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Okay friends, time for me to admit something that may shock you: outside of "Lucky Man" and the radio version of "Karn Evil 9," I have listened to very, very little ELP.

 

Which album would you recommend as a starting place for a newbie?

 

I would say get the triple live album and prepare to be blown away! :thu:

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Okay friends, time for me to admit something that may shock you: outside of "Lucky Man" and the radio version of "Karn Evil 9," I have listened to very, very little ELP.

 

Which album would you recommend as a starting place for a newbie?

 

Honestly, I'd just go in order: start with the eponymous debut album and go from there.

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Honestly, I'd just go in order: start with the eponymous debut album and go from there.

 

Tarkus.

 

:thu: I agree with both. :)

 

There has been some debate about whether their magnum opus is the Tarkus suite (on the Tarkus album) or the Karn Evil 9 suite (on the Brain Salad Surgery album). For me, the first five albums are what ELP is all about, and BSS is technically their best album overall, but Tarkus remains my favourite.

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My appreciation for ELP material is variable. To me, their material divided into three categories:

 

1) Radio cuts, e.g. Lucky Man or From the Beginning

2) Songs meant to be light-hearted or humorous, e.g. The Sheriff or Are You Ready, Eddy?

3) The "prog" stuff, which covers most everything else. Note that I'm including classical interpretations such as Pictures At An Exhibition in the prog category, although I think a case could be made for splitting them into a fourth category.

 

I have to confess that none of the funny tunes cut it for me. They try too hard and end up sounding like an insecure junior high school nerd trying to be the life of the party. And failing.

 

The radio cuts were generally pretty good, but don't sound like the rest of their respective albums. That's not necessarily a bad thing--after all, if you look at, say, Yes's Fragile album, the tracks are all over the place. Roundabout doesn't sound a thing like We Have Heaven. It's just that ELP's radio tracks tend to stand out. I think I recall seeing that that was a conscious decision on the part of the band. If so, mission accomplished.

 

The prog stuff strikes me as highly variable. Some of it, like say, Bitch's Crystal, I don't care for. But the tracks I do like...wow...just wow...they fit in my psyche like a key in a lock. Most of the first album works for me and there have been times when it was in heavy rotation on my turntable. Finish Lucky Man, flip the album over and start back in on The Barbarian. Over and over and over. And over. Bless my mother for being so tolerant. I'll bet she got thoroughly tired of hearing the same thing so many times in a row, but she put up with it.

 

That said, although I've got their albums up through Works, I tend to like the first five best, and of those, I lean towards the earlier material.

 

Their album cover art ranged from merely okay to terrible to disturbing. They would have benefited greatly from finding their own Roger Dean. Or perhaps just borrowing Dean in between all the other covers he was doing at the time.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Fell in love with ELP through a classmate in high school. That must have been around 2009. Later I found out that my parents were at ELP's 1992 Hungary show when I was a fetus!

When the Keith tribute concert was held I watched the whole thing on Youtube by audience videos.

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Fell in love with ELP through a classmate in high school. That must have been around 2009. Later I found out that my parents were at ELP's 1992 Hungary show when I was a fetus!

When the Keith tribute concert was held I watched the whole thing on Youtube by audience videos.

OT, but it"s always nice to be reminded that Eric and I aren"t the youngest ones on the forum. :grin:

Samuel B. Lupowitz

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I personally like Tarkus the best because it has the most jazz influence (alongside "Take a Pebble"). But some of my favourite melodies are on Trilogy, and I agree that Brain Salad Surgery was the technical pinnacle of the band. I don't recommend it as a starter though; it has more esoteric instrumental stuff on it than the other albums. Hard to go wrong with the first album, for melodies.

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FWIW my parents were fairly snobbish musically (my Dad even fails to find any melodic content in The Beatles' ouevre), but they were quite impressed by ELP due to Emerson's classical and jazz background, Lake's choir-boy voice, and Palmer's jazz-influenced drumming. It didn't sound at all like rock music to them. They wondered why I chose to see Yes' Topo tour vs. ELP in 1974 (worst concert of my life; I should have listened to them, but foolishly thought the ELP concert might be more dangerous to attend).

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  • 1 year later...

Keith Emerson was a great keyboard player, and if he didn't popularize the Hammond organ in progressive rock, I don't know who did. Probably Rick Wakeman or Rick Davies of Supertramp, both of whom are also great keyboardists.

