Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Encyclopedia
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock
supergroup
. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson
(keyboards), Greg Lake
(bass guitar, vocals, guitar) and Carl Palmer
(drums, percussion). They are one of the most commercially successful progressive rock bands and from the outset focused on combining classical pieces with rock music.
and Greg Lake
met at Fillmore West in San Francisco and on working together, found their styles to be compatible and complementary. They had actually played before several times in 1969, in different bands sharing the same venue - Emerson in The Nice
and Lake in King Crimson
, first at the 9th Jazz and Blues Pop Festival in Plumpton
, England, and at Fairfield Halls
in Croydon
, England.
Emerson and Lake wanted to be a keyboard/bass/drum band, and so sought out a drummer. They approached drummer Mitch Mitchell
of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
but they were disenchanted when he showed up for a 'jam' session with an arsenal of guns and unruly bodyguards. They instead got Carl Palmer, who at that time was a member of Atomic Rooster
. Their debut was in The Guildhall, Plymouth, on 23 August 1970.
Lake, besides providing vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar and lyrics, also produced five of their first six albums (Brain Salad Surgery being co-produced with Pete Sinfield, who had recently left King Crimson
).
Jimi Hendrix, tired of his band and wanting to try something different, expressed an interest in playing with the group. This led the British press to speculate about a supergroup called HELP, or "Hendrix, Emerson, Lake & Palmer". Because of scheduling conflicts, such plans were difficult to realize. EL&P planned a jam session with Hendrix after their second concert at the Isle of Wight Festival
. But Hendrix died 26 days later, and the three pressed on as Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Greg Lake made this comment on ELP's discussions with Hendrix:
Carl Palmer had previously been the drummer for the highly successful psychedelic band, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
ELP were, from the outset, a prototype of the 'rock supergroup'.
The band's March 1971 live recording, Pictures at an Exhibition
, an interpretation of Modest Mussorgsky
's work of the same name
, was issued as a low-priced record, the success of which contributed to the band's overall popularity. Due to management conflicts, the recording was not released until after Tarkus (their second studio album, which was actually recorded later). The record company was reluctant to release a classical suite as an album, and insisted it be released on their classical music label instead. Fearing (quite justifiably) that this would lead to poor sales, ELP instead decided to shelve the work. After the success of their second album, however, the label agreed to release Pictures as a budget live album.
It was unprecedented for a rock band to devote an entire album to a treatment of a classical work, and to this day, Pictures remains the only complete classical suite that has hit the top 10 in either the US or the UK. The album mixed in a ballad by Greg Lake (The Sage), a Blues Variation section by Emerson and many instances of heavily electronic and synthesised interpretations of Mussorgsky's work (although the opening promenade was played faithfully on a pipe organ).
, released in 1971, was their first successful concept album
, described as a story about "reverse evolution". Combining a side-long song (an early progressive rock 'epic') with an assortment of hard rock songs, an instrumental and even some comic songs, it was quickly recognised as landmark work in progressive rock. The epic Tarkus
, recorded in just 4 days, is a seven-part rock suite which incorporates a number of complex time signatures (such as 10/8) and striking dynamics. The virtuosic, extended keyboard work of Emerson combines with Lake's soloing and Palmer's percussion to tell a story about the futility of war and also religious hypocrisy. The breadth and complexity of the music combined with the series of William Neal
paintings incorporated into the album to cement ELP's reputation as being on the forefront of creativity and experimentation in rock music.
The 1972 album Trilogy
contained ELP's best-selling single, "From the Beginning". It featured a cover of Hoedown from Aaron Copland
's Rodeo as well as some original multi-part suites (The Endless Enigma and Trilogy). It was their most tightly produced and carefully orchestrated album so far, and is cited by some band members as their favourite ELP album. However, only Hoedown persisted as a live song. It was with the release of Trilogy that ELP were able to focus heavily on international touring.
, Manticore Records
, and purchased an abandoned cinema as their own rehearsal hall. In late 1973, Brain Salad Surgery
, with sleeve designed by H. R. Giger
, became the band's best-known studio album. The lyrics were co-written by Peter Sinfield
, who was the primary lyricist for King Crimson's first four albums. It was their most ambitious album to date, incorporating a multi-part 'super epic' (Karn Evil 9), which was split over both sides of the album. It also contained a cover of Alberto Ginastera
's Toccata, in which Carl Palmer was the first musician to employ synthesised percussion, which was actually an acoustic drum kit fitted with pickups that triggered electronic sounds, which were combined with the kit's acoustic sounds. The subsequent world tours were documented with a massive three-LP live recording, Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends.
By April 1974, ELP were on top of the bill during the California Jam
Festival, pushing co-stars Deep Purple
to second billing. ELP's California Jam performance was broadcast nationwide in the United States, and attended by over 200,000 paying fans. By the end of 1974, ELP were just about tied with Led Zeppelin as the highest grossing live band in the world.
