ELP Digest 02 November 2007 Volume 17: Issue 3 The "Hammer It Out" Edition including the Happy Birthday, Keith Emerson edition and the ELP Digest Anniversary edition Today's Topics: Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. - ELP book 2nd ed., etc. (September 14, 2007) - New Keith Emerson Interview on Vintage Rock (October 16, 2007) - New Brain Salad Surgery Reissue (October 17, 2007) - The Seventh Annual GL Birthday Card Reader Commentary - Box set (September 2, 2007) - Re: Emo jazz (September 2, 2007) - 'Welcome Back My Friends...' on Dr. Pepper ad (September 22, 2007) - Carl Palmer Band concert in Holland - 104.3 FM in New York City area around noontime - 11/02/07 - Old Recordings - From the Beginning Review Questions (and Answers!) - Carl Palmers stainless steel drumkit (September 2, 2007) - Fwd: Check out ELP Digest (KE9 in movie) (September 4, 2007) - Hallowed Be Thy Name (September 4, 2007) - Re: Stainless Steep drumkit... (September 26, 2007) - re: ELP at Upsala College ELP-related products, tribute bands, promoters (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.) - The Reading Festival Book Music, Mud and Mayhem : The Official History "RELEASED" (September 9, 2007) - A New Name =========================== Prelude =========================== Hi. And Happy Birthday, Keith Emerson! Which means, of course, it's also another anniversary of the ELP Digest. (For details, you can refer to: http://www.elp-digest.com/Digest/back-issues/1991/summary-1991.html ) Thanks, as always, for hanging in there with me. It's been a very busy year for me and the Digests aren't coming as quickly as I'd like. I'm investigating doing the postings to a blog so those of you who want more immediate gratification can get it and I could extract the news for those of you who prefer the occasional email contact. I've gotten some suggestions about this approach from DIgest readers and I welcome your opinions, too. Just let me know what you think would work best. (Thanks in advance!) Anyway, there's lots of news so let's go with the show... Teasers: Emerson and Wakeman open for Led Zep! ELP ('Welcome Back') featured in new 'Dr. Pepper' ad Review of the new Box Set - John - ------------------------------ Latest News from the Official ELP sites .… Can’t tell if anything’s new from last issue, but it’s always good to keep up with the Official ELP Web site at: http://www.emersonlakepalmer.com/elp2.html --------------------------------------------- Tons of news at Keith’s site! First, visit EM-counters, a new feature that follows Emo to encounters at various L.A. music venues, at: http://www.keithemerson.com/EmCounters/EmCounters-2007Summer.html Then, there’s a new updates page at: http://www.keithemerson.com/Updates/Updates-20071025.html which has details on performances in October-November. Sorry it's too late for last Monday night's performance but the biggest news is that Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman will be in the band that's opening for the Led Zeppelin reunion concert being held as a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun. The “old” news page is still available, too, at: http://www.keithemerson.com/News/whatsnew.html --------------------------------------------- Greg’s site has a tribute to the late Luciano Pavarotti at: http://www.greglake.com/newsite/newhotsheet.asp --------------------------------------------- Carl’s UK tour starts November 2! Get news and more at: http://www.carlpalmer.com/ Enjoy! =========================== Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. =========================== From: Martyn Hanson Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 2:00 PM To: elp-digest-request Subject: ELP book 2nd ed., etc. The ELP book 2nd ed. should have an updated timetable in the near future. Hopefully, it will be out this year. re: my book The Time Machine - The Story of Jon Hiseman and Colosseum (out in 2008) In the course of my research I came across a few threads pertaining to ELP. I got some of this from Jon Hiseman: I read some positive and negative comments on the Digest with regards to the two tracks Keith Emerson recorded with the New Jazz Orchestra. Here's an interesting story regarding these tracks. In late 2006 I was at Jon Hiseman's house researching my book on his life and Colosseum. The subject of Keith Emerson cropped up. Keith had finally released ‘Au Privave’ and ‘Walter L’ on his Off the Shelf album some months before. Both Jon and his wife, Barbara Thompson, are on the New Jazz Orchestra's cuts and are well known as great jazz exponents. I sat with them in their kitchen and played these tracks to them. It was the first time they had heard these cuts since they were recorded. They were both astonished at how good they were. They were both knocked out with Keith’s solo on ‘Au Privave. In my opinion, Au Privave is in the ten best Keith pieces of all time. Keith kept in touch with Jon after the sessions and there was talk of a gig together at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Keith also had plans to record more tracks with the NJO but, as we know, these plans came to naught. When I visited Arthur Heckstall-Smith in Alicante for the same project, he gave me access to dad's archive (Dick Heckstall-Smith was also in Colosseum). I found a reference to Keith regarding the solo album that Dick made just after Colosseum split up - it was called A Story Ended. His original plan was to use Keith, along with John Paul Jones and John Bonham (of Led Zeppelin) for the The Pirates's Dream. This was originally a Colosseum piece and was a 12 min epic. It's a very 'progy' piece and didn't really fit into the jazz/blues material that Colosseum played as a norm. It is not known if Keith was approached by Dick, but at the time it was recorded (early March 1972. In fact, just after Keith recorded the NJO tracks) all three were available. In the end, Dick used Graham Bond for the keyboard part. Another Graham Bond connection. When Keith and Greg was in the process of finding a drummer they thought of Bond's drummer, Keith Bailey. It was quoted in the Graham Bond book - The Mighty Shadow- that he had been approached by Keith and Greg as a possible candidate. This could have been because Bond was heavy on the Hammond and Bailey's drumming must have impressed them. We know they thought of many drummers but the only names made public were Mitch Mitchell and Jon Hiseman. --------------------------------------------- From: Shawn Perry Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:24 PM To: elp-digest Subject: New Keith Emerson Interview on Vintage Rock Hi Brain Salad Readers: Vintage Rock has a brand new interview with Keith Emerson, discussing his new album, as well touching on ELP, the Nice, the state of progressive rock, and his impact as a musician. Check it out at http://www.vintagerock.com/kemerson_interview.aspx Thanks, Shawn Perry Vintage Rock ~ Timeless Rock n' Roll http://www.vintagerock.com --------------------------------------------- From: Mike Myers Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:28 AM To: elp-digest-request Subject: New Brain Salad Surgery Reissue Just wanted to alert everyone to the new Brain Salad Surgery release. On Tuesday, October 9th Shout Factory Records reissued a special package of Brain Salad Surgery. The reissue comes in a box with a foldout front cover (just like the vinyl) and includes the original insert as well as a booklet containing color pictures from an August 1974 concert. The booklet also contains new liner notes by Dave Thompson. In addition the disc contains two additional tracks which are: * an alternate mix of Jerusalem and * an instrumental mix of Karn Evil 9 I was both pleased and disappointed in this release. Although I seem to have countless copies of Brain Salad Surgery, I again took the plunge on this recording because of the alternate mix of Jerusalem and Karn Evil 9. I can't tell much difference between the original Jerusalem and the new mix. The new mix sounds more compressed and has a smaller stereo field. Sounds to me like they put the best mix on the original album. Karn Evil 9 is presented as an instrumental which is a different way than I have ever heard in the past 33 years. They have taken Greg's vocals out and in the First Impression, Part 2 they have also taken one of Keith's organ solos out. Here is my complaint. All of the advertising as well as the track listing on the back of the CD lists the instrumental track as "Karn Evil 9". Karn Evil 9 is a three movement suite. The Shout Factory recording only includes the complete First Impression. This was a disappointment to me, wanting to also hear the Third Impression as an instrumental mix. I have contacted Shout Factory about this and they have not responded. Oh well, I guess they will probably come out with a disc containing the whole suite next year and we'll have to buy it all over again. So, buyers beware! Mike Myers Mesquite, TX [ Editor's Note: Thanks for letting us know it's only the First Impression. And I wholeheartedly agree with wanting to hear the 'instruments only' mix of the Third Impression! - John - ] --------------------------------------------- From: The Official Greg Lake Website - WWW.GREGLAKE.COM Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 9:43 PM To: JArnold Subject: The Seventh Annual GL Birthday Card Dear Members, Once again, the Ladies of the Lake website is hosting an e-card to be sent to Greg on his birthday, Nov. 10th. Please sign the card at the link below by Nov. 9th, and feel free to forward this link to anyone else who might like to send a birthday greeting. Thanks to all, ~ E. http://members.aol.com/val7/card07.html =========================== Reader Commentary =========================== From: alastair cox Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 3:53 AM To: elp-digest Subject: Box set I always seem to be complaining about ELP just lately, but the new box set is another winge. Why do ELP keep putting out best ofs and box sets of stuff that we have already? To get the Mar Y Sol disc we have to buy a 6 disc set containing many tracks we already have. Why can't we just buy the new stuff? I refuse to buy 6 discs ao get loads of tracks I have already. Same with return of the manticore 4 discs and about 4 unreleased tracks, not to mention the awful retakes of Nice, King Crimson and Atomic Rooster stuff. AAARRRGGH --------------------------------------------- From: Roy