The Nice
Encyclopedia
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. The Nice are also a forerunner of the much more widely known Emerson, Lake & Palmer
.
The Nice consisted initially of keyboardist
Keith Emerson
, bassist/vocalist Lee Jackson
, drummer Brian Davison
, and guitarist David O'List
, more commonly known as "Davy". The band took their name from Steve Marriott
's slang term for being high, a term he used in the song "Here Come the Nice
". Marriott originally wanted to give the name to a band he was producing, called The Little People. Andrew Loog Oldham
took it upon himself to rename The Little People Apostolic Intervention
, and dubbed the Emerson, Jackson, Davison, O'List group "The Nice". Emerson's autobiography Pictures of an Exhibitionist suggests that the name originated with a suggestion from P. P. Arnold
. The reference to "being high" is not mentioned, instead a routine by hipster/comic Lord Buckley
is quoted.
with soul singer P. P. Arnold
, a performer who reached a higher level of popularity in the UK
than her native US
. After performing with Arnold through the summer, The Nice soon gained a reputation of their own. In August, former Mark Leeman Five and Habits drummer Davison replaced Arnold's original drummer, Ian Hague. The first album by The Nice was recorded throughout the autumn of 1967, and in October of that year they recorded their first session for John Peel
's Top Gear. Early work tended toward the psychedelic but more ambitious elements soon came to the fore. The classical and jazz influences manifested themselves both in short quotes from Janacek (Sinfonietta) and in more elaborate renderings of Dave Brubeck
's "Blue Rondo a la Turk" which The Nice called simply "Rondo", changing the meter from the original 9/8 to 4/4 in the process.
For their second single, The Nice created an arrangement of Leonard Bernstein
's "America" which Emerson described as the first ever instrumental
protest song
. It not only uses the Bernstein piece (from West Side Story) but also includes fragments of Dvořák
's New World Symphony
. The single concludes with a child (who, according to Emerson's biography, is P. P. Arnold's three-year old son) speaking the lines "America is pregnant with promise and anticipation, but is murdered by the hand of the inevitable." The new arrangement was released under the title "America (Second Amendment)" as a pointed reference to the US Bill of Rights
provision for the bearing of arms. In July 1968, the British
music magazine, NME
, reported that the band had asked their record label
, Immediate Records
, to withdraw a controversial poster advertising the single. It pictured the group members with small boys on their knees, with superimposed images of the faces of John F. Kennedy
, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King on the children's heads. The band's spokesperson said "Several record stores have refused to stock our current single .... the Nice feel if the posters are issued in America
they will do considerable harm".
O'List was fired for chronic tardiness and his bizarre behavior during the recording of their second album. The Nice briefly considered looking for a replacement but, (according to sources such as MOJO
magazine) they followed the example set by 1-2-3 (later Clouds
), and decided to continue as a rock organ trio. With O'List gone, Emerson's control over the band's direction became greater, resulting in more complex music. The absence of a guitar in the band and Emerson's redefining of the role of keyboard instruments in rock set The Nice apart from so many of its contemporaries.
The earlier work of French pianist Jacques Loussier
and the more-or-less contemporary Charles Lloyd Quartet (featuring Keith Jarrett
) can be seen as influences. Loussier took classical works, notably by Bach, and arranged them for jazz piano trio. The Charles Lloyd band was bridging the jazz and rock spheres and Jarrett's performances (which included playing inside the piano) received much attention. The Nice performed two pieces from the Lloyd repertoire: "Sombrero Sam" and "Sorcery". Part of the musical approach of The Nice was transferring the innovations of these jazz artists into an electric medium, one that was influenced by The Who
, Jimi Hendrix
, and The Beatles
. Another influence was Bob Dylan
, whose songs were common currency at the time and The Nice interpreted several.
The band's second LP Ars Longa Vita Brevis
featured an arrangement of the Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite by Jean Sibelius
and the album's second side was a suite which included an arrangement of a movement from J.S. Bach
's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The group used an orchestra for the first time on some parts of the suite.
Perhaps as a foil for the highbrow aspects of their music, the stage performances were bold and violent, with Emerson incorporating feedback and distortion. He manhandled his Hammond
L-100 organ, wrestling it and attacking it with daggers (which he used to hold down keys and sustain notes during these escapades). This was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Billy Ritchie of Clouds
, and Don Shinn, an English organist who played alongside Rod Stewart in The Soul Agents, as well as earlier figures such as pianist Jerry Lee Lewis
. Motörhead frontman Lemmy was a roadie for The Nice in their early days, and gave Emerson the knife that he used to sustain organ keys.
