There are quite a few books about YES, almost all of them concentrating on the British ensemble’s history, while the striking imagery associated with the collective gets explored, to a certain extent, only in coffee-table tomes created by its original designer, Roger Dean. Yet eventually the Gottlieb Bros., Douglas and Glenn, who not only worked on some of the band’s visual materials but also served as archivists of that illustrative legacy, for years now, decided to curate a series of printed volumes dedicated to it all.
Called “Yesstuff” and comprising three volumes – focused on images, with a plethora of reproductions, sourced from all over the world, have never been published on a global scale. The essence of “Volume 1: A Compendium of Tour Books & Concert Programs” are all the tour books from the group, official and unofficial alike, from the ’60s up to now, detailed and commented. Just as tellingly titled, “Volume 2: A Compendium of Concert Posters” includes a lot of collectibles, scanned at actual size in full resolution, so again, every little thing is up for scrutiny there. Finally, “Volume 3: A Compendium of 45 rpm Picture Sleeve Singles” features both familiar and unfamiliar covers of singles from different countries, always an interesting subject.
Officially endorsed by YES, the only gripe regarding these books is their covers: they’re out in paperback.