Henderson Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 12:52 PM To: elp-digest Subject: Re: Emo jazz Hello everyone Thanks are due to Peter Wilton and Kenny Floyd for their stout and thought provoking responses to KE's jazz playing. I am off to have a fresh listen. It is great to get a new angle ... The new CD/DVD set sounds interesting too. Greetings from Glasgow Roy --------------------------------------------- From: stevebarber To: elp-digest-request Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 2:24 PM Subject: 'Welcome Back My Friends...' on Dr. Pepper ad John, I just heard the newest football commercial for Dr. Pepper and it featured the above! Several bars of it, too! Best, Steve --------------------------------------------- From: Perry Moree Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 4:18 PM To: elp-digest Subject: Carl Palmer Band concert in Holland Hi there, My son and I (yes, I'm 46) went to a concert of the Carl Palmer Band last Saturday, October 20, 2007, in a small Dutch town called Hoogland. The venue must have been the smallest where CP even performed: it was sold out with 200 persons! The concert was brilliant, with CP in fine shape. And the setlist was a historical one - he performed a complete (instrumental) version of Pictures at an Exhibition. Yes a complete one, including all the Greg Lake bits and a great rendition of Blues Variation. Incredible, as it was not performed in this long version since 1971/1972. Thanks to the band for a wonderful evening. Setlist: Intro (Offenbach) Peter Gunn The Barbarian Tarkus (edit) Tank The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits Trilogy Guitar Medley (incl. Flight of the Bumble Bee) Jazz Section Bass solo (incl. Maple Leaf Rag) Toccata Pictures at an Exhibition (complete) Fanfare for the Common Man (incl. drum solo). Greetings, Perry Moree The Netherlands --------------------------------------------- From: MarioNation Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 9:07 PM To: elp-digest-request Subject: 104.3 FM in New York City area- around noontime-November 2 2007 On November 2 is my daughter's 20th birthday plus as we all know Keith Emerson's - Last year I sent an email to 104.3 requesting a work force block for my daughter and KE and they did - I sent a request this year and the reply from the radio station sounds like it will happen - SO TUNE IN FRIDAY AT ABOUT 1215 PM IF YOU CAN - AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET TO HEAR THE WORKFORCE BLOCK PLUS A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAUGHTER - MY ONLY SON WHO JUST TURNED SIXTEEN IS NAMED KEITH AFTER YOU KNOW WHO - --------------------------------------------- From: Dave Bailey Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 5:00 PM To: John Arnold Subject: Old Recordings Hi John First here's a question for your readers. Name two peices of music recorded by both Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman. [Answer below] After a lot of searching, I have at last tracked down a copy of Rod Stewart's "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down" to add to my collection. Your readers may or not know that Keith plays keyboards on the track "I Wouldn't Ever Change A Thing". I was amazed how similar it is to "Diary Of An Empty Day" and "For Example" by The Nice. As a die hard Emerson fan of some 40 years, it is easy to pick out the "Emerson Style" of organ playing that was so familiar with The Nice. I first went to see Keith and The Nice in 1967, at the age of 15, soon after they had left P.P.Arnold (No relation I suppose). They were doing the college circit, as did all the top groups in England at the time. Their play list consisted of old favorites such as Rondo, America, Korelia, Brandenburger, and some supprise covers of artists such as The Byrds "Get To You", The Suppremes "You Keep Me Hanging On", Frank Zappa "Lumpy Gravy", and a few Bob Dylan songs, "She Belongs to me", "My Back Pages", "Country Pie". At that time in England, "Soul Music" was all the rage, and The Nice were a breath of fresh air. They were the first progresive or psychedelic group that I had seen, and I was completely blown away. I have a few recordings of The Nice from those early days, but there must be a lot more recordings still out there some where. At the ripe old age of 55, I am now turning to the electronic age, and converting my collection into mp3s. It's amazing just how much material The Nice recorded in the 3 years of their existance. Regards Dave Bailey Stoke-on-Trent England Ho yes, the answer to the question is :- "Summertime" and "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear". [ Editor's Note: Thanks for the great trivia question (and answer). And for posing another (about P.P. Arnold). As you surmised, I am not related to P.P. Arnold. Oh well. - John - ] --------------------------------------------- From: Dave Sinclair Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 5:01 PM To: elp-digest Subject: From the Beginning Review First of all, let me say that I will almost always purchase anything related to ELP if it contains new or unreleased music regardless of how much duplication there might be. That being said, I was excited to see that the track listing had several tunes