Rick Wakeman Returns to Tucson

Rick Wakeman is a little grumpy, a touch out of sorts. He’s between houses, moving from one to another, not sure where anything is. “It’s a nightmare,” he tells Zócalo. “But once I get settled I’m going to treat myself with a nice new turntable to play all these albums I’m packing and unpacking.” With that happy thought, Wakeman goes from momentarily annoyed to funny and gracious.

The shift puts a pleasant lie to the name of his forthcoming “Even Grumpier Grumpy Old Rock Star Tour,” which will bring him to Tucson on March 1. It’s not his first visit: Wakeman first came to Tucson with the band Yes 50 years ago, in 1972, supporting their album Fragile and its rollicking opening tune “Roundabout,” a showcase for Wakeman’s renowned keyboard skills. “That was a great tour, a lot of fun,” he recalls, “and Tucson was a pleasure.”

He’s been back several times, sometimes behind the wheel of a fast car, for Wakeman is also a longtime auto enthusiast, having owned more than 200 cars by his count—many, such as a prized Cadillac convertible, “donated,” as he quips, in divorce settlements. One of his favorites was a 1986 Dodge Ram van that he bought on a stateside tour, tired of missing planes because of perpetually late (and now, sadly, truly late) Yes bassist Chris Squire. “I’ve still got the van,” he says. “It’s here, and one day I’ll restore it.”

Wakeman, now 72, came of age when the British Invasion was just building up to land on America’s shores. “When I was 12 or so,” he says, “there were just two channels on television, and they were on for just five hours a day. The radio was dreadful. There was nothing to distract us, so we made our own entertainment. My life was spent playing soccer and playing every kind of music I could. I woke up thinking about music, went to school and spent the day talking about music with my friends. Music was everything, and it was all I ever wanted to do.”

That all proved to be ideal training for someone who would be performing before audiences just a couple of years later, and whose skills advanced so quickly that he was an in-demand session player at only 18. In that role, Wakeman has played with some of the biggest names in rock and pop music over the years: David Bowie, Elton John, T.Rex, The Strawbs, Cat Stevens, even Black Sabbath. By his reckoning, he’s appeared on more than 2,000 recordings.

Asked whether there’s anyone he didn’t play with whom he wish he had, Wakeman is quick to respond: “Yes, my favorite band when I was a kid was The Who. I always wanted to play with them. John Entwistle was a dear friend, but nothing developed. And while I knew all The Beatles and spent time with them, I never recorded with them. Still, I didn’t do too bad…”

He joined Yes in 1971, contributing to such iconic projects as Close to the Edge before leaving to make the solo albums The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. He returned to Yes for several runs and was inducted with the band into the Rock in Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

It all adds up to a storied résumé, and Wakeman is preparing for his tour by selecting music across more than half a century, gathering deep cuts from his musical heroes and colleagues and his own arsenal. It takes time and attention. “I listen to whole albums,” he says. “There are one or two cuts that you think, ‘That’s brilliant!’ Then there are one or two cuts that you think, ‘Oh, that’s awful.’ And then you realize you’re listening to your own album!”

Is there anything he’s particularly grumpy about? Says Wakeman, “Gosh, where do I start? It’s been a tough couple of years for everyone, but for the entertainment industry it’s been nothing short of disastrous. I’m a people person, and I’ve hated not being able to give concerts and go out. I don’t think anything is ever going to be quite the same, but it’s good to feel that we’re slowly coming back.”

For all that angst, Rick Wakeman is a jovial fellow. Expect plenty of jokes—he’s a master of the off-color tale—along with reminiscences and, of course, a full slate of classic tunes at the show.

Rick Wakeman will appear at the Rialto Theatre (318 E. Congress St., 520.740.1000) on March 1, 2022. Doors open at 7pm, show at 8pm. Tickets $38–$62. Visit www.rialtotheater.com for more information.

Category: DOWNTOWN / UNIVERSITY / 4TH AVE, Entertainment, MUSIC