 

His Moog playing on songs such as Take A Pebble and Karn Evil 9 are really good, especially at the end of Karn Evil 9 when the Moog synth switches channels left and right.

 

By the time Fanfare For The Common Man came out, Keith switched over to playing the Yamaha GX1 organ (Keith owned several GX1 organs, one of which was eventually given to Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones). He would use the GX1 on the Works and Love Beach tours.

 

By the time ELP reformed as Emerson Lake and Powell in 1986 (with Cozy Powell on drums), Keith was switching keyboards again, this time playing mostly Kurzweil synthesizers.

 

I was devastated when he passed away. I always found Keith to be the assistant to Greg Lake's composing abilities.

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On 11/9/2020 at 10:14 AM, StickMan393 said:

Trilogy

 

Another vote for a newbie's into to ELP.  But I'd get it in vinyl and play the second side first.  Set the listening volume at a comfortable level to hear the piano and Greg's vocal clearly. And then wait for it.  

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12 hours ago, IMMusicRulz said:

By the time ELP reformed as Emerson Lake and Powell in 1986 (with Cozy Powell on drums), Keith was switching keyboards again, this time playing mostly Kurzweil synthesizers.

 

Keith revealed that the Oberheim Matrix-12 had a heavy presence on ELPowell too.  I have to admit that ELPowell had more appeal to me than ELPalmer.  ELPowell was my first exposure to ELP and I really liked Cozy Powell's drive which made ELP sound more like a band.

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On 3/31/2022 at 11:44 AM, The Real MC said:

...I have to admit that ELPowell had more appeal to me than ELPalmer.  ELPowell was my first exposure to ELP and I really liked Cozy Powell's drive which made ELP sound more like a band.


Powell certainly had a different style than Palmer. I recall seeing an interview where Keith referred to ELPowell as the “power lineup.”

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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I'm pretty sure Emerson obtained his second  GX-1 _from_ Jones.  Something about it cluttering Jones's basement.  Also, although polyphonic, I would be hard pressed to call it an organ. 

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22 hours ago, Moonglow said:


Powell certainly had a different style than Palmer. I recall seeing an interview where Keith referred to ELPowell as the “power lineup.”

And they probably would have stayed a "power lineup" had Cozy Powell not left to join Black Sabbath. Not that I have anything against his tenure with that band--his drumming on The Eternal Idol is great!

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Keith Emerson's left hand was so good it's frightening, the relentless octave ostinato on "Bitches Crystal" - tireless and blazing speed. 

 

"Tarkus" was an amazing display of the independence of his hands.

 

"The synth solo in "Trilogy" along with the preceding piano solo was stunning.

 

I attended the "Brain Salad Surgery" tour in the 70's, which arguably was ELP at their peak. 

 

"Emerson Lake and Powell" was Keith Emerson's leap into digital. He toured it without his C3 and Modular. Many Kurzweil K1000 rack units and his beloved GX-1. He also used Yamaha KX-88 midi controllers.

 

He couldn't duplicate the immense richness of the Album live but he put it all out there. Greg Lake was yet in very good voice and Cozy Powell drove that band with force. His drums sounded like cannons both live and on record. They did feature a great deal of ELP material on that tour.

 

We had aftershow passes but only saw them getting into a Limo 150 feet away and departing.

 

Backstage aftershow for the " Black Moon" tour. Greg Lake was a really nice guy. He observed Keith's keyboard tech asking me about the balance of the racks in the mix. I answered by telling him exactly what parts I could and could not hear. Keith was listening and I committed the big faux pas by saying to Keith that he really didn't need all that stuff, to which Keith immediately said "That's enough" curtly and walked off. Greg Lake came  over to me laughing, we got a drink together and he put his arm over my shoulder and said "Oh don't worry about him, Mate. He gets like that".

 

This girl was taking pictures later and said come over for one with Keith. I was nervous but it turned out ok. (I said nothing but thank you").

 

Carl was entertaining a group of people with random stories. 

 

Greg Lake was a true Gentleman who made you feel as if you were an old friend. I was struck by and never forgot his graciousness.

 

It was a real treat to have seen the club tour of "Three". Keith opened with "Fanfare". It was the first time I saw the Modular up close.

 

Took my son to see ELP opening for Jethro Tull. Backstage, my then 10 year old walked up to Ian Anderson and asked him where Greg Lake was. Ian told him he thought they had left already.

 

Saw ELP once more in what was the formative of "Crossing The Rubicon".

They still had it!

