Yes You Can (album)

Throughout the 1980s, Harley released a handful of singles which either became minor hits or chart failures. In early 1984, he signed a record deal with Mickie Most's RAK Studios and began working at RAK Studios in London to record a new solo album. Some of the tracks recorded for the project included "Sophistication", "Irresistible", "Rain in Venice", "New-Fashioned Way", "The Lighthouse", "Star for a Week", "Promises Promises" and the 1970 Edwin Starr song "Oh How Happy". The song "Irresistible" was released as a single in 1985 and was remixed the following year to be issued as a single again. The 1986 version's sleeve announced the upcoming album El Gran Senor, however before it was released, RAK folded and was sold to EMI,[2] leaving the album to be shelved.[3]

In 1989, Harley re-emerged with a UK and European tour with a new line-up of Cockney Rebel. Before the tour, Harley and ex-Cockney Rebel members Duncan Mackay and Jim Cregan entered Point Studios in London to write and record four new songs; "Dancing on the Telephone", "When I'm with You", "The Alibi" and "Limbs of Man". The first three songs were performed live on the 1989 tour, while "Dancing on the Telephone" and "The Alibi" would later appear on Yes You Can. During the same year, Harley announced that an album of new material would be recorded in the summer and released in the autumn that year.[4] In 1990, with the album yet to be released, he revealed that work on the new album was almost done. However, he was unsure when it would be released as no label had been finalised. He listed the likely inclusions of the album as being: "The Lighthouse", "Star for a Week", "Promises", "Victim of Love", "Dancing on the Telephone" and "Not Alone Anymore" - the latter being a cover of the 1988 song by the supergroup Traveling Wilburys.[5]

Yes You Can surfaced in 1992 as a European-only release on the CTE label. The album featured a mix of older songs dating from the El Gran Senor period, as well as some newer tracks. Of the album's ten tracks, two were lifted from El Gran Senor; the 1986 extended remix of "Irresistible" and "Rain in Venice". The remaining songs were newer recordings, most of which were recorded at the White House Studios in Bures, Suffolk, while several were remixed at Metropolis Studios. "New-Fashioned Way" had originally been recorded for El Gran Senor as an up-tempo track, while "The Lighthouse" used different instrumentation including a saxophone solo (as opposed to the violin solo on Yes You Can). Although at one point Harley had decided to drop the rest of the El Gran Senor album, in 1991, he reworked "New-Fashioned Way" for his concerts. This led him to re-record the song for Yes You Can. Other 1980s recordings such as "Oh, How Happy" and "Sophistication" were left unreleased. "Star for a Week", one the oldest songs, had first been played live in 1979, while "Victim of Love" and "Fire in the Night" were two of the newer songs, written while on tour.[6]

In July 1992, Harley revealed to Record Collector: "I've just released a new album called Yes You Can in Europe, but it's not out in this country. I'm very proud of it. It sounds like a hundred and fifty grand album, and I've spent about a quarter of that on it. Because we were so well rehearsed we went in and played. I do use state of the art equipment. I've been 19 years in the business, as a professional, so I know a few tricks."[7] In effort to promote the 1992 European release of the album, Harley embarked on the "Yes You Can" tour. In March, he played various dates across Europe, followed by a set of UK dates in May.[8] In Europe, "Irresistible" was released for the third and final time as a single.[9]

All tracks were recorded at the White House Studios in Bures, Suffolk, except "Irresistible" (recorded at RAK Studios) and "Rain in Venice" (recorded at RAK Studios and Metropolis Studios). "Rain in Venice", "New-Fashioned Way", "The Lighthouse", "The Alibi" and "Promises" were remixed at Metropolis Studios, while "Victim of Love" and "Star for a Week (Dino)", "Fire in the Night", "Dancing on the Telephone" were remixed at White House Studios. "Irresistible" was remixed at Air Studios.[12] Rod Stewart provided some backing vocals during recording sessions for Yes You Can, but his contributions were not used.[13]

The album was first released within Europe in 1992 on CD via CTE. It was marketed and distributed by Cte GmbH, Licensee, and manufactured in Switzerland.[14] In 1993, it was released via Food For Thought Records on CD and cassette in the UK with a re-arranged track listing.[15] In 1995, it was re-issued via Koch International and within the UK on 22 April 2002, it would be re-issued by Comeuppance, which was based on the European version.[16] On 6 October 2003, Voiceprint issued the album limitedly as a part of their "2 for One Series" along with Harley's 1979 studio album The Candidate.[17]

The album's European cover featured a hand-drawn portrait of Harley. The 1993 UK release featured a futuristic blue cover instead of the original European artwork.[18]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
24.000 Dischi (Italian Dalai editore book)	[19]
AllMusic	[20]

Upon release, Peter Kinghorn of Newcastle Evening Chronicle commented: "Although there's nothing with the impact of Cockney Rebel days, Harley can still put over a lyric and the compositions bear the hallmark of quality."[21] Neil McKay of Sunday Life commented: "Harley's first album for more than a decade is solid rather than spectacular. Everything is just where it should be, in a modern AOR-ish sort of way, and it cries out for the inspired weirdness that made some of his Cockney Rebel material so good."[22]

Andrew Boyd of the Reading Evening Post felt Yes You Can was a "damp squib of an album" and a "dreary, cliched collection, unlikely to push Harley far into the charts".[23] Dave Thompson of AllMusic retrospectively reviewed the album, writing: "It's a sad state of affairs, but the best of Yes You Can was never going to make it onto a studio recording. Rather, it resides in the live environment where the songs almost unanimously came to life. In the studio, the emotion pales, and Harley's energies flag accordingly. Yes You Can is not the revival for which fans had been hoping for. But excuse the inadequacies and overlook the lifelessness, and the core of the songs remains sound and proud."[20]