The ELP sound was dominated by the Hammond organ
and Moog synthesizer
of the flamboyant Emerson. The band's compositions were heavily influenced by classical music in addition to jazz
and – at least in their early years – hard rock
. Many of their pieces are arrangements of, or contain quotations from, classical music, and they can be said to fit into the sub-genre of symphonic rock
. However, Lake ensured that their albums contained a regular stream of simple, accessible acoustic ballads, many of which received heavy radio airplay.
On stage, the band exhibited an unorthodox mix of virtuoso musicianship and over-the-top theatrical bombast. Their extravagant and often aggressive live shows received much criticism in this regard, although in retrospect it was all rather small change compared to later rock spectacles: the theatrics were limited to a Persian carpet, a grand piano spinning end-over-end, a rotating percussion platform, and a Hammond organ
being up-ended and thrown around on stage to create feedback. Emerson often used a knife given to him by Lemmy (who had roadied for Emerson's previous band, The Nice
) to force the keys on the organ to stay down. Another unusual factor was that Emerson took a full Moog modular synthesizer
(an enormous, complex, and unreliable (tuning-wise) instrument) on the road with him (which Dr Robert Moog thought "insane"), which added greatly to a tour's complexity.
(later renamed Works, Volume I), in which each member had a 'side' to himself. Side 4 contained 'full band' pieces, including their most enduring legacy: a highly synthesised cover of Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man
. A great deal of the Works album was recorded with an orchestral accompaniment – in fact, Keith Emerson's side consisted solely of a 20 minute piano concerto which he had composed himself. This album was soon followed by Works Volume II
, which consisted entirely of 3–4 minute songs including ballads, pop songs, jazzy instrumentals and a Christmas single. It was seen as a collection of leftovers (not helped by the fact that one of the songs was actually called Brain Salad Surgery, and another had previously been released as a solo single by Lake) and was ELP's first commercial failure.
The band toured the US and Canada in 1977 and 1978 with a schedule of night-after-night performances – some with a full orchestra
, which was a heavy burden on tour revenues. These late-1970s tours found ELP working harder than ever to stay in touch with their audience. But as disco
, punk rock
, corporate rock
and New Wave
styles began to alter the musical landscape, ELP could no longer generate the excitement of being forerunners in musical innovation. Eventually, they drifted apart due to personality conflicts and irreconcilable differences concerning musical direction.
Greg Lake commented on the DVD Beyond the Beginning documentary, about the Works tour that they had lost about 3 million dollars from their pockets. On the same documentary, Keith Emerson said, they (Lake and Palmer) still blame him for it, "you and your bloody orchestra".
(1978), was dismissed even by the trio itself, who admitted it was delivered to fulfil a contractual obligation. The Love Beach album has been ill-received not only by the music press but also by the fans, who easily understood that the group was tired, something Greg Lake
admitted in various interviews. Side One features Lake and consists of several shorter songs in a late 70's attempt to put something in the pop charts. Side Two's composition, "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman", is a four-part narration of the tale of a soldier in the Second World War, and his ordeal of love and death as well as tragedy and triumph. The album's cover photograph – which showed the three band members posing with their shirts unbuttoned, on a tropical beach – engendered no small amount of ridicule, with Palmer complaining the group looked like disco stars the Bee Gees
. Love Beach, along with Yes's
Tormato
, Genesis' ...And Then There Were Three...
, and The Moody Blues'
Octave
, are considered by critics to be an example of the shift of progressive rock to a lighter, more commercial pop sound. Emerson, Lake and Palmer disbanded later in 1979. The live LP In Concert was released after they had broken up, also to fulfil contractual obligations. It was cobbled together from the ill-fated orchestral tour, and was later rebranded Works Live.
with ex-Rainbow and session drummer Cozy Powell
. Palmer declined to participate in a reunion, as he was too busy with commitments to Asia
. Rumours also linked Bill Bruford
to their new line-up, but the former Yes
drummer remained committed to King Crimson
and his own group, Earthworks
. The album Emerson Lake & Powell
charted reasonably well, with a major single, "Touch and Go" generating some radio and MTV exposure for the trio. However, the old interpersonal tensions between Lake and Emerson resurfaced during the 1986 tour. Emerson and Palmer subsequently joined with Robert Berry to form the band 3
.
. Their 1992–93 world tours were successful, culminating in a performance at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles in early 1993 that has been heavily bootlegged
. But, reportedly, Palmer suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome
in one hand and Emerson had been treated for a repetitive stress disorder
. In 1994, the band released a follow-up album, In the Hot Seat
. Overall, this album was viewed as a failure to live up to the 'comeback' expectations that Black Moon had created.