 

Saw the Keith Emerson Band on a club tour. We had a front row table. Keith signed an autograph afterwards for my son who  asked if he could take his picture with his Dad. Keith said sure, looked over, looked back at my son and said "That's your Dad ?"

 

I hung out briefly with Marc Bonilla at the bar and talked to him about getting Keith to get in touch with the great pianist, Leon Fleisher, at Peabody in Baltimore as Leon had benefitted greatly (regaining playing use of his right hand) from a rolfing protocol combined with Botox injections for his own focal dystonia.

Marc said he would definitely tell Keith.

 

Keith was the greatest ever. Truly.

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On 11/9/2020 at 6:35 AM, SamuelBLupowitz said:

Okay friends, time for me to admit something that may shock you: outside of "Lucky Man" and the radio version of "Karn Evil 9," I have listened to very, very little ELP.

 

Which album would you recommend as a starting place for a newbie?

Tarkus, Side A. If that doesn't slay you, don't bother with the rest. 

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I'd suggest Trilogy as the most welcoming first album. More melody, less bombast than the others in the "first five."

 

I'd read that Powell was a bit disappointed in the album, because he put down his parts without having heard what some of the other parts were going to be, and he said he would have played some of it differently if he'd known what was going to be going over it.

 

The ELPowell concert was the loudest concert I've ever been to. I suspect that when they played Mars, it could be heard there.

 

 

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On 3/30/2022 at 11:49 PM, IMMusicRulz said:

Keith Emerson was a great keyboard player, and if he didn't popularize the Hammond organ in progressive rock, I don't know who did. Probably Rick Wakeman or Rick Davies of Supertramp, both of whom are also great keyboardists.

 

 

Regarding the popularization of the Hammond, the list should also include Greg Allman and Jon Lord

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Many fans disliked "Love Beach" and "In The Hot Seat". 

 

ELP owed one more album to Atlantic Records and recorded the above former to satisfy the contract.

 

Certainly it's not equal to their classic albums but Ahmed Ertegun had been pushing for an album that contained lighter hit material so they tried to give him what he wanted.

 

It is by no means a bad album in and of itself. It just didn't make the diehard ELP fans happy because it lacked their past.

 

The song "Love Beach" had hit potential, but not with ELP doing it. Too many critics who always took shots at ELP even in the supergroup days.

 

I liked "An Officer And a Gentleman" very much and "Canario" was certainly a Keith Emerson showcase.

 

"In The Hot Seat" included a re-make of "Pictures" with digital technology. My first thought was why and the second being it wasn't even close to the original live recording in terms of sheer power those early times displayed.

 

"The Blues Variation" portion of the original live album was amazing. Emerson was virtuosic with only the Modular and his C3.

 

When Emerson put together "3", the emphasis going in was to do radio friendly hit oriented songs, but Keith could not cease being Keith so the songs were too often long with extended progressives ("Desde La Vida)".

 

Robert Berry was a really good singer for them though!

 

"Black Moon" was troubled at the onset because Emerson and Palmer were fighting with Lake  because they wanted producer credit also. Egos flared from the two and Lake was alienated as a result of the fighting. It was decided to have Mark Mancina step into the role.

 

Greg Lake had produced every successful ELP album prior to this.

 

Mancina promised a return to the epic days of ELP's sound in interviews prior to the album release.

 

He did not succeed in this regard. It is not a bad album. It just held no trace of classic ELP.

 

I had considered buying tickets for the Emerson & Lake club tour ala the badly programmed drum machine but decided not to. Just as well because it ended up cancelled, scant hours before showtime at The Birchmere due to a blowup between Emerson and Lake.

 

Nor did I choose to attend Lake's " Songs From A Lifetime" solo tour where he employed ELP backing tracks.

 

Had I known then that it would have been the last time we would ever see Greg Lake, I'd have been there.

 

May they both rest in peace. God bless them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Atomicsynth said:

Many fans disliked "Love Beach" and "In The Hot Seat". 

 

ELP owed one more album to Atlantic Records and recorded the above former to satisfy the contract.

 

Certainly it's not equal to their classic albums but Ahmed Ertegun had been pushing for an album that contained lighter hit material so they tried to give him what he wanted.

 

It is by no means a bad album in and of itself. It just didn't make the diehard ELP fans happy because it lacked their past.

 

The song "Love Beach" had hit potential, but not with ELP doing it. Too many critics who always took shots at ELP even in the supergroup days.

 

I liked "An Officer And a Gentleman" very much and "Canario" was certainly a Keith Emerson showcase.

