ELP Digest Monday, 14 July 1997 Volume 7 : Issue 14 The "Back You Dogs Give 'em Room To Turn" Edition Today's Topics: Re: Greg Lake Limited Edition King Biscuit CD State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ NJ Date changed Wanted: "Tarkus" sheet music book Tarkus sheet music ELP on UK TV via ASTRA!? (URGENT) fwd: ELP on German TV how to watch elp live in munich on u.k. satellite tv. H-ELP Me with B.A. Keith Emerson's Sons Sands Casino * You have to tip for a seat NJ Tix on sale now! Emerson's days with The Nice Keith's Yamaha GX-1 ELP DATES + VIDEO Emo's Book Top of the pops? ELP and the UK ELP - No UK Gigs Re: ELP Tour San Diego Concert questions, questions! I can't afford to be an ELP fan John Wetton Biography Love Under Fire Reflecting on respective retrospective activities The Good, The Great and the Urgently needed Prelude ======= Hi. A brief respite from the current ELP tour activities and reviews. They'll be back in the next issue. But for now, it's back to the news and discussion. ------------------------------------------------------------ From: BRUCETUNE@aol.com Date: 7/8/97 12:19 AM To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Re: Greg Lake Limited Edition King Biscuit CD >>> From: "Alex Rubli K." >>> To: elp-digest@reluctant.com >>> Subject: greg Lake's KBH special edition >>> >>> Hi co-fans ! >>> >>> I just received my 'special' king biscuit hour cd, and I have to say >>> that I am quite dissapointed, first of all, supposedly they are all >>> signed by greg, I have an old autograph (downloaded from somewhere) and >>> the signature seems to me quite different that the one on the cd, I can assure you Alex, the autograph is authentic. I personally handed each booklet to Greg to sign. We several people who can confirm this. We are signing them in bulk amounts of 2500 at a time. >>> second, I received copy 250 of 2500 0 (the last zero is printed with >>> another machine, I wonder if this is really a UNIQUE number. The registration on the last zero was slightly off on some booklets, but we didn't feel it was enough of a problem to re-print a gold foil, embossed booklet. Believe it or not, the booklets cost more to manufacture than the CDs, themselves. The edition will go out of print at 25,000 units. Considering the worst selling ELP album still sold almost 200,000 units, I think it is fair to call this a limited edition. >>> third, the inner notes are almost the same as the normal KBH version, >>> (they include the notes in french(so what?) The liner notes tell the whole story of this recording. We did expand them from the original, and there is an introduction by Greg that is not in the original. Neither Greg nor myself would write more copy just for the sake of making the booklet thicker. Less is more. >>> the track listings is identical to the 'normal version' with th exceptin >>> of two additional tracks, an interview (short) and a rare ce'st la vie >>> version, horribly taped. We have always stated what the bonus tracks were. As far as the sound quality of Ce'st La Vie.... to say it is horrible, is your opinion. It was good enough for Greg Lake to release with his name on it, and if anyone knows Greg's high standards, that should say something. But, Alex, you missed the whole point. If you had taken the time to read the liner notes you just mentioned, you would have realized we included it to make the show complete. The liner notes state that the original 2 track master of this song from the KBFH was destroyed in 1981 when the King Biscuit office caught fire. Fortunately, a 2 track master of the aired show survived in a different location, but "Ce'st La Vie" was cut out of the broadcast show for time reasons. We found this audience tape of "Ce'st La Vie", had it digitally re-mastered, and put it in, so that the 81 solo tour performance is now complete, as it was performed by Greg and his band in 1981. In addition, this is a completely different full band, electric version of the song (with a blistering solo by Gary Moore), radically different than the ELP version. Maybe you don't care about that, but I can assure many Lake/ELP fans are happy the version is finally available. >>> I expected a special case, not the normal jewel case... We've never advertised a special case. The special packaging comes in the form of the gold foil, embossed cover on the booklet. >>> oh well, I could have find a better way to spend 30 bucks.. Sorry you feel that way,but your letter was the first negative comment we have seen. I have dozens of letters and e-mails from fans that enjoy the CD and think it is a good value. However, both Greg Lake and myself thank you for interest, nonetheless. Bruce Pilato, Personal Manager- Greg Lake. ------------------------------ From: "Berger, Bill" To: "'elp-digest@reluctant.com'" Subject: State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ Date: 7/14/97 12:51 PM John and fellow ELP enthusiasts: