Emerson Lake & Palmer
EMERSON LAKE & PALMER
This supergroup came together from a collection of flourishing bands to become one of the most successful major players in the world of Prog Rock. Keith Emerson had learned piano as a child and played in a number of bands prior to being in the backing band for American singer PP Arnold. The band quickly outgrew their backing duties and became a band in their own right, calling themselves The Nice. Along side Lee Jackson, Brian Davidson and Davy O’List, they became a popular live attraction and soon recorded their first, well-received album The "Thoughts Of Emerlist Davejack" in late 1967.Guitarist O’List left the band during the recording of the second album “Ars Longa Vita Brevis” After considering replacement guitarists, they decided to continue as a three piece – a forerunner of the future. Combining traces of jazz and classical elements within a rock structure, a further three albums were released with diminishing success before the band split up in 1970.
Greg Lake had been in a number of bands in and around his local area in the southwest of England, including The Gods, with future members of Uriah Heep. Following his departure from the Gods, he teamed up with old friend Robert Fripp as bass player in the newly formed King Crimson. As lead vocalist, co writer and co producer, Lake played a huge part in the success and influence of the bands stunning debut "In The Court Of The Crimson King". Following a US tour supporting The Nice on their farewell tour, Lake left Crimson to join Emerson in the formation of a new band pausing only to complete Crimsons second release, "In The Wake Of Posidon".
Carl Palmer played in a number of bands in his teenage years. His main influence in his early days was jazz drummers. Following a stint in Chris Farlow’s Thunderbirds, he was drafted into the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown to go on tour, when the original drummer, Drachen Theaker, was forced to leave the band due to a phobia of flying. The band pretty well disintegrated during the tour of the States and Palmer left with Keyboard player Vincent Crane to form Atomic Rooster. Palmer only stayed for one album, the self-titled release in early 1970.The music was similar in style and feel to the Crazy World, heavily dominated by organ, although by the time of Palmers departure, guitarist John Du Cann had joined and was influencing their sound.
Upon meeting Emerson and Lake, Palmer found an immediate connection and musical empathy and it was agreed they would form a band. Before finally agreeing on Palmer, Mitch Mitchell, the drummer with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was approached. Rumour has it that after declining the invite he mentioned the aspirations of the others to Hendrix who was keen to experiment. A session was planned between the four but Hendrix died before this was finalised and the three decided to commence as a trio. Who knows what the outcome would have been had HELP ever formed?
Following some extensive rehearsals, the band made its debut in August 1970 and for their second gig, played at the giant Isle of Wight festival. Signed to Island Records, their first album was released in December 1970 and crowned a busy year. This self-titled debut was an intriguing affair. Despite effective contributions from L & P, the keyboards from Emerson dominate proceedings. Borrowing (unaccredited at the time) from a variety of classical pieces, and heavily influenced by complex jazz time signatures, the album takes some listening but rewards those brave enough to last the pace. The opening track, "The Barbarian", swirls with a mixture of keyboards, as does the powerful “Knife-edge” There had to be a drum solo and it duly appears in the turgid “Tank” Both “The Three Fates” and “Take A Pebble” showcase Emerson’s virtuosity but it is the last track, the melancholy “Lucky Man” that seals the success of the album. Added at the last minute at the request of the record label, this timeless ballad, written by Lake at a very early age, became a hit single release. The Moog synthesiser solo that closes the track illustrates the full potential of this unique instrument. In Emerson’s hands, this stunning noise truly sends shivers down the spine and perfectly celebrates the death of the lucky man of the title with its mournful, spectral sound. The release met with the approval of their increasing fans who sent it high into the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dropping most of the restraint they showed on the first album, the follow up, released in June 1971, was a concept album. “Tarkus” told the story of a mythical, half mechanical armadillo type creature that battles other like creatures before being defeated by the Manticore! Taking up one side of the original album, the title track, references religion, war, and famine. It did not take long for the band to wander into pretension and over indulgence. Again expertly played, with Emerson’s keyboard wizardry to the fore, this time the spark of passion has gone and you are left with an emotionless, cold sound. The remaining tracks are mostly below standard, shorter tracks. Already a favourite at live shows “Tarkus” became a staple part of their theatrical performances for many years with the poor Tarkus itself blown up and restored countless times. The album hit the right note with old fans and won new recruits, sending it to the very top of the UK album chart for a week.
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Now established as a major live and recording act, the next release combined the two. “Pictures At An Exhibition” an interpretation of Mussorgsky’s original work was recorded live at the Newcastle City Hall and released in November 1971 as a budget set. Hugely successful hitting the top ten in both the UK and USA, it is a showpiece for all things keyboardy. Again you can only marvel at the musicianship but it rarely involves the listener and so many notes are crammed into the shortest space.
