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| Photo credit: Richard Nixon |
The “Chris Squire” Custom Triple Neck Wal
Transcript from "Bassist" magazine 1999. Roger Newell
Inspired by all the revelations in Bassist's Wal Special, I
thought it time to reveal the details of one of Rocks Progressive icons - the
Wal Triple Neck bass. Built for me, but later made much more famous by Yes'
Chris Squire, between us it was used in some of the largest venues in the
world, and made its last appearance with Chris on the Union tour featuring Yes's mega eight-man line-up, where it sounded
as impressive as ever. Its beginnings were somewhat humble in comparison,
though...
The Idea
The man to thank - or blame - for the idea was Rick Wakeman.
We met at my local pub in Buckinghamshire, where I often jammed with friends on
a Sunday night for a free pint. Rick lived nearby, sat in on keyboards one
night and had so much fun, it became a regular occurrence. Much to our
surprise, he adopted most of this band for the Journey To the Centre Of The Earth gig, which was recorded and when
subsequently released, hit the top of the album charts.
We'd rehearsed the Journey
set and performed the Festival Hall show during a three-week holiday from my
day job, but a number one album cannot he ignored. Plus, uneasy with the
musical direction of Yes on Topographic
Oceans, Rick left Yes and hired us...
By the time of the follow-up album, King Arthur, we'd done a lot of touring, particularly in America,
and were riding the crest of a progressive and conceptual wave.
