Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader of Prog

I can remember as an ELP fan being quite annoyed when I heard Rick's Six Wives for the first time (on headphones over at a friends place circa 1977) . Nailed it.

Of course they were the two that got all the attention in those days as both were incredibly flamboyant and helped raise prog rock in the general consciousness. They both had ever expanding keyboard rigs to match their ever expanding egos it seemed. While Keith was doing stuff with an orchestra in ELP , Rick was doing Judas Iscariot with a choir. They never understood the idea of 'small' that for certain. I would say Rick was the better player but Emerson's excellent Piano Concerto was never quite matched by Wakeman for pure creativity I feel.  Overall its a score draw although Emerson's general influence within Rock Music (not just prog) was much greater that's for sure.

Yep, indeed they are. I didn't get an email or see anything on Rick's Twitter feed though.

As I just wrote, there are two Grumpy books! And a third is happening! I can't wait. 

 

I'm looking forward to watching some of the Grumpy Old Men videos on YouTube, especially if they feature Rick Wakeman. By the way, his autobiography is titled "Grumpy Old Rock Star"

I'd love to recommend some of Rick's lesser-known albums, but so far, I only have his classic 1970's albums in a 5-CD box set. I'm hoping to discover a lot more Rick Wakeman albums though, now I've started this tribute thread.