Beyond & Before: The Formative Years of Yes

Peter Banks is one of rock music's legendary guitarists - probably the best player you have never heard. He was a founding member of the influential group YES, and later the pioneering rock group Flash. In his book BEYOND AND BEFORE Banks talks frankly about the struggle to achieve musical success within early YES. He comments on his contemporaries and peers Jimi Hendrix, Robert Fripp and Pete Townshend, and includes many amusing anecdotes influenced by the exciting, supercharged atmosphere of 'Swinging Sixties' London. Not only is this book a documentation of the formative YES years and a history of the origins of 'progressive rock', it gives an insight into the daily tribulations and survival techniques of a contemporary musician in the late twentieth century. It is a testimonial to dedicated musicians, given by a man who has spent over thirty years as a foot soldier in the motley, shambling, and demoralized army of 'Rock.' Told with wit, insight, perspicacity, and even bigger words that Banks wishes he could spell, BEYOND AND BEFORE is a must for 'prog-rock' enthusiasts.