ELP Digest 23 December 2006 Volume 16: Issue 9 The "Peal of a Bell" Edition Today's Topics: Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. - ASIA and EMP (November 29, 2006) - The Carl Palmer Band: Live In Europe DVD (November 30, 2006) - Keith to be featured in "The Psychedelic Revolution" (December 19, 2006) Reader Commentary - Emerson, Macan, Jazz (November 11, 2006) - DVD: Inside ELP, 1970-1995 (November 11, 2006) - Re: Last issues comments about 'Off the Wall' (November 13, 2006) - My Ultimate ELP set list for a 2008 Reunion (December 2, 2006) - Keith Emerson's Birthday - 104.3 fm new york city (December 1, 2006) Questions (and Answers!) - Brain Salad Surgery & Works (November 18, 2006) ELP-related products, tribute bands, promoters (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.) - Re: New Noddy's CD .... (November 11, 2006) =========================== Prelude =========================== If you celebrate a December holiday, I hope all is well with you and your families. I'll be celebrating Christmas with my family as usual this year and hope you find time to spend with families whether you celebrate anything or not! In today's issue, we have news on a number of fronts. Keith's seasonal home page is up, a reader reviews a Carl Palmer band concert, there are comments about DVDs and a 'fantasy set list', and news from ELP tribute band, Noddy's Puncture. Till next time (and maybe next year), enjoy! - John - ------------------------------ Latest News from the Official ELP sites ... See the cool new holiday intro on Keith's home page at: http://www.keithemerson.com/ Also, the "What's New" page has memories of Ahmet Ertegun and Alan Freeman ... news about a guest appearance on Italian TV last month ... and links to last-minute holiday shopping ideas -- all at: http://www.keithemerson.com/News/whatsnew.html --------------------------------------------- More memories of Alan Freeman at Greg's site, and links to the gift shop at: http://www.greglake.com/newsite/newhotsheet.asp --------------------------------------------- The latest tour and drum clinic dates are always posted on Carl's site at: http://www.carlpalmer.com/palmer.html And ... links to merchandise and more are available at: http://www.carlpalmer.com/index01.html Enjoy -- and happy holidays! =========================== Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. =========================== From: Graham Seaman Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 12:46 AM To: elp-digest Subject: ASIA and EMP Hi John (et al) I spent an enjoyable evening last night (28th Nov) with Pete and Frank, my two good 'prog' friends, to catch Carl Palmer live in concert at the Liverpool Carling Academy. It was a pleasure letting ourselves drift down the MTV road with the band as they played some of their biggest hits, together with a few surprises mixed in. As ever, Carl was excellent - his playing measured and precise, the bass drum work particularly (he had a twin bass drum kit) being most impressive in places. Wetton's vocals had improved greatly since I had last heard him play in Liverpool during the Quango period, and Steve Howe's guitar work (as ever) was excellent. Steve has always appeared to me to be a player of great natural ability, but it is his stylish playing which shines out for me. Downes's keyboard work was excellent - I've always considered him to be an underrated player when compared with the likes of Emerson, Wakeman etc., but he definitely had the knack of placing a wall of symphonic synth into the mainstream area of the MTV culture at the time. The concert was recorded and available a short time after the gig on double CD which was great, and definitely played in the car on the way back home. A signing session followed, and I took pleasure in presenting Carl a copy of the EMP Project's version of 'Take A Pebble', which he received with interest as I explained what the project was about. The EMP Project is a long distance musical collaboration bringing together musicians from all over the world to perform great rock tracks and eventually to collaborate on writing new material. 