Jon Anderson : 1. Early life and childhood.

Jon Anderson

1. Early life and childhood.

Jon Anderson was born John Anderson in Accrington, Lancashire, England, to Albert and Kathleen Anderson, who were of Irish ancestry.^[3] (Anderson dropped the "h" from his first name in 1970,^[3] as he had a dream where he was given the name Jonathan.^{[citation needed]} Note that on the album Yes he is credited as John, and on the next album Time and a Word as Jon.

Anderson attended St. John's Infants School in Accrington. There he made a tentative start to a musical career playing the washboard in "Little John's Skiffle Group", which played songs by Lonnie Donegan among others. Anderson left school at the age of fifteen, and went through a series of jobs including farm hand, lorry driver, and milkman. Anderson tried to pursue a football career at Accrington Stanley F.C., but was turned down because of his frail constitution. He remains a fan of the club.^[3]