The third studio album “Trilogy” was put out in July 1972 and opened with the appropriately named “Endless Enigma” which reappeared a couple tracks later. Still incredibly popular and able to chart seemingly at will. The overindulgence had by now firmly taken hold. Most tracks sounded just like other ELP songs and only the obligatory novelty track “Hoedown” and another Lake ballad “From The Beginning” moved away from the norm.
After extensive touring in the States, “Brain Salad Surgery” was next up in November 1973. The first release on the bands newly formed Manticore label. Boasting a fantastic sleeve by Alien creator H.R.Giger there was some hope that the band would take some steps forward… Dominated by the half hour long "Karn Evil 9", pretty well every one of Emerson’s vast arrays of keyboards are played. “Karn” 1st Impression Part Two" is the most pleasing with some continuity and playful lyrics co written by Lake’s old Crimson cohort Pete Sinfield. An interesting version of the hymn “Jerusalem” opens proceedings and one of Lake’s hauntingly beautiful ballads “Still You Turn Me On” offers some variation with some nice guitar but apart from that, it’s the same old ELP. Technically brilliant but filled with their pomposity. This release is held in high esteem by fans and it has everything the ELP connoisseurs demand. To the outsider, it is relentless, almost painful.
And just when the hammering stopped, they released a TRIPLE live album to celebrate their extensive world tour. Recorded during 1973/74 and released in August 74 it contained the lot. The whole of the track “Tarkus” the whole (plus a bit) of “Karn Evil 9. “Take a Pebble” extended to 26 minutes and incorporating “Lucky Man” among others, a bit of King Crimson and a lot more of ELP. The audience loved it. As rock theatre it was unsurpassed. By now ELP could do no wrong “Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends” (they weren’t kidding!) went top 5 in both the UK and the States.
Exhausted by the continual touring, they took a sabbatical, pursuing solo projects, and return to the studio after a three year break to record “Works” Vol 1". Taking its cue from Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma, this double album release gave one side to each member with the band combining on side four. This did not go down well with the fans that had waited a long time for a proper “ELP” release. Instead they got one side of a piano concerto. One side of acoustic ballads, one side of pseudo classical pieces plus a track featuring one of the Eagles and, finally, two tracks from the band. These tracks were among the best that ELP had produced. “Fanfare For The Common Man” a re working of a Copeland piece, was released in edited form as a single and gave the band a final single chart placing. And “Pirates” probably the most complete and realised track the band recorded. This tantalising glimpse of what the fans wanted was not enough to help the album sell and for the first time the band contemplated a lack of success.
Coupled with a vast change in the musical climate, the realisation that their time had been and gone hit the band hard. The same year they released “Works” Vol 2". This was almost an acceptance of defeat and was the most un ELP like album. Containing twelve tracks and none over five minutes this attempt, finally, at brevity was brave but pointless. Most of the tracks were leftovers from previous sessions and the quality variable. To fulfil contractual obligations, “Love Beach” recorded in the Bahamas and released in 1978 to critical ridicule was enough for the band to take the hint and they disbanded the following year.
Following brief excursions with other bands and solo projects, Emerson becoming involved with film scores, Palmer forming first PM and then another supergroup Asia and Lake producing a couple of solo works, Emerson and Lake formed another version of ELP this time with Cozy Powell on the drum stool. Just one album was released and the band toured. Ditching Lake, Emerson teamed up again with Palmer and Robert Berry to form the unsuccessful “3”
In 1991, the original ELP reformed. An album of all new material was released in 1992 and the band hit the tour trail again throughout 92/93 to support “Black Moon” The tour and the album proved to be moderately successful and encouraged the band to record a follow up, 1994’s “In The Hot Seat” and that was the last album release although the band did carry on touring right up to 1998.
Keith Emerson continues to score for films with notable success. He has also released many solo albums and tours to small venues at regular intervals. He reformed The Nice in 2003 for a short tour.
Greg Lake has played with Ringo Starr and The Who and tours infrequently as the Greg Lake Band
Carl Palmer achieved huge success with Asia, has released some solo albums and gives drum clinics all over the world.
ELP were a band of their times. Indulged to be pretentious with little self discipline they never the less achieved tremendous commercial acclaim selling around 40 million albums. While later albums showed a lack of restraint, their debut contained many moments of inspiration and classic prog. Their musicianship was never in doubt but their music rarely stimulated the emotions after that first release. They became targets for the Punk/New wave movement and were easy targets, held up to be the worse that “old rock” offered. As critics jumped ship and embraced the new sounds, ELP were left high and dry, held up to ridicule with their Persian carpets, two ton drum kits, revolving keyboards and convoys of trucks, they didn’t help themselves! They became completely out of step with the musical times and were swept away by the spiky haired, plastic clad army that were encouraged to hate them. In this time of financial restraint and environmental issues it is unlikely we will see their like too much in the future.