'TAP' features myself on vocals (based in the UK) and three talented musicians from the USA. The venture is non profit making, with the music being made freely available for download off the band's website. Further information and mp3 downloads can be obtained from www.thehawkstudio.com or the project's MySpace site at: http://www.myspace.com/empproject Best regards and keep up the good work on the Digest as ever! Graham (Liverpool, UK) GRAHAM SEAMAN EMP Project: www.thehawkstudio.com MySpace: www.myspace.com/arthur_pewty --------------------------------------------- From: Gary Stokes Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 5:36 PM To: elp-digest-request Subject: The Carl Palmer Band: Live In Europe DVD Hi John, This DVD was released in the UK on 13 November. I just happened to see an ad for it in the latest issue of Classic Rock magazine. (Oddly, there's no mention of the DVD on Carl's website.) The concert was filmed in the Bucharest Sport Arena in Romania at the end of 2004, and runs for just under 90 minutes. Classic Rock magazine's Icons of Rock feature includes Carl's tribute to Miles Davis. Best Gary --------------------------------------------- From: bjorn-are.davidsen Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 2:46 AM To: arnold Subject: Keith to be featured in "The Psychedelic Revolution" Merry Christmas, John! And some news: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=195779 "Helixus Productions has completed an extensive round of interviews through Southern California to complement its first round of interviews conducted throughout mainland Europe (Cannes, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Ibiza) and United Kingdom (London and Liverpoole). Over 40 interviews have been conducted to date for their production of "The Psychedelic Revolution", a 100-minute feature documentary and mini-series which explores the origin, flowering and long-term influence of psychedelia, a subculture that in the 1960s achieved a mass influence. Through interviews with many of its key innovators, the feature will show how revolutionary new art forms were created as an expression of the counterculture and utilized as a tool for tearing down the existing establishment. The documentary is a serious investigation of the phenomenon and long-term impact of this cultural shift. The film features interviews with many of the key innovators, as well as music, period stock footage and current footage of locations of many of the events covered in the film and psychedelic images as transitions." And among these are, of course: "Keith Emerson (musician The Nice; Emerson, Lake & Palmer)" Regards Bjorn-Are =========================== Reader Commentary =========================== From: Peter Wilton Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 3:48 AM To: elp-digest Subject: Emerson, Macan, Jazz Roy Henderson's post struck a very positive chord with me. I completely agree about wishing for more of the "Take a Pebble" style, "The Three Fates", and so forth. I felt the first album was the right template for subsequent albums, a proper balance between the "masculine" and "feminine" elements, between popular and the more adventurous classical and jazz styles, and was always puzzled that that balance was not struck again. Whilst I agree with Simon Reay that Emerson had potential for romantic popular song, or even Romantic classical style, his output in this area has been small; some of it has worked well, but in some of it I feel that he hasn't given us his best sense of harmonic progression, and it can sound rather static. His style of playing the piano works well for the Bach, the Bartok and the jazz, but perhaps less well for the Romantic. He may not be an innovator in jazz as those who devote all their energy to it have been, but his sense of harmonic and melodic progression is always strong in this style. Jazz may have become less important with ELP than it was with the Nice, and ELP may have been more commercially successful, but it was during the latter that critics began to carp. The critics were more enthusiastic about the Nice, when there was a much greater emphasis on jazz. I have a suspicion from recent live performances that he may be a bit out of practice in this style, but I'm not sure. I don't mind the survival of some of the rock posturing; it has been toned down from the Vivacitas Nice tours onwards, but I would prefer the more thoughtful piano music to be given greater prominence. At least with the Nice, he's gone back to jamming again! I certainly wasn't bored. -- Peter Wilton The Gregorian Association Web Site: http://www.beaufort.demon.co.uk --------------------------------------------- From: Mike Branick Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 2:11 PM To: elp-digest Subject: DVD: Inside ELP, 1970-1995 As always, thank you John for your continued work on the Digest! I haven't posted here in a while, so I'm overdue. To all, this is a follow-up to Dave Bailey's post regarding an ELP DVD released in 2004: "Inside Emerson, Lake and Palmer, 1970-1995" from Classic Rock Productions (c) 2004. I just stumbled on this DVD in a local bookstore the other day, and thought I would add my