Writing in the Los Angeles Times
(January 4, 1970), Don Heckman pointed out this dichotomy.
"One might assume, in the face of such a visual display, that the Nice is a mediocre group that compensates for musical failings with a pop-rock version of the theater of violence. Far from it. The Nice is as musically proficient a group as one will hear anywhere on the pop scene. Their most attractive quality is the genuine spirit of improvisational invention and surging jazz rhythm which permeates their work [...]"
During the long and wildly popular tour that followed the release of their second album, the group spawned controversy when Emerson burned an American flag
onstage during a performance of "America". Emerson burnt the American stars and stripes during the band’s appearance at charity event “Come Back Africa” at London’s Royal Albert Hall, on 26 June 1968, provoking a big controversy. and a "lifetime ban". The Nice were banned from ever playing the Royal Albert Hall again, (but Keith Emerson played again at the venue, 24 years later, with Emerson, Lake and Palmer, in October 1992).
The Nice were on the bill at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival
.
The third album, titled Nice
in the UK and Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It
in the US, featured one side recorded live on their American tour and one side of studio material.
The pinnacle of the band's artistic success was probably the Five Bridges suite, commissioned for the Newcastle
Arts Festival, which was premiered with a full orchestra conducted by Joseph Eger on 10 October 1969 (the recorded version is from 17 October in Croydon's Fairfield Hall). The title refers to the city's five bridges spanning the River Tyne (two more have since been built).
The Nice provided instrumental backing for the track "Hell's Angels" on Roy Harper
's 1970 album Flat Baroque and Berserk
.
One of the final appearances by the group was in collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by Zubin Mehta. This was broadcast in March 1970 on American television as part of the "Switched-On Symphony" program. Following standard television procedure of the day, The Nice's contribution (a version of "America") was recorded ahead of time and the band mimed for the cameras.
). Emerson formed a band with Greg Lake
(of King Crimson
) and Carl Palmer
(of Atomic Rooster
) — Emerson, Lake & Palmer
.
A posthumous Nice release Elegy
included different versions of already familiar tracks, two being studio versions and two live from the 1969 U.S. tour.
Lee Jackson formed Jackson Heights
which released five albums between 1970 and 1973. Brian Davison formed "Every Which Way" which released an album in 1970. Both Jackson and Davison formed Refugee
with Patrick Moraz
in 1974, but Moraz later joined Yes
to replace Rick Wakeman
.
was released, with the third CD being an interview with Keith Emerson. The band featured Dave Kilminster
on guitar.
Davison died on 15 April 2008 in Horns Cross, Devon
from a brain tumour. He was 65 years old.
O'List has recently re-emerged to play again in England, and a substantial amount of information can be found on his website. He has re-embraced the Nice's musical heritage with a new group of musicians and recordings.
Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It is the US version of Nice after Immediate's distribution changed from Columbia to Capitol. Nice had been initially released in the US with a slightly longer version of Rondo 69 not available on the UK or on the Capitol distributed US versions. The first US version of Nice was briefly reissued in 1973 by Columbia Special Products. Both Five Bridges and Elegy were released in the US by Mercury and in Germany by Phillips. Both albums were reissued as a two record set in both the US and Germany in 1972 as Keith Emerson and The Nice (see compilations). On the U.S. reissues of Five Bridges from the 1980s, "One of Those People" features a noticeably different mono mix in place of the stereo mix on the original issue.
Keith Emerson with The Nice was reissued on CD in 1990 as a single disc, eliminating "Country Pie/Brandenburg Conc.#6" and "One of Those People" from Five Bridges and "Pathetique" from Elegy. The Immediate Collection contains all three albums and all the singles originally released by Immediate records along with several unreleased recordings. Some of the compilations listed (namely Autumn to Spring, Hang On to a Dream and In Memoriam) feature slightly different mixes than originally released on the albums. Due to Immediate Records' dissolution in 1970, the recordings of The Nice (along with other artists on the Immediate label) were leased out to many record companies, resulting in a high number of compilation albums (many of which are not listed here) with different packaging, but similar track listings.
