ELP Digest 23 August 2001 Volume 11 : Issue 9 The "Waiting by the Door" Edition Today's Topics: Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. - Carl Palmer - Purcell Room - 16th July 2001 (August 1, 2001) - All Starr Band (August 3, 2001) - Re: ELP Digest Vol. 11 #7 (August 3, 2001) - Rick Wakeman/ Keith Emerson (August 4, 2001) - Emerson/Wakeman project (August 17, 2001) - All-Starr Band - Aug. 4, 2001 in Boston (August 22, 2001) - Greg Lake Interview (August 22, 2001) Reader Commentary - Dave Edmunds loved Keith Emerson (July 10, 2001) - ELP at Cedar Point (August 1, 2001) - Sanctuary remasters (August 2, 2001) - Pictures At An Exhibition On DVD (August 8, 2001) - Greg Lake (August 17, 2001) - Lunar Chateau (August 22, 2001) Questions (and Answers!) - Re: Two "rare" vinyl albums? (August 12, 2001) New ELP Releases/Products (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.) - Artist Shop Newsletter Again (August 5, 2001) =========================== Prelude =========================== Hi. As the All-Starr Band tour moves its way through the country (to very good reviews), I wanted to get the latest ELP news out before I head out for my summer vacation. So, here it is. Thanks to all of you who help us keep up-to-date about the latest goings-on. In this issue, you can read about updates to Greg's work in the All-Starr Band, some more news from the "Palmer" tour, and some news about the Emerson/Wakeman project from Rick Wakeman's web site. Till next time... John ------------------------------ Latest News from the Official ELP sites ... See pictures of Greg Lake on NBC's "Today Show" on August 3 along with Ringo Starr's All-Star Band at Greg's official site at http://www.greglake.com/ringopix.html. Also new to the site this month: "a few more updates to the year 1977 in the Were You There section" at http://www.greglake.com/wereyou.html The Ringo Tour site features reviews and pictures from the tour at http://www.ringotour.com/2001/2001reviews.htm including a very groovy shot of Greg and Ringo at http://www.ringotour.com/2001/2001_west_virginia_pics_4a.htm. More good news from Carl Palmer's official site! See a wrap-up of the 2001 summer tour of "Palmer" and a list including new tour dates for October and 2002 at http://www.carlpalmer.com/news.html. =========================== Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. =========================== From: Andy Wilson [AWM.wilson@virgin.net] Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 12:41 PM To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Carl Palmer - Purcell Room - 16th July 2001 This was Carl Palmer's first tour of the UK since the Qango gigs in early 2000. I thought Carl played great on a cut down acoustic kit.......with no gongs! The venue was small enough for the drums not to be miked up. However, the sound was atrocious. I suppose it did not help that the 2 guitarists seemed to have little control of their volume. They kicked off with "Hoedown". The lead guitarist, Shaun Baxter had equipment problems from the outset and was not too audible during this tune. They followed this with "The Barbarian". I love it when rock stars pretend that they don't know which album tunes were recorded on. Carl thought that this was from their first album. I think that he may have been right. Despite sound problems, I think that Shaun made a very brave attempt at this. The middle section (Carl did not use his brushes on this one!) was well played with Shaun playing a lot of nice lines. The bass player, Dave Marks, was able to "fill" the sound out a lot when the guitarist was playing lead lines; always a problem with guitar led trios......but not this time. Carl introduced the band and told us that his new line up was in preference to using an orchestra. This he explained "had been done before"! Next up was a short version of "Enemy God". I don't remember much about this one. "LA Nights" was next. Is this the first tour that Carl has played this tune I wonder? Carl asked if we remembered an album called "Works 1". He joked that this was when the band "started to fall apart". Some great bass playing on this one. This was followed by Carl leaving the stage to an instrumental by the 2 guitars. Carl came back on stage to play a snare drum solo. The snare and a drum stool were brought to the front of the stage. Carl explained that he had been playing drums since the age of 11 and that his first drum was a snare. Carl felt "obliged" to do a solo of this nature being that the gig was a part of the "Rhythm Sticks" festival currently on at the South Bank Centre in London. The Purcell Room is one of 3 venues at this centre. Carl also recalled that his first instrument was actually a violin but that he preferred to "bang" it.........so his parents bought him a drum! "Tank" was next. Great playing from all 3. No extended drum solo! No taking the shirt off during the show! Carl seems to be replacing the theatrical with old fashioned honest playing; Good man. Carl announced the next tune as being something that he had written. This was "Bullfrog". Again another first for this tour? At the start of the show Carl said that he wanted to play some tunes that ELP had not played live. He certainly lived up to that promise. Next