ELP Digest Friday, 1 May 1992 Volume 2 : Issue 10 The `Keys, I play 'em all with ease' Edition Today's Topics: Subject: ELP/3 songs as covered by Robert Berry Subject: Re: ELP on `In Concert'/video info Subject: ELP mentioned in (U.S.) Keyboard magazine, May 1992... Subject: Love Beach, The Nice, etc. Subject: talkin' 'bout ELP video... Subject: Rockline Subject: Press Release for BLACK MOON (new ELP album) [ Note: Sorry for the extra size of this but, as you'll read, I was able to get a copy of the Black Moon press release and decided to include it in its entirety. - John - ] Digest, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: J.Arnold@bull.com\ = for now, these are the same ELP-related info that you / want to put in the digest to: J.Arnold@bull.com Note: The opinions, information, etc. contained in this digest are those of the original message sender listed in each message below. They are not necessarily those of the mailing list/digest administrator or those of any institution through whose computers/networks this mail flows. ------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 14:48:43 PDT From: John.McCartney@EBay.Sun.COM ( The Lion of Symmetry ) Subject: ELP/3 songs as covered by Robert Berry Well! Saw Marillion in San Jose this past Wednesday night (4/15), and the opener was none other than local hack & ex-3 member Robert Berry. He was billed as 'unplugged', but he only stayed that way for a couple songs, gradually bringing out a guitarist, keyboards and drums, and finally 2 stereotypical backup singers. He and the guitarist did stay on their electric-acoustic bass & guitar though. A number of songs from 3 were played, including You Do or You Don't, Lover to Lover, Runaway & Talkin' Bout, which was his set closer. I considered calling out for Desde La Vida just for laughs, but managed to restrain myself. There were also some other songs of his, including one that he said he wrote about Phil Spaulding of GTR when Berry was in the aborted continuation of that band. However, the major surprise was the 2nd to last song, something that never in my wildest dreams would I have expected - Fanfare For The Common Man!!! Except for some completely non-related junk that was patched into the middle of it, it came off fairly well, mostly due to the talents of the keyboard player. Truly a strange experience... (Oh yeah, the Marillion show was *excellent*!) scorch ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 14:56:57 PDT From: John.McCartney@EBay.Sun.COM ( The Lion of Symmetry ) Subject: Re: ELP on `In Concert'/video info >Carl in the center >on a drum riser. Playing a red, double-bass setup with his Remo (a >drum head manufacturer) endorsement prominently displayed. If you saw it, this is the same kit he played on the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show a few years back. For those who didn't see this, they came out and played what Keith introduced as America, but included lots of other things, of course featuring the usual Palmer solo (with shirt removal but no playing-of-gongs-with-teeth). They were billed as ELP but it was really 3, with Berry just providing a backing bass line to Keith & Carl's histrionics. I don't know if this has been officially released on video, but it was broadcast on HBO, and on ABC in an edited form, so you may know someone who has this. Other acts featured are Yes & Genesis, along with Led Zeppelin, CSN, and a host of soul/R&B greats... scorch ------------------------------ Subject: ELP mentioned in (U.S.) Keyboard magazine, May 1992... Date: Tue, 21 Apr 92 11:50:06 -0400 From: arnold@thira.ma30.bull.com I received my copy of Keyboard magazine (U.S. edition) in the mail on Saturday, April 18: In the career update section, it says that the ELP reunion album will be out in June (remember: other sources have said May) with a tour beginning in late July. In the 'Next Month' ad (i.e., for the June 1992 issue), the lead story is Keith Emerson. It mentions that the next issue will have an interview with Keith and an equipment rundown on his vintage analog, patch-bay-based synth. - John - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1992 15:55 EST From: FISHBOY Subject: Love Beach, The Nice, etc. Hey! I've only been getting this newsletter for a few weeks, and I couldn't of asked for a better time to join - ELP reuniting! I'm not worthy! Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knows if there is any way to obtain _Love Beach_ without paying $30 for the Japanese import. I really want to get it, but don't want to spend that much money on a CD before I hear it. The only thing I have to offer in the way of ELP trading is a videotpae of last Friday's "In Concert" ELP profile. Also: I have recently been exposed to The Nice, and all I can say is...NICE! I borrowed _Nice_ (_Everything as Nice..._) from a friend and loved it. I am curious about what other albums they released and if they are comparable to this one. In the CD liner notes they mention 3 other titles - _Ars Longa Vita Brevis_, _The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack_, and _Elegy_. To further demonstrate my ignorance, I am going to ask a question whose answer is probably inherent knowledge to many: What solo albums has Emerson released? Thanks a bunch, Andy Acunzo aacunzo@ccmail.sunysb.edu ------------------------------ Date: 24 Apr 92 14:19:10 EDT From: Damien DeSimone <71221.2364@CompuServe.COM> Subject: talkin' 'bout ELP video... To respond to the request for ELP video, a great source of quality ELP and related video is a guy named Dave Jones, who always has a large in the Collector's Showcase of Goldmine. I threw out my last issue, so I can't provide the address here, but his ad is easy to spot! Speaking of video, anybody out there got any Keith Emerson solo videos? Also, the first ELP single will be released in the UK on May 4, with the full album due May 11. Two other tidbits: ELP was on "In The Studio" on March 23 for "Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Trilogy." Also, Keith Emerson's "The Church" soundtrack has been released on