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Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin · 1971 · solo by Jimmy Page
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Guitar hero

Steve Howe

Progressive rock's great guitar polymath, fluent in every style

Steve Howe was born in Holloway, north London, in 1947 and taught himself guitar as a boy, absorbing everything from rock and roll to jazz and the country picking of Chet Atkins. In 1964 he acquired the Gibson ES-175 that would become his lifelong companion, and he joined the Syndicats, whose early singles were produced by Joe Meek. Later in the decade he played psychedelic pop with Tomorrow and then led the guitar work in Bodast, building a reputation as one of London's most versatile young players.

In 1970 Howe replaced Peter Banks in Yes, and his arrival transformed the band. The Yes Album and Fragile, both released in 1971, were driven by his restless mix of rock, jazz, country and classical ideas, and Close to the Edge in 1972 set a new high-water mark for progressive rock. Across Tales from Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Going for the One, Howe's guitars constantly changed colour, switching between electric, acoustic and steel within a single piece of music.

When Yes fractured after Drama, Howe co-founded Asia with John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes. Their 1982 debut was a huge commercial success, becoming the best-selling album of that year in the United States. He later formed GTR with Steve Hackett and reunited with Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford and Rick Wakeman as Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Meanwhile he steadily built a solo catalogue that ranged from Beginnings in 1975 to acoustic, jazz and Bob Dylan-themed projects.

Howe rejoined Yes in the mid-1990s and has remained its guiding figure ever since, becoming the longest-serving active member and steering its later albums and tours. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Yes in 2017, and he also leads the Steve Howe Trio, a jazz group featuring his son Dylan on drums. Guitar Player readers named him best overall guitarist five years running from 1977, and in 1981 he became the first rock guitarist placed in the magazine's Hall of Fame.

The 10 greatest Steve Howe solos

  1. 1
    Siberian Khatru
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1972
  2. 2
    Starship Trooper
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1971
  3. 3
    Yours Is No Disgrace
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1971
  4. 4
    Close to the Edge
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1972
  5. 5
    The Gates of Delirium
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1974
  6. 6
    Roundabout
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1971
  7. 7
    Awaken
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1977
  8. 8
    Sound Chaser
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1974
  9. 9
    The Clap
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1971
  10. 10
    Going for the One
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1977

The sound

Howe is a guitar polymath who refuses to settle into a single idiom. His electric lines, played mostly on a hollow-body Gibson, have a clean, bright, slightly biting attack that owes more to jazz and country than to blues, full of chromatic runs, hybrid picking and quick position shifts. He darts between staccato counterpoint and soaring melodic statements, and on acoustic he draws on classical and folk fingerstyle. Pedal steel, lap steel, mandolin and twelve-string all appear in his arrangements, so a single Yes epic can feature half a dozen distinct Howe voices.

  • Gibson ES-175 (guitar) His main instrument since 1964 and the basis of a 2002 signature model.
  • Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster (guitar) A three-pickup archtop he has favoured for its versatile hollow-body tones.
  • Fender Telecaster (guitar) Brought a sharper, twangier edge to parts of his Yes catalogue.
  • Pedal steel and lap steel guitars (guitar) Used for the sliding, singing melodies heard in several Yes epics.
  • Rickenbacker 12-string (guitar) Adds chiming, jangly colour to his layered arrangements.
  • Line 6 digital modelling (effect) Allowed him to reproduce his many studio tones on stage in later decades.

Covers

  • Maybellene, originally by Chuck Berry A young Howe's first taste of the studio, produced by Joe Meek.
  • Strawberry Fields Forever, originally by The Beatles Tomorrow's psychedelic reading gave Howe space for adventurous colours.
  • America, originally by Simon & Garfunkel Yes stretched Paul Simon's song into a long progressive jam full of Howe's inventive lines.
  • Concerto in D (second movement), originally by Antonio Vivaldi A graceful classical guitar reading that shows his love of Baroque music.
  • Bob Dylan songbook, originally by Bob Dylan A full album reinterpreting Dylan's songs with guest singers and rich guitar arrangements.

Timeline

  • 1947 Born in Holloway, north London
  • 1964 Acquires his Gibson ES-175 and joins the Syndicats
  • 1967 Plays with psychedelic band Tomorrow
  • 1970 Joins Yes
  • 1972 Close to the Edge released
  • 1975 Releases first solo album, Beginnings
  • 1981 Co-founds Asia; first rock guitarist in Guitar Player's Hall of Fame
  • 1985 Forms GTR with Steve Hackett
  • 1995 Returns to Yes for good
  • 2017 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Yes

Facts

  1. He is self-taught and never learned to read standard musical notation.
  2. He has played the same Gibson ES-175 since 1964.
  3. Gibson released a Steve Howe signature ES-175 in 2002.
  4. Guitar Player readers voted him best overall guitarist every year from 1977 to 1981.
  5. In 1981 he became the first rock guitarist inducted into Guitar Player's Hall of Fame.
  6. Asia's 1982 debut, featuring Howe, was the best-selling album of that year in the US.
  7. He has been a vegetarian since 1972.
  8. He has practised Transcendental Meditation daily since 1983.
  9. His son Dylan Howe is a drummer who has played in the Steve Howe Trio.
  10. He received the Prog God award at the 2018 Progressive Music Awards.

Sources