Steve Howe, the legendary guitarist with Yes, will have two of his own solo albums rereleased on 12th September, through his own HoweSound label, distributed by Cargo Records. What’s more, both Portraits Of Bob Dylan and Natural Timbre will be issued on CD and on vinyl for the very first time.
As to expected, Portraits Of Bob Dylan, originally released in 1999, saw Howe paying tribute to the fabled troubadour. That Dylan would be one of Howe’s own main inspirations might take some by surprise, the results performed in his own inimitable way less so.
“What I loved about it was having the chance to arrange them as I wasn’t going to copy what Dylan had done; I wanted to bring a little bit more to it,” said Howe.
The album features with an impressive array of guests performing an intriguing selection of Dylan songs, digging deep into his repertoire rather than the obvious hits.
Guest vocalists including Jon Anderson (Yes), Max Bacon (GTR), Allan Clarke (The Hollies), PP Arnold, Annie Haslam (Renaissance), and Howe’s old band mate Keith West (Tomorrow) and Phoebe Snow along with extra special guest Dylan Howe on drums, bringing a fresh approach to Dylan’s classics.
“The Portraits idea was always a sort of pipe dream,” Howe continued. “And I originally recorded one song to start the project, and I thought, this will be good, I’ll do lots of Bob”
Picking out one particular contributor, Howe noted: “I like the singer to grab the song and I think PP Arnold really did. It`s a treat to hear her singing. The way she controls her voice and the power that she has to punch the words out. The shape and definition of the song was contoured by her voice”
The rerelease will be available on CD and for the first time, on double deep red vinyl across three sides with an etched fourth side.
Tracks featured are: ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowland’, ‘Mama, You’ve Been on My Mind’ ’It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’, ‘Going, Going, Gone’, ‘Just Like a Woman’, ‘Well, Well, Well’, ’The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll’, ‘Lay Lady Lay’, ‘One Too Many Mornings’, ‘I Don’t Believe You’, ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ and ‘ Buckets of Rain’
The second rerelease, Natural Timbre, itself came out two years after Portraits Of Bob Dylan, and as its own title implies features an array of instruments in an acoustic setting, with Howe again joined by his son, Dylan, on drums. This time around, the album features both original instrumental compositions and classical interpretations to produce a deeply intimate collection.
“The idea behind Natural Timbre was to show that the beauty of acoustic instruments is universal,” said Howe. “I really set about it, putting the electric guitar away wanting to do another kind of exploration, because like the piano, you can’t get away from the tonality of acoustic sound. It’s one of those beautiful, harmonising, soothing things.”
Available on CD and also for the very first time on translucent green double vinyl featuring 18 pieces over four sides, it features the tracks: ‘Distant Seas’, Provence’, ‘Intersection Blues’, ‘Family Tree’, ‘Lost For Words’, ‘J’s Theme’, ‘In The Course Of The Day’, ‘Dream River’, ‘Golden Years’, ‘The Little Galliard’, ‘Up Above Somewhere’, ‘Curls & Swirls’, ’Pyramidology’, ‘Winter (Vivaldi)’, ‘Solar Winds’, ‘Your Move’, ‘Disillusion’ and ‘To Be Over’.
Steve Howe was born in London in 1947. His early recording career began in the 60s with The Syndicats and Tomorrow before joining Yes in 1970, making his debut appearance on The Yes Album in 1971 where he has, over several periods with the band, recorded 19 studio albums On a hiatus from Yes, Howe was part of supergroup Asia, achieving a number one album on the American Billboard Top 100 in 1982, where it stayed for an nine weeks yielding three top 10 hit singles. He also collaborated with Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett in the short lived GTR achieving a Top 2album in America and several albums with keyboardist Paul Sutin.
His varied career as a session guitarist has seen him playing on albums by a diverse range of artists including Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Propaganda, The Bee Gees, William Shatner and Queen.
Howe has released 15 solo albums and a further two studio albums with The Steve Howe Trio, formed with his son Dylan, which has seen him explore a wide range of styles and techniques. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Yes.
