History Music / RickWakeman

* 1974 - ''[[Literature/JourneyToTheCentreOfTheEarth Journey to the Centre of the Earth]]''

* 1999 - ''Return To The Centre Of The Earth''

* 1975 - ''[[Myth/KingArthur The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table]]''

Richard Christopher Wakeman [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]] (b. 1949), universally known as Rick, is an English ProgressiveRock keyboardist best known for his work with Music/{{Yes}}, which established him as one of the leading keyboardists in Prog Rock at the genre's zenith in the early 1970s. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music, Wakeman found himself in such high demand as a session player that he dropped out of the College in 1969 to concentrate on his career; he played on a dizzying array of records, probably most notably Music/DavidBowie's ''Music/SpaceOddity'' and ''Music/HunkyDory''. He achieved some success as a member of Music/{{Strawbs}}, but his work as Yes' keyboardist during their classic period truly made his name in the music industry. Wakeman would leave and rejoin Yes five times over the coming decades, but remains the keyboardist to whom all other Yes keyboardists are compared.

* SpecialGues: Creator/BrianBlessed was the narrator on ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace''.

* Creator/BrianBlessed: Narrator on ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace''.
-->Ladies and gentlemen, I'll have to come off the script for a second. There's a man down here keeps saying to me all the time, [[ActorAllusion will I say]] "[[Film/FlashGordon1980 Gordon's alive!]]"

* MoneyDearBoy: [[http://rwcc.com/title_detail.asp?int_titleID=57 The initial reason]] behind his NewAge shift in TheEighties.

Richard Oliver Wakeman [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]] (b. 1949), universally known as Rick, is an English ProgressiveRock keyboardist best known for his work with Music/{{Yes}}, which established him as one of the leading keyboardists in Prog Rock at the genre's zenith in the early 1970s. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music, Wakeman found himself in such high demand as a session player that he dropped out of the College in 1969 to concentrate on his career; he played on a dizzying array of records, probably most notably Music/DavidBowie's ''Music/SpaceOddity'' and ''Music/HunkyDory''. He achieved some success as a member of Music/{{Strawbs}}, but his work as Yes' keyboardist during their classic period truly made his name in the music industry. Wakeman would leave and rejoin Yes five times over the coming decades, but remains the keyboardist to whom all other Yes keyboardists are compared.

Richard Oliver Wakeman (b. 1949), universally known as Rick, is an English ProgressiveRock keyboardist best known for his work with Music/{{Yes}}, which established him as one of the leading keyboardists in Prog Rock at the genre's zenith in the early 1970s. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music, Wakeman found himself in such high demand as a session player that he dropped out of the College in 1969 to concentrate on his career; he played on a dizzying array of records, probably most notably Music/DavidBowie's ''Music/SpaceOddity'' and ''Music/HunkyDory''. He achieved some success as a member of Music/{{Strawbs}}, but his work as Yes' keyboardist during their classic period truly made his name in the music industry. Wakeman would leave and rejoin Yes five times over the coming decades, but remains the keyboardist to whom all other Yes keyboardists are compared.

* MoneyDearBoy: The initial reason[[http://rwcc.com/title_detail.asp?int_titleID=57]] behind his NewAge shift in TheEighties.

Richard Oliver Wakeman (b. 1949), universally known as Rick, is an English Music/ProgressiveRock keyboardist best known for his work with Music/{{Yes}}, which established him as one of the leading keyboardists in ProgressiveRock at the genre's zenith in the early 1970s. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music, Wakeman found himself in such high demand as a session player that he dropped out of the College in 1969 to concentrate on his career; he played on a dizzying array of records, probably most notably Music/DavidBowie's ''Music/SpaceOddity'' and ''Music/HunkyDory''. He achieved some success as a member of Music/{{Strawbs}}, but his work as Yes' keyboardist during their classic period truly made his name in the music industry. Wakeman would leave and rejoin Yes five times over the coming decades, but remains the keyboardist to whom all other Yes keyboardists are compared.