was a Shaun Baxter tune called "Strike up the Band". This was a tricky arrangement with a lot of changes of tempo and rhythm. Carl was working hard on this one; mentally as well as physically. Great to see him play new material that was not ELP/Asia orientated. Although having said that, the ELP tunes that he did play were not the standard boring arrangements that he played during the "Come-back" years. A change of lead instrument probably did much to help this but the real revelation was the change of bass player. Finally a bassist that Carl could bounce ideas off. I don't really want to knock Greg Lake as he was a world class vocalist in his day and he certainly did a good job on a variety of guitars, but he could not claim to be an intuitive bass player. Dave Marks is very much an intuitive player and he and Carl were actively listening to each other and responding accordingly throughout the gig. "Toccata" was next. What a great arrangement. Shaun did a great job. He got some fantastic sounds out of his guitar to imitate the screechy keyboards from the original track. It was also interesting to hear Carl play this on an acoustic kit. They ended the set with, in Carl's words "the only decent track from Love Beach". Well I'm not too sure about that but it was well played. The encore was (of course) "Fanfare". But not with the tired playing of the '90's. Some great interplay between bass and drums while the guitar solo was in full swing. Shaun had a lot of trouble getting out of his solo and back into the head but hey........this is a new band with some very difficult arrangements to learn. If they can stick together this will be a great band after a couple of months. Carl is a great band leader. He is a very amiable self deprecating person. He also looked out for his 2 new players, guiding them through some of the more difficult arrangements. All in all, despite the horrible sound, this was a good night out. I heard some tunes that I had never expected to hear played "live" by a drummer who has gone back to basics; no gongs, no electronics, no revolving stage. In my view, Carl played all the better for it. Catch this band if you can. They are not ELP but then.....why should they be? Andy Wilson London --------------------------------------------- From: Dan Krause [danek@netzero.net] Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 1:07 PM To: elp digest Subject: All Starr Band John, Went to last night's show at the Mohegan Sun Casino ... it was lots of fun hearing all the Beatles stuff, etc. ... but undoubtedly ... the highlight was the Lake/Jones/Sheila E rendition of KE 9, 1st Impression, Pt. 2 ... stripped down ... but complete ... it resulted in the only standing ovation of the night prior to the finale ... Howard Jones did a very nice job on keyboards and Sheila E, while not flashy, did a decent job keeping the thing together ... The versions of "In the Court..." and "Lucky Man" were true to the studio versions and were well received. "In the Court ..." included a fine flute solo close to if not identical to the original and "Lucky Man" was complete with the electric guitar solo ... All in all a fun night ... I have to admit that I was pretty happy when I overheard many of the Ringo fans saying how they were blown away by Lake's performance ... as far as his voice .. it was a little less raspy than I've heard him in recent years and more powerful ... --------------------------------------------- From: DanielAusten@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 2:08 PM To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Re: ELP Digest Vol. 11 #7 Hi, I saw Palmer in London. It was a great show and Keith Emerson was sitting a few seats away from me, which was a nice touch. Dan Austen --------------------------------------------- From: garpal [garpal@sympatico.ca] Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001 7:40 PM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Rick Wakeman/ Keith Emerson Hi John, I found an announcement about a Rick Wakeman/ Keith Emerson joint project. You can view it at the link below. J-P http://www.rwcc.com/rwcc/code/notice_emerson.htm Rick and Keith Emerson All sorts of rumours have been flying about regarding the Wakeman/Emerson project and so here's the basic situation for reference for anyone who's interested. Keith and I are really good friends, as most people are aware, and we have been discussing over the last couple of years about how best to go about our joint venture. We are in full agreement of how the recording should sound and how it should be best done, but will not be cajoled into making a "cheap" production job to satisfy record labels who are just looking to make a quick "buck" Both Keith and I want this to be a quality product. There have been 'offers on the table', but none have come close to what is required in order to produce the high quality product that people would expect from us and anything less than this would be cheating our fans. We are prepared to wait, but we are both convinced that this project will come to fruition and the result be the musical one that everybody hopes it will be. As soon as such a deal becomes reality, it will be shouted from the rooftops! So just to confirm, at the moment this project is "on the back burner". Rick Wakeman 3rd August 2001 And a final note from Wayne, from now on, no further emails will be replied to, or forwarded to Rick along the lines of "what's happening with the Emerson project". [ Editor's Note: I also received this info from Dave Bailey. Thanks to both of you for forwarding it along. - John - ] --------------------------------------------- From: John Arnold [arnold@reluctant.