Albums That Rocked My World: ELP's "Emerson Lake & Palmer"....

[poltr1]

The date was Feberuary 28, 1981 -- a Saturday. The weather was cold and overcast. I had just come home from a shopping trip, on which I bought Emerson, Lake, & Palmer's first album.


There was a time that I didn't care for ELP. This was music that the burnouts in high school liked, as evidenced by the ELP logos on their jean jackets. My organ teacher at the time liked them. So I gave them a try. I found a cassette copy of Works vol. 1 at the local library. The first side was Emerson's Piano Concerto #1. I listened to it and thought, "Ugh. Classical music." It was totally unexpected. I was expecting rock and roll, and I got classical music. I don't remember if I listened to the rest of the album.

But as I got more into album rock, I heard more of their works: Trilogy. From The Beginning. Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, Part 2). And so I gave them another try.

I don't remember if ELP's eponymous first album was the first ELP album I owned. But it's the one that changed my opinion of the band.

The lead-off song, "The Barbarian", is an uncredited arrangement of Béla Bartók's "Allegro Barbaro" for piano, framed with heavy-metal guitar very reminiscient of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man".

Then came the haunting "Take A Pebble". I remember looking out at the gray sky that day and the mood of the song fit that weather perfectly.

This was followed by "Knife-Edge", a rocked-up version of Leoš Janácek's "Sinfonietta" (again, uncredited) with a J.S. Bach piece thrown in for the bridge.

Then I flipped over the album to side 2. "The Three Fates" started off with a mighty pipe organ, which led to a piano piece, and finally a combination of the two.

By this time, I was thinking, "Yeah, these guys can rock. But they have a strong classical influence too."

Then came the Carl Palmer solo vehicle "Tank". Man, can he whale asway on the skins.

And then the piece de resistance: "Lucky Man", culminating with what I believe is the first synthesizer solo featured on a single. (Although it was realized on Emerson's huge modular Moog system, I can do a decent rendition of it on the Mini.)

After listening to the album, my opinion of the band changed. These guys are all right. I since bought more ELP albums and have grown to like their repertiore. Even Emerson's Piano Concerto #1. And side 4 of Works vol. 1 rocks with an arrangement of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare of the Common Man" and the group's collaborative effort "Pirates".

If you want to see and hear what I'm capable of on the Moog, ask for "Lucky Man" and play along with me. (Guitar tabs here.) My vocal range almost matches Greg Lake's baritone range.

Comments

[kliklikitty.livejournal.com]

Cool!!

I used to date a guy who played a 12 string accustic, there was nothing that boy couldn't pick out and play by ear. Gave him a Frank Zappa album one year for his birthday, 6 weeks later he was playing it for me on his accustic in perfection. He wasn't a good vocalist though, that's where I came in. Dynamo Hum in a growled alto voice was a trip for most listeners. I prefered to do either Bowie's stuff or our own with him though, it was esier on my vocal cords and I don't like Zappa's extstencilism.

The album that turned my world upside down was Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager. The same guy gave it to me in 1984, It fit me then to a tee and still fits me like an emotional glove.

[happyfunpaul.livejournal.com]

By interesting coincidence, I was playing an ELP album in the car when driving around today.

For me, ELP is odd... sometimes they fit my mood exactly, sometimes I don't enjoy their music as much, though I don't know why. But when they do fit, they're very good indeed.

And their rendition of "Peter Gunn" is superb. :-)