listed as being different versions than otherwise available. This is only somewhat the case. To my disappointment, "Man in the Long Black Coat" is the very same as released on "In the Hot Seat" instead of the extended version hard-core fans have wondered about since the release of that album. Indeed, the track listing on this site currently says (ext) beside this song. Additionally, "Take a Pebble" is the original studio version, not the Lyceum live recording as advertised. Too bad. This is the one with Lake singing about a dog named Blue that was on the original "Pictures at an Exhibition" / "Rock and Roll Your Eyes" movie. Canario is also the original studio version and not the rehearsal (as noted here and on the picture of the back of the box). I am also rather sure that the alternative versions of "Jerusalem" and "Still...You Turn Me On" are the original ones used on "Brain Salad Surgery". What makes them alternative I suppose, is that they are different than the Sanctuary Remastered version of BSS. Coincidentally, the track list was also very misleading on Emerson's "At the Movies" set which said it contained "Don't Be Cruel" which fortunately later showed up on "Off the Shelf". I will admit that there is usually a different mix for one or more songs not identified as such which sometimes mitigates the disappointment of not getting what you expect. Haven't yet discovered any these here. It truly puzzles me how poorly their later products have been produced and marketed. There are misspellings, omissions of/and incorrect detail related to this box set and other recent products. This promised to be a wonderful collection of rarities. Also, any real ELP fan (and let's face it, who else would buy something like this) already has the Manticore Special (DVD-disc 6). Of course I am assuming this is what it is, since it won't play on my DVD player. This could have been left out and the set could have been sold for less. For that matter, they only needed a couple of discs to house the unreleased product. On the bright side, "Oh My Father" is a great tune albeit not as fully developed as it could have been. I wish there was more music during this time period (when Greg Lake's voice was so passionate). Despite the aforementioned absence of "Blue", the Lyceum tunes and the Mar Y Sol festival are very decent recordings displaying the raw energy evident within the band at that time. Different versions of "Father Christmas" and "C'est La Vie" are also worthy. The booklet has great pictures and interviews. ELP will forever be my favorite band. I knew I was getting little new when I purchased this. I just didn't realize it was even less than advertised. All this said, and sadly, I would still buy it for what I did not already have. On 2nd thought, maybe the marketing was spot-on! Cheers. =========================== Questions (and Answers!) =========================== From: Gary Hunt Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 11:18 AM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Carl Palmers stainless steel drumkit In the 1st September edition of ELP Digest, Minniezolo wanted detailed pictures of Carl's 70's stainless steel kit. I recall that in the mid 1970's on British TV (I believe ITV/LWT South Bank Show) that had a short feature on Carl's kit where he shows Melvyn Bragg the kit and then discusses the adaptation of Ginastera's Toccata and plays his synth drum solo. It would be interesting to see if any footage has survived (Carl can you help?)! Gary Hunt --------------------------------------------- From: Emerlist Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 11:24 AM To: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com Subject: Fwd: Check out ELP Digest I have just sent you a request to receive your digest, and look forward to reading subsequent issues. The reason I came across your site was because I was trying to find the name of a movie from the 70s which featured Karn Evil 9 in its soundtrack along with a whole reft of other bands' music from the time. I vaguely remember it being about a young kid involved in some kind of armed robbery, but other than that the details in my now decaying mind are somewhat vague. Can you help in identifying it for me and if you know it, is it avaiable on dvd? Cheers. A Potts. --------------------------------------------- From: Noel Pratt Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 11:08 PM To: arnold Subject: Hallowed Be Thy Name Hello. I am wondering who played piano on Lake's "Hallowed Be Thy Name." Can you help? I've tried Greg's site but no reply... Thanks. --Noel --------------------------------------------- From: stevebarber Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 9:13 AM To: John Arnold Subject: Re: Stainless Steep drumkit... Hi John, I think the best way to respond to this persons request is to refer him to the "Beyond the beginning" DVD. As you know, the 2 appearances of Carl on "Aquarius" feature very, very clear, close up shots of the drums from different angles. The sad thing is, there are not that many magazine articles out there that show those drums close up. To this day, I never could understand that, since it was a one of a kind, the first stainless steel, hand engraved, personalized