ELP Digest Sunday, January 8 1995 Volume 5 : Issue 1 The "Brave New Year" Edition Today's Topics: Promenade by the Lake... Re: ELP Digest V4 #25 (Man in a Long Black Coat, Religion, etc.) Re: ELP Digest V4 #25 (Radio Station with no copy of ItHS) Re: Airplay stuff Fwd from alt.music.progressive on Emerson's Technique Brain Salad Re: Questions from a Recent Fan ELP Digest V4 #26 (new Greg Lake video available!) <===== !!!!! Touch and go ELP Lyrics Needed Re: Conversion? BEST of ELP - and religion Prelude ======= Happy New Year. As a result of some time off around Christmas, still getting submersed in my new job, and just being a bit lazy/frantic this time of year, I'm starting the new year of the ELP Digest a little late and a little backlogged. I'll work the backlog during this week and next weekend. If you've sent me something for the Digest and haven't seen it yet, please be patient and give me another Digest or 2 to get through the mail I've received through today. It proves to be an exciting year for the Digest. You'll notice we're starting our fifth volume so we'll be celebrating the ELP Digest's fifth anniversary this year. It should be exciting... especially if a tour finally gets going. And I'm pleased to announce that sometime last fall, we reached the 500 direct subscriber mark! Not bad given the little publicity I've done for the Digest beyond word of mouth. The Digest is mentioned in a number of books on the Internet and the Web Page has proved to be a good way for us to share information, pictures, etc. as well as have new readers find out about the Digest. Speaking of sharing pictures, I'd like to point everyone to the WWW-available picture of Greg Lake taken in Boston during an appearance to support "In the Hot Seat." And I'll embarass my wife by publicly proclaiming my love for her and appreciation for not just putting up with but actively supporting my ELP fan-dom. You see, in late October, I was busily wrapping up one job and getting ready for another and couldn't get to Greg's personal appearance in Boston. With nary a hint, my wife took time off from work, drove into Boston, got me an autographed copy of ItHs (as well as an autograph in my Works, Vol. 1 CD liner notes), and got a few people (including a woman from the local Polygram office, Thanks!) to take her picture with Greg. And, she gave Greg a letter I wrote and some copies of a few ELP Digest "back issues"! Thanks! Till next time, - John - ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Maureen@eworld.com To: arnold@iii.net Date: Mon, 12 Dec 94 11:53:21 PST Subject: Promenade by the Lake... Well, things remain interesting on a.m.p., if nothing else... > From: daly@image.Kodak.COM (Scott Daly) > Newsgroups: alt.music.progressive > Subject: Promenade by the Lake and 5UU's Roan (was Re: Bill > Shatner and 5UUs) > Date: 8 Dec 1994 17:34:23 GMT > Organization: Imaging Science Labs, Eastman Kodak Co., > Rochester, NY > > gmh4@po.CWRU.Edu (Gretchen M. Hoefler) ventures a > dissenting view: > > >Oh, I may be biting my tongue here, but I kinda like Lake's > >lyrics. They definitely have a `style' no one else has. > > It could be cautioned that mentioning tongues in the same > sentence as Lake's lyrics may be hazardous to one's health > around here.... > > >My favorite are the lyrics he wrote for Promenade. One day the > >meaning smacked me in the face and after that, I couldn't stop > >listening to it. > > Would you care to divulge the meaning? > > I've never had the old "zen oar struck across the back of the head" > on this one. As a result, I can only see the lyrics as weird mix > of predestination and go with the flow. I guess this might make > sense given Lake's childhood workouts with the church choir > (was he a Calvinist?) and the eagerness to understand eastern > philosophy in those days. > > Regardless of the content, I've always enjoyed Lake's use of > internal rhyme in that song. Childhood workouts with the church choir?? What gives here? Anybody have any further details on this? Given his voice once upon a time (I'll kill him myself if he's ruined it permanently), it probably destroyed his choir director when his voice changed (providing he stuck around that long)... Do Calvinists have church choirs? I would have guessed Church of England. Sla/n, Mo! Maureen@eWorld.