two cents. The DVD is a 2-disc set that includes expanded liner notes in a book-like format. Disc 1, and the notes, provide a detailed album-by-album and track-by track critical review of each ELP album by at least seven independent analysts. Dave's post is in Volume 14, Issue 9 of the ELP Digest (November 2004), and includes details about each of these individuals, so I won't repeat them here. Disc 2 includes "rare footage from the vaults" circa 1970/71. This is a good analysis of the band and the music, with opinions that are fairly unbiased. But there is nothing new here as far as video/audio of the band. Segments are exerpted and proper credit given from IOW, the Manticore special, Olympic Stadium, live at the RAH, etc. Only the reviewer comments are new; all else is stuff I've seen on other authorized ELP DVDs. There are several footage segments in which the audio and video are slightly off, which is a bit annoying. Especially the 1970/71 stuff. Each ELP album is rated on a one- to five-star scale, except for Works Live (Montreal) and the "second coming" albums Black Moon, Live at the RAH, and In the Hot Seat. Reviewer comments, however, are quite positive regarding BM and RAH, but there is no commentary at all on ITHS. My take is that most die-hard ELP fans would not argue much with the reviewers' assessments. But... Words like "pompous," "excessive," and "disaster" crop up more than once in these reviews. As such, sensitive ELP fans may need to restrain themselves. I maintain that the overall commentary and review segments are reasonable and proper. They are only "critical" in the sense of being unbiased. There are plenty of positive comments along with the negative ones. All opinions should be heard, even though we need not agree with them. I recommend this DVD to any ELP fan, but with the following admonition taken directly from the DVD case: "This project requires totally independent editorial control. This film is unauthorized and is not associated or approved in any way by present and past members of Emerson Lake and Palmer or the management of the group." As such, there are no comments directly from the band members or others affiliated directly with ELP, except for a few that are already part of other authorized videos. Cheers, Mike Branick Norman, OK, USA --------------------------------------------- From: Thomas Travis Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 9:38 AM To: elp-digest Subject: Re: Last issues comments about 'Off the Wall' Wonderfully said !!! Those who can - do. Those who can't - criticize. Travis From: A-Digest-Reader Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 To: ELP Digest Subject: re: Last issue's comments about 'Off the Wall' Hi, John -- You know, I may be inspired to write my very first note to the Digest, unless someone else responds first. This "Off the Wall" note has really disturbed me. I know I've made similar comments to you about other letters in the past that have been unnecessarily, uh, rough, but this one struck a nerve. (...) [ See the previous issue for the full text ... ] --------------------------------------------- From: Christopher L. Monahan Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 11:53 AM To: elp-digest Subject: My Ultimate ELP set list for a 2008 Reunion These comments were inspired in response to Roy Henderson's note >>> From: Roy Henderson >>> Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 4:19 AM >>> To: elp-digest >>> Subject: Follow-up on Vivacitasregarding Keith's "development" >>> or rather lack of in my opinion: Let me start by stating that there was no one who supported the band throughout the years than I.I was a fanatic for about 25 years plus. But the flip side of this , is that in my opinion, there is no band that has wasted more talent than ELP. I think there are many of us ELP fans who have been so loyal over the years, only to be let down by the band. I have gotten to the point where I have no interest in seeing them live again, unless they were to finally abandon their short changing their fans. How many times can we hear Fanfare,Pirates,America/Rondo,Tarkus and Lucky Man?......I agree with Roy that it is embarrassing to watch Keith do his Ribbon controller/Hammond wrestling act for the millionth time!?.....does he think Jimi Hendrix would still be burning his guitar if he were still alive? In my opinion Keith (who is my all-time hero next to Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater) has wasted what could have been an incredible career. He is his own worst enemy by insisting on living in the past and continuing to do his silly,dated antics on stage. How is anyone supposed to