RIP Keith Emerson

Keith Emerson, of "..., Lake and Palmer," has died. Statement from Carl Palmer:

I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of my good friend and brother-in-music, Keith Emerson. Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come. He was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz. I will always remember his warm smile, good sense of humor, compelling showmanship, and dedication to his musical craft. I am very lucky to have known him and to have made the music we did, together. Rest in peace, Keith.

Oh, for fucks sake.

When their catalog was reissued in '08, I wrote it up for the Voice.

RIP Keith, thanks for 'Karn Evil 9'

dude, are you kidding me???

RIP. I saw ELP once, they were great! It's too bad he didn't have a late career renaissance, like putting out a solo modular record on L.I.E.S. or 1080p and getting some recognition as a prototypical synth dude (a la that John Carpenter record).

Hang on, where did this statement come from... I can't find anything official about this?

It's now on Carl Palmer's website. I originally got it from Palmer's publicist posting it on Facebook.

http://carlpalmer.com/

And he laughs until he cries, then he dies, then he dies

RIP

he didn't have a late career renaissance because hand surgeries really affected his ability to play. That said the "Keith Emerson feat. Marc Bonilla" album from 2008 is quite good, probably his best work since Brain Salad Surgery (that's damning with faint praise though)

RIP. Thank you for blowing my young mind.

http://49.media.tumblr.com/0e385790c41d30ecf5e22444b03b4b54/tumblr_mj7rdr4hVS1s1n3bvo2_400.gif

http://www.moutal.eu/images/stories/movies/pop/emerson/emerson.jpg

My Dad was a huge, huge ELP fan, took up piano because of him and just now, at the age of 58, has mastered all three parts of Karn Evil 9. I remember him playing the BSS and Trilogy CDs all the time when I was a kid. It wasn't until years later that I discovered that Lake played in King Crimson, or that there was even such a genre as "progressive rock". Thus kicking off an obsession that continues to this day.

Keith truly was a one-of-a-kind in the prog world - if only more musicians had that degree of showmanship.

When I was a kid my local top-40 station played weird album cuts on the overnight shift. That's the first place I ever heard "The Three Fates." Pipe organ at 2 AM was probably my very first introduction to prog rock. RIP.

There's some great footage on Youtube somewhere of ELP rehearsing 'Karn Evil 9', I get the impression that the amount of time getting that piece tight must have been nuts.

RIP

i never heard ELP until they showed a clip of that live performance of "Knife Edge" in a Ramones documentary. irony! and yes that first album slays.

Got mixed feelings about the 3 albums I've got but I really love them when they go totally nutzoid or a beautiful track like "Take A Pebble".

man, Carl Palmer was (and is, judging by that video on his website) a beast.

Eddy Offord was once asked how he compared working with Yes to working with ELP, and he said something along the lines of "Yes were a much warmer band, whereas ELP were more calculated" .
.. I agree with him, but sometimes ELP hit on something great, like 'Karn Evil 9'

lol & wow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvni9YK9Ees

playing keyboard with devil horn fingers :)

LOL, "their first debut performance evah!!!"

This news fucking sucks. He was such a hero to me at 16 years old. Whatever else I thought of Keith Emerson and his sense of taste over the years, he made a huge, huge impression on me in terms of what you could do with an instrument in popular music.

will always love the keyboard sound effects at the end of "lucky man". RIP!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ9VYqustNA

His score to Dario Argento's Inferno is pretty prime Keith BTW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXNFWJVLMsw&feature=youtu.be

from rolling stone: "TMZ reported that police found Emerson with a single gunshot wound to the head, though they could not confirm that Emerson died by suicide. "We regret to announce that Keith Emerson died last night at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, aged 71. We ask that the family’s privacy and grief be respected," the band wrote."

Oh man :(

this stinks. they were one of those formative bands for me that you can never totally let go of. saw the brain salad surgery show at the nassau coliseum as a teen. they set up with quadraphonic sound -- different bleeps and blurps coming at you from all corners. mindblowing of course. rip keith.

geez "mindblowing" perhaps the wrong word to use there...

