ELP Digest Sunday, 16 August 1998 Volume 8 : Issue 10 The "Wasn't Like The Rest" Edition Today's Topics: Fan Reviews on the ELP Digest web site Harmagedon on CD! (Japanese import) Jeopardy "A Time And A Place". Keith stands corrected... In the Court of the Lucky Man! re: Greg's Ripper More on Greg's Ripper re: ELP and British Telecom British Telecom Emo's HAMMONDs Modular Moog The list of Keith Emerson's musical abilities Partner Poll Prelude ======= Hope you're checking out the Fan Reviews on the ELP Digest web site. This has been a very busy summer with me and I'm putting out this Digest quickly to remind everyone to catch the reviews, set lists, etc. on the web site. If, for some reason, you can't get to the web site, let me know and I'll see what I can do for you. Thanks! - John - ------------------------------------------------------------ From: John Arnold , on 8/16/98 8:10 PM: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Fan Reviews on the ELP Digest web site This is a pretty short version of the Digest because, as I mentioned last time, I'm putting the fan reviews directly onto the web rather than letting them accumulate dust in the ELP Digest queue. You can get to them from the ELP Digest main page: Look for the 1998 Tour Schedule and Fan Review rollover buttons at http://bliss.berkeley.edu/elp I'll be adding fan reviews at least once a week for as long as they come in. So, check their every few days during the tour because I've been updating them more often than I've been able to get together a whole Digest. Also, you can read the "Guest Column" I wrote for the official ELP Digest site at http://www.dynrec.com/elp if you're so inclined. - John - elp-digest@reluctant.com ------------------------------ From: John Arnold , on 8/6/98 8:10 PM: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Harmagedon on CD! (Japanese import) Here's a nugget from a Digest reader who prefers to remain anonymous... "German Music Express recently listed a new Japanese import album by Keith Emerson called "GENMA TAISEN." Naturally, I ordered it. To my surprise, it's Harmagedon -- with more tracks on it than there were on the vinyl version. I can't read Japanese, so I don't know if the additional tracks were written by Emerson. They sure don't sound like him, but .... One of the new tracks DEFINITELY is Emerson's ... it's a synthesizer version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. It fades out during the fugue, but it's nearly the whole thing -- not just a quote, like he plays (backwards) in concert. So ... you can tell our fellow scavengers that the long-lost Harmagedon is available -- and on CD to boot. Pricey, at $40, but worth it for us die-hards. Find it at www.musicexpress.com" ------------------------------ From: "Ron Susser" , on 8/5/98 7:44 AM: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Jeopardy I was watching Jeopardy on July 25 and under the category "Pop Music," the question read: Of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, he is the drummer. The contestant correctly answered, Carl Palmer. It seems like our heros have finally made it to the big time. Take care, Ron Susser rsuss@erols.com ------------------------------ From: drixy@videotron.ca, on 8/12/98 11:53 PM: To: arnold@reluctant.com Subject: "A Time And A Place". Keith stands corrected... Hi John, In his fan review of the August 6, PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ concert, Frank Sonnenberg quotes Keith Emerson saying that they never played the piece "A Time And A Place" before. Well, Keith stands corrected: I saw ELP play that song as the first encore(!) of a concert at Montréal's Place Des Nations on August 13 1971. [...] That night, they played "The Barbarian", "Take A Pebble", "Tarkus"(complete), "Knife-Edge"(with Organ and Drum solos), "A Time And A Place" and "Nutrocker" as the second encore. Opening for ELP were Humble Pie (then with a young guitar player named...Peter Frampton!) Rene in Montreal ------------------------------ From: Paolo Rigoli , on 8/6/98 3:55 PM: To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com Subject: In the Court of the Lucky Man! This is a brief extract from the Ian McDonald May 1998 chat at the artist shop. Lucky Man was actually one of the first songs we did with King Crimson! A bit of trivia there. When we began rehearsals, but it was dropped only to resurface later with ELP. For a complete transcript check out the following link: http://www.artist-shop.com/irc/mcdonald.htm Bye, Paolo. ------------------------------ From: Curt , on 7/31/98 8:57 PM: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: re: Greg's Ripper digest-mailer@reluctant.com wrote: > From: Don Goodman , on 6/11/98 12:24 PM: > Subject: Greg Lake's Trivia Page and Bass Guitars > > Has anybody been into the Greg Lake Trivia page? There is a question > posed asking what two kinds of bass guitars he used during the 70's. > The posted answers are 'Fender' and 'Alembic'. Sure he used those, but > he certainly played a 'Gibson Ripper' as well. Or am I wrong? In fact > on the back of the Welcome Back... triple album, is he not playing one? I have an old poster, bought at either the '71(?) tour at San Francisco's Winterland Arena, or the '74(?) BSS tour at San Francisco Civic Auditorium. In it, one can clearly see Greg with a Fender Jazz bass. I also have the black covered ELP music book with transcriptions of Benny The Bouncer, Endless Enigma I & III, The Sheriff, etc. The portrait of Greg shows him holding an eight string bass that certainly looks Alembic (but we can see no logo). The same book features a facing-paged photo (looks like it was at the California Jam?), taken from a stage left perspective. Greg is closest to the camera (standing on the good 'ol Persian rug), holding a black Gibson Ripper bass. Also, the photo on the back cover of "Welcome Back My Friends..." appears to be from the same tour. > [ Editor's Note: Back in the 70s, Greg Lake was on the cover of Guitar Player > magazine (that's I know if around here somewhere....) and > I think it is a Gibson Ripper bass that he's playing in that > picture.... - John - ] I have several 70s fan mags with ELP articles, including the Guitar Player. It's the September 1974 issue. Greg Lake is featured on the cover, playing a black Gibson Ripper bass. The article, by Steve Rosen, says "...another change for Greg is to Gibson after many years of keeping company with the Fender Jazz Bass. A new prototype model distributed by Gibson called "The Ripper," Lake's instrument embodies more powerful pickups than the standard bass humbuckings, as well as a mid-range choke to wring greater highs from the instrument. Greg feels it is the most 'reliable and accurate' instrument on the market. He likes a bass that is electronically well-designed with an absolutely precise neck in perfect tune all the way up to the 22nd fret of the low E string. He also prefers for nothing to be heard resonating in sympathy with a particular note; that is, the bottom E string is of the same intensity as the high G." The article also mentions his tortoise-shell picks (does he still use that kind?), and the Crown-amp-powered JBL stacks (does anyone remember the back-and-forth alternating lights on the fronts of the speaks?). Anyway, being a die-hard ELP fan and a budding bass player, I bought myself the only bass I've ever owned -- a black Ripper, and still play it after almost 25 years. The sound I get from it is pretty much the BSS and Welcome Back sound. Curt [ Editor's Note: I was fortunate enough to get one of Greg's guitar picks during the 1996 tour. It's a pink-ish Tortex pick with the classic rounded triangle shape like standard Fender picks. To my fingers, it feels like a thin/medium weight. The best part: it's got Greg's signature embossed in it. - John - ] ------------------------------ From: "David Simmons (U*B*U Music)" , on 8/4/98 9:10 PM: To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com Subject: More on Greg's Ripper Dear ELP folk Regarding Greg's Gibson bass... it is indeed a ripper. He and Jazz great Dartanyan Brown, (an instructor of mine) had two of the first ripper basses made. Grace, Peace and Progressive Grooves, -david simmons PS - You are the light of the world... Go Shine! :o) Grace, Peace and Forgiveness David Simmons www.ubumusic.com david@ubumusic.com U*B*U Music. PO Box 2006 Inver Grove Heights, MN. 55076 ------------------------------ From: "Paul Snuggs" , on 8/3/98 10:50 AM: To: Subject: re: ELP and British Telecom Nigel Hobday wrote : >Why can't we talk about normal things like other families ? Anyway, I >never ... This publication has gone to almost every household in the UK !!! cool - cant wait for mine - then I can discuss more ELP with my family over toast ;-) Paul. ------------------------------ From: fsteama@dircon.co.uk (Mike Goode, Full Steam Ahead Ltd), on 8/11/98 10:56 PM: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: British Telecom Nigel Hobday wrote: Want a laugh ? - British Telecom (BT) have a new publication called BTQ which is a series of articles about BT internet services SNIP SNIP "When Andy was away the week before last, he asked me to check his e-mail and to my horror he had over a hundred messages unread, most of them from the Emerson, Lake and Palmer newsgroup which feeds him with a wealth of information which I really don't want to hear, especially over breakfast. Why can't we talk about normal things like other families ? Anyway, I never liked ELP; to loud and hairy for me...I wonder if