FYI - tickets for the Sept. 9th show at the aforementioned theater went on sale today 7/14/97. Prices are $45 and 37.50, not a bad seat in the 1800 seat theater, very good acoustics, I have seen the NJ Symphony Orchestra there several times. The tickets are also on sale for the Sands Casino Atlantic City show, $60, the person there said the theater seats 800. I don't know what its like, never been there. I got my second row center tickets for the State and pray that nothing happens to change this concert event of a lifetime for me. Keep up the good work John, w/o the digest I may not have found out about the show until it was too late to get tickets. The theater is only 10 minutes away but since this is a private performance they don't advertise it, its up to the promoters to do that. Bill ------------------------------ Date: 7/14/97 12:46 PM From: kstober@attmail.com (Karen E Stober) Subject: NJ Date changed To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Hi John, The New Brunswick, NJ concert is now Monday September 8 and not the 9th. I was the first one at the State Theater Box Office when it opened today at noon. Entire front row was available. I got Row A Seat 1, left side, in front of Keith. Guy in back of me got the two front row center seats. I could hear orders being taken over the phone. The Box Office HAS THE FRONT ROWS!!!! Not Ticketmaster. I can't wait. Anybody want to join me for dinner or carpool let me know. Best, Karen E. Stober home:karen1@mail.idt.net work:kstober@attmail.com home page: http://idt.net/~karen1/ ------------------------------ From: "harrison" To: Subject: Wanted: "Tarkus" sheet music book Date: 6/18/97 12:24 AM Hi John and ELP fans, I have been trying to find a copy of the "Tarkus" sheet music book that was published by Warner Bros., and would love to hear from anyone who has a copy for sale. Paul Harrison [ Editor's Note: read on. Another reader responds to a previous query... ] ------------------------------ From: sabine@cyberjava.com Date: 7/9/97 1:43 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Tarkus sheet music (Note: please do not respond directly to above e-mail address) I have the Tarkus sheet music book which I'm willing to sell. Though not a musician myself, I bought it for the lyrics and curiousity value when I came across it at a local used book store. I'm not online (I check the Digest periodically at my local library), but anyone interested can contact me at: Joseph O'Connor 3848 Overland Ave. #415 Culver City, CA 90232 Phone: (310) 839-7890 I have just viewed a video of the 1990 Best concert (with Keith Emerson, and the modular Moog) broadcast on Japanese TV - an excellent copy shown to me by the assistant director of the broadcast. Featuring John Entwhistle on bass, Jeff Baxter & Joe Walsh on guitar, and Simon Philips on drums, the set includes "Fanfare for the Common Man" and an "America/Rondo" medley, with Keith doing a solo "Creole Dance." On Entwhistle's "Boris the Spider," at Keith's suggestion, the band adds snippets of the "Jaws" theme, Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" and Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." Would have used this space to tell everyone about the Ventura, CA concert, which I would have viewed from right in front of the stage as it was to be general admission seating, but I drove the two hours from Los Angeles to find...a boarded-up and abandoned building. [ Editor's Note: Sorry the note from ELP about those Ventura shows didn't reach you in time. The problem with those shows was beyond ELP's control. (See the ELP web site for a note from ELP about those shows.) Hope you get to see them in their California shows later in the year. See the ELP Digest web site (http://bliss.berkeley.edu/elp) for the tour itinerary. - John - ] Noticed on the Yes page some posters are suggesting Keith as a possible replacement for the departed Rick Wakeman. ------------------------------ Date: 7/7/97 4:49 PM From: Steve Hall To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP on UK TV via ASTRA!? (URGENT) Further to a recent digest posting concerning the Tollwood festival appearance of ELP, i've done a little digging. Now my german only extends to ordering beer in a bar so I might be mistaken but... Check out: http://www.br-online.de/programm/tollwood.htm#1 This 'suggests' that the chaps will be on the TV for all of Europe to see (sat dish permitting) on either 19/7/97, 25/7/97, or 1/8/97 on 3 different channels. Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR3) is a channel that we in the UK can get via Astra, and so is SAT3 so we may be lucky. Regards -- Steve Hall | Work E-Mail: Steve.Hall@barclays.co.uk Internet Production Centre | Barclays BTS | Tel No. : +44 1 565 613967 Radbroke Hall | Fax No. : +44 1 565 654473 Knutsford, Cheshire | Internet communications are not secure and therefore the Barclays Group does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Barclays Group. ------------------------------ Subject: fwd: ELP on German TV Date: 7/8/97 9:11 AM From: Prott Bernd 2933 , on 7/8/97 11:23 AM: To: John Arnold Hi John, I just want to give a quick update on the upcoming broadcast of the recorded elp show in Munich. Beside the short portion to be broadcasted on the 25th July, the long version will be broadcasted Tuesday, 19th August at midnight (00:00h), channel Bayern 3 A British ELP fan provided me with some details on how to receive the respective German channel in the UK, as he is on holiday he asked me to forward the data to you Some information that the UK people will need :- o Sky satellite o Channel Bayern 3 (B3) o Horizontal polarisation o 11.141 frequency video o 7.02/7.20 frequency audio o This channel is not scrambled for the UK o German time is one hour ahead of UK time I hope this will help ELP fans with no chance to see the show live, to get their fair share of the 97 tour. Best wishes Bernd Prott ------------------------------ From: THEGAZZAS@aol.com Date: 7/9/97 6:36 PM To: arnold@reluctant.com Subject: how to watch elp live in munich on u.k. satellite tv. if you have a astra satellite in the uk or europe you can watch elp on "bayercher rundfunk" german tv. tune you satellite to polarity "h" 11.41 and in top left hand corner you will see "br" this is the station. one reader said it will air july 25 at 23.15 (22.15 in the uk) another reader july 29 if any one knows please post. you can look up their text page "300" for information. [...] ------------------------------ Date: 7/7/97 9:42 PM From: terry kroetsch f Subject: H-ELP Me with B.A. To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Can someone help me - I am a little desperate.... I will be landing in Buenos Aires August 11th and would Kill to see the show that night at Tearro Opera (is it actually Teatro Opera?). I will be staying at the Rochester but hope someone could buy me a ticket and mail it to me, avoiding some stress-producing meeting up before the show. Any kind Argentine folks willing to help and old (I mean OLD - seen every North American tour they have done from the first...) ELP fan? Thanks, Terry ------------------------------ From: "Smith, Jim M." To: "'elp-digest@reluctant.com'" Subject: Keith Emerson's Sons Date: 7/5/97 3:37 PM Hi, I see that a keyboardist on Big Country's friends/acoustic/cover album "Eclectic" is named Aaron Emerson. Is this Keith's son? I also saw a compilation disk (I don't recall its name) which was compiled by someone named Damon Emerson and someone else. Does anyone know anything about these two albums? Has anyone heard the band "Curfew," with Aaron? Just curious, - Jim Smithj@sr.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: 6/30/97 12:55 PM From: kstober@attmail.com (Karen E Stober) Subject: Sands Casino * You have to tip for a seat To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Hi all, Sands Casino in Atlantic City, NJ...Get this:-)) I bought my ticket today at Ticketmaster @ $67 for the September 13 show. I look it over carefully and, what's this? "Maitre D'Seating"? it says. You are seated by a Maitre D and you have to tip him. What? This is the way Atlantic City is, replied the salesperson. My seat is Row CG, seat 105A. See you there. How much to tip? $1? Karen E. Stober home: karen1@mail.idt.net work: kstober@atmail.com home page: http://idt.net/~karen1/ ------------------------------ Date: 6/30/97 7:42 AM From: kstober@attmail.com (Karen E Stober) Subject: NJ Tix on sale now! To: elp-digest@reluctant.com ELP will be appearing at Sands Casino in Atlantic city. Tickets are $60 and are on sale now. Ticketmaster AC events 800-736-1420, or Southern New Jersey 609-338-9000. Good luck! Karen E. Stober ------------------------------ Date: 6/26/97 2:44 AM From: Casey Van Tieghem To: arnold@dartmouth.coordinate.com Subject: Emerson's days with The Nice Some people say that the Nice's vocalist Lee Jackson was horrible, and even some say the Nice was no where near as good as ELP. Well I think the Nice were one of the best bands of the '60's instrumentally, and vocally they were good. Check out the BBC tapes. One of my favorite songs by the Nice is 'Better than Better' (I don't know if it was released), it has a similar feel to 'Take a Pebble'. The vocals are fine, they are very moving, and a great choice for a song. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for Keith's early Moog, but as far as Hammond Organ goes, if you want the raw stuff, when it was new for Keith Emerson to throw knives, and throw Hammond Organs, the Nice is a must. I do admit Lee Jackson's voice takes getting used to, but in Five Bridges suite there is something there that is missing with Lake. Also I believe in the BBC tapes 'Aries', that's Keith Emerson's voice, and I think Emerson sings 'St. Thomas' (probably because the vocals were written on the spot). ------------------------------ From: 322979@filoz.unizar.es Date: 6/23/97 7:34 PM To: arnold@dartmouth.coordinate.com Subject: Keith's Yamaha GX-1 Hello you all: Some time ago there was a discussion about what had happened to the Yamaha GX-1 that Keith used in the Works vol. 1 album. Well, I CAN say that it is alive and well. It is still working and you can hear it in the brand new Erik Norlander album called Threshold. It is used at least in one of the tracks, and in the booklet you can see a picture of Erik playing it (among other pictures including one of a hammond organ with a modular moog panel at the back). Credits for the use of the keyboard are given to Will Alexander. Apart from that the liner notes of the booklet are written by... (trumpet fanfare here) Keith Emerson himself!! I really enjoy the CD, specially one of the tracks, Neuro Boogie, with lots of hammond and moog sounds which reminds me strongly of Keith´s playing. The lineup in all of the tracks is keys, drums and bass - no guitars (I think I have seen it before... ;-) ). I really recommend it to you. That is all for now. I just wanted to share this info with you. Take care: Dani ------------------------------ Date: 6/19/97 3:06 PM From: Giovanni Savini Subject: ELP DATES + VIDEO To: ELP DIGEST ELP DATES + VIDEO 14:42 19-06-1997 Dear Arnold, I am a 25 years old ELP fan from Rome, Italy. I have read on the latest ELP digest Issues that the Royal Albert Hall video has recently been released. Do you know if it has been released in Italy? I often go to record and video shops here in Rome but no one even knew of its release. Also, I would like to inform you that ELP will be playing in Rome on July 21, in a place called "Centralino del Foro Italico" (a Tennis stadium). Thank you and congratulations for your work. Sincerely, Giovanni. ------------------------------ From: "pat harrington" To: Subject: Emo's Book Date: 6/16/97 10:09 PM When is the "Pictures of an Exhibitionist" book due out? I've been reading that same excerpt for months! I hope it's soon! Thanks patharr@gte.net [ Editor's Note: I would imagine that Keith and Will being on tour has slowed their work on this. I would imagine that there will be an update about the book on Keith's web site once the tour is over (or when there's a break in the tour and they get a few days off). We'll keep hoping. - John - ] ------------------------------ Date: 6/15/97 5:49 PM From: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Top of the pops? Walking through "Towers Records" at Picadilly in London last Tuesday I noticed their rack of best selling music videos. Nothing very interesting until I suddenly discovered the 13th position. Our guys close to top ten again with "Live at the Royal Albert Hall"! The time of wonders is not quite a thing of the past... Yours Bjorn Are Bjorn-Are.Davidsen@s.nett.telenor.no ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Weaver in the Web that he made - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Our minds were moving parallell Because they never met ------------------------------ From: "Bernard Delmage" To: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com Date: 7/9/97 10:30 AM Subject: ELP and the UK Why would they want to leave out the UK says Liv. That is what I would like to know. They seemed able to arrange dates through most of Europe, North America and places in South America that I didn't know existed! The facts speak for themselves - only one brief tour since 1974, no Works tour with the orchestra, no ELPowell tour, no 3 tour, no 1997 tour. Whichever way you look at it thei home country has been totally ignored for the best part of their career. At the very least they could have put something on their site explaining why us poor UK fans are being deprived yet again. They managed to apologise for one missed gig in N.America (who have enjoyed far more ELP appearances than the rest of us put together) but no mention of why the UK has been blown out again. "They tried". They can't have tried very hard - the country is flooded with venues willing to take them. I did hear a whisper that they weren't going to play the UK for financial reasons. Can't understand that one. At the very least the long suffering ELP fans deserve the truth as to why we have been missed off the schedule. I have been e-mailing ELP management for some time and they have been very cagey about UK dates. It is my belief that UK dates were never seriously considered. Why you ask? Well I guess they might feel a bit shame faced about bringing a tour here which features Touch & Go as the latest piece of material on the set list! They have dumped all of Black Moon and haven't bothered with Hot Seat (not a great album granted but there were a couple of decent tracks on it). I appreciate that Liv needs their co-operation and can't give them a hard time if she wants to go on producing Impressions with their blessing, but there must be