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 5:32 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: All-Starr Band - Aug. 4, 2001 in Boston I went to see the All-Starr Band in Boston on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2001. It was a great show and the most 'fun' concert I've been to in a long time. (Recently, most of the concerts I've been to have been ELP and Yes. Great concerts for sure but not with the same 'fun' level of Ringo's show.) I enjoyed the whole show - even the few songs that I didn't recognize. I don't want to belabor the points that others have made about the shows other than to say that each performer did a great job of what they do best. From my Beatles' Fan perspective, it was especially great to hear Ringo's live rendition of "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Boys". The way these songs were done showed just how much fun playing these songs can be. Seeing Ringo's head slightly tilted as he sings/plays and the omnipresent smile totally captures some of the most long-lasting images I have of the Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night" and even "Let It Be". I was fortunate enough to see George Harrison's tour back in 1974-ish so I feel lucky to have seen 1/2 of the Beatles sing/play live - even if the events were separated by 25 or so years. From my ELP Fan perspective, I was extraordinarily pleased to see how well Greg Lake sang and played as well as the great crowd reaction to the songs where he was featured. I think this is the best Greg has sung live in a number of years. I don't know if it's practice or not having to carry the singing for the whole show night after night or what. But it's working. The energy level he brought to his songs also seemed to be very much rejuvenated from some of the recent ELP tours. I was a bit skeptical about how Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression Part 2 (now I know why everyone else just calls it "the Welcome Back My Friends part") but it was fantastic. Throughout Howard Jones' take on the Emerson riffs, I kept smiling at watching someone else go through the workout that comes with matching the Keith solos (and Howard did a great job). Recalling that Howard Jones and Keith Emerson interviewed each other in Keyboard magazine back in the 80s, I imagine that Howard really liked the challenge of getting to play the 'Keith parts' night after night. And, of course, Sheila E. did a superb job on drums throughout the whole show - including matching the energy and skill of taking on Carl's parts in KE9. In essence, I think the musicianship of Ringo's latest band really made it possible for them to get the huge ovations they got - especially on KE9. I doubt there are many other 'cover bands' out there regardless of how famous the players are who could pull it off. I remember seeing an Nth generation copy of "The Best" concert in Japan where Keith played keyboards, John Entwhistle played bass, and a number of other rock stars did their version of a Ringo-like tour. That gave me a taste of how a 'cover band' could fill in the Greg and Carl parts for Keith. Now, I've seen how a 'cover band' can fill in the Keith and Carl parts for Greg. It's a very interesting thing to watch and shows just how good the music and the songs are. Top it off with a sight I never thought I'd see - Ringo Starr playing the drum part for Lucky Man - and it was truly a great night for classic rock. If you get to see the show, I hope you like it as much as I did. - John - --------------------------------------------- From: John Arnold [arnold@reluctant.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 5:32 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: FW: Greg Lake Interview There's a new interview with Greg Lake that can be found at: http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/greg_lake_interview.htm This is an interesting look at Greg's recent work on his solo album and with the Ringo tour and definitely worth reading. Thanks for the folks at classicrockrevisted.com for letting me know about it. - John - =========================== Reader Commentary =========================== From: arnold@reluctant.com Sent: Friday, July 10, 2893 6:44 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Dave Edmunds liked Keith Emerson [ Editor's Note: I got the following message from a friend. As many ELP fans will recall, ELP was especially reviled by the 80s backlash against Progressive Rock. At that time, people like Elvis Costello viewed ELP as dinosaurs and, as the arena rock bands of the time, thought they represented what became known as Corporate Rock. Well, one of the influential people of this era was Dave Edmunds. And though I don't think Dave ever took part in the name calling that was common to that era, it was interesting to see the following: ] From Dave Edmunds' official Web site: "Late-1968 Dave's appreciation of Keith Emerson and The Nice (Love Sculpture opened several shows for them in Wales) inspires him to seek comparable classical numbers like "Rondo." Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" is the result, cut first as a Rockfield demo. Then Lee Jackson of Nice touts Love Sculpture to top BBC DJ John Peel (also host of "Top Gear" radio show) for live appearance. They present Peel with a second version of "Sabre Dance" on a tape, which he plays twice more. Flood of mail and calls for the song forwarded to Parlophone. Nov, 1968 "Sabre Dance" (third version, a first take, cut in 3-hour sessions in London) b/w "Think of Love" (first original Edmunds composition recorded; same session) single by Love Sculpture rush-released (Parlophone U.K.). Peaks at #2 on national chart by end of month. " - John - --------------------------------------------- From: Kenneth Miller [sovereign@mail.sanduskyohio.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 8:02 AM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP at Cedar Point Hi folks; Just a quick note to let you know that ELP Karn Evil 9 is the opening song in Cedar Point's Laser Light Show. (Cedar Point is an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio). Caught me by surprise. Also, the overture played for about ten minutes before the show while folks are sitting down sounds very much like Keith's work, didn't recognize a specific title but the chord progressions, themes, and orchestrations are similar. Makes for a great closing to a day on the roller coasters at the park. Thanks; Ken Miller --------------------------------------------- From: Alastair Cox [Alasova@btinternet.com] Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2001 3:05 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Sanctuary remasters Ok, Ok I was the sourpuss that said that the Sanctuary releases were essentially the same as the previous version. In the UK ,Castle reissued the entire ELP catalogue, with the album cover on the disc itself. The sleeve bore the label "remastered from the original Master Tapes". Now without altering the tapes, how are you going to get better than that? Bonus tracks on BSS? They are tracks off Works Volume 2. My main point here was that we are being offered remasters from the record companies, Victory, Castle and now Sanctuary( a subsidiary of Castle) that except(!) in the case of BSS, are the same quality sound, but we are paying for new sleeves and "a set of facsimile autographs on the disc" O.K if you don't have them already, but naughty if you are an ELP obsessive. I have still to hear BSS on Sanctuary, but it sounds as if during the mastering for the DVD-Audio disc, they jiggled some sounds around and put this mix onto the CD. As you probably know, to get Stereo from a 5.1 DVD audio disc, the mix has to be made into stereo 2 track using a complex algorithm. Hence the stereo mix of a 5.1 will differ from the stereo. A.N.C --------------------------------------------- From: Thompson, Eric [Eric.Thompson@reichhold.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 1:01 PM To: 'elp-digest-web@reluctant.com' Subject: Pictures At An Exhibition On DVD Subscribers to the ELP Digest: For anyone who frequents Greg Lake's Official Website and reads the "Ask Greg Lake" section, you may recall Greg's comment from a year or so ago about the Pictures At An Exhibition concert film regarding his and the rest of the band's dislike of the annoying visual psychedelics which obscure much of the footage. Greg expressed an interest in having this film remastered with the psychedelic effects removed for a re-release, but according to an email response I received recently from ELP manager Bruce Pilato, these effects, alas, were inserted into the master and there's no way possible to remove them. So for anyone wondering whether or not the July 2001 released DVD version of Pictures includes the psychedelic visuals, the answer is an unfortunate yes, but, hey, at least it benefits from the digitally remastered audio. FYI Eric Thompson --------------------------------------------- From: WILLIAM CRAYTON [Billc@widney-aish.co.uk] Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 5:47 AM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Greg Lake Greg was an apprentice electrician at Aish & Co Ltd. in Poole Dorset. I have his original job application plus Comments from his employers on his progress, or lack of it, ask him if he remembers Mr. Potter. --------------------------------------------- From: Tom LeBeau [ibid2c@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 4:10 AM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Lunar Chateau Hey everybody, I'm writing in response to Marc Dellenbach's posting about the band Lunar Chateau. I've got to say that I have to second what Marc said. This band is everything he said. They produce simply the best Progressive rock out there, done in the most original of ways. This band is AWESOME, simply put. Yes, they have the same instrumentation as ELP, and you can hear some ELP in them. As musicians, these guys are pretty stunning. I saw them about 3 years ago and they floored me. Especially the