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Dec 94 14:23:13 PST From: mfraser@rs.com (Mark McCarron-Fraser) To: arnold@iii.net Subject: Re: ELP Digest V4 #25 John - Thanks for the terrrific Digest and all the work you obviously put into it! ;-) This note is a response to a couple of items in 4.25, BUT I rely to some extent on an excerpt from a FUTURE digest about Keith's having written a 25 to 30 minute long piece based on "The Man In The Long Black Coat". (Nifty temporal distortion, don't you think!) Anyway, it might be best if my note runs in, or after the bit about Keith and "Black Coat". ELP fans! Bjo/rn Are made some comments in Digest 4.25 about the religious imagery in the lyrics on ItHS. I have some responses to his questions. BA>As a "practising" Christian myself I may read too much BA>into it! Yup! Many of the lines you cite are essentially cliches. Also, Greg is probably NOT responsible for all of the lyrics. Lake did not write any of "Thin Line", "Black Coat", or "Change". Also, on "Gone Too Soon", "Heart On Ice", and "One By One" there are other writers who may well have "worked" on the lyrics. Significantly, there is no liner note saying that Greg wrote the lyrics, which most ELP albums contain. (BTW, Greg's name appears more often than Keith's or Carl's on ALL ELP albums. Gives you a hint as to the internal working of the band!) The Japanese version of the disc, which includes the lyrics, does not indicate who wrote the lyrics. My guess is that Wray, Weschler, and Olsen at least editted, if not actually wrote some of the lyrics. BA>What's being meant by "The hand of truth" I would give that line a political spin given Greg's earlier work, and the song is basically a call to activism. "We have the power, we can make a change There ain't no mistake, it's down to me and you" And let's recall that originally the song was titled "We Have The Power". I would guess that the name change was prompted by Olsen, and that he reasoned that the original title could be taken as either very pompous, or very political. Notice also Ben Stein's (?) comments: BS>But then again, Lake seems to make references to a couple of BS>his OWN earlier songs. You missed "Knife Edge" and "Learning to Fly" too. "This world is not an easy rider It's where the tigers walk" (Learning to Fly) "A spectre is screaming There's fire in the heat of the city The neon is burning The walls are starting to crack Even under the ground The subway is littered with pity Just look over your shoulder You'll notice a knife in your back" This stanza, and in fact all of "One By One", is almost a blend of "Knife Edge" and "Learning to Fly". Compare with: "On the streets of the city only spectres still have pity Patient queues for the gallows sing the praises of the hallowed Our machines beat the finest If they take us they will burn us!" So I'd try not to look at these lyrics without reference to Lake's earlier work. Also, we now know that Keith wrote much more music than was actually used on ItHS and that Olsen "the evil one" is responsible for cutting many of Keith's ideas. It follows from this that some of the "Lake" songs were whipped together to fullfill the "contractual obligation". Notice the heavy reliance on cliches. Greg is usually better than that. Also, many of the songs are perfunctory, lacking proper introductions and closings. I _really_ think that this disc was made to please Victory (may they rot in hell) Music, rather than representing what ELP want to do. live long and Progress!! - Mark McCarron-Fraser death-threat, criticism, love-letters etc, gladly accepted at: mfraser@rs.com ------------------------------ From: Rfcarmody@aol.com Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 16:35:33 -0500 To: arnold@iii.net Subject: Re: ELP Digest V4 #25 Just thought you'd like to know that I work for the big rock station here in Roanoke VA and we haven't gotten even a promo single from the ItHS album. Wish I could hear it! Wish I could play it! ------------------------------ From: Rfcarmody@aol.com Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 16:38:53 -0500 To: arnold@iii.net Subject: Re: Airplay stuff Maureen@eworld.com writes: >>>My brother-in-law, Brett, lives in Bullhead City, AZ. He was in Japan recently, on business, and had promised one of the DJs at a Bullhead radio station that he (Brett) would bring back some unreleased-in-the-States CDs for the DJ to play. Well, to make a long story short, Brett returned with the latest Eric Clapton album, _Vroom_, and _ItHS_, and has been eagerly awaiting hearing them on the radio. Alas, to no avail, in some cases. The DJ tells him that _Vroom_ and _ItHS_ are just too avant-garde to play in Bullhead City.