ELP Appreciation thread !!!!

 

Some extremely interesting thoughts although I am puzzled by a few of the comments.

 

ELP did stop touring in 1974 as a matter of fact and only came back in 1977 some 3 years later. Financially the issues were I suspect connected to the label they set up. Manticore had to be cut loose and their hope of helping other artists died along with it. In the intervening time the only thing they did was work on solo material and that was pretty much all they had when they came back in 1977. It was that or nothing. I'll happily take it and Pirates remains as one of my favourite symphonic prog tracks.

 

Like Rick I am puzzled by the word 'misdirection' but also the idea that Emerson's 'attempt to make classical music failed'. Pictures At An Exhibition was a massive commercial success so I just don't understand the point. Also with ELP , Keith Emerson was able to do a full blown Piano Concerto recorded with a world renowned orchestra and get it released and more importantly heard! I think he was extremely successful in this area both artistically and commercially.

 

As regards the technology available well the early seventies and Bob Moog and all that was extremely exciting. I realise a lot of fans were let down when ELP did not pursue this further but you have to remember that ELP was a band and Greg Lake has quite a large say in things. Emerson didn't make all the creative decisions. Works was not a tech based album and for that reason it should actually get more respect. This was just about the music ( yep that old cliché!)

 

Although I did when he was the warm up act for Keith Emerson and The Nice at Hammersmith Apollo

I remember buying this back in 1971 when it came out. As a high school musician, I was completely blown away by the twenty-minute title track! "Tarkus," along with Yes's "Fragile" which came out the same year, totally rearranged my thinking on what rock music was all about.
I also remember getting into deep trouble when I volunteered to be the DJ at a high school dance. In between spinning The Osmonds and Three Dog Night, I slipped the title track to "Tarkus" on the turntable. Man, I practically bust a gut laughing at the response! Talk about disorientation! Anyway, I always thought the title track was very rhythmic and offered all sorts of dance possibilities... The crowd thought otherwise.

That was quite common among Rock stars, Keith Moon was apparently extremely capricious and roadies and personal managers often said that coping with his eccentricities could be a real nightmare.