Steve Howe was briefly everybody's favourite guitarist but for some reason he never really sustained the popularity that he enjoyed in the 70's. His vehicle to fame and fortune were the pomp and progressive rockers Yes, who always struck everyone as being totally off their rockers.
After two albums without Howe, Yes recruited the multi-dextrous and prodigiously talented guitar player to bring an edge to their music. That he certainly did. His playing is full of fire and invention. He can be light of touch, filling the soundstage with lilting beautiful guitar lines, and then raucous, spitting out strong rhythmic patterns. Generally Howe avoids the pentatonic scales that so many guitarists use and sticks to melodic styles of expression so he is anything but a Blues player. His roots lie much more in rag time as evidenced by the incomparably bubbly and frenetic 'Clap' on 'The Yes Album' which is an outrageous bit of showmanship. The chordal voicing he uses elsewhere betray a founding in jazz and classical music, and it was always a right royal pain in the backside trying to learn his playing. He had a great feel for the use of effects and loved his echo box which he used to add texture as in the magnificent 'Yours Is No Disgrace'. On that song, Howe's inventiveness can be seen as he even strums the guitar behind the bridge at one point, and to great effect!
He never seems to have had one favourite make of guitar although he is clearly a fan of Gibson guitars. In fact he has deliberately used different instruments to provoke musical ideas, as a Les Paul will give a quite different response to a Telecaster for example, and he is quoted as having said that his writing for each Yes album is based around one particular guitar, each different to the next. For 'Relayer' and 'Going For The One' Howe showed that his talent is not limited to normal acoustic and electric guitars as he plays a lap steel with his usual flair and imagination.
In some ways the whole Punk thing that occurred in the late 70's was a reaction to the kind of talent that people like Steve Howe displayed. Music was fast becoming the domain of technically proficient players with Jazz-Rock a staple diet for many. The whole rock scene had lost the simplicity of approach that had spurred on the early pioneers. Punk music went too far though with its insistence than an ability to play a single note of guitar solo was ability too much. Suddenly singers had to sneer and shout, drummers keep thing monotonously facile and fans pretend they didn't like showmanship. It was a sad time for music. What had been amusing in the Ramones, became too political and serious in the hands of British punks. At the tender age of 19 I found myself belonging to a musical era already gone by! There was no way I was buying into this appalling new fad. I went to plenty of punk concerts but couldn't see the point. Interestingly, one band committed the ultimate sin and left the stage to their guitar player who proceeded to play some amazing solos. The crowd went wild and gave him such a reception as I have rarely witnessed. That was proof to me that Punk was nothing but fashion, that whatever people said they still wanted to see fine musicians playing well. To that end the likes of Steve Howe have always had a career to follow in music.
Asia, whilst promising much did not really prove to be the new Yes for Steve Howe and he must have longed to be part of the success of the Trevor Rabin inspired Yes that recorded '90125'. But whatever the situation, Howe had already made his mark on mainstream rock music and had inspired many a younger six string player on to greater things. He had broadened their horizons and encouraged them to be inventive and incorporate ideas from other types of musical expression. It is to be hoped that this contribution will never be forgotten.