The title "Brain Salad Surgery" even worse as far as that goes :(

RIP

Oh, fucking hell! :(

RIP, let's stick on The Nice's 'America' then

ugh that's horrible

yeah sorry my post probably came off a bit flip in light of this

nonetheless I listened to it and it was great and the man left quite a legacy really, even if it was a sad way to end. i do wonder if it had anything to do with his inability to play - echoing the tragic suicide of k angylus from the angelic process - but right now it's speculation. idk. just enjoy the music left behind i guess

holy shit, this is awful

this has been hitting me way harder than Bowie. Emerson was always a hero to me and there's nothing like those 70-74 ELP albums. Gonna drink some bourbon tonight and listen to Ars Longa Vita Brevis and Trilogy..

I was too young for their heyday, but this was my favorite song when I was 14.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pf7J0-OOek

Listened to Tarkus on the way home tonight, though it's not my favorite of their albums—I think that might be Trilogy, with BSS second and Tarkus third. The double live CD (triple vinyl) is great, too.

rocking Trilogy very loudly right now. when I was a kid I'd listen to this nearly every single day in my room while doing homework.

Not a big ELP fan, but I've always been grateful to Emerson for my first exposure to boogie woogie/barrelhouse piano.

RIP. I only have a passing familiarity with ELP, but I'm a big fan of Keith's Piano Concerto No. 1. A seriously underrated work imo in both the classical and rock worlds

For some years right after "internet jukeboxes" in bars and restaurants became a thing I had a sort of competition with a friend to try and find the longest single track available in the weird streaming library they drew from...

as far as I know, the answer is "Tarkus"

gets to be quite a scene after the third or fourth playthru in a row at the chain pizza parlor, RIP

gotta say I don't know much about ELP but I just want to know why he killed himself. was he known to be depressed? did he leave a note?

ELP star Keith Emerson 'shot himself because he could no longer perform perfectly for his fans'

The 71-year-old founder and keyboard player of Emerson, Lake and Palmer was 'tormented with worry' about upcoming concerts in Japan because nerve damage to a hand had affected his playing, said Mari Kawaguchi.

'His right hand and arm had given him problems for years. He had an operation a few years ago to take out a bad muscle but the pain and nerve issues in his right hand were getting worse.
'He had concerts coming up in Japan and even though they hired a back-up keyboard player to support him, Keith was worried.
'He read all the criticism online and was a sensitive soul. Last year he played concerts and people posted mean comments such as, 'I wish he would stop playing.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3489624/ELP-star-Keith-Emerson-shot-no-longer-perform-perfectly-fans.html

as far as I know, the answer is "Tarkus"

i've played "gates of delerium" on an internet jukebox before and iirc it is slightly longer

always rely on the Daily Mail for a prurient and speculative suicide story

aw RIP

I admit I have not investigated ELP very far at all, but I remember being seriously impressed by clips of the Nice on TV when growing up (and my Bach-loving church organist Dad enthusing about how great they were too - rare for us to find common ground)

terrible way to go too

“I have to be honest and say that his death didn’t come as a shock to me,” Greg Lake said.

“The situation with Keith didn’t happen suddenly, it had been developing from as far back as the Works Vol 1 album (1977). At that point, I began to see things happening with Keith which didn’t look or feel right.”

Lake did his best to help his friend – “when you’re close you always hope tomorrow will be better” – but eventually he became “impossible” to work with.

“I think its a very difficult thing to actually describe what depression is,” he said.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/obituaries/652126/Emerson-Lake-Palmer-bandmate-feared-for-ELP-star-Keith-Emerson

So sad.

Man, I have tried several times to get into ELP, but as much as I like prog, I just can't do it. I was just scanning through some clips, and they seem so smug, so self-satisfied, and they're all always chewing gum, too. Oh well. I guess what I like about Genesis and Yes and King Crimson is that they were all kind of weird, but ELP ... nah. RIP, Keith, regardless.

Well, that's probably because ELP were getting all the female groupies and the other prog bands were getting the dudes in glasses, pullovers and fuzzy beards :)

"First you get the synths...then you get the semi truck to carry them in...then you get the women."

http://49.media.tumblr.com/ae2f2c7cf9bfda83023a48eb475d233f/tumblr_mkvdtljbDW1ro9c3qo1_500.gif

Vincent Crane's revenge.

Much as I adore Wakeman's mellotron n' Moog walls-of-synth there was always something grand and spooky in Emerson's mix of Hammond with the Moog. I never cared much for his barrelhouse piano diversions but when he went lyrical - as in "Take A Pebble" - oh man.

Yeah, Hammond (and mellotron!) in prog is generally great, in Yes, in Genesis, in Van Der Graff. I guess in ELP, too. I suppose I just don't like what he does with it.