drumset in existence, that featured--for the first time ever--no drum or cymbal stands with legs, no adjustable cymbal stand tilters, everything extended out of what Carl called "black boxes" and/or "consoles", which would turn out to be the onset of the "rack systems" used by drummers today. One other feature that Carl apparently invented was the bass drum hoops that didn't demand the use of claws to tension the bass drum head. The hoops were made in the same fashion as the hoops which a re used on toms and snare drums, with the holes molded into the hoop, where the tension rod fits through to tension the drum head. To my knowledge, no one had ever used anything such as this as early as 1973, so, my guess is, is that being the genius he is, Carl designed this as part of the drum set. Something else basically unnoticed is, the lugs on all the drums were held by wing nuts, as opposed to screws, which you can see if you look closely at the inside of the drum shell. This makes for quick removal when polishing the lugs and the drum itself, and, replacing threads for the lugs, etc. I have been told that the drumset is on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (just 2 hours from me), but I have been unable to get this confirmed. I would love to go there and try to sneak some photos, as I have been trying to replicate it for some time, now. I basically gave up on that quest, though, due to expense and the fact that I was trying to do it with my Ludwig wood drum shells, as opposed to very expensive (and heavy) stainless steel Ludwig's. I managed to at least give the "metal" appearance, by having the insides of the shells lacquered with chrome enamel, and the outside of the drums covered in chrome drum cover, but, trying to obtain the dimensions of the "black boxes" or "consoles" which held the drums and cymbals just isn't possible from looking at video and still photos. Take care, Steve --------------------------------------------- From: Jack McPoyle Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 8:00 AM To: elp-digest Subject: ELP at Upsala College I think the answer to John Cowie's question on when ELP played Upsala College is May 28, 1971. At least that's what I saw on Greg's site at http://www.greglake.com/newsite/html/concertlist1971.asp =========================== ELP-related products, tribute bands, promoters (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.) =========================== From: iancarrollauthor Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 9:26 AM To: elp-digest Subject: The Reading Festival Book Music, Mud and Mayhem : The Official History "RELEASED" www.myspace.com/readingrockfestival Reading Festival (UK) THE Book Now Available Worldwide!!! Hello The Reading Festival Book is now completed and available in the shops and worldwide via the web. The launch party at White Rabbit in Plymouth on 2nd September, went extremely well and all in attendance enjoyed a great evening of Reading Festival based music. The press launch at the festival on the Friday, went well, with interviews with Kerrnang! Radio, LBC, Musflash TV, BBC Radio Berkshire and many more. The book, which includes over 400 artists, is produced by publishers Reynolds & Hearn with a worldwide distribution via the internet and available from Amazon, W H Smith, Waterstones, Blackstone Books, Tesco, Virgin Megastore, HMV and many, many more with a retail launch to coincide in all the mentioned stores on 13th September. The book covers the festival year by year, through the eyes of the artists/attendees/staff with many great stories and photos included. Check out the new Reading Festival Book MySpace site, it has 7000 friends and is growing by the week!!! All interested in the book!!! The book can also be seen on the BBC at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2007/04/03/reading_festival_book_feature.shtml I am also featured on the Radio One documentary about the Reading Festival, which is available as a podcast on iTunes and on the official Carling Weekend site at: http://www.readingfestival.com/news/story.aspx?aid=029a1895-a018-4913-8805-c00d90ea837c Hope you all like the book, as much as I do!! All the best Ian Carroll --------------------------------------------- From: Steve Andersen Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 5:06 PM To: ELP-digest Subject: A New Name Dear Friends We would like to let you know that Seven Virgins and A Mule - Canada's only Emerson, Lake and Palmer Tribute have officially change their name to First Impression - Canada's only Emerson, Lake and Palmer Tribute The friendly mule that greets you in these messages will still be our mascot, but now he has a lot more time on his hooves (since his seven associates left). Regards Steve Andersen - Keyboards First Impression - Canada’s only Emerson, Lake & Palmer Tribute =========================== Digest subscription, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com ELP-related info that you want to put in the digest to: elp-digest@reluctant.com Back issues are available from the ELP Digest web site: URL: http://www.brain-salad.com/ or http://www.elp-digest.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 17, Issue 3] **************************************