drummer, Milo Sekulovich. It would be awesome to see Lunar Chateau tour with ELP if they ever get back together. This would be such a perfect match. I'd pay even the steepest ticket price to see that. Given that they're managed by Bruce Pilato, who is also ELP's manager, this could be a possibility. They've got sound clips at their Website. I listened to them and their new album sounds great! Sincerely, Tom LeBeau =========================== Questions (and Answers!) =========================== From: John Hughes [john@pureneasy.fsnet.co.uk] Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 6:33 PM To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Re: Two "rare" vinyl albums? I was sorting out the vinyl collection a day or two ago and I re discovered that I had a vinyl album, put out at the time of the 1977 tour, for a radio station in Montreal, which is an interview and snippets of ELP songs. It's for the Superstar radio station, its catalogue number is PR 281 and it's in pretty good - nay, almost (but not quite) pristine condition. In the scheme of things, is this now a rare or indeed collectible item? Cheers, John [ Editor's Note: I have a copy of this. It was an interview album done to promote Works, Vol. 1. Since it was sent only to radio stations, it may be a rarity. There are a number of entertaining interview bits on the album. For a while, it's main draw was the orchestral version of Abaddon's Bolero since it was the only place it was released at the time. I can't recall if that version has been made available elsewhere or not. (I'm sure someone will let me know if it is.) I hope publishing your note helps you determine whether it's got any collectible value or not. Good luck. - John - ] =========================== New ELP Releases/Products/Links (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.) =========================== From: John Arnold Sent: Sunday, August 5, 2001 10:55 AM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Artist Shop Newsletter Again Once again, there is information from The Artist Shop about additions to their ELP product line. Pre - Orders/ Import CD Box Sets EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-ORIGINAL BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 1 (6CD) $42.95 EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-ORIGINAL BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 2 (8CD) $42.95 ******* Pre-Orders/Domestic CD Box-Sets EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-RETURN OF THE MANTICORE (4CD) BOX SET $61.95 The crown jewel of the ELP catalog, gathering 40 of the British band's biggest and best sides! Compiled with the group's input, this 4-CD Rhino Records collection includes classic tracks from their 13 original albums, three previously unreleased vintage recordings, plus six new cuts recorded in '93 specifically for this set. Also contains a full- color booklet detailing the band's origin and career, along with a slew of rare photos and a discography! ******* Pre-Orders/Domestic Full Length CD's EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-VERY BEST OF $13.95 This Rhino Records career-spanning collection gathers singles, live cuts, and album tracks from ELP's 14 albums released on Cotillion, Manticore, Atlantic, and Victory between 1971 and '94. That's three decades of mind-bending prog from one of the bands that defined the genre. 13 tracks. ******* New Import CD Box Sets NICE-HERE COME THE NICE (3CD) $20.95 UK box-set for the British art-rock band. The first two discs from this release include all the music from their three Immediate albums in stereo while the third disc boasts previously unissued live tracks from the Immediate period plus various Immediate demo recordings & alternative mixes. ****** New Full Length Import CDs EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-LOVE BEACH + BONUS $14.95 UK remastered reissue of the progressive rock supergroup's 1978 album. Scheduled to include unreleased bonus tracks. EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-WORKS VOL. 1 + 3 $15.95 UK remastered reissue of the progressive rock supergroup's 1977 album with 3 live bonus tracks 'Tank', 'The Enemy God Dances With The Black Spirits' & 'Nutrocker'. EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-WORKS VOL. 2 + 3 $14.95 UK remastered reissue of the progressive rock supergroup's 1977 album with 3 live bonus tracks 'Tiger In A Spotlight', 'Watching Over You' & 'Show Me The Way To Go Home'. ******* New Domestic DVDs EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER-PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION (DVD+CD) $22.95 This 120-minute combination DVD Plus-CD on one side, DVD the other features the legendary 1970 concert, digitally remastered for DVD in Dolby surround sound. Special features include a fully animated menu and track selection. The Artist Shop The Other Road http://www.artist-shop.com artshop@artist-shop.com phone: 877-856-1158, 330-929-2056 fax:330-945-4923 INDEPENDENT PROGRESSIVE MUSIC!!! =========================== Digest subscription, 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://www.brain-salad.com/ 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 11 Issue 9] *************************************