Emerson and Palmer eventually recovered to start touring again, beginning in 1996. Their tour schedules brought them to Japan, South America, Europe, the United States and Canada and ELP played fresh new versions of older work. They played in significantly smaller venues compared to their heyday (sometimes fewer than 500 people, as in Belo Horizonte
, Brazil). Their last show was in San Diego, California, in August 1998. Conflicts over a new album led to another break-up: Greg Lake insisted on producing the next album, having produced all of the successful ELP albums in the 1970s. Keith Emerson complained in public (on the Internet) that although he and Carl Palmer worked out on a daily basis to maintain their musical skills, Greg Lake did not make the effort to do the same. Lake admitted that he did not train his voice: a few live shows were generally enough to get it in shape, he claimed.
In March 2009, Palmer said on his website that there is "talk of an ELP reunion in the fall". Emerson, Lake, and Palmer made plans to tour at the end of that year; however, due to Keith Emerson's hand injury, further tour plans were cancelled.
In November 2009, Greg Lake confirmed on a live chat via his website that he and Keith Emerson had been writing new songs for a new album.
In order to satisfy American fans, Emerson and Lake embarked in April 2010 on a North American tour, presenting an acoustic repertoire of their work.
On 14 May 2010, Shout! Factory
released a 4-CD collection of Emerson, Lake and Palmer live tracks called A Time And A Place
.
On 25 July 2010, Emerson, Lake and Palmer played a one-off 40th anniversary concert, headlining the High Voltage Festival
event in Victoria Park, London. The entire concert was later released as the double-CD live album High Voltage.
On 22 February 2011, Shout! Factory
released a 2-CD set of Emerson, Lake and Palmer recorded live in 9 February 1978 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York called Live at Nassau Coliseum 78.
On 29 August 2011, Emerson, Lake and Palmer released a DVD and Blu Ray called Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Welcome Back My Friends. 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert recorded and filmed High Voltage Festival
event in Victoria Park, London.
On 6 December 2011, Shout! Factory
released a single-CD set of Emerson, Lake and Palmer recorded live in 2 April 1972 at the Mar Y Sol Festival, Veja Boja, San Juan, Puerto Rico called Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival '72
.
ELP have signed a worldwide licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment
.
A Blu Ray and SD DVD of the concert was produced by Concert One Ltd, together with a definitive documentary of the band's 40 year history.
With an even more cruel take on ELP, even going on to insult the group's sizeable fan base, Robert Christgau
said of the band "these guys are as stupid as their most pretentious fans". Christgau also called ELP the "world's most overweening 'progressive' group".
ELP could also be their own worst enemy. Double albums featuring each member separately on an album side stretched inspiration to the breaking point. In 1978, a completely exhausted and uninspired ELP would make the album Love Beach
mainly to fulfill their contractual obligations. Unsurprisingly, Michael Bloom of Rolling Stone encapsulated the result fairly well, stating in his review that "Love Beach
isn't simply bad, it's downright pathetic. Stale and full of ennui, this album makes washing the dishes seem a more creative act by comparison."
In a more even-handed approach to analysing ELP, John Kelman of All About Jazz
noted that an "overbearing sense of self-importance...turned ELP from one of the 1970s' most exciting new groups into the definition of masturbatory excess and self-aggrandizement in only a few short years." Kelman also stated that "in (ELP's) fall from grace, (ELP) represented everything wrong with progressive rock." Still, Kelman also states that ELP, in its heyday, was a positive force, describing the 2010 Deluxe DVD Edition of Pictures at an Exhibition as "raw energy and flat-out hunger...with enough self-deprecation to not take themselves too seriously."
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
(keyboards), Greg Lake
Greg Lake
Gregory Stuart "Greg" Lake is an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known as a vocalist and bassist of King Crimson, and the bassist, guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.-1960s: King Crimson:...
(bass guitar, vocals, guitar) and Carl Palmer
Carl Palmer
Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer is an English drummer and percussionist. He is credited as one of the most respected rock drummers to emerge from the 1960s...
(drums, percussion). They are one of the most commercially successful progressive rock bands and from the outset focused on combining classical pieces with rock music.
Background and formation
Keith EmersonKeith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
and Greg Lake
Greg Lake
Gregory Stuart "Greg" Lake is an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known as a vocalist and bassist of King Crimson, and the bassist, guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.-1960s: King Crimson:...
met at Fillmore West in San Francisco and on working together, found their styles to be compatible and complementary. They had actually played before several times in 1969, in different bands sharing the same venue - Emerson in The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
and Lake in King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, first at the 9th Jazz and Blues Pop Festival in Plumpton
Plumpton, East Sussex
Plumpton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located five miles north-west of Lewes. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton and the larger village of Plumpton Green to the north where most of the community and services are based...
, England, and at Fairfield Halls
Fairfield Halls
Fairfield Hall is an arts centre in Croydon, London, England and opened in 1962. It contains a concert hall, the Ashcroft Theatre , the Arnhem Gallery civic hall and an art gallery....
in Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, England.
