Recently, there was a mild dustup over at the FB page "I Love 70s prog rock!" about Yes' version of Simon & Garfunkel's "America." First, there was a mistake made by some at the FB group site about when Yes recorded the song. Some thought it was before Steve Howe joined the band in 1971, when in fact the song was recorded in 1971 in what became the "Fragile" album sessions. The song was eventually released in 1972 on an Atlantic Records "sampler" album of various artists and bands, and then finally released in 1975 on a Yes greatest hits album called "Yesterdays."
Then, the argument began over whether the Yes version is better or worse than the S&G original version. To me, that argument misses the point. Both are great in their respective genres. It is like saying John Coltrane's nearly fourteen jazz jam of "My Favorite Things" is somehow better or worse than Julie Andrews singing the Rodgers and Hammerstein song (or the Broadway cast album with Mary Martin singing it) for "The Sound of Music." To say one is better or worse than the other insults one or the other. The Coltrane jazz version speaks to an entirely different sensibility and musical format--and remains both compelling and definitive to those of us who love jazz. Coltrane's band's version is a master work of creativity and jazz phrasing.
For me, what always knocks me over in the Yes version of S&G's "America" is Bill Bruford's drumming, particularly the delayed cymbal that one expects to hear on the fourth beat, but shows up in the first beat of the next measure throughout much of the ten and a half minute track. The main course, though, remains Steve Howe's virtuoso guitar performance which dominates Yes' version. Plus, it is well known among us prog rock "historians" how much Yes lead vocalist and co-writer of the music of the great years, Jon Anderson, revered Simon & Garfunkel.
It is therefore fine to revere both an original version and one where an artist or group takes the song into a different musical genre. In this regard, one also thinks of Yes' first album version of The Beatles' "Every Little Thing," with original Yes guitarist Peter Banks turning in a great performance, and creatively adding The Beatles' "Day Tripper" iconic riff at a couple of different points in that version. Or, take another Beatles' song, "Eleanor Rigby," and this wild, prog-soul combination version from the European progressive rock band, Esperanto (if hearing Esperanto's version for the first time, please show some patience for the vocals to come in around the 2:35 mark).
There are, I'm sure, some counterexamples where one version may be said to be superior to another, starting with what I see as the superior Earth, Wind, & Fire version of The Beatles' "Got To Get You Into My Life." However, nearly any counterexamples are likely to be where both versions stay within the same genre or realm. What I am talking about is when the song gets nearly completely uprooted from its original genre, such as with the two examples of songs provided above. Those types of nearly complete uprooting are less typical. So, rather than arguing past each other, it is often better to say each version should be evaluated on its own merits within each different musical genre. If the musical translation doesn't work, the translation can be criticized on its own lack of merit--as in the embarrassingly bad Bing Crosby version of "Hey Jude." Say it ain't so, Bing. When I think of Bing trying to be hip, I would much rather think of him and David Bowie doing "The Little Drummer Boy." :)