The singles listed here are the original releases. Many of the singles were re-released throughout the 1970s with different B-sides
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
progressive rock
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...
band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, 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 classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack
The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack
The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack is the 1967 debut album by the English psychedelic rock and progressive rock group The Nice. It is considered one of the first albums in the latter genre....
was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock
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...
album. The Nice are also a forerunner of the much more widely known Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
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 , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
.
The Nice consisted initially of keyboardist
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
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...
, bassist/vocalist Lee Jackson
Lee Jackson (bassist)
Lee Jackson is a British bass player and singer, best known for his work in The Nice.-Biography:...
, drummer Brian Davison
Brian Davison (drummer)
Brian Davison , nicknamed "Blinky", was a British drummer, best known for his work in The Nice. He was born in Leicester and died in Horns Cross, Devon....
, and guitarist David O'List
David O'List
David 'Davy' O'List is a rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter.Most notably, he played with The Attack, The Nice and Jet.- Career :...
, more commonly known as "Davy". The band took their name from Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
's slang term for being high, a term he used in the song "Here Come the Nice
Here Come the Nice
"Here Come the Nice" is a song released by English rhythm and blues group Small Faces. It peaked at number 12 in the UK singles chart in 1967. It was their first release on new label Immediate after moving from Decca.-Song profile:...
". Marriott originally wanted to give the name to a band he was producing, called The Little People. Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...
took it upon himself to rename The Little People Apostolic Intervention
Apostolic Intervention
The Apostolic Intervention were a British rock band in the mid-1960s, who are best known for their 1967 single "Tell Me "....
, and dubbed the Emerson, Jackson, Davison, O'List group "The Nice". Emerson's autobiography Pictures of an Exhibitionist suggests that the name originated with a suggestion from P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.-Early life:...
. The reference to "being high" is not mentioned, instead a routine by hipster/comic Lord Buckley
Lord Buckley
Lord Richard Buckley was an American stage performer, recording artist, monologist, and hip poet/comic...
is quoted.
History
The band was formed in October 1967 by Andrew Loog OldhamAndrew Loog Oldham
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of The Rolling Stones from 1963, and was noted for his flamboyant style.-Biography:...
with soul singer P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold
P. P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.-Early life:...
, a performer who reached a higher level of popularity in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
than her native US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. After performing with Arnold through the summer, The Nice soon gained a reputation of their own. In August, former Mark Leeman Five and Habits drummer Davison replaced Arnold's original drummer, Ian Hague. The first album by The Nice was recorded throughout the autumn of 1967, and in October of that year they recorded their first session for John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
's Top Gear. Early work tended toward the psychedelic but more ambitious elements soon came to the fore. The classical and jazz influences manifested themselves both in short quotes from Janacek (Sinfonietta) and in more elaborate renderings of Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
's "Blue Rondo a la Turk" which The Nice called simply "Rondo", changing the meter from the original 9/8 to 4/4 in the process.
For their second single, The Nice created an arrangement of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's "America" which Emerson described as the first ever instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
protest song
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
. It not only uses the Bernstein piece (from West Side Story) but also includes fragments of Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's New World Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Dvorák)
The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 , popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire...
. The single concludes with a child (who, according to Emerson's biography, is P. P. Arnold's three-year old son) speaking the lines "America is pregnant with promise and anticipation, but is murdered by the hand of the inevitable." The new arrangement was released under the title "America (Second Amendment)" as a pointed reference to the US Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
provision for the bearing of arms. In July 1968, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, reported that the band had asked their record label
Record 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,...
, Immediate Records
Immediate Records
Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene.-History:...
, to withdraw a controversial poster advertising the single. It pictured the group members with small boys on their knees, with superimposed images of the faces of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King on the children's heads. The band's spokesperson said "Several record stores have refused to stock our current single .... the Nice feel if the posters are issued in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
they will do considerable harm".
O'List was fired for chronic tardiness and his bizarre behavior during the recording of their second album. The Nice briefly considered looking for a replacement but, (according to sources such as MOJO
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine) they followed the example set by 1-2-3 (later Clouds
Clouds (60s rock band)
Clouds were a 1960s Scottish rock band that disbanded in October 1971. The band consisted of Ian Ellis , Harry Hughes and Billy Ritchie .- Early days: The Premiers :...
