Yes Music Podcast · Kevin Mulryne and Mark Anthony K

696 - Yes (sort-of) Unplugged

·39 min·2 clips

The 2004 Yes Acoustic version is faster than expected, with Howe, Anderson, Squire, Wakeman, and White all locked together.

1. Yes Music Podcast 696, “Yes (sort-of) Unplugged,” centers on Chris Squire’s acoustic treatment of “Long Distance Runaround.” 2. Kevin Mulrine hosts with Mark Anthony Kaye as co-host, and both matter because they compare Yes performances across 1975, 1973, and 2004. 3. The episode asks why Yes turned “Long Distance Runaround” into an acoustic arrangement at QPR and what that choice adds to the song. 4. Kevin starts from a Barry Plummer calendar photograph showing Chris Squire in 1975 gear with a six-string acoustic Rickenbacker. 5. Mark says he found a Rickenbacker forum that confirmed the company did make acoustic models, even if they were not well known. 6. The hosts note that this guitar appears modified, with pickup controls drilled into the body and different fretboard inlays from the usual Rickenbacker look. 7. Kevin says he sent Miguel Falcao a question about other occasions when Squire played acoustic six-string guitar, and Falcao could not think of any. 8. They compare the QPR version with the album track from Fragile and the live version on Yes Songs. 9. Mark recalls the song’s chord-based origin and says the arrangement gained its details once Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman added their parts. 10. Kevin and Mark point out that the QPR set came after long pieces like “Sound Chaser,” “Close to the Edge,” and “To Be Over.” 11. Mark says QPR is his favorite Yes concert and describes the band as “at their peak” with Alan White settled in and Patrick Moraz working through dozens of keyboards. 12. Kevin notes that the QPR version leaves out the piano part until the end, where Moraz enters with a separate solo section. 13. Mark describes that ending as “classical variations” before Moraz moves away from the song’s main theme. 14. The 2004 Yes Acoustic version in Los Angeles becomes the other major comparison point, because Kevin and Mark had expected it to resemble QPR more closely. 15. Mark says the 2004 performance is surprisingly fast, with John Anderson visibly working to keep up and Steve Howe adjusting to the pace. 16. Kevin highlights the mix of acoustic bass, baby grand piano, mic’d acoustic guitar, and Alan White’s drum part as a successful blend. 17. The tone is conversational and detail-heavy, with both hosts drifting into instrument history, set-list placement, and performance mechanics. 18. The format is a two-person discussion with repeated back-and-forth comparisons, listener questions, and side trips into guitar and keyboard gear. 19. Listeners who like Yes deep dives, live-performance comparisons, and instrument details will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting only a quick song ranking or a broad Yes overview may skip it.

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