Emerson and Lake wanted to be a keyboard/bass/drum band, and so sought out a drummer. They approached drummer Mitch Mitchell
Mitch Mitchell
John Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
but they were disenchanted when he showed up for a 'jam' session with an arsenal of guns and unruly bodyguards. They instead got Carl Palmer, who at that time was a member of Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
. Their debut was in The Guildhall, Plymouth, on 23 August 1970.
Lake, besides providing vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar and lyrics, also produced five of their first six albums (Brain Salad Surgery being co-produced with Pete Sinfield, who had recently left King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
).
Jimi Hendrix, tired of his band and wanting to try something different, expressed an interest in playing with the group. This led the British press to speculate about a supergroup called HELP, or "Hendrix, Emerson, Lake & Palmer". Because of scheduling conflicts, such plans were difficult to realize. EL&P planned a jam session with Hendrix after their second concert at the Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival 1970
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was held between 26 and 31 August 1970 at East Afton Farm an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and widely acknowledged as the largest musical event of...
. But Hendrix died 26 days later, and the three pressed on as Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Greg Lake made this comment on ELP's discussions with Hendrix:
"Yeah, that story is indeed true, to some degree... Mitch Mitchell had told Jimi about us and he said he wanted to explore the idea. Even after Mitch was long out of the picture and we had already settled on Carl, talk about working with Jimi continued. We were supposed to get together and jam with him around August or September of 1970, but he died before we could put it together."
Carl Palmer had previously been the drummer for the highly successful psychedelic band, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
ELP were, from the outset, a prototype of the 'rock supergroup'.
Debut album and Pictures at an Exhibition
Their debut album was simply titled Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and was released in late 1970. It was mostly a collection of solo pieces, highlighting the virtuosity of each member of the band. Keith Emerson contributed a series of treatments of classical pieces (such as Bach's BWV 812), Carl Palmer provides a driving drum solo (called Tank) and Greg Lake provides two ballads, beginning with folky, extended work Take A Pebble. It was the ballad "Lucky Man", which was based on a poem Lake had written at the age of 12, that brought the band to prominence. A soulful acoustic ballad, it received heavy radio play not only in the UK and Europe, but it also became a surprise hit in America. The commercial success of "Lucky Man" combined with their strong performance at the Isle of Wight festival to bring ELP rapidly to prominence.The band's March 1971 live recording, Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition (album)
*The material on the second disc was recorded at the Lyceum Theatre in December of 1970.-Personnel:*Keith Emerson - Pipe Organ, Hammond C3 and L100 Organs, Moog Modular Synthesizer, Ribbon controller, Clavinet*Greg Lake - bass, acoustic guitar, Vocals...
, an interpretation of Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's work of the same name
Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists...
, was issued as a low-priced record, the success of which contributed to the band's overall popularity. Due to management conflicts, the recording was not released until after Tarkus (their second studio album, which was actually recorded later). The record company was reluctant to release a classical suite as an album, and insisted it be released on their classical music label instead. Fearing (quite justifiably) that this would lead to poor sales, ELP instead decided to shelve the work. After the success of their second album, however, the label agreed to release Pictures as a budget live album.
It was unprecedented for a rock band to devote an entire album to a treatment of a classical work, and to this day, Pictures remains the only complete classical suite that has hit the top 10 in either the US or the UK. The album mixed in a ballad by Greg Lake (The Sage), a Blues Variation section by Emerson and many instances of heavily electronic and synthesised interpretations of Mussorgsky's work (although the opening promenade was played faithfully on a pipe organ).
1971–1972: Tarkus and Trilogy
TarkusTarkus
Tarkus is the second album by the British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1971.In 1993 the album was digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio...
, released in 1971, was their first successful concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, described as a story about "reverse evolution". Combining a side-long song (an early progressive rock 'epic') with an assortment of hard rock songs, an instrumental and even some comic songs, it was quickly recognised as landmark work in progressive rock. The epic Tarkus
Tarkus (song)
"Tarkus" is the title track of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's second album. The progressive rock epic clocks in at 20:35. It was the longest studio song by the band until the three impressions of Karn Evil 9 and their concert performances. The name "Tarkus" refers to the armadillo-tank from the William...
, recorded in just 4 days, is a seven-part rock suite which incorporates a number of complex time signatures (such as 10/8) and striking dynamics. The virtuosic, extended keyboard work of Emerson combines with Lake's soloing and Palmer's percussion to tell a story about the futility of war and also religious hypocrisy. The breadth and complexity of the music combined with the series of William Neal
William Neal
William Neal, is an English painter and graphic designer born in Guildford in 1947, but who was brought up in the village of Bramley, Surrey, England. He gained international fame for his artwork on the progressive rock albums Tarkus and Pictures at an Exhibition by the English progressive rock...
paintings incorporated into the album to cement ELP's reputation as being on the forefront of creativity and experimentation in rock music.
