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Emerson, Lake, & Palmer (ELP)

Keith Emerson has been a persistent, successful representative of the art rock tradition, combining classical & rock elements. Mostly, his work in this subgenre falls into the 6th approach outlined in the text (using the musical language of rock to create an extended work modeled after a classical form), but they also were adept at the 4th approach (adapting a classical work to rock performance), as evident from the examples provided on the Rock & Classical Elements page of this web site.

Emerson first became known as keyboard player for The Nice (formed in 1967)with Lee Jackson (bass/guitar/vocals), Brian "Blinky" Davison (drums), and David O'List (guitar/vocals). O'List departed after the first album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack. In addition to setting the stage for ELP, this band provided a link between the musical experimentalism of late-60s psychedelia and art rock.

Greg Lake was a founding member of King Crimson with Robert Fripp (guitar/mellotron), Ian McDonald (keys/sax/flute/vocals), Michael Giles (drums), and Pete Sinfield (lyrics/lights). Lake departed after the bands first album (In the Court of the Crimson King) to form ELP. Interestingly, in 1976, McDonald was one of the founding members of Foreigner, a highly successful commercial mainstream rock band.

Initially, the band was to include Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but when those plans fell through Emerson & Lake settled on Carl Palmer. The band artfully fused Greg Lake's predominantly acoustic ballads (hit singles) with Emerson's pretentious keyboard excesses and expanded musical forms

 

Listen to Karn Evil 9 by ELP

 

The band's first album (Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, 1970) went gold ... three tracks of the six on this first album were instrumentals ("The Barbarian," "The Three Fates," and "Tank").

The Barbarian

Take a Pebble

The Three Fates

Lucky Man (#48, 1970)

... in fact, each of ELP's first nine albums went gold

 

Their second album (Tarkus, 1971) continued the tradition

Tarkus

Bitches Crystal

Are You Ready Eddy?

 

Their third album (1971) was a recording of Emerson's transcription of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (the ultimate example of the 4th approach to combining classical & rock elements)

Excerpts from Pictures At an Exhibition

Promenade

The Gnome

The Old Castle

The Hut of Baba Yaga

The Great Gates of Kiev

 

ELP's fourth album (Trilogy, #5 in 1972) was their highest placed album contained their only Top 40 hit ("From the Beginning") ... their music does not typically lend itself to a 3-minute format; however, other songs (often excerpts of longer recordings) received significant airplay, especially on AOR radio stations

The Endless Enigma, Part 1

Fugue

The Endless Enigma, Part 2

From the Beginning (#39, 1972)

Hoedown

based on the "Hoedown" section of Aaron Copland's Rodeo, a ballet

Trilogy

 

ELP's fifth album was Brain Salad Surgery (1973)

Jerusalem

Toccata

adaptation of the 4th movement from Alberto Ginastera's First Piano Concerto

Benny the Bouncer

Still ... You Turn Me On

Karn Evil 9 - First Impression (pt. 1 & 2)

Karn Evil 9 - Second Impression

Karn Evil 9 - Third Impression

 

Conversation: The Making of Brain Salad Surgery

 

Listening guide for the complete composition: listening guide for "Karn Evil 9" by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer

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