Talk:Jon Anderson

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Good grief, the first discussion on Jon Anderson is in late 2005? Shame. I believe him to be the absolute voice of the symphonic rock era. His sound was pure, on note, non vibrato, non slide and essentially a wind instrument that meshed well with the clean sound that Howe had in mind for his small orchestra.

I bumped into Jon a couple of years ago at a toy store. He looked well. He had just done a very small set with the original band in a small venue in a small town where he lived. I saw it - magic. He is an original.

He's so original nobody has seen it necessary to discuss him! Where does he live these days? JFW | T@lk 10:01, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Jon Anderson is quite possibly one of the best singers ive heard, if not the best. How he manages to keep the clarity of his foice and maintain his high notes is amazing. I was wondering about peoples veiws on the magnification album. I really enjoy it with crystal clear sound and the orchestra is amazing especially on "Dreamtime". Also, on the limited edition with the 2nd CD, it has "Gates of Delerium" live, and it rocks, much better than the studio version. Id have to say my favorite album now would either be Magnification or Close to the edge.

What are your views?

- Will Evans

Magnification is certainly their best since at least 1977. But is this relevant? --The guy with the axe - aaaaaaargh!!! (talk) 20:43, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Falsetto

The article states " Even during live performances, such as those recorded and included in the Yessongs album, Anderson never wavers into falsetto..." and yet in the Falsetto article Jon is listed under "Examples of male singers who demonstrate frequent use of falsetto". Obviously one of these needs to be changed. I'm a huge Yes fan but I don't know what falsetto sounds like, so I'll leave it to someone who knows for sure. Raven4x4x 11:20, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah about that... I'll try to find the sound clip, but Jon was interviewed in regards to a concert he was putting on with a Middle school. They played a clip of his singing, and in regards to his high-pitched singing, she asked, "So, you're singing falsetto..." and he swiftly negated that comment, saying something like, "No, not falsetto. I'm classified as an alto-tenor." Yes, at some point in his career, Jon Anderson might have employed falsetto, but he definitely shouldn't be *known* as a falsetto singer. --65.186.211.172 22:00, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
Greetings, this is my first ever contribution to Wikipedia, so bear with me. . .
I am a Professor of Linguistics, a phonetics and voice specialist, and I have analyzed Jon Anderson's voice many times over the years, both by listening and by computer processing. All the evidence I can gather tells me that his singing is absolutely never in a falsetto, nor is it in the "blend voice" mode as described in the article. His voice is, it seems, basically "operatic" in character. He sings with a full chest voice on most notes, switching to a highly damped "head voice" (using larynx shifting a la Pavarotti) for his highest two or three notes (that would be high D, E-flat, and E, above the tenor range). In any event it is certainly one of the most unique and wonderful male voices of the twentieth century music scene (although far from perfectly trained), and I respectfully suggest changing the "vocal style" section of the article to reflect some of the facts I've been able to gather.
Safulop 01:19, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
Sounds good, Safulop. You can change it yourself, you know! I've never thought of Jon as using falsetto, myself, so I'd probably agree with any changes you made to the article, particularly as you seem to be a very good writer. Go for it!
Gardener of Geda | Message Me.... 02:09, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
I definitely don't want to be discouraging, but you should be aware of the policy about no original research. (John User:Jwy talk) 02:49, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
I appreciate your kind thoughts, I was just following the general Wikipedia policy that you are supposed to invite a discussion on the talk page before performing a major edit of a content page. I also see that you are right about original research; I cannot rely on my own investigations. I believe I can find published opinions that echo my own, so I will use those. It's funny that I can cite something for support that is basically itself just an unsupported opinion, while I can't present real science-based evidence in favor of the opinion because it would count as "original research." Oh, well, I understand the reasoning behind not presenting research in an encyclopedia.
Safulop 02:49, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
I was very reluctant to bring it up, but its useful information. You can remove the information there as being uncited and/or original research! Happy editing. . . (John User:Jwy talk) 04:28, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
BTW, the "yeoww's" in Owner are almost certainly Trevor Horn.
I was just thinking that! Plus, that's NOT FALSETTO, that's SCREAMING. Two good reasons for removing that sentence. --The guy with the axe - aaaaaaargh!!! (talk) 19:37, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
Hey I was wondering why it still has references to "falsetto" and "the blend voice", even though this discussion (above) seemed to unanimously support taking it out a year ago. Jon does not sing in falsetto nor anything close to it. Plain & simple, he just has a high voice. His speaking voice is the same way, very high. Well, I'm not going to edit it out myself, since I'm new here, and I don't want to piss anyone off. But the existing statements in the article have absolutely no verifiable merit. Just an aside: I wonder what Jon's REAL falsetto would sound like... I bet only dogs could hear it.Chazella (talk) 00:19, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
Oh bloody hell I went ahead and edited it myself. I found an interview where he clearly denies singing falsetto. Hope this puts an end to it once and for all! :) Chazella (talk) 00:43, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
Further to my last on the screaming in "Owner...": I've just tried playing that part of the song at slower speed. It sounds as if the "yeoww's" on the track are sped up! --The guy with the axe - aaaaaaargh!!! (talk) 20:43, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Elf Culture, Mushrooms, 4th Dimension?

All very interesting & plausible, can we get some references though? --Son of Somebody 19:19, 29 September 2006 (UTC)


[edit] more biographical details

I think the data regarding Jon's period with the different Yes eras is great but would greatly appreciate more info on: 1. Jon's solo albums and tours, and 2. Jon & Vangelis.

Might also be interesting to check - album credits? - just when he dropped the h from his name, given that there is an express reference to this. Thanks. 83.180.146.120 15:22, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article Vigilance

Since January 10th, a total of 5 vandal-edits by IP 69.86.188.10 have been reverted by me, and one other editor.

Yesterday, I posted a message on his talk-page about his latest one, in which he attempted to use Wiki POV rules to justify a blatantly anti-Jon edit.

Today, I received a rather mysterious message on my talk-page here, featuring an attempt to use Wiki rules to stop me calling the troll a "vandal". Not, of course, that I'm saying that there is any possible connection between 69.86.188.10 and the poster on my talk page.

I get the impression that the vandalism may continue. Keep an eye on it.
Gardener of Geda | Message Me.... 17:40, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citations

Does anyone have citations for this article or provide inline citations? I added in Jon Anderson's bio from his website, but we need more than one source. Thanks, --Midorihana(talk)(contribs) 08:03, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] In High Places

Most of Mike Oldfied's Crises album was recorded in 1983, so I'm guessing Jon recorded the track In High Places in 1983 rather than 1982, so I've changed that. I'm not sure about it though. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.71.246.65 (talk) 13:29, 15 April 2008 (UTC)