 

"In The Hot Seat" included a re-make of "Pictures" with digital technology. My first thought was why and the second being it wasn't even close to the original live recording in terms of sheer power those early times displayed.

 

"The Blues Variation" portion of the original live album was amazing. Emerson was virtuosic with only the Modular and his C3.

 

When Emerson put together "3", the emphasis going in was to do radio friendly hit oriented songs, but Keith could not cease being Keith so the songs were too often long with extended progressives ("Desde La Vida)".

 

Robert Berry was a really good singer for them though!

 

"Black Moon" was troubled at the onset because Emerson and Palmer were fighting with Lake  because they wanted producer credit also. Egos flared from the two and Lake was alienated as a result of the fighting. It was decided to have Mark Mancina step into the role.

 

Greg Lake had produced every successful ELP album prior to this.

 

Mancina promised a return to the epic days of ELP's sound in interviews prior to the album release.

 

He did not succeed in this regard. It is not a bad album. It just held no trace of classic ELP.

 

I had considered buying tickets for the Emerson & Lake club tour ala the badly programmed drum machine but decided not to. Just as well because it ended up cancelled, scant hours before showtime at The Birchmere due to a blowup between Emerson and Lake.

 

Nor did I choose to attend Lake's " Songs From A Lifetime" solo tour where he employed ELP backing tracks.

 

Had I known then that it would have been the last time we would ever see Greg Lake, I'd have been there.

 

May they both rest in peace. God bless them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of people I know obviously hate Love Beach, but both the title cut and All I Want Is You are worth downloading.

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I agree. I liked "Taste Of My Love" too along with the other songs. It just wasn't what ELP fans wanted because it wasn't Brain Salad Surgery II.

 

If Asia had done "Love Beach" it would have probably been accepted with much less disdain.

 

It's a much better record than "In The Hot Seat".

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/4/2022 at 11:24 AM, Atomicsynth said:

 

 

I had considered buying tickets for the Emerson & Lake club tour ala the badly programmed drum machine but decided not to. Just as well because it ended up cancelled, scant hours before showtime at The Birchmere due to a blowup between Emerson and Lake.

 

 

 

I got nervous reading about cancellations after having purchased tickets to the Indianapolis show.  But the show went on and in spite of whatever may have gone on backstage and the stiff drum machine that, thankfully, didn't run all night, it was an amazing performance.  Keith played pretty damn well, all things considered, and I developed a new appreciation for Greg, who sang his balls off and played like the anchor he always was. Two guys tackling Tarkus and Pirates and pulling it off?  Unreal.  

 

I got to play the Birchmere back in the late 80s. Awesome room.  

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9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it

 

 

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8 hours ago, ksoper said:

 

I got nervous reading about cancellations after having purchased tickets to the Indianapolis show.  But the show went on and in spite of whatever may have gone on backstage and the stiff drum machine that, thankfully, didn't run all night, it was an amazing performance.  Keith played pretty damn well, all things considered, and I developed a new appreciation for Greg, who sang his balls off and played like the anchor he always was. Two guys tackling Tarkus and Pirates and pulling it off?  Unreal.  

 

I got to play the Birchmere back in the late 80s. Awesome room.  

That's great you got to play Birchmere!

 

Keith played very well when I saw the KE band there and was in good spirits after the show (signed lots of autographs for people)!

 

Tempos for Tarkus and Hoedown were slower than the past but nothing wrong with that.

 

I was seated close and clearly saw the "tone" (dystonia) in his right hand. 

 

Aside from the cancellation even had I bought tickets for E&L, I knew they were doing an onstage Q&A during the show which I knew I would have had absolutely no interest in. I thought of it as filler.

 

(Greg did an onstage Q&A also at Birchmere for his solo tour which was another no for me going)

 

Did that Q&A take up a lot of the show? 

 

Great that they did Tarkus and Pirates!

 

 

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1 hour ago, Atomicsynth said:

Tempos for Tarkus and Hoedown were slower than the past but nothing wrong with that.

 

It could even be viewed as a "correction" since previous live versions were so much faster than their studio counterparts.

 

I was at an ELP concert in the 70s at Madison Square Garden where my seats were close, but off to the side  and actually behind the front of the stage. I was able to see Greg Lake's mouth when he turned around, faced Carl Palmer and very clearly and emphatically mouthed, " SLOW DOWN!!!"

 

Perhaps one advantage to playing to a drum machine...

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