Roger Gibbens
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Greg Lake
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Greg Lake
As a singer and instrumentalist, Greg Lake has had his greatest success and influence in the progressive rock outfit Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, before that, as a founding member of the original King Crimson. He has also been reasonably popular as a solo artist working in more of a hard-rock idiom.
As a boy, growing up in a poverty stricken part of the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, he got his first guitar for his twelfth birthday, as a gift from his mother, and began taking lessons from a local teacher named Don Strike, one of whose other students was Robert Fripp, who became close friends with Lake. Around the time he was 12 years old, Lake also wrote a folk-style song that played a major part in his future, entitled "Lucky Man".
Lake learned to read music and also to play pieces by Paganini, among other classical composers, but his aspirations lay with emulating the sound of his favorite band of the era, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, and their lead guitarist, Hank B. Marvin. Lake passed through a succession of groups, including a local quartet called Unit Four, in which he played guitar and sang. He and Unit Four guitarist David Genes later formed the Time Checks, and, still later, around 1967, with another Unit Four member, John Dickinson, was a member of a band called the Shame, who cut a single in 1968. He also sang on a record by a band called The Shy Limbs.
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In 1968, Lake succeeded Mick Taylor as a member of an outfit called The Gods, whose other members included future Uriah Heep founders Ken Hensley (keyboards, vocals) and Lee Kerslake (drums), and it was there that his songwriting first blossomed. He left the band just before they began to record, having been approached by his boyhood friend Robert Fripp to join the outfit that he was putting together out of a failed trio called Giles, Giles & Fripp, Lake joined the quintet (Fripp on lead guitar, Ian McDonald on keyboards, saxes, and flute, Michael Giles on drums, and Peter Sinfield as lyricist) as lead singer and bassist.
King Crimson proceeded to carve out a name for themselves unique in the history of rock music as the leading progressive rock band of their era. Their first album, In The Court of the Crimson King, became the standard for serious progressive rock albums. Lake, along with the others, was suddenly a star. That first line-up of the band only lasted a year, by December of 1969, Giles and McDonald were tired of touring and opted out, and Lake refused to continue working with the group, although he stayed around long enough to sing on their second album, In the Wake of Poseidon (1970).
At the suggestion of Tony Stratten-Smith, Lake was approached by keyboard player Keith Emerson, who was in the process of putting together a new group after three years with his current band, The Nice. The latter group's main fault was its lack of a real lead singer, and Emerson saw in Lake, whose voice had dominated In The Court of the Crimson King, the solution to that problem. The two eventually recruited drummer Carl Palmer and formed progressive rock's first supergroup, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who were a success from their self-titled first album, released in 1970, which closed with Lake's old song "Lucky Man". The latter became one of the group's few successful singles, one of their rare attempts to compete on AM radio, it also turned Lake into one of the most familiar voices in progressive rock, rivaling such figures as The Moody Blues' Justin Hayward. Lake's production experience as a member of King Crimson (who had produced their own debut album) also served ELP in good stead, and his songwriting became the creative nucleus for the group's first three studio albums.
ELP dominated the charts and the field of progressive rock right up until 1977, by which time the entire genre of "art rock" was beginning to lose popularity. The stresses between the trio caused them to split up after a tour in 1979, and Lake embarked on a solo career.
Lake organized a new band with ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore on lead guitar, Rory Gallagher alumnus Ted McKenna on drums, and ex-Joe Cocker/Gerry Rafferty keyboard player Tommy Eyre, and recorded Lake's first solo album, Greg Lake (1981).
The sound on that record was very different from ELP, as it was dominated by guitars, rather than keyboards, and featured Lake singing in a harder, more aggressive style. On tour he covered material going back to the King Crimson days, but he also regaled audiences with pumping versions of the new songs. A second album, Manoeuvers, followed in 1983, but by that time the creative and commercial bloom were both off of the rose, and Lake took his first break from music. He appeared in 1985 as the lead singer of Asia during that group's tour, but he didn't remain with the band.
In 1986, he reteamed with Emerson and drummer Cozy Powell as Emerson, Lake & Powell, and recorded an album for Mercury Records, which wass followed by a world tour. After a stint with ex-Asia member Geoff Downes and King Crimson drummer Michael Giles in a group called Ride The Tiger, Lake reteamed with Emerson and Palmer for a film that was never finished, which led to their first new album in 13 years, Black Moon (1992).
During the middle- and late-1990's, Lake has continued to work with Emerson and Palmer, while pursuing his solo work as well. The latter has included a 1994 tour of the United States. He had also done a considerable amount of charitable work on behalf of missing children, and his song "Daddy", written in response to one such case, which ended tragically, achieved national exposure as a theme for a television series devoted to the plight of missing children. artistdirect.com
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