Much as I adore Wakeman's mellotron n' Moog walls-of-synth there was always something grand and spooky in Emerson's mix of Hammond with the Moog.

Huh? Fragile and Close to the Edge have tons of Hammond on them.

Yeah. Kickass organ break in "Roundabout!"

for those that love prog and dont get elp check this out. its more on the magma side of things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMdwIP9vRWs

That was p cool.

Eh, sounds like cool between innings baseball music.

Ha ha

Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If2akTqCML4

Love this awesome Tom Waits ELP cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc-5kgT1xec

Alright, here's a blogpost I wrote about him. If anyone wants to read. In addition to the albums mentioned in the post I've also been listening to his solo piano disc Emerson Plays Emerson the last couple days - even though his playing was noticeably hampered in the 90's, I do think the surgery he had in 2002 really helped him, to the point where he was almost good as new. But at some recent point he started to lose it again - I have that live album he did in 2014 with Lake and he can still play reasonably fast for a 70-year old, but his timing was just off between his hands, you can tell that something's just not right.

with a lyric that (I swear!) sounds like “come on board and shit on the train” – which is, to be fair, better than most of Greg’s lyrics.

Ha ha

album I was not expecting to like: The Rules Have Changed by 3.2, a follow-up to the nearly-universally panned ELP permutation album that was released in 1988. its basically a Robert Berry solo album (he plays everything), with songwriting contributions from Emerson, though he never recorded anything, so Berry has to imitate his style (quite successfully, I might add). it's still pretty AOR-ish but way better than the first album. it's actually kinda proggy and I think it does Emerson's legacy well. check it out

would have been 76 today

still cannot fucking believe how this happened

David Weigel's history of prog rock, The Show That Never Ends, details Emerson's death and funeral in its final chapter, with a sensitive touch, but also as a symbol for the end of the genre.

What's especially painful is that what I've read of Emerson's memoirs portrayed him as someone who didn't take himself too seriously, despite what critics may have read into the records. You would just hope that a person with that point of view could see their way out of their problems in another way.

Why the end of the genre? The genre's status has improved in the last two decades and I don't think there's ever going to be any sea changes in any direction.

I don't think Weigel mentions neo-prog, the whole tone of his book is elegiac.

the tragedy of virtuosity

Totally heartbreaking.

Was watching this great clip recently: https://youtu.be/X61swsuCNuw . Does anyone know what exactly that sliding thing he plays around 4:08 is?

no clue but man what a fun video. just mesmerizing to watch these guys at their peak (after '74, not so much)

his story is just so tragic, I had no clue his hand issues were mostly due to a botched surgery.

Does anyone know what exactly that sliding thing he plays around 4:08 is?

It's a Moog Ribbon Controller. It was available as an alternative input device for the Modular systems, for those artistes who felt constrained by the keyboard.

Have you guys watch the Moog documentary? Great stuff. Here is the trailer, as posted by the director
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXxkAhXL138
Think the whole thing is pretty easy to find.

Actually listened to The Nice's "Five Bridges" last week. The music choices on the record are definitely on par of what Emerson later did in ELP with arrangements of classical pieces, mixed with some symphony recordings itself. There are a couple more quirky pop tunes in the mix. It's all pretty good, but you can really hear the other two members kinda struggle to keep up with Keith when he gets ripping.

I think it was most likely pretty apparent by both Keith and probably whoever was managing his career at that point that there was a need for a rhythm section that could technically match his bombast.

The Nice's version of 'America' is a heavy duty jam.

yeah it's funny how The Nice started as this quirky psychedelic band and ended as two guys hopelessly trying to keep pace with Keith Emerson. I wonder what would've happened had they held onto Davy O'List. I still listen to Ars Longa Vita Brevis fairly often - I think it's got a legit claim as the first real progressive rock album, a full year before King Crimson. the 20 minute suite is really quite great when you consider that nobody had ever tried something like that before. its pretty simple but man the Brandenburger part is great. I remember hearing a story about Emerson walking in on two of the orchestra members in the john complaining about how "vulgar" the piece was...different times

The Nice's version of 'America' is a heavy duty jam.

― earlnash, Tuesday, 3 November 2020 13:10 (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

i need more music that sounds like this or shares its vibe now. NOW

Have you tried Atomic Rooster? Or Vincent Crane's previous band, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown?

Do you like Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, imago? I always really liked it, although its reputation is mixed.