The 1972 album Trilogy
Trilogy (Emerson, Lake & Palmer album)
Trilogy is the third studio album by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1972. The front cover depicts Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, while the interior of the original gatefold sleeve features a photomontage showing multiple images of the band in Epping Forest...
contained ELP's best-selling single, "From the Beginning". It featured a cover of Hoedown from Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
's Rodeo as well as some original multi-part suites (The Endless Enigma and Trilogy). It was their most tightly produced and carefully orchestrated album so far, and is cited by some band members as their favourite ELP album. However, only Hoedown persisted as a live song. It was with the release of Trilogy that ELP were able to focus heavily on international touring.
1973–1974: Brain Salad Surgery and worldwide touring
In 1973, the band had garnered enough recognition to form their own record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Manticore Records
Manticore Records
Manticore Records was the record label launched by Emerson, Lake & Palmer's production company Manticore in 1973. The manticore is featured in the artwork for the album Tarkus by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, . Initially the label was jointly owned with Island Records, but that partnership was dissolved...
, and purchased an abandoned cinema as their own rehearsal hall. In late 1973, Brain Salad Surgery
Brain Salad Surgery
Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1973 and the first under their Manticore Records imprint. It fuses rock and classical themes. Lyrics were co-written by Greg Lake with fellow ex-King Crimson member Peter Sinfield. Cover...
, with sleeve designed by H. R. Giger
H. R. Giger
Hans Rudolf "Ruedi" Giger is a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor, and set designer. He won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for his design work on the film Alien.-Early life:...
, became the band's best-known studio album. The lyrics were co-written by Peter Sinfield
Peter Sinfield
Peter John Sinfield is an English poet, lyricist and artist, most famously known as the lyricist and co-founding member of early incarnations of King Crimson, whose debut album In the Court of the Crimson King has been regarded as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever...
, who was the primary lyricist for King Crimson's first four albums. It was their most ambitious album to date, incorporating a multi-part 'super epic' (Karn Evil 9), which was split over both sides of the album. It also contained a cover of Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
's Toccata, in which Carl Palmer was the first musician to employ synthesised percussion, which was actually an acoustic drum kit fitted with pickups that triggered electronic sounds, which were combined with the kit's acoustic sounds. The subsequent world tours were documented with a massive three-LP live recording, Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends.
By April 1974, ELP were on top of the bill during the California Jam
California Jam
California Jam, also known as Cal Jam, was a rock music festival concert held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California on April 6, 1974. It was produced by ABC Entertainment, Sandy Feldman, Don Branker and Leonard Stogel...
Festival, pushing co-stars Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
to second billing. ELP's California Jam performance was broadcast nationwide in the United States, and attended by over 200,000 paying fans. By the end of 1974, ELP were just about tied with Led Zeppelin as the highest grossing live band in the world.
The ELP sound was dominated by the Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
and Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
of the flamboyant Emerson. The band's compositions were heavily influenced by classical music in addition to jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and – at least in their early years – hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
. Many of their pieces are arrangements of, or contain quotations from, classical music, and they can be said to fit into the sub-genre of symphonic rock
Symphonic rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
. However, Lake ensured that their albums contained a regular stream of simple, accessible acoustic ballads, many of which received heavy radio airplay.
On stage, the band exhibited an unorthodox mix of virtuoso musicianship and over-the-top theatrical bombast. Their extravagant and often aggressive live shows received much criticism in this regard, although in retrospect it was all rather small change compared to later rock spectacles: the theatrics were limited to a Persian carpet, a grand piano spinning end-over-end, a rotating percussion platform, and a Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
being up-ended and thrown around on stage to create feedback. Emerson often used a knife given to him by Lemmy (who had roadied for Emerson's previous band, The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
) to force the keys on the organ to stay down. Another unusual factor was that Emerson took a full Moog modular synthesizer
Moog modular synthesizer
Moog modular synthesizer refers to any of a number of monophonic analog modular synthesizers designed by the late electronic instrument pioneer Dr. Robert Moog and manufactured by R.A Moog Co...
(an enormous, complex, and unreliable (tuning-wise) instrument) on the road with him (which Dr Robert Moog thought "insane"), which added greatly to a tour's complexity.
1975–1977: Hiatus, Works Albums
ELP then took a three-year break to re-invent their music, but lost contact with the changing musical scene. They eventually released the double album, WorksWorks Volume I
Works Volume 1 is a 1977 album by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It is a two-disc set divided into four major sections, one each highlighting each band member, and one for combined works.-Overview:...
(later renamed Works, Volume I), in which each member had a 'side' to himself. Side 4 contained 'full band' pieces, including their most enduring legacy: a highly synthesised cover of Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man
Fanfare for the Common Man
Fanfare for the Common Man is a 20th-century American classical music work by American composer Aaron Copland. The piece was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugene Goossens. It was inspired in part by a famous speech made earlier in the same year where vice...
