Rick Wakeman often jokes that his four ex-wives are the reason he keeps working, which might be partly true, but his enthusiasm for his music is, decades later, undiminished. Not least his first love, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. The story behind Wakeman’s grandest work has more twists and turns than even Jules Verne’s original tall tale: a lost score mysteriously rescued and resurrected; fortunes made and lost; nearly meeting his doom at the rear of an eight-seater aeroplane and via an ill-timed heart attack… Wakeman takes it all in his considerable stride. Whether posing with a collection of his original stage capes – and delighting the studio with a selection of scandalous, off colour and absolutely off the record stories – or recollecting his not inconsiderable career in miniscule detail, Wakeman is a surprising bolt of energy. A friend to Keith Moon, Viv Stanshall and Ken Russell – all of whom he’s outlived – he’s an eminently likeable raconteur, while his enthusiasm for finally fleshing out the complete score for Journey is infectious. But first of all, there’s the matter of some sheep…
