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.