. A great deal of the Works album was recorded with an orchestral accompaniment – in fact, Keith Emerson's side consisted solely of a 20 minute piano concerto which he had composed himself. This album was soon followed by Works Volume II
Works Volume II
Works Volume 2 is an album released in 1977 by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Unlike Works Volume 1 , Volume 2 was a single album which seemingly was a compilation of leftover tracks from other album sessions that had not made those albums...
, which consisted entirely of 3–4 minute songs including ballads, pop songs, jazzy instrumentals and a Christmas single. It was seen as a collection of leftovers (not helped by the fact that one of the songs was actually called Brain Salad Surgery, and another had previously been released as a solo single by Lake) and was ELP's first commercial failure.
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, which was a heavy burden on tour revenues. These late-1970s tours found ELP working harder than ever to stay in touch with their audience. But as disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, corporate rock
Arena rock
Arena rock is a term used to describe rock music that utilised large arena venues, particularly sports venues, for concerts or series of concerts linked in tours...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
styles began to alter the musical landscape, ELP could no longer generate the excitement of being forerunners in musical innovation. Eventually, they drifted apart due to personality conflicts and irreconcilable differences concerning musical direction.
Greg Lake commented on the DVD Beyond the Beginning documentary, about the Works tour that they had lost about 3 million dollars from their pockets. On the same documentary, Keith Emerson said, they (Lake and Palmer) still blame him for it, "you and your bloody orchestra".
1978: First break-up
Their last studio album of the 1970s, Love BeachLove Beach
Love Beach is a studio album by English progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in 1978. It was the band's final album of original material until Black Moon and was produced to satisfy contractual obligations with the group's record company. It was a critical and commercial...
(1978), was dismissed even by the trio itself, who admitted it was delivered to fulfil a contractual obligation. The Love Beach album has been ill-received not only by the music press but also by the fans, who easily understood that the group was tired, something Greg Lake
Greg Lake
Gregory Stuart "Greg" Lake is an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known as a vocalist and bassist of King Crimson, and the bassist, guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.-1960s: King Crimson:...
admitted in various interviews. Side One features Lake and consists of several shorter songs in a late 70's attempt to put something in the pop charts. Side Two's composition, "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman", is a four-part narration of the tale of a soldier in the Second World War, and his ordeal of love and death as well as tragedy and triumph. The album's cover photograph – which showed the three band members posing with their shirts unbuttoned, on a tropical beach – engendered no small amount of ridicule, with Palmer complaining the group looked like disco stars the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
. Love Beach, along with Yes's
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
Tormato
Tormato
Tormato is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock group Yes. Issued as the follow-up to 1977's acclaimed Going for the One, Tormato received less than charitable reviews upon release and its virtues are still a matter of debate for Yes fans and critics...
, Genesis' ...And Then There Were Three...
...And Then There Were Three...
...And Then There Were Three... is the ninth studio album by the British band Genesis and was released in 1978. It is the band's first album as a trio.-Background and recording:...
, and The Moody Blues'
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
Octave
Octave (album)
Octave is the ninth album by The Moody Blues, and their first release after a substantial hiatus following the success of the best-selling Seventh Sojourn in 1972. The album proved to be the last for the group with keyboardist Mike Pinder, who departed during the album's sessions, and declined an...
, are considered by critics to be an example of the shift of progressive rock to a lighter, more commercial pop sound. Emerson, Lake and Palmer disbanded later in 1979. The live LP In Concert was released after they had broken up, also to fulfil contractual obligations. It was cobbled together from the ill-fated orchestral tour, and was later rebranded Works Live.
Later incarnations: Emerson, Lake & Powell and 3
In 1985, Emerson and Lake formed Emerson, Lake & PowellEmerson, Lake & Powell
Emerson, Lake & Powell, sometimes abbreviated as ELPowell, were an English rock band, an offshoot or variant lineup of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, that released one official studio album in 1986....
with ex-Rainbow and session drummer Cozy Powell
Cozy Powell
Colin Flooks , better known as Cozy Powell, was an English rock drummer who made his name with many major rock bands.-Early history:...
. Palmer declined to participate in a reunion, as he was too busy with commitments to Asia
Asia (band)
Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup as it included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely John Wetton , Geoff Downes , Steve Howe and Carl Palmer Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a...
. Rumours also linked Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
to their new line-up, but the former Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
drummer remained committed to King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and his own group, Earthworks
Earthworks (band)
Bill Bruford's Earthworks was a British jazz band led by drummer Bill Bruford. The band recorded several albums for Editions EG, Discipline Global Mobile and Summerfold Records....