* EpicRocking: Common, and taken to an extreme on ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' (which is essentially a single continuous album-length piece) and the Music Reincarnate suite off No Earthly Connection (which doesn't fit on a single side of vinyl!)
* HymnToMusic: The Music Reincarnate suite, rather obliquely.

* LiveAlbum: Journey to the Centre of the Earth, recorded live because he couldn't afford to record such an elaborate piece in the studio at the time.

* NewSoundAlbum: Country Airs introduced a NewAge sound, in sharp contrast to his classic material.

* RockOpera: Several, most notable Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur.

* Creator/BrianBlessed: Narrator on ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace'' (2009).
-->Ladies and gentlemen, I must go off-script for a moment. There's a man down here [[ActorAllusion who wants me to say]] "[[Film/FlashGordon1980 Gordon's alive!]]"

Richard Oliver Wakeman (b. 1949), universally known as Rick, is an English Music/ProgressiveRock keyboardist best known for his work with Music/{{Yes}}, which established him as one of the leading keyboardists in progressive rock at the genre's zenith in the early 1970s. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music, Wakeman found himself in such high demand as a session player that he dropped out of the College in 1969 to concentrate on his career; he played on a dizzying array of records, probably most notably Music/DavidBowie's Music/SpaceOddity and Music/HunkyDory. He achieved some success as a member of Music/{{Strawbs}}, but his work as Yes' keyboardist during their classic period truly made his name in the music industry. Wakeman would leave and rejoin Yes five times over the coming decades, but remains the keyboardist to whom all other Yes keyboardists are compared.

* BrianBlessed: Narrator on ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace'' (2009).

* ConceptAlbum: Much of his solo output, beginning with the ''entirely instrumental'' Six Wives of Henry VIII.
* EpicRocking: Common, and taken to an extreme on Journey to the Centre of the Earth (which is essentially a single continuous album-length piece) and the Music Reincarnate suite off No Earthly Connection (which doesn't fit on a single side of vinyl!)

* ReCut: The score for ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' (2014) includes material cut from the original live album due to vinyl time restrictions, and lost for many years.

* 1975 - ''The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table''

* NewSoundAlbum: Country Airs introduced a NewAge sound, in sharp contrast to his classic sound.

* 1975 - ''The Myths & Legends of King Arthur & The Knights of the Round Table''

* 2003 - ''Out There''

* 1974 - ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth''

* 1981 - ''1984''

Wakeman has also amassed a huge catalog of solo works over the years; while his output in the 1980s and later is considered to be relatively weak, his 1970s work stands as some of the defining music of the progressive rock movement.

Richard Oliver Wakeman (b. 1949), universally known as Rick, is an English Music/ProgressiveRock keyboardist best known for his work with Yes, which established him as one of the leading keyboardists in progressive rock at the genre's zenith in the early 1970s. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music, Wakeman found himself in such high demand as a session player that he dropped out of the College in 1969 to concentrate on his career; he played on a dizzying array of records, probably most notably Music/DavidBowie's Music/SpaceOddity and Music/HunkyDory. He achieved some success as a member of Strawbs, but his work as Yes' keyboardist during their classic period truly made his name in the music industry. Wakeman would leave and rejoin Yes five times over the coming decades, but remains the keyboardist to whom all other Yes keyboardists are compared.

Richard Oliver Wakeman (b. 1949), universally known as Rick, is an English Music/ProgressiveRock keyboardist best known for his work with Yes, which established him as one of the leading keyboardists in progressive rock at the genre's zenith in the early 1970s. Classically trained at the Royal College of Music, Wakeman found himself in such high demand as a session player that he dropped out of the College in 1969 to concentrate on his career; he played on a dizzying array of records, probably most notably Music/DavidBowie's Space Oddity and Hunky-Dory. He achieved some success as a member of Strawbs, but his work as Yes' keyboardist during their classic period truly made his name in the music industry. Wakeman would leave and rejoin Yes five times over the coming decades, but remains the keyboardist to whom all other Yes keyboardists are compared.