>>> It's too avant-garde to play ANYWHERE! People who listen to the radio want to hear the top songs from any given band. If it's a rock station, it's rock music. I've been in radio programming for ten years. If I wanna go home and listen to Vroom, then that's great. But playing it for people who want to hear Verse-Chorus-Verse is not how a radio station stays in business. And radio is a business. It's not to 'teach' people that there's thing out there that are really wild. I have every Gentle Giant album in existance on both lp and cd. But when I got to work, I have to play Eric Clapton and Foreigner. If I want to play ELP, it's got to be KE9, 1st Pt 2, Still..., or From the Beginning. If I'm feeling really daring, I'll play Hoedown. Radio is not meant to be a substitute for a good record collection. And playing wild 'avant-garde' records on the radio is not the way to turn people on to new music. It's just a way to make people look at the radio, say 'what the f*** is this?", and change the station. If you want to turn people onto ELP, just sit them down with a beverage and/or party chemical of choice and play your favorite song for them. If they dig it, they'll figure it out there, not while driving around listening to the local rock station in traffic while their mind's on 50 different things. One jock's opinion.... PS: NEVER buy radio jocks cd's. They get dozens through the record company, and they buy what they can't get that way. You don't wanna know where those copies of Vroom and ItHS wound up!!! ------------------------------ From: frank a conte , on 12-14-94 10:34 AM: To: Jarnold Subject: Fwd from alt.music.progressive on Emerson's Technique Xref: world alt.music.progressive:45595 Newsgroups: alt.music.progressive From: jgoat@world.std.com (James Forgy) Subject: Re: Emerson's technique Juan Molinari (timb@clark.net) wrote: : Whatever you think about Keith Emerson's playing you : have to admit it's distinctive. Can anyone who's a better : musician than I explain what, in musical terms, characterises : his playing? I have the half-baked notion that he likes to use : particular intervals, including semitones, and play repetitive patterns : that noone else would ever think of trying. Can anybody do : better than that at giving a musician's description of the : Emerson sound? : -- : Tim Beardsley I cannot be more exact than that but Emerson has concentrated on Jazz, Rock, and classical styles more than other Rock keyboardist. For instance, Wakeman knows his classical shit, but he really doesn't have the jazz. The only jazz moment I ever heard that was well done was a playing of "Summertime", which, by Gershwin, is not really hard-core jazz anyways. Jan Hammer or Chic Corea are great jazz keyboardists, yet they do not have the classical training of Emerson... Keith Emerson is just the Jesus christ of Rock Keyboards. -jf ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Dec 1994 14:02:27 -0600 (CST) From: Craig Koukol Subject: Brain Salad To: arnold@iii.net Hi John. I have a question for you or anyone else involved with the ELP Digest. The song "Brain Salad Surgery" on Works v.2: on what record was it originally available (an EP, single, etc.)? Is the original source still obtainable, and in what format (vinyl, CD)? I've always loved that cut, but hoped that it might have a better sound quality on the original source. On Works it sounds "compressed." Thanks for the help and keep up the good work with ELP Digest!!! Craig Koukol ------------------------------ From: Maureen@eworld.com To: arnold@iii.net Date: Sat, 17 Dec 94 17:09:25 PST Subject: Re: Questions from a Recent Fan >From Digest 4/25: ROBERT BRATULIC writes: > 5. With all due respect, does Emerson need Lake and Palmer? > Palmer enriches Emerson. Lake, on the other, does not > seem to do much for Emerson (other than lyrics) because > his solo style is so different from Emerson's. IMHO, Emerson, when he's playing ensemble, as opposed to his solo projects, seems to have an unmistakable synergy with Lake that he doesn't have otherwise. I've listened to all of the boys' (non-boot) albums, _ELPowell_, and _To the Power of Three_. On all ELP albums and the ELPowell disc, there is absolutely no doubt who is sitting behind the keyboards; Emerson's style is unmistakable. Listening to 3, I would never have known that Keith was the keyboard player had I not read the album cover. The keyboard playing is certainly skilled, but totally unremarkable in every regard. The common thread among all the bands is Keith. The link between Keith