Principal guitarist of 70s progressive rock supergroup Yes and 80s dream team Asia. A self-taught virtuoso, Howe incorporates country finger-style, jazz guitar, classical/flamenco, and psychedelic elements in a decidedly non-blues based approach to pop rock. Influences include Les Paul, Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, and Chet Atkins. Steve Howe is the anti-Rabin.

Born Stephen James Howe, on 8 April 1947, in Holloway, London, England, Howe is known best for his guitar work and writing for art-rock group Yes. Howe started a lengthy musical career in 1963 with the Syndicats, a band that played mostly rhythm and blues music. Failing to attain comercial success, the band split in 1965. Soon, Howe was picked up by soul band the In Crowd, which changed its name to Tomorrow in 1967, as their style and format shifted towards a more psychadelic feel. They played the same venues as Pink Floyd and the Soft Machine. Their song "My White Bicycle" was later covered by the metal band Nazareth, who took the song to number 14 in the UK in June of 1975.

In 1967, however, the band called it quits. Howe joined Bobby Woodman (drums) and Dave Curtiss (bass/vocals) in a band called Bodast. In a lineup that also included Clive Maldoon on guitar and Bruce Thomas on bass, the band toured on and off, but never made the bang they could have. The album they recorded in 1969 wasn't released for another twelve years. After the failure of Bodast, Howe looked for a musical challenge which finally came around when Peter Banks quit Yes in 1970.

The jazz, ragtime and rock 'n' roll that showed so clearly in Howe's playing meshed excellently with the elaborate, quasi-symphonic epic tunes that Yes was creating. His first journey with the band was The Yes Album, the point from which the series of albums that would follow were based. Also during his time with Yes, Howe recorded his first two solo albums and played studio guitar for Lou Reed, Rick Wakeman and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

When Yes folded in 1981 following increasingly severe arguments and musical differences between the band's members, Howe formed Asia with John Wetton (bass/vocals), Geoff Downes (keyboards) and Carl Palmer (drums). This studio supergroup was surprisingly well accepted, particularly in the USA, Asia's debut went number 1 for nine weeks. After the folding of Asia, he rejoined former Yes bandmates as Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe (ABWH), the members that had been left out of the reformation of Yes led by bassist Chris Squire. After several legal battles for rights of the band, the two bands agreed to work together, forming one megagroup, releasing the album Union and touring together for a full year in 1991. Howe has since released several solo albums, reuniting with West for 1993's Grand Scheme Of Things. He has also contributed to Miles Copeland's Guitar Speak and Night Of The Guitar projects, and albums by ex-Ultravox violinist Billy Currie.



Non-Yes Discography:

Solo Albums
Beginnings- 1975
The Steve Howe Album- 1979
Turbulence- 1991
The Grand Scheme Of Things- 1993
Not Necessarily Acoustic- 1994
Mothballs- 1994
Homebrew- 1996
Quantum Guitars- 1998
Pulling Strings
Portraits of Bob Dylan
Homebrew 2
Natural Timbre

Compilations
Affirmative- The Yes Solo Family Album- 1993
Tales From Yesterdays- 1995
Friends And Relatives- 1998

Guest Appearances
Johnny Harris- All To Bring You Morning- 1971
Lou Reed- 1972
Curtis Maldoon- Curtis Maldoon- 1972
Rick Wakeman- The Six Wives Of Henry VIII- 1973
Alan White- Ramshackled- 1976
The Dregs- Industry Standard- 1982
Frankie Goes To Hollywood- Welcome To The Pleasure Dome- 1984
Frankie Goes To Hollywood- Liverpool
Propoganda- Secret Wish- 1985
Billy Currie- Transportation- 1988
Various Artists- Music Too Good For Words, Two- 1988
Various Artists- Guitar Speak- 1988
Animal Logic- Animal Logic- 1989
Various Artists- Night Of The Guitar Live!- 1989
Queen- Innuendo- 1991
Polar Shift- Antartica Benefit Album- 1991
Rick Wakeman- The Classical Connection II- 1992
Symphonic Music Of Yes- 1993
Max Bacon- The Higher You Climb- 1995
Keith West- Excerpts From... Groups and Session 65 - 74- 1995
Keith West- A Teenage Opera- 1996
Rick Wakeman- Voyage- The Very Best Of Rick Wakeman- 1996
Explorers Club- Age Of Impact- 1998

http://www.ziplink.net/~mputzel/stevehow.htm

http://www.vh1online.com/artists/az/howe_steve/bio.jhtml

www.nfte.org.

mad props to Grzcyrgba for the heads up on the discog. thanks!

this was cut and paste. it's not anymore. I'm sorry.
please note that JohnnyGoodyear's Steve Howe and mine are totally different people. don't ever be confused.

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