there's a David Cassidy newsgroup ?" It's a fair cop. I admit it, I got the article written (my design company designed the publication). We have been getting BT to direct queries about the ELP newsgroup (yes, there have been queries) to http://bliss.berkeley.edu/elp/ so hopefully the exposure has done ELP no harm at all. Now if someone can let me have the address of ELP's management, I'll send them an invoice (only joking). We're currently doing the second issue but I don't think that I can get away with a second mention... not just yet anyway... we'll have to wait for issue three!!! Mike Goode Full Steam Ahead Ltd [ Editor's Note: Thanks for the pointer to the ELP Digest! - John - ] ------------------------------ From: Prott Bernd , on 8/10/98 11:03 AM: To: "'elp-digest@reluctant.com'" Subject: Emo's HAMMONDs Hello John, hello fellow ELP fans, I'm in the process of writing an article about Keith Emerson's HAMMOND C-3 organs for Liv Whetmore's 'Impressions' magazine. I'm in a desperate need of pictures showing the 2 differrent C-3s in their various states from the early 70ies and the late 90ies. Anybody who can provide pictures which clearly show these organs and is willing to support my article should let me know. As it is a labour of love job, I cannot pay any royalties, I can only guarantee proper source credits. Please contact me at bernd.prott@mchu.si-t.de Best wishes and have fun with the current tour Bernd Prott ------------------------------ From: Frank Sonnenberg , on 8/12/98 11:21 AM: To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Modular Moog Does anyone know where I can get details about Keith Emerson's modular Moog, including a list of the modules it contains and a picture of it that's good enough to see all the details? If anyone has a magazine article describing it, I'd be happy to pay for copying and postage. An interview with Will Alexander on Keith's web site describes it in general terms and describes its restoration in the early 90's, but not much technical detail. Thanks. - Frank Sonnenberg ------------------------------ From: Mike Flemmer , on 8/6/98 6:56 PM: To: arnold@reluctant.com Subject: The list of Keith Emerson's musical abilities I have been studying Keith Emerson's music and have created the following list of his outstanding musical abilities/achievemants. There are now a total of 40 items in the list, each an outstanding ability/achievement. If anyone notices something I may have over- looked, please feel free to add to the list! It must be a musical achievement. The list is divided into two categories: 'as a musician', and 'keyboard techniques'. An example of the ability in a work is in parenthesis. Keith Emerson's abilities as a musician: 1. playing the piano (all albums) 2. playing the electronic organ (most albums) 3. playing the pipe organ (The Three Fates, Pictures) 4. playing the synthesizer (most albums) 5. playing the accordion (C'est La Vie) 6. playing the zoukar (The Endless Enigma) 7. playing the electric clavinet (Nutrocker) 8. playing rock (most albums) 9. playing classical (Pictures, Works, Vol1) 10. playing jazz (improvisations) 11. playing blues/honky tonk (Honky Tonk Train Blues) 12. arranging/writing rock (most albums) 13. arranging/writing classical (Toccata/Piano Concerto No1) 14. arranging/writing jazz (improvisations) 15. arranging/writing blues/honky tonk (Tiger In A Spotlight) 16. improvising rock (live concerts) 17. improvising jazz (live concerts) 18. improvising blues/honky tonk (live concerts) 19. performing as member of an ensemble (all albums) 20. performing as an accompanist (all albums) 21. performing solo (all albums) 22. writing orchestrations (Pirates) 23. teaching and lectures (workshop video) 24. pioneer of incorporating the synthesizer in rock/pop music (Lucky Man) 25. pioneer of playing a synthesizer in live performances 26. historic first recording of a poly-phonic synthesizer (Jerusalem) 27. performs unique stunts during live performances (360o spinning piano, jumping over organ, organ feedback,...) 28. understands music history, music theory, music notation, and composing 'on paper' 29. music writer/director for movie soundtracks (Inferno, Nighthawks, Best Revenge) Keith Emerson's keyboard techniques: 1. basics- scales, arpeggios, chords, legato, staccato,... 