RIP Keith Emerson

"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.