someone out there with access to the band who can ask them some tough questions. Why should the UK fans have to shall out hundreds of pounds and have to travel abroad if they want to see ELP in 1997? My wife is expecting a baby and we just can't up and leave, let alone afford the cost of the trip. I know I am not alone in buying all of the albums, tapes, CD's and videos (even when the quality is not that great). Is it too much to expect them to get over here and give us fans some live music to enjoy before the bloody millenium? Sorry for the rant John but I am still incensed by the way us UK fans have been treated since the Brain Salad days. Yours depressingly, Bernard ------------------------------ Date: 7/9/97 1:10 AM To: John Arnold From: Malcolm Oliver Subject: ELP - No UK Gigs The disappointment and discussion about why ELP have not played the UK since 1992 will run and run. However, I feel that I must comment on Liv G. Whetmore's recent Email. Liv offered an explanation as to why ELP had not been able to play the UK this time round. However, it does not excuse the facts: After the 'Brain Balad Surgery' tour, UK fans had to wait 18 years to see the band live on our shores and we have not had the opportunity since. This is not a very impressive track record. In contrast the USA got the 'Works' tour, 'Emerson, Lake & Powell' and even 'Three', plus the forthcoming gigs. It's hardly surprising that the UK fans are rather sceptical about ELP's commitment to the UK. Liv said 'They didn't leave the UK out on purpose', well I'm sure they did not, but we still had to wait for 18 years to see them! Who's to say that the UK will not be left out next time too, for what ever reasons? Will ELP ever play the UK again? Any bets? Best wishes from, Malcolm Oliver, London :-) ****************************** * oliver01@globalnet.co.uk * ****************************** ------------------------------ Date: 6/27/97 12:02 PM To: Bernard Delmage Cc: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com From: Peter Wilton Subject: Re: ELP Tour In message , Bernard Delmage writes > can you please explain to the UK fans why ELP do not play in their own >country? > >Don't they care about us? > >I think we should be told! > >A very, very long suffering ELP fan who can't see his favourite band >because he has the misfortune to live in the famous back water of >rock culture (England) and cannot afford to travel abroad just for a concert. I couldn't agree with you more. I was hoping to join the Impressions tour to Hamburg, but on examining my finances in detail, I find that it would be very foolish of me to fork out all that money. I'm very peeved about it. If the proposal to play festivals had gone ahead, they might even have found themselves a new audience! -- Peter Wilton The Gregorian Association Web Page: http://www.beaufort.demon.co.uk/chant.htm ------------------------------ Date: 7/2/97 8:28 PM From: "Michael R. Garbiso" Subject: San Diego Concert To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Was sitting here reading the morning paper when my entire summer concert series came into focus, yes, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer will be appearing in San Diego on September 30 at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay. Being very excited to see the show and let all you dyno ELP fans know when it will happen in our fair city. ELP two years in a row? The concert Gods have truly blessed me, can't wait to see the greatest band in the history of music (started going to ELP concerts with their BSS tour). As with last year, will send concert review to the Digest same night of show. Alright people, this is your San Diego correspondent signing off and wishing you all a great summer of music, laughter and fun. Randy Garbiso.....a weaver in the web that he made ------------------------------ Date: 6/22/97 11:19 PM From: Mike To: arnold@reluctant.com Subject: questions, questions! I have a question that you can hopefully answer-what is the deal with Tarkus? What is the basis of it? Am I to assume that a "Tarkus" is some giant armored armadillo? I like the song, but I'd love to know the basis for the name. Anything you could tell me about it would be appreciated. Thanks! Mike Gardner [ Editor's Note: This was a "frequently asked question" a year or two ago. But, I don't recall a definitive answer to summarize so I'll put this in again. The "Tarkus" on the album cover was drawn as a combination armadillo/tank. But I can easily imagine that the music was all done before the artwork was completed. So, does anyone know how the name "Tarkus" got selected and if there's more to it? - John - ] ------------------------------ Date: 7/11/97 6:01 PM From: AACUNZO@xray3.chem.sunysb.edu To: arnold@dartmouth.coordinate.com Subject: I can't afford to be an ELP fan Hello, I've been checking Ticketmaster's home page periodically to keep abreast of ticket sales (I'm hoping to catch ELP when they come to NYC in September). The only show they have listed right now is one in Atlantic City, and the range of prices listed for tickets is "$60-$60." This seems to indicate that all the tickets are the same price, $60. I hope this is a mistake. I've seen shows where the good seats are expensive and the seats farther back are cheaper, but I've never seen a show where all the seats in the place are $60 (which would be at least $64-$65 with service charges). If this is correct I hope it's an anomaly, because if they charge upwards of $60 for less than two hours of entertainment, I'll have to pass when they come to NYC, as there's no way in hell I'd pay that much to see one band. [ Editor's Note: Atlantic City shows are much like Vegas shows where the theaters are relatively small by rock show standards and the prices rise to "compensate". Luckily, it appears that the tickets at more typical venues are lower. For example, I think the tickets at Harborlights in Boston are in the $30-ish price range. (Not that this is cheap but concert tickets prices have been going up for all shows over the past few years.) - John - ] ttyl, Andy Acunzo aacunzo@sbchem.sunysb.edu ------------------------------ From: NorthernLn@aol.com Date: 6/25/97 10:52 PM To: arnold@reluctant.com Subject: John Wetton Biography Northern Line Publishers is handling the new book "My Own Time-The Authorized Biography of John Wetton," and thought you might like to know more about it. Obviously, fans of ELP parallel those of Asia and John. And Greg Lake even contributed some quotes to the book. Feel free to e-mail Northern Line at NorthernLn@aol.com to learn more about "My Own Time." You can also reach Northern Line by phone at 610-799-4701, or by fax at 610-799-3295. Sincerely, Northern Line Publishers ------------------------------ Date: 6/20/97 2:58 PM From: kstober@attmail.com (Karen E Stober) Subject: Love Under Fire To: elp-digest@reluctant.com FYI, The new 2 CD Asia set, "Asia Live In Osaka Featuring Special Guest Steve Howe", Blueprint BP-252-CD, has Asia performing "Love Under Fire". This is the same "Love Under Fire" that can be heard on Greg's retrospective. Greg growls more! However, "Lay Down Your Arms" isn't the same as ELP's. No songwriting credits are on the cd. Best, Karen E. Stober home:karen1@mail.idt.net work:kstober@attmail.com home page: http://idt.net/~karen1/ ------------------------------ Date: 6/15/97 4:51 PM From: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Reflecting on respective retrospective activities 1997 seems to be a good year for fans of Greg. Both his "From the Beginning" and King Crimson's "Epitah" show the greatness of his voice and vision, and contain even previously unreleased stuff! "Epitah" did also show what can be done to restore bad old tapes and bootlegs to make them pleasing for more than the most passionate fans. Go get it! I really hope both recordings will do both King Crimson. ELP and Greg a lot of good! And give both Keith and Carl incentives to dig into their own and others shelves, cellars, attics, garages, stables, studios, haigh stacks, or wherever needles and gems may be hiding... It would really be nice to use the ELP digest to provide suggestions for stuff on Keith's upcoming Rhino retrospective! Not to mention on the CD a long time being promised along with his autobiography. At least I'll take up the challenge by stating clear and confidential that it really should focus on unreleased live, studio and solo stuff! I dare say that the studio and official live Nice & ELP stuff has been sufficiently rehacked for the moment! Hence, I stubbornly continue my old wishful longing for remastered and "enhanced" (or whatever new techniques may provide) gems like Lyceum December 1970 (e.g. "Barbarian", "Take a Pebble" and the long impro with "Tank" and others), "Pirates" from Montreal 77 and the weird "Pictures" from Buffallo in 74! Or other of the glorious moments of ELP live at the moment only available on unofficial recordings, boots and videos (of often rather appalling quality, sonically speaking). What about "Endless Enigma" from one of the '72 concerts? Or the very different Aqualong from Tokyo in '72 (e.g. with "Hall of the Mountain King"). Whatever except another rererererererelease of "Knife Edge" from their first album... And then there are several Nice bootlegs which may be used as basis, e.g. the jam with Ritchie Blackmore. A lot of fans know about things like these and wonder why its so darn impossible to get good versions of great, interesting or amusing gigs? Why should the bootleggers get all the money? So please bootleg the bootleggers and laugh all the way to the bank (as Zappa once said - and did)! And King Crimson so well on their "Epitah"! I'm even quite confident that there are well recorded material hidden in the archives of the various national broadcast corporations. What about hunting