), and decided to continue as a rock organ trio. With O'List gone, Emerson's control over the band's direction became greater, resulting in more complex music. The absence of a guitar in the band and Emerson's redefining of the role of keyboard instruments in rock set The Nice apart from so many of its contemporaries.
The earlier work of French pianist Jacques Loussier
Jacques Loussier
Jacques Loussier is a French pianist and composer. He is well-known for his jazz interpretations in trio formation of many of Johann Sebastian Bach's works, such as the Goldberg Variations.-Early life and education :...
and the more-or-less contemporary Charles Lloyd Quartet (featuring Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
) can be seen as influences. Loussier took classical works, notably by Bach, and arranged them for jazz piano trio. The Charles Lloyd band was bridging the jazz and rock spheres and Jarrett's performances (which included playing inside the piano) received much attention. The Nice performed two pieces from the Lloyd repertoire: "Sombrero Sam" and "Sorcery". Part of the musical approach of The Nice was transferring the innovations of these jazz artists into an electric medium, one that was influenced by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. Another influence was Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, whose songs were common currency at the time and The Nice interpreted several.
The band's second LP Ars Longa Vita Brevis
Ars Longa Vita Brevis (album)
Ars Longa Vita Brevis is the second album by the English progressive rock group The Nice.Guitarist David O'List left the band during the recording of the album, leaving the remaining three members to complete it. After flirting briefly with replacement guitarists , The Nice decided to carry on as a...
featured an arrangement of the Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite by Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
and the album's second side was a suite which included an arrangement of a movement from J.S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The group used an orchestra for the first time on some parts of the suite.
Perhaps as a foil for the highbrow aspects of their music, the stage performances were bold and violent, with Emerson incorporating feedback and distortion. He manhandled his Hammond
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...
L-100 organ, wrestling it and attacking it with daggers (which he used to hold down keys and sustain notes during these escapades). This was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Billy Ritchie of Clouds
Clouds (60s rock band)
Clouds were a 1960s Scottish rock band that disbanded in October 1971. The band consisted of Ian Ellis , Harry Hughes and Billy Ritchie .- Early days: The Premiers :...
, and Don Shinn, an English organist who played alongside Rod Stewart in The Soul Agents, as well as earlier figures such as pianist Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
. Motörhead frontman Lemmy was a roadie for The Nice in their early days, and gave Emerson the knife that he used to sustain organ keys.
Writing in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
(January 4, 1970), Don Heckman pointed out this dichotomy.
"One might assume, in the face of such a visual display, that the Nice is a mediocre group that compensates for musical failings with a pop-rock version of the theater of violence. Far from it. The Nice is as musically proficient a group as one will hear anywhere on the pop scene. Their most attractive quality is the genuine spirit of improvisational invention and surging jazz rhythm which permeates their work [...]"
During the long and wildly popular tour that followed the release of their second album, the group spawned controversy when Emerson burned an American flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
onstage during a performance of "America". Emerson burnt the American stars and stripes during the band’s appearance at charity event “Come Back Africa” at London’s Royal Albert Hall, on 26 June 1968, provoking a big controversy. and a "lifetime ban". The Nice were banned from ever playing the Royal Albert Hall again, (but Keith Emerson played again at the venue, 24 years later, with Emerson, Lake and Palmer, in October 1992).
The Nice were on the bill at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival 1969
The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival was held on August 30–31, 1969, at Wootton, and attracted an audience of approximately 150,000 to see the acts of Bob Dylan, The Who and Free. It was the second of three music festivals held on the Isle of Wight between 1968 and 1970...
.
The third album, titled Nice
Nice (The Nice album)
Nice was the third album by The Nice; it was titled Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It in the U.S. after Immediate's distribution changed from Columbia to Capitol. Nice had been initially released in the U.S. with a slightly longer version of Rondo 69 not available on the UK or on the Capitol...
in the UK and Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It
Nice (The Nice album)
Nice was the third album by The Nice; it was titled Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It in the U.S. after Immediate's distribution changed from Columbia to Capitol. Nice had been initially released in the U.S. with a slightly longer version of Rondo 69 not available on the UK or on the Capitol...
in the US, featured one side recorded live on their American tour and one side of studio material.
The pinnacle of the band's artistic success was probably the Five Bridges suite, commissioned for the Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
Arts Festival, which was premiered with a full orchestra conducted by Joseph Eger on 10 October 1969 (the recorded version is from 17 October in Croydon's Fairfield Hall). The title refers to the city's five bridges spanning the River Tyne (two more have since been built).
