chasing his bass playing all of my life. Many other great players and stylists have come and gone, but all I ever wanted to do on bass guitar growing up and in my own playing was to just rock out like Chris Squire. He will be sorely missed.

There is a Rolling Stone article on his passing here.

Vale Chris Squire.