CD in Japan on the JIMCO label. Damien DeSimone 71221.2364@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: Jeremy Weissenburger <07822@brahms.udel.edu> Subject: Rockline Big news, ELP fans!! I was listening to Rockline monday (Tony Banks of Genesis was on, BTW), and they announced that, among others, ELP was going to be on Rockline in the next few weeks or so! I figure it's probably going to be 3 weeks at the least and over a month at the most. So, start getting your questions ready now!! - -_Capt. Apathy (BTW, did anyone happen to tape the Rockline ELP was on last time? I think it was in March...) ------------------------------ Subject: Press Release for BLACK MOON (new ELP album) Date: Fri, 01 May 92 10:25:41 -0400 From: arnold I was able to talk to ELP's new label, Victory Music, and contact the public relations person handling the impending Black Moon release. Havin explained the audience of this mailing list, I've been able to get a copy of the official `bio' that precedes the official album release. I've tried to accurately type in the entire press release. On the phone, I was told that USA release is scheduled for June 9. The press release talks about the new songs, the new producer (!), and the general status of ELP. I hope everyone finds some nuggets of interest in here. I know I did. I'll pass along any release information I get as soon as I get it. Thanks! - John - ========== The following is the full text of the press release for ELP's `Black Moon' album that I received in the mail on April 25, 1992. "Emerson, Lake & Palmer BLACK MOON From its muscular, urgent opening chords on the title track, through an inspired and spectacular arrangement of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," to the final heartfelt flourishes of "Footprints in the Snow," BLACK MOON finds ELP once again at the height of its considerable power. In an era when too many bands seem to be willing slaves of fashion and uncertain of their own musical convictions, ELP marches confidently across today's musical landscape, unafraid of its own shadow, happy to take risks, and secure in its own image and place in history. Says drummer Carl Palmer, "There's no compromise in this new album. For better or for worse, no once could ever mistake BLACK MOON for anything other than ELP, and I personally approached it as if we'd never stopped making albums." "So many bands today seem to have no recognizable sound or personality. Well we do, and we're not going to apologize for that," agrees singer and bass player, Greg Lake. "BLACK MOON is a classic ELP album with all the sounds and textures our fans have come to expect." Certainly no one could ever accuse ELP's 12th album of sounding like anyone else. With virtuoso keyboardist Keith Emerson back at the Hammond organ, and paying at the peak of his powers, the supremely balanced trio of Emerson, Lake & Palmer has crafted an alluring aural masterpiece that is directly in the tradition of such classic ELP albums as Brain Salad Surgery and Tarkus. "I think the great thing about this new album is that there was never any pressure, with from the record company or from ourselves, to be anything other than ELP," notes Emerson. "It's the most mature album we've ever recorded. We just went into the studio and did what we do best." Ironically, however, BLACK MOON did not start off life as the latest ELP record. "We were first approached by Phil Carson, president of Victory Music, about the possibility of doing a couple of tracks for a film score," recalls Emerson. "So we started playing again, it was so great that we decided to make an album." Palmer agrees that the band's long sabbatical "helped rather than hurt, because we were all able to work on outside projects, and then could bring those outside experiences back into ELP. It's not as if we sat around twiddling our thumbs since we did our last album, Love Beach, in 1978." Indeed, all three members of ELP have been prolific on several fronts in recent years. Emerson, who released tow solo albums, quickly established himself as a much-in-demand composer for film soundtracks (his credits include Nighthawks starring Sylvester Stallone). Palmer worked with supergroup Asia; and Lake, in addition to his solo projects, performed with Asia in Japan. This show was broadcast live via satellite. Still, nothing matched the pure excitement of the three musicians back together again and alone in a studio. "There was a thrill, and a genuine feeling that we could make a great record," recalls Lake. "And it turnout to be the easiest record we've ever made, because we all had such tremendous motivation. I think we all heard something none of us had heard in many years, and that is the real power, the sheer dynamism of ELP." "Now we can't wait to get back on stage and play these songs live," adds Palmer referring to ELP's upcoming tour this summer. "It'll be the first time in fifteen years we play live together, and if it's anything like making this record, it's going to be a very special occasion." According to Emerson, the recording process of BLACK MOON greatly benefited from the helping hand of outside producer Mark Mancina. "It really helped to have an objective voice involved, and Mark really brought a lot to this album. For a start, he's a good keyboard player and writer himself, and then he rally understands ELP's background. He knows what makes this band tick and how to pull the best out of all of us." Before recording BLACK MOON in London, band members spent some four months on writing songs, polishing ideas and working on pre-production. For Lake, who as usual wrote all of the lyrics, apart from "Burning Bridges" which was wholly contributed by producer Mancina, writing is "a strange process which, oddly enough, is difficult to put into words. My ideas obviously come from different sources. Some are emotionally driven, some of them are just simply intellectually drive, and some of them are stolen," he laughs. Lake readily admits that "ELP lyrics are not what someone would call normal song material. Often the songs are not the usual