Swedish Radio, Italian and German television? To name just a few. I know there must be great stoff out there, both from Nice and ELP, and Keith solo! Of course there may be some copyright challenges here. However, the less "commercial viable" - or forgotten - ELP seems at the moment, the greater the chance at getting good bargains, or what? If nothing else, please emphasis the sound tracks from the 80's, as these are not easy to get. When even die hard fans must search for years to get Keith's solo stuff, it may be allowed to deduce that commercial avaialability is somewhat wanting... And a last sigh (at least in this mailing): Mr. Rick Wakeman has understood that as his fan base is more limited these days, its better to give them 3 CD's a year (in addition to Yes CD's) - almost like when your subscribing to a magazine - to keep them pleased and at least earn something from the fan base! So, Keith, what about releasing at least 1 CD a year? As your at least thrice as interesting to listen to as Rick (by whom I've at least 10 albums and CDs), we may be satisfied by getting just a third of his yearly output from you! Pleadingly yours Bjorn Are Bjorn-Are.Davidsen@s.nett.telenor.no ------------------------------ Date: 6/15/97 5:45 PM From: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: The Good, The Great and the Urgently needed It really seems the fans have come of age! Professors, musiologists and even telecom scientists like me, are getting their voice heard where it counts, in the public discourse! The critics' positions since the mid 70's have always puzzled me. Now it seems that new types of critics are arising, which may even end up with influencing the writers of todays magazines and papers. The last year there's been a flood of material on prog! More important than people using ELP and other prog in lectures on creativity and innovation in Telecom, 3 books, ranging from good to great have been published and really are selling well! "The Music's all that Matters - A History of Progressive Rock" by Paul Stump belongs to the category good. It takes a broad view of English Prog even if often most in praise of the marginal. Neither ELP, Yes nor Gentle Giant get much applause. Stump seems a bit in awe of critics' earlier assessments and doesn't want or dare or whatever to make real reasessments of the "Dinosaurs". Still the book is a good read and gives stimulating opinions on the relative merit of various bands and figures on the prog scene from the late 60's to the 90's. Good! A better and a lot more difficult book is Bill Martin's "Music of Yes - Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock". Martin is a philosophy professor from Chicago, and more than a little influenced by Neo Marxism, which shows in his sociological angles, focus on social action, quotes from Adorno and Marcuse, not to mention his prose. So even if (like me) vigorously disagreeing with Neo Marxism in theory and practise, Martin really does make one think through once own views and interpretations. And where he seems to enjoy and appreciate ELP, he really is in love with Yes. In sharp contrast to most critics views on Yes as other worldly Martin points of how their music and lyrics all the way have pointed to social involvement and misery, as well as providing a positive alternative for society and thought. Sometimes you feel like throwing the book at the wall, other times you embrace and kiss it. Better than good, however not quite great. And then its "Rocking The Classics", by Edward Macan. For the first time I've found a writer that I wholeheartedly felt gave the right picture of prog and its merit. Some of the analysis may be a bit narrow (e.g. overtly emphasis on the common impact of the drug culture on fans and bands, and a bit too streamlined story on neo prog). However, overall Macan is just right, sometimes even in his view on the drug aspect. Macan give a very good analysis of prog's roots and sociology, from gigs to covers and music. His perceptions are full of insight and understanding. He knows and loves this music, at the same time not being blind too its pitfalls. And he delves in depth into four pieces in his view showing the value and development of prog. These are "Tarkus", "Close to the Edge" (Yes), "Firth of Fifth" (Genesis) and "Wish You Were Here". And for the record: ELP really gets their revenge on the critics. Macan manages to show how good they were and why! Great! Check Amazon.com and make your orders for these urgently needed books! Yours Bjorn Are Bjorn-Are.Davidsen@s.nett.telenor.no ------------------------------ Digest subscrition, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com ELP-related info that you want to put in the digest to: elp-digest@reluctant.com 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 message. They 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 7 Issue 14] *************************************