The Nice provided instrumental backing for the track "Hell's Angels" on Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
's 1970 album Flat Baroque and Berserk
Flat Baroque and Berserk
Flat Baroque and Berserk is the fourth album by English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Roy Harper, and was first released in 1970 by Harvest Records.-History:...
.
One of the final appearances by the group was in collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by Zubin Mehta. This was broadcast in March 1970 on American television as part of the "Switched-On Symphony" program. Following standard television procedure of the day, The Nice's contribution (a version of "America") was recorded ahead of time and the band mimed for the cameras.
Post Nice
By 1970, Emerson and the other band members were frustrated with their lack of mainstream success and they soon broke up. They played their last concert on 30 March 1970 in Berlin, Germany (SportpalastBerlin Sportpalast
The Berliner Sportpalast was a multi-purpose winter sport venue and meeting hall in the Schöneberg section of Berlin. Depending on the type of event and seating configuration, the Sportpalast could hold up to 14,000 people and was for a time the biggest meeting hall in the German capital...
). Emerson formed a band with 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:...
(of 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 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...
(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...
) — Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
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 , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
.
A posthumous Nice release Elegy
Elegy (The Nice album)
Elegy was the final official album release by The Nice, Keith Emerson having moved on to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Lee Jackson to Jackson Heights and Brian Davison to Every Which Way. It consists of different versions of already familiar tracks and broke little new ground...
included different versions of already familiar tracks, two being studio versions and two live from the 1969 U.S. tour.
Lee Jackson formed Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights (band)
Jackson Heights were an English rock band, led by bassist and vocalist Lee Jackson, that ran from 1970 to 1973. Other players included Brian Chatton , Dave Watts playing keyboards and King Crimson's drummers Michael Giles and Ian Wallace.Their debut album King Progress included a reworking of...
which released five albums between 1970 and 1973. Brian Davison formed "Every Which Way" which released an album in 1970. Both Jackson and Davison formed Refugee
Refugee (band)
Refugee was a progressive rock group formed by former The Nice members, bassist Lee Jackson and drummer Brian Davison, with keyboardist Patrick Moraz....
with Patrick Moraz
Patrick Moraz
Patrick Philippe Moraz is a progressive rock keyboard player. He is best known as the keyboardist for the progressive rock band Yes, from 1974 to 1976, and the Moody Blues from 1978 to 1991...
in 1974, but Moraz later joined 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...
to replace Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
.
The Nice reunion
After over three decades, The Nice reformed in 2002 for a series of concerts. A three-CD set VivacitasVivacitas
Vivacitas is a live album recorded by Keith Emerson and The Nice, who reformed for a set of concerts. David O'List, the original guitarist, did not take part, and he was replaced by Dave Kilminster...
was released, with the third CD being an interview with Keith Emerson. The band featured Dave Kilminster
Dave Kilminster
Dave Kilminster is a British guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and music teacher. He is known for touring with Keith Emerson and with Roger Waters on his The Dark Side Of The Moon 2006 - 2008 tour, performing much of the guitar and vocal duties that are originally David Gilmour's...
on guitar.
Davison died on 15 April 2008 in Horns Cross, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
from a brain tumour. He was 65 years old.
O'List has recently re-emerged to play again in England, and a substantial amount of information can be found on his website. He has re-embraced the Nice's musical heritage with a new group of musicians and recordings.
Line-up
- Keith EmersonKeith EmersonKeith 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...
: Organ, piano, vocals — (born 2 November 1944, TodmordenTodmordenTodmorden is a market town and civil parish, located 17 miles from Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley and has a total population of 14,941....
, YorkshireYorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
) - Keith "Lee" JacksonLee Jackson (bassist)Lee Jackson is a British bass player and singer, best known for his work in The Nice.-Biography:...
: Bass, guitar, vocals — (born 8 January 1943, Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
) - David "Davy" O'ListDavid O'ListDavid 'Davy' O'List is a rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter.Most notably, he played with The Attack, The Nice and Jet.- Career :...
: Guitar, vocals (1967–68) — (born 13 December 1948, ChiswickChiswickChiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) - Brian "Blinky" DavisonBrian Davison (drummer)Brian Davison , nicknamed "Blinky", was a British drummer, best known for his work in The Nice. He was born in Leicester and died in Horns Cross, Devon....