I don't know any of that stuff! Let's dive in...

uh.. emerson lake and palmer ?

shall this be the year I finally succumb

I'm guessing imago considers ELP too "clean" for what he's looking for?

yeah what's good about this cover is the overdriven swelling rock dynamism that barely stays in control, if ELP bring that then all well and good

listening to the Nice debut rn - it's sounding quite cool, right kind of ballpark

Ars Longa Vita Brevis is my favorite of theirs, you could argue that it’s the first bonafide prog album

if ELP bring that then all well and good

Probably less and less the further they get from 1970.

If you like distorted Hammond organ, you may be interested in early Deep Purple and (the frequently terrible) Vanilla Fudge as well.

one of the greatest sounds in the universe, so I'll give those a try too ty

Atilla?

How about Trace?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBvH6Z6uHbc

Van der Graaf Generator on 'H to He' and 'Pawn Hearts' - Hugh Banton built all kinds of extra craziness into his Hammond... fuzzboxes, octave divider, what sounds like some sort of ring modulator... alas, when they reformed for 'Godbluff' he went back to a normal, unmodified C3.

Anyway, the middle section of this is amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj3CCvQzYd4

I'm guessing imago considers ELP too "clean" for what he's looking for?

then Pictures at an Exhibition is the one to listen to… its super fuckin raw and heavy and dirty!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7NAGTq_IJQ

cheers!

atonar making the excellent point that hugh banton is the master of heavified organ (something i am well aware of...)

Uriah Heep also has that Hammond through a Marshall sound.

In the US, Bloodrock also used that crunch heavy organ in their sound more prevalent in their first couple records.

Aphrodite's Child's '666' might find some interest featuring Vangelis early sound. It's definitely some minor key weirdness.

The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown is some mighty, mighty stuff

Bringing back THAT BIT from Come And Buy at the end of the next song as well is one of the greatest and maddest album construction decisions of all time

Tape-Op had an interview years back with Motley Crue's longtime producer or engineer or whatever, and he said he used the B3 to thicken things up. Exact quote: "I love the Hammond B3 organ. I used it with power chords a lot. There are very few Mötley Crüe songs that don’t have a B3." I've never noticed it myself - maybe that's the idea? - but I've also never listened closely to Motley Crue.

My fave distorted organ might be the end of Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime," which I long thought was guitar.

This popped up on my Facebook memories from when Emerson died and I figured I would share it here in the hopes that seven years is not too soon...

I have a KEITH EMERSON story!

I was not a fan - I always thought they were too pretentious for my tastes, the worst kind of prog-rock excess that stereotypified (I made that word up) the genre - but I was assigned to review an Emerson, Lake & Palmer show for the British Classic Rock Magazine back in the day and to my pleasant surprise, there was a small open bar meet & greet afterwards and I was invited.

I was in full Lester Bangs-wannabe mode, belligerent and not only willing to slaughter sacred cows, but open to doing so directly to their faces. And since I was poor, I always took far more advantage of open bars than I should have (theory being, who knew when I'd get my next drink).

So I am drunk on screwdrivers (my open bar drink of choice at the time) and the band comes by. I immediately saunter up to Emerson and ask him "What do you think of Roddy Bottum?"

Predictably, Emerson didn't know who he was so I told him who he was (and is again) the keyboardist of Faith No More, at the time kinda blowing up and a bit of an anomaly for having a relatively prominent keyboardist in the mix.
He rolled his eyes at me and made some stuffy comment about how keyboardists in modern music were just content to play along with the band, nothing original, nothing worth getting excited about.

I boorishly laid into him, probably spilling my drink on my shoes as I did, about how music has changed and how merely having a keyboard in a suddenly hot guitar-oriented rock band was a good thing he should embrace and that Bottum served the song as opposed to merely showing off his chops.

He wasn't having it and I am pretty sure he rolled his eyes at some point. Though he wasn't rude to me, he did make it obvious he was done with me by moving onto the next people around him lobbying for his time, people who shot me dirty looks for my inebriated line of questioning.

I squeezed out of there, convinced I did a good thing with a solid blow landed against the dinosaurs. I felt so goddamned punk rock. It is possible I vomited later, I can't recall, but that, too, would have been punk rock.

Sorry the guy is dead, but I am glad I have a ridiculous memory with him even if I never much liked his music.

i'm surprised he wasn't rude. Probably had heard it all a zillion times before.