Wouldn’t it be strange if you discovered that back in early 1970s, Genesis had covered Bob Dylan? Or if Emerson, Lake & Palmer had recorded a Buffalo Springfield song? Progressive rock and folk rock may not seem like natural musical partners, but the English prog-rock outfit Yes had other ideas. Just six months after they released their biggest single to date, “Roundabout” in January 1972, they issued a single of their cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s 1968 song “America.” If you’ve ever heard Yes’ majestic, meandering take on this classic and been confused as to how it came to be, the reasons are actually straightforward. They may still be surprising to many of the band’s fans nonetheless.
Right around the same time that Yes was forming in London, Simon & Garfunkel released their fourth studio album Bookends. The duo had already established themselves as a marquee recording act, and the popularity of some of their songs, such as “Homeward Bound” and “I Am a Rock,” extended into the UK and continental Europe. The fourth single from Bookends, “Mrs. Robinson,” was a No. 1 hit in the U.S. and Simon & Garfunkel’s biggest hit to date in the UK, reaching No. 4.
Simon & Garfunkel’s trademark harmonies were an important part of the duo’s appeal, and they were a key factor in bringing the initial lineup of Yes together. Early in their work together, lead vocalist Jon Anderson and the late bassist Chris Squire bonded over their love of Simon & Garfunkel’s harmonizing. Simon & Garfunkel’s approach informed Yes’ vocal arrangements in their early years, as well as in the decades that followed.
It should hardly be surprising, then, that Yes featured “America” frequently in their early setlists. They were playing the song live before they released it as a standalone single in 1972, and they continued to include it in their live shows afterwards. As a result, “America” ranks as Yes’ 19th most-played song in live performances, according to setlist.fm, and it has been their most frequently performed cover song by a wide margin.
In a 2014 interview with Songfacts, Squire indicated he didn’t think there was anything strange or surprising about Yes doing their version of “America.” He said, “When Yes first formed, Simon & Garfunkel were very prevalent hitmakers at the time and both myself and Jon Anderson were big fans of them. That’s why we covered the song ‘America.’”
To be sure, Yes’ version has a distinctly different arrangement and feel than the original. Squire noted there was a strategic element to the band covering a familiar song and putting its own stamp on it. He told Songfacts, ”I always thought that was quite a good clue for audiences when we were starting: If you took somebody else’s material, and then put your own treatment to it, then the audience would recognize more what you did; what the style of the band was because they were already familiar with the tune from the original artist.” Part of what makes a song recognizably Yes are varied tempos and styles and longer run times. Whereas the original runs three-and-a-half minutes, the full version of Yes’ cover expands to 10-and-a-half minutes. Even the single edit clocks in at 4:12.
While their cover of “America” should have given Yes’ fans a strong hint they liked Simon & Garfunkel, a close listen also reveals that at least one member was also a big fan of a classic Broadway musical. At the 1:44 mark of Yes’ long version of “America,” Squire plays the melody from the chorus of the song “America” from West Side Story on his bass. At minimum, it’s a clever mashup of two well-known songs with the same name, but there may be more to Squires’ bass lick than just that. Yes recorded a cover of “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story and released it as a single in the Netherlands in 1972. From: https://americansongwriter.com/the-story-behind-yes-remake-of-simon-garfunkels-late-1960s-classic-america/