. The album Emerson Lake & Powell
Emerson, Lake & Powell (album)
Emerson, Lake & Powell is the only studio album recorded by the ELP offshoot band of the same name. It was recorded in 1985 and released in 1986 on Polydor Records. However, two further albums comprising rehearsals and live material were subsequently issued in 2003...
charted reasonably well, with a major single, "Touch and Go" generating some radio and MTV exposure for the trio. However, the old interpersonal tensions between Lake and Emerson resurfaced during the 1986 tour. Emerson and Palmer subsequently joined with Robert Berry to form the band 3
3 (1980s band)
3 were a short-lived progressive rock band formed by former Emerson, Lake & Palmer members Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer and American multi-instrumentalist Robert Berry in 1988....
.
1990s: Reformation and second break-up
In 1991, Emerson, Lake & Palmer reformed and issued a 1992 comeback album, Black Moon, on JVCVictory Records
Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It is a privately held corporation. It also operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several smaller independent record labels....
. Their 1992–93 world tours were successful, culminating in a performance at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles in early 1993 that has been heavily bootlegged
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
. But, reportedly, Palmer suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is an entrapment idiopathic median neuropathy, causing paresthesia, pain, and other symptoms in the distribution of the median nerve due to its compression at the wrist in the carpal tunnel. The pathophysiology is not completely understood but can be considered compression...
in one hand and Emerson had been treated for a repetitive stress disorder
Repetitive strain injury
Repetitive strain injury is an injury of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems that may be caused by...
. In 1994, the band released a follow-up album, In the Hot Seat
In the Hot Seat
In The Hot Seat is a studio album by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in 1994. Keith Emerson had nerve problems in his right hand, which made it almost impossible to play the keyboards...
. Overall, this album was viewed as a failure to live up to the 'comeback' expectations that Black Moon had created.
Emerson and Palmer eventually recovered to start touring again, beginning in 1996. Their tour schedules brought them to Japan, South America, Europe, the United States and Canada and ELP played fresh new versions of older work. They played in significantly smaller venues compared to their heyday (sometimes fewer than 500 people, as in Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Brazil). Their last show was in San Diego, California, in August 1998. Conflicts over a new album led to another break-up: Greg Lake insisted on producing the next album, having produced all of the successful ELP albums in the 1970s. Keith Emerson complained in public (on the Internet) that although he and Carl Palmer worked out on a daily basis to maintain their musical skills, Greg Lake did not make the effort to do the same. Lake admitted that he did not train his voice: a few live shows were generally enough to get it in shape, he claimed.
2000s: re-releases, 2010 tour and one-off 40th anniversary concert
In 2003, UK independent label Invisible Hands Music released the 3CD box set Reworks: Brain Salad Perjury, a new work created by Keith Emerson in collaboration with Mike Bennett, using sampling technology with an eye on club and ambient music styles. Emerson and Bennett sampled musical elements from the entire ELP oeuvre, creating new electronica music opening with a reinterpretation of Fanfare For The Common Man. The musical complexity of the source material provided rich pickings for sampling: the album found favour with critics and the dance music community. Cuts from the album were widely played in clubs and, fleetingly at least, the band's music found a new audience who had never heard (or heard of) ELP.In March 2009, Palmer said on his website that there is "talk of an ELP reunion in the fall". Emerson, Lake, and Palmer made plans to tour at the end of that year; however, due to Keith Emerson's hand injury, further tour plans were cancelled.
In November 2009, Greg Lake confirmed on a live chat via his website that he and Keith Emerson had been writing new songs for a new album.
In order to satisfy American fans, Emerson and Lake embarked in April 2010 on a North American tour, presenting an acoustic repertoire of their work.
On 14 May 2010, Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
released a 4-CD collection of Emerson, Lake and Palmer live tracks called A Time And A Place
A Time And A Place
The A Time And A Place box set brings together a select body of live performances by Emerson, Lake & Palmer captured before worldwide audiences during the band's career and tenure at the sharp end of the Progressive rock genre. It features high-quality soundboard recordings on the first three discs...
.
On 25 July 2010, Emerson, Lake and Palmer played a one-off 40th anniversary concert, headlining the High Voltage Festival
High Voltage Festival
High Voltage is a music festival held in Victoria Park, London. The event hosts artists from various strands of rock music, including classic rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal. The first festival was held on the 24 and 25 July 2010...
event in Victoria Park, London. The entire concert was later released as the double-CD live album High Voltage.
On 22 February 2011, Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
released a 2-CD set of Emerson, Lake and Palmer recorded live in 9 February 1978 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York called Live at Nassau Coliseum 78.
On 29 August 2011, Emerson, Lake and Palmer released a DVD and Blu Ray called Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Welcome Back My Friends. 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert recorded and filmed High Voltage Festival
High Voltage Festival
High Voltage is a music festival held in Victoria Park, London. The event hosts artists from various strands of rock music, including classic rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal. The first festival was held on the 24 and 25 July 2010...
event in Victoria Park, London.