2. complex fingering to play complex passages (counterpoint in Fugue) 3. single hand, single note 16th notes (Karn Evil9) 4. piano string plucking (Take A Pebble) 5. left hand solos (Karn Evil9 in concert) 6. playing a keyboard backwards or upside down (live concerts) 7. one finger slides (single note pressed during the slide) (many examples) 8. hand slides (several notes are pressed during the slide) (Pictures) 9. extended hand reach (hands can play larger than an octave) 10. sudden leap to another octave (sometimes several octaves) (Barbarian) 11. rigid hand (holding a fingering position stiff ) (Barbarian) 40 so far! Think of any others? MikeJF ------------------------------ From: Russell Hammond , on 8/11/98 6:56 PM: To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Partner Poll John, For years I have suffered at the hands of my partner who has detested my music so much I have to resort to personal stereos and cordless headphones to enjoy the tunes of ELP. Car rides are in silence when my partner is present, parties are uninteresting to down right boring and I can't discuss my joy at discovering ELP's latest release. I have a friend whose partner was so cheesed off with his (and that means our) music that she placed all his CDs in a box and hid them for over 12 months - this particular story had a happy ending if you were interested. What has me amazed are the number of posts that the subscriber / contributor / fan and their partner went to the latest concert together, discussed the band in detail, bought the latest release together or have no problems with ELP at all. Since this is foreign to me I was wondering if I could have some feedback over the next couple of months if your partners love, loath, intolerance or apathy to ELP. I'm not interested in your opinion because you already subscribe / contribute to this site so you have to be a fan. So the question is: How much of a fan of ELP is your partner? Partner; Long term boy or girl friend, wife, husband or even other family members that you are close to or live with. Send responses to me at rhammond@westpac.com.au and not to John (I don't want to be flamed, OK) Response required: a number between 1 to 10 Subject: Partner Poll Scale - refer below: 10) Your partner would jump over you to meet band members or, Your partner would go out and buy tickets for ELP concert when they come to town and tell you about it afterwards Your partner would buy the latest CD and keep it for themselves 9) Your partner would hold your hand and drags you towards or pushes you to meet members of the band if they spotted them in the street or Your partner would let you know they were buying tickets for a ELP concert or Your partner may buy the latest CD and give it to you as an unexpected present and sit down and listen to it with you 8) Your partner brings to your attention that ELP are playing in town and badgers you to get tickets or Your partner would politely point to band members if they recogised them in the street or Your partner WILL let you know that ELP has a new CD out and will probably ask to borrow it 7) Your partner leaves a copy of the local or national paper open to let you know the band will be playing or Your partner WILL let you know that a band member is "over there!" if they meet them in the street or Your partner will ask you if ELP has released a new CD and may ask you borrow it 6) Your partner doesn't mind going to a concert once you brought it up and may pay their way or Your partner MAY let you know that a band member is "over there!" if they meet them in the street or Your partner MAY let you know that a new CD is out and will borrow only if offered 5) Your partner doesn't mind going to a concert if you pay or Your partner doesn't mind meeting band member if you make the first move or Your partner doesn't know a new CD has been released and may borrow it if offered 4) Your partner has to be badgered into going to a concert or Your partner will stand back if you go up and great a band member in the street or Your partner doesn't know a new CD has been released and will not borrow it if offered 3) Your partner will politely refuse to go to a concert or Your partner will direct your attention in the other direction if they see a band member in the street or Your partner will ask you turn "the music down" to a level that you need a dB monitor to detect or Your partner doesn't want to know anything about the band never mind the latest CD 2) Your partner tells you where "you can go" if you bring anything of ELP into a conversation and they definitely will not tolerate ANY music at ANY volumes 1) Your partner tears up any concert tickets they find or Your partner will run up and kick band members if they see them in public Your partner will dispose of any discs when your back is turned Basically, 10 = your partner is a bigger fan than you, 5 = apathy and 1 = why the hell am I with this person and what have we got in common? It's a bit of fun, so let me know and I'll let you know the results. Thanks Russell ------------------------------ 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 ELP Digest web site: 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 8 Issue 10] *************************************