: Drums, percussion — (born 25 May 1942, LeicesterLeicesterLeicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, LeicestershireLeicestershireLeicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
- died 15 April 2008)
Albums
- The Thoughts of Emerlist DavjackThe Thoughts of Emerlist DavjackThe Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack is the 1967 debut album by the English psychedelic rock and progressive rock group The Nice. It is considered one of the first albums in the latter genre....
(Immediate, 1967) - Ars Longa Vita BrevisArs Longa Vita Brevis (album)Ars Longa Vita Brevis is the second album by the English progressive rock group The Nice.Guitarist David O'List left the band during the recording of the album, leaving the remaining three members to complete it. After flirting briefly with replacement guitarists , The Nice decided to carry on as a...
(Immediate, 1968) - NiceNice (The Nice album)Nice was the third album by The Nice; it was titled Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It in the U.S. after Immediate's distribution changed from Columbia to Capitol. Nice had been initially released in the U.S. with a slightly longer version of Rondo 69 not available on the UK or on the Capitol...
(aka Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It) (Immediate, 1969) - Five BridgesFive BridgesThe Five Bridges Suite is a modern piece of music, written in the 1960s, combining classical music and jazz. Written about the UK city of Newcastle upon Tyne, it was released as an album by The Nice which achieved the number two position in the UK album charts...
(Charisma, 1970) - ElegyElegy (The Nice album)Elegy was the final official album release by The Nice, Keith Emerson having moved on to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Lee Jackson to Jackson Heights and Brian Davison to Every Which Way. It consists of different versions of already familiar tracks and broke little new ground...
(Charisma, 1971) - America - The BBC Sessions (Receiver, 1996)
- The Swedish Radio Sessions (late 1967) (Sanctuary, 2001)
- BBC Sessions (Sanctuary, 2002)
- VivacitasVivacitasVivacitas is a live album recorded by Keith Emerson and The Nice, who reformed for a set of concerts. David O'List, the original guitarist, did not take part, and he was replaced by Dave Kilminster...
(Sanctuary, 2004) - Live At The Fillmore East December 1969 (Virgin, 2009)
Compilation albums
- The Best of The Nice (EMI/Immediate, 1971)
- Keith Emerson with The Nice (Mercury, 1972)
- In Memoriam (Immediate, 1973)
- Autumn '67 - Spring '68 (Charisma, 1972, UK), released as Autumn to Spring (Charisma, 1973, USA)
- Hang On To A Dream (EMIDisc, 1974)
- The Immediate Years (2-LP set) (Sire, 1975)
- Amoeni Redivivi (NEMS/Immediate, 1976)
- Greatest Hits (NEMS/Immediate, 1977)
- Greatest Hits (Big Time, 1988)
- The Immediate Years (3-CD Boxed Set) (Charly, 1995)
- Here Come The Nice - The Immediate Anthology (3-CD Boxed Set) (Castle Communications, 2002)
- Charisma Disturbance (2-LP set) (Charisma 1973, UK), track 3 - Intermezzo "Karelia Suite", catalogue no. TSS1
- Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon (2-CD set) (Micro Werks, 2010)
Keith Emerson with The Nice was reissued on CD in 1990 as a single disc, eliminating "Country Pie/Brandenburg Conc.#6" and "One of Those People" from Five Bridges and "Pathetique" from Elegy. The Immediate Collection contains all three albums and all the singles originally released by Immediate records along with several unreleased recordings. Some of the compilations listed (namely Autumn to Spring, Hang On to a Dream and In Memoriam) feature slightly different mixes than originally released on the albums. Due to Immediate Records' dissolution in 1970, the recordings of The Nice (along with other artists on the Immediate label) were leased out to many record companies, resulting in a high number of compilation albums (many of which are not listed here) with different packaging, but similar track listings.
Singles
- "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack" / "Azrial (Angel of Death)" (Immediate IM 059, November 1967)
- "America" / "The Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon" (Immediate IM 068, June 21, 1968)
- "Brandenburger" / "Happy Freuds" (Immediate IM 072, November 8, 1968)
- "Diary of an Empty Day" / "Hang On to a Dream" (Immediate, 1969)
- "Country Pie" / "One Of Those People" (Charisma, 1969)
The singles listed here are the original releases. Many of the singles were re-released throughout the 1970s with different B-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
.