relationship-based kind. I prefer to start off with an unusual image or a scene that strikes me, and then work on it from there." As an example, he cites his inspiration for the menacing and powerful opening track, "Black Moon." "The image came to me during the Gulf War," he explains. "I was watching the television one day, and I saw this report about all these oil fields being set alight, and this picture had the sun blacked out by all this smoke, but you could still see it and it looked like a moon, and then a black moon, and that started me thinking." By contrast, Lake was inspired to pen the lyrical "Affairs of the Heart" during a trip to Venice. "I was there on holiday and Venice is such a beautiful and romantic setting, a lovely place and full of art and a history of art, so it's just a great environment to write a song," he notes. "There is a hotel there called the Danieli, and in the lobby is this huge and beautiful chandelier, and there was a beautiful girl sitting across the other side of the lobby and for some reason it all added up - Venice, the chandelier, the girl. The whole opening of the song just wrote itself, there and then." Very different again is the caustic "Paper Blood," which was inspired by another true life incident. "I was driving in London one day and I stopped at a traffic light and on the right side of me was a chauffeur-driven car with a dog in it on the front passenger seat and the man was driving with a chauffeur's hat on," recalls Lake. "On the left of me there was a tramp fishing for stuff out of the dust bin, looking for food." Lake says he couldn't shake the image. "This ridiculous sight stuck with me for days : the dog being chauffeur-driven and the man looking in the dust bin for food. And I thought, what is that about? And the answer is money; the lack of it and too much of it, and then I thought, it's like blood, money is like blood, paper blood. That was the catalyst for the song." "For me, `Paper Blood' was a great opportunity to rip hell out of the Hammond," laughs Emerson, who reports that, "the truth is, I was never completely happy with the sound I used to get in the seventies. But on this album, I think I've finally achieved the ultimate Hammond sound." The band has also recorded a dazzling version of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet." "I guess doing a classical adaptation is almost expected of us, but we never try to force it," explains Emerson. "If it doesn't flow naturally, then it's never going to sound right. And in a larger sense, I think that's true of ELP today. We've all reached a point in our careers where we feel very comfortable with each other's contributions." Palmer agrees that the concept of maturing is very important to BLACK MOON. "We've all grown up a lot and learned a lot, not only about the music business and production, but about ourselves and about life," states the drummer. "It's definitely affected our relationships with each other, and for the better," admits Emerson. "I remember in the early days, I used to say, `Hey Greg, sing this,' and he'd say, `Come on, I'm not singing that.' Well, there was quite a bit of frustration in that sense. But today, we're all much more comfortable about that sort of thing, and much more aware. Greg knows what he can handle." The singer agrees. "I think the truth of it is that Keith has learned a lot in the years since we last worked together, and he's also learned a lot more by working with other singers who were possibly not as flexible as I was. He came to realize how lucky he was," he laughs. "I think we've all learned to support and accommodate each other more, so that what Keith now writes is really suitable to sing," adds Lake. "And (for me) the result is really the most accomplished record we've ever made." Emerson, Lake and Palmer first got together in the early seventies when each was a member of a revolutionary British band. Emerson had helped pioneer rock/classical/jazz fusion with The Nice; Lake was a founding member of King Crimson, and Palmer played with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and Atomic Rooster. Fronted by Emerson's dazzling keyboard pyrotechnics and showmanship, and Lake's lyrical singing and playing, and propelled by the percussive powerhouse attack of Palmer, the band took no prisoners as it quickly conquered charts and concert halls around the world. ELP's eponymous debut album was released in the spring on 1971 and it immediately set a new standard for musicianship in the world of rock 'n' roll. Tarkus quickly followed in late 1971, with ELP next releasing its ambitious and wildly-successful Pictures at an Exhibition suite, a 45-minute work based on Mussorgsky's famous classical composition. Over the next eight years, ELP reigned supreme with a series of platinum albums that include Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery and which culminated in 1978's Love Beach. The band also tirelessly toured the globe with ever-more elaborate stage shows and enormous state-of-the-art sound systems that were a logical extension of ELP's relentless pursuit of sonic perfection. "We're extremely proud of our past and our old albums, and we see BLACK MOON as a direct descendant and continuation," states Palmer. "Of course, everything is so much more technical today than when we started, and on this album we've used everything that was available to us, whether it was computers or MIDI, to make the best record we could -- but without sacrificing any of the personal playing, technique, vocal approach, whatever, that characterizes an ELP record. We've stayed true to what we always were. You won't find any rap songs on this album." To prove the point, ELP will be touring BLACK MOON this summer, starting in the U.S. and Canada before visiting Europe and Far East. "For all those fans that feel they've been starved of music that challenges and pushes, we plan to put on a hell of a show," sums up Emerson. "ELP is back!" ========== ------------------------------ End of ELP Digest [Volume 2 Issue 10] *************************************