and his style in the bands seems to be Greg. Sla/n, Mo! Maureen@eWorld.com ------------------------------ From: m.burns@genie.geis.com Date: Tue, 20 Dec 94 04:46:00 UTC To: arnold@iii.net Subject: ELP Digest V4 #26 (new Greg Lake video available!) Hi Everyone... I'm sending a copy of my note to some of the online services about Greg Lake's 'A Concert for Sara" Greg did a concert in Albany NY on Dec 17th at WTEN channel 10. The concert was videotaped on the 17th and broadcast the following night on the same station in Albany. I was very fortunate to recieve a phone call from Ken Galgano who had to turn down the tickets from Bob Gatto, who also could not make this event. so here's the post: ****Dec 17th 1994, sometime Sat night! Well, I got an early Christmas present!! Just got back from Albany NY where my daughter and I were able to be part of the 'studio audience' for the taping of the GL Concert to benefit the SAW Rescue Center!! (Thanks to a friend of mine in Albany who won tickets and could not make it!) Greg did 5 songs with a back up band (2 guitars, bass, those electronic drums, and the one guitar player also played some keyboards) In between the songs info on how Greg got involved with the Rescue Center and info on the Center itself was taped. He opened with From the Beginning, then did Heart on Ice. There was not a dry eye in the house after he sang Daddy (that song really gets to me). Greg then did Lucky Man and closed with 'Father Christmas' being joined by a local high school choral group. Greg graciously signed autographs afterward, and then left to catch a plane for DC for the show at the Hard Rock in the am. The show is to be broadcast Sunday night at 7:30 pm on Channel 10 in Albany (it's an ABC affiliate), could not find out if it was going out national. The entire broadcast video will be available by mail (for $20 procedes going to the SAWRC), I will post the address when I get it on Monday. ****Mary Ann The video of this broadcast is now available. It also includes a reading of Greg's original letter to Mr Wood offering his help with the Rescue center, and information on what the center is doing to help families of abducted children. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT BOOT THIS VIDEO!!!! As the proceeds go to the Sara Anne Wood Rescue Center: send $20 ( US funds) made out to 'WTEN' to Greg Lake- A Concert for Sara c/o WTEN 341 Northern Blvd Albany NY 12204 Do pass this info on to any offline ELP fans you know! (For anyone outside the states, I'm sure you'll need to add in the overseas postage costs and include in your request how you need it mailed) Greg also played the next day at the Hard Rock Cafe in Washington DC. After playing the same set list, Greg stayed and signed autographs and took pictures with the many many fans that came out to support this cause. thank you for your support and Happy Holidays to all!! Mary Ann [ Editor's note: I've already sent in my check and anxiously await the video in the mail! If you order a copy, please let them know that you heard about this from the ELP Digest. I bet they'll be surprised how many non-NY orders they get! - John - ] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Dec 94 21:03:08 EDT From: "Carlos Alberto Teixeira" To: "John E. Arnold" Subject: << Touch and go >> Comments: No computer stands in my way, only blood can cancel my pain. Hi, ELP'ers: Just for our records, that beautiful keyboard theme in TOUCH AND GO was *borrowed* by Emerson/Lake from "Fantasia on Greensleeves" written by Vaughan Williams. "You see it doesn't matter when you're buried in disguise..." C U L8R, - c.a.t -- begin 644 secret.sig | * Carlos Alberto Teixeira * @2&5Y('EO=2`M($1O;B=T(&)E('-O(&-U I would like to somewhat organize a plan to completely fill out the lyrics for ELP at the ftp sites and possibly, if John can allow, the WWW site. So far it seems that there are very few available. If anyone has any that aren't published I'd be willing to collect them. ITHS is especially needed since I don't know of them being published anywhere. You can send them to me and then I will upload them. ____________________________________________________________ http://www.halcyon.com/telical/index.html or if this is busy, a bare-bones version at http://www.eskimo.com/~telical/ ------------------------------ From: Maureen@eworld.com To: arnold@iii.net Date: Wed, 21 Dec 94 23:06:44 PST Subject: Re: Conversion? Re Digest 4/25: BAD> Re: Conversion? BAD> BAD> Anyone noticed the Christian - or at least Christian