On 6 December 2011, Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
released a single-CD set of Emerson, Lake and Palmer recorded live in 2 April 1972 at the Mar Y Sol Festival, Veja Boja, San Juan, Puerto Rico called Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival '72
Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival '72
Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival '72 is a live album by British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 2011.Previously available only on the 5CD + 1DVD box-set From the Beginning, this concert has been meticulously re-mastered from the original multitrack tapes in order to provide...
.
ELP have signed a worldwide licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
.
A Blu Ray and SD DVD of the concert was produced by Concert One Ltd, together with a definitive documentary of the band's 40 year history.
Criticism
Like most progressive rock bands, ELP were heavily and mercilessly criticised by some music critics. Critics frequently lambasted the band as pretentious. One critic went as far as asking "how do you spell pretentious? Emerson, Lake, And Palmer?".With an even more cruel take on ELP, even going on to insult the group's sizeable fan base, Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
said of the band "these guys are as stupid as their most pretentious fans". Christgau also called ELP the "world's most overweening 'progressive' group".
ELP could also be their own worst enemy. Double albums featuring each member separately on an album side stretched inspiration to the breaking point. In 1978, a completely exhausted and uninspired ELP would make the album Love Beach
Love Beach
Love Beach is a studio album by English progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in 1978. It was the band's final album of original material until Black Moon and was produced to satisfy contractual obligations with the group's record company. It was a critical and commercial...
mainly to fulfill their contractual obligations. Unsurprisingly, Michael Bloom of Rolling Stone encapsulated the result fairly well, stating in his review that "Love Beach
Love Beach
Love Beach is a studio album by English progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in 1978. It was the band's final album of original material until Black Moon and was produced to satisfy contractual obligations with the group's record company. It was a critical and commercial...
isn't simply bad, it's downright pathetic. Stale and full of ennui, this album makes washing the dishes seem a more creative act by comparison."
In a more even-handed approach to analysing ELP, John Kelman of All About Jazz
All About Jazz
All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
noted that an "overbearing sense of self-importance...turned ELP from one of the 1970s' most exciting new groups into the definition of masturbatory excess and self-aggrandizement in only a few short years." Kelman also stated that "in (ELP's) fall from grace, (ELP) represented everything wrong with progressive rock." Still, Kelman also states that ELP, in its heyday, was a positive force, describing the 2010 Deluxe DVD Edition of Pictures at an Exhibition as "raw energy and flat-out hunger...with enough self-deprecation to not take themselves too seriously."
Discography
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970)
- TarkusTarkusTarkus is the second album by the British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1971.In 1993 the album was digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio...
(1971) - TrilogyTrilogy (Emerson, Lake & Palmer album)Trilogy is the third studio album by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1972. The front cover depicts Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, while the interior of the original gatefold sleeve features a photomontage showing multiple images of the band in Epping Forest...
(1972) - Brain Salad SurgeryBrain Salad SurgeryBrain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1973 and the first under their Manticore Records imprint. It fuses rock and classical themes. Lyrics were co-written by Greg Lake with fellow ex-King Crimson member Peter Sinfield. Cover...
(1973) - Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends... Ladies and Gentlemen (1974)
- Works Volume 1 (1977)
- Works Volume 2 (1977)
- Love BeachLove BeachLove Beach is a studio album by English progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in 1978. It was the band's final album of original material until Black Moon and was produced to satisfy contractual obligations with the group's record company. It was a critical and commercial...
(1978) - Black Moon (1992)
- In the Hot SeatIn the Hot SeatIn The Hot Seat is a studio album by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in 1994. Keith Emerson had nerve problems in his right hand, which made it almost impossible to play the keyboards...
(1994)
See also
- Emerson, Lake & PowellEmerson, Lake & PowellEmerson, Lake & Powell, sometimes abbreviated as ELPowell, were an English rock band, an offshoot or variant lineup of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, that released one official studio album in 1986....
- 33 (1980s band)3 were a short-lived progressive rock band formed by former Emerson, Lake & Palmer members Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer and American multi-instrumentalist Robert Berry in 1988....
(Emerson, Berry & Palmer) - Alliance (band)Alliance (band)Alliance is an American Rock band formed in 1991 by Robert Berry, Alan Fitzgerald, David Lauser, and Gary Pihl. They have released four albums: Alliance , Missing Piece , Destination Known and Road To Heaven .-Discography:...
- List of rock instrumentals
Further reading
- Edward Macan. Endless Enigma, A Musical Biography of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. 2006, Open Court Publishing Company, ISBN 0-8126-9596-8.
- Forrester, George, Martyn Hanson and Frank Askew. Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Show That Never Ends, A Musical Biography. (2001) Helter Skelter Publishing ISBN 1-900924-17-X.
- The New Musical Express Book of Rock, 1975, Star Books, ISBN 0 352 300744