take him seriously? So here is how I think ELP could fix things: 1) Take a year to get in shape(especially Greg). Practice/rehearse etc. 2) Hit the road with a NEW Tour for all of their wonderful fans who have stuck with them through thick and thin!!!!! 3) Follow this up with an "Unplugged" album. They have sooooooooo much wonderful material to work with. One caveat: They need to dig into their repertoire, no more regurgitating the same material for this album! Here is my set list for the 2008 tour were I to be their manager: INTRO(empty stage) Abaddon's Bolero (abridged version) Band takes stage Karn Evil 9 2nd Impression (note: this is NOT 1st Impression which has been beat to death!) Karn Evil 9 3d Impression Band now goes into historical retrospective: The Three Fates The Barbarian The Only Way Infinite Space Tarkus Instrumental Medley w/ Keith on Acoustic Piano. Promenade The Sage The Endless Enigma Pt 1 Fugue The endless enigma Pt2 Toccata Piano Concerto No.1 2nd movement with Keith playing it solo on Synth! Canario ENCORE: When The Apple Blossoms Bloom Paper Blood Now that's what I as an ELP fan would call a great set list. New and fresh with many great songs that have been neglected for 30 years! YES seems to be able to change their set list......any Dream Theater Fans here?......they amaze me at how they never play the same set list twice! They also often play 3 hour sets! It's time for ELP to brush off the cobwebs, work hard and learn the old material and most of all :PAY BACK a little of the loyalty that we as fans have given these 3 guys! Christopher L. Monahan Co-Founder YourStory LLC --------------------------------------------- From: MarioNation Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 9:22 PM To: elp-digest Subject: Keith Emerson's Birthday - 104.3 fm new york city I sent an email to the only Classic Rock station left in New York City to play a work force block on November 2nd for my 19 year old daughter and Keith Emerson who share the same birthday----- They did----DJ Maria Milito read my email on the air at around 12 noon and played 1-From the Beginning 2 Jerusalem 3 Lucky Man 4 Hoedown- WHAT A GREAT SURPRISE FOR MY DAUGHTER- AND MY SON KEITH(NAMED AFTER YOU KNOW WHO) =========================== Questions (and Answers!) =========================== From: garpal Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2006 9:27 AM To: elp-digest Subject: Brain Salad Surgery & Works Hi John Still a fan of the digest and thanks for all your hard work you put into it. This doesn't need to be posted unless you absolutely think it ís necessary. I am trying to find a hypothetical song list that someone had posted in an ELP Digest a long time ago about what they thought the track lists from Brain Salad Surgery and Works would look like if the songs that were recorded during each session were actually included in their respective album. Example - The tracks Tiger in the Spotlight, Brain Salad Surgery and When the Apple Blossoms... were included on the Brain Salad Surgery album. I want them so I can load these alternative tracklists onto my iPod. Regards, JP =========================== ELP-related products, tribute bands, promoters (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.) =========================== From: noddy Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 4:17 PM To: John Arnold Subject: Re: New Noddy's CD .... Don't forget guys, the new Noddy's Puncture Live CD "Thank you, Masked Man!" -featuring Keith Emerson- is still available. Please visit our website at: http://www.noddyspuncture.co.uk to download samples from this CD, which also includes a Video of the track 'AMERICA'. Cheers. TOM =========================== Digest subscription, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: elp-digest-request (at) reluctant.com ELP-related info that you want to put in the digest to: elp-digest (at) reluctant.com Back issues are available from the ELP Digest web site: http://www.brain-salad.com/ Note: The opinions, information, etc. contained in this digest are those of the original message sender listed in each message. They are not necessarily those of the mailing list/digest administrator or those of any institution through whose computers/networks this mail flows. Unless otherwise noted, the individual authors of each entry in the Digest are the copyright holders of that entry. Please respect that copyright and act accordingly. I especially ask that you not redistribute the ELP Digest in whole or in part without acknowledging the original source of the digest and each author. Thanks! End of ELP Digest [Volume 16, Issue 9] **************************************