Died On This Date (March 7, 2013) Peter Banks / Founding Guitarist Of Yes
themusicsover Peter Banks
July 15, 1947 – March 7, 2013
Once called “The Architect Of Progressive Music,” Peter Banks was the original guitarist for prog rock pioneers, Yes. Raised in North London, Banks first learned the guitar when his father gave him an acoustic one as a child. By his teens, he was also playing the banjo. The first band of note he played in was the Syn, which also counted future Yes members, Chris Squire and Steve Howe as members. The band’s biggest claim to fame was opening for Jimi Hendrix‘s legendary Marquee Club show that was witnessed my just about every member of England’s rock royalty of the day. After the Syn broke up in 1967, Banks joined Mabel Greer’s Toy Shop who eventually morphed into Yes, a name suggested by Banks as temporary, until a better one presented itself. Banks was a member of the band until 1970, playing on their self-titled debut as well as Time And A Word. In later years, he joined the band on stage on occasion and participated in a 1997 tribute album to them. He was also involved in later album and documentary projects. Banks went on to play in Flash, Empire, and Harmony Of Diversion as well as do session work well into the 2000s. On March 7, 2013, Peter Banks died of heart failure. He was 65.
Thanks to Harold Lepidus of Bob Dylan Examiner for the assist.
What You Should Own
Mickie Jones was the co-founder of and bassist for pioneering ’70s glam metal band, Angel. Formed with guitarist, Punky Meadows in in 1975, Angel would be the link between Bowie and heavy metal. It was Gene Simmons of Kiss who helped the band get signed to Casablanca Records, and in an ironic twist, the members of Angel chose to market themselves dressed in all white as sort of the “anti-Kiss.” The band’s slick pop metal and androgynous image helped pave the way for such ’80s hair bands as Poison, Warrant and Motley Crue. Even the band’s own keyboardist, Gregg Guiffria would go on to have ’80s metal hits of his own. Even though Angel released some of the most memorable hard rock albums of the ’70s, (IE: Helluva Band and On Earth As It Is In Heaven), they never reached much beyond a cult status. Outside of Angel, Jones played in BUX with Meadows and Joe Perry Project singer, Ralph Morman, and Empire with LA Guns drummer, Steve Riley. It has also been reported that Jones was once asked to join the New York Dolls. In recent years, he was working in the film industry. Mickie Jones died of liver cancer on September 5, 2009.