oriented BAD> imagery - in the lyrics of ITHS? I have waited with my BAD> comments on this as I was afraid I might be a bit too biased BAD> by my own views in this area. However, I will take the risk BAD> and bring forth some thoughts on this, as I feel it is rather BAD> consistent through the songs. As a matter of fact, I had also noticed this; Mark McCarron-Fraser and I have been discussing this very topic. I figured I was the only one who had noticed, so I hadn't said anything on the Digest, either. BAD> I would like to have comments from others on this! As a BAD> "practising" Christian myself I may read too much into it! I don't think you're reading too much into it at all. If "heavenly" references only appeared once or twice, in a love song, I'd be inclined to think it was just a turn of phrase. On ItHS, though, there are quite a few references, and in more than just love songs, and in songs with differing authors. BAD> Of course, there is not any "preaching" on the CD, however, BAD> they (or Greg) have in fact changed in other ways the last BAD> twenty years, and it just may have had some effect on their BAD> world views also... Well, they never struck me much as preachers. Indeed, folk do tend to change over 20 years; it would be interesting to hear the boys' own take on this... Sla/n, Mo! Maureen@eWorld ------------------------------ From: bjorn-are.davidsen@s.televerket.tele.no Date: Thu, 22 Dec 1994 09:38:40 +0100 To: arnold@iii.net Subject: BEST of ELP - and religion Re: BEST of ELP I just found the Best of ELP CD in a store and discoverred that it was a NEW Best of CD - that is not the old one! It started with "From the Beginning" and then had tracks like "Jerusalem", "Tarkus and "KE9 1 impression, pt 2". And to make life harder for the ELP completist it contained some stuff difficult to find other places. Victory has been kind of nasty and put the (original) single versions of "Fanfare for the Common Man", "Black Moon" and "I believe in Father Christmas" (the exact same as on Works Vol 2?). [ Editor's note: I got this collection for Christmas. The "original single version of "I Believe In Father Christmas" is NOT the same as the version on Works Vol. 2 nor is it the same as on "Return of the Manticore". "I Believe..." was originally released as a Greg lake solo single in December 1975 (i.e, not as an ELP record). The Works Vol. 2 version is the same arrangement but Keith synth/piano replaces much of the orchestra that's on the original. Last year's RoTM is another take on the song with a different arrangement. Though I like Keith's playing, I like the original best. Also, it was the "original" version that was the basis for the video of the song that was played on ABC's In Concert series in 1975. - John - ] Re: Getting religion I agree heartily with db that "The Only Way" is a marvelous song with fantastic lyrics! Nice to see that you have had it posted on your wall for so many years! However, it is interesting to see that you have another interpretation of the lyrics than my "religious one". db> To the person that thinks that ELP "got religion" in this new album, I can db> only say that I interpret some of those lyrics the opposite way. db> For example: db> .... There's fire in the heavens db> It's burning in the hand of truth db> I view this as (another statement, similar to "The Only Way") that "the db> heavens" (which is a symbolic reference to religion) and truth often clash db> which is the underlying theme of "The Only Way" btw. Now, I can agree with you that this particular song just may be interpreted in that way. At the same time there are just too many other references on the album that I think support my general view that ITHS is a lot more (and strikingly so) positive to Christianity than previous ELP albums, as given in my original listing from lyrics all through the album. However, It would be very nice to see what others think about this subject! Perhaps we could make a voting on this! Bjo/rn Are ------------------------------ Digest, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: arnold@iii.net ==\ => NEW (as of 11/17/94) ELP-related info that you / want to put in the digest to: arnold@iii.net =/ Back issues are available from the World Wide Web ELP Home Page: URL: http://bliss.berkeley.edu/elp/ Note: The opinions, information, etc. contained in this digest are those of the original message sender listed in each messag. Theyy 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 5 Issue 1] *************************************