ELP Digest 2 November 2001 Volume 11 : Issue 11 The "Bach Before The Mast" Edition (incorporating the Keith Emerson Birthday Edition and the ELP Digest 10th Anniversary Edition!) Today's Topics: Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. - New Keith Emerson Album (October 24, 2001) - New King Crimson Biography (October 27, 2001) - The Nice "The Swedish Radio Sessions" (October 29, 2001) - Emo interviewed (October 29, 2001) Reader Commentary - Palmer Gigs and Bootleg releases (October 17, 2001) - some thoughts about ELP current and not so current releases (October 17, 2001) - ELP at your local library (October 17, 2001) - ELP Tribute Bands (October 17, 2001) - the night Carl crashed into the Steinway (October 17, 2001) - Re: FW: Keith Emerson recording with the LSO (October 17, 2001) - Manticore Bootleg Series (October 18, 2001) - ELP were part of the Concert for New York City (October 20, 2001) - Carl in Swindon (October 20, 2001) - ELP live "nuggets" yet to be unearthed? (October 24, 2001) - Emerson soundtracks (October 26, 2001) - From jonanderson.com (October 26, 2001) - Dave Marks's comments (October 28, 2001) - Sound and sensibilities (October 29, 2001) - Manticore Bootleg Box sets (October 30, 2001) - Progressive Rock Bibliography (October 31, 2001) Questions (and Answers!) - Emo's Hammond settings (October 17, 2001) - Emo sheet music (October 17, 2001) - Fanfare for the Common Man in Montreal (October 17, 2001) - Keith's Bow (October 19, 2001) - Piano scores and Burning organs (October 19, 2001) - question about Cal. Jam video (October 23, 2001) New ELP Releases/Products (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.) - No items this issue =========================== Prelude =========================== Yikes! 10 years ago today, I sent out the first ELP Digest. What previously had been an informal discussion that spun out from the rec.music.synth newsgroup (that I don't think exists anymore) had become something more. A hand-crafted mailing list (using homemade UNIX tools and scripts) with hand-crafted content. And the funny thing, most of that hasn't changed. I've got volunteer help now (since it became apparent last year that I wouldn't get it done if I waited until I had time to do it). But I still manage the mailing list by hand and each Digest is put together with real people editing real mail messages into something that (I hope) is a little more organized than an auto-compiled digester and mail forwarder. And I still use homemade scripts (though they run on my Windows machine at home now - courtesy of the korn shell in the MKS Toolkit) rather than the DECstation at work I used for the first edition. And, of course, the reason Nov. 2 was the day I sent out the first ELP Digest was to honor Keith Emerson's birthday just as we do today. Happy Birthday, Keith! ELP fans everywhere hope all is well. We're looking forward to Concerto #2 or whatever inspiration brings your way. - John - ------------------------------ Latest News from the Official ELP sites .… See updates on the Palmer tour schedule at http://www.carlpalmer.com/news.html including dates in Italy, Germany, Holland and Mexico as well as the U.K. Can the U.S. be far behind? Nothing new on the ELP, Keith Emerson or Greg Lake sites, but in honor of the Keith Emerson birthday issue, here's his birthday horoscope from www.astro.com/. It augers well for his upcoming projects. ******* Happy birthday! Today the Sun returns to the position it was in when you were born. As would seem appropriate with this transit, today is a day of new beginnings, and the influences you feel today will affect the entire year to come. However, this does not mean that the whole year will be disappointing if today doesn't work out exactly as planned. You are receiving a new impulse from the energy center within you, as symbolized by the Sun. Therefore any new venture that you start at this time will ride the crest of this new energy and will very likely come to an acceptable conclusion. Whatever you do or begin today will bear the stamp of your individuality more than anything else. This is the day to assert yourself anew. Transit selected for today: Sun Conjunction Sun activity period from 1 November 2001 to 3 November 2001. =========================== Breaking News, Rumors, Etc. =========================== From: Ford, Jeanette (PERSONNEL) [Jeanette.Ford@plymouth.gov.uk] Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 4:28 AM To: 'elp-digest@reluctant.com' Subject: New Keith Emerson Album Hi, Did anyone manage to hear Keith on Radio 2 (Tracks of My Years) during the week of 24-28 September 2001? I managed to tape most of it and towards the end of the show, Keith mentioned that he was releasing a 'solo piano' album in time for Christmas. Does anyone know any more details? I'm hoping that this is new material, and also can't wait for the 2nd Piano Concerto with the LSO. Anyone out there who knows anything, please get in touch. Many thanks. ford,jeanette@plymouth.gov.uk --------------------------------------------- From: ASidSmith@aol.com Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2001 1:00 PM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: New King Crimson Biography Hi there, I don't know if this is too off-topic for your digest but I'm sure it'll be of interest to some of your readers. A new biography of King Crimson written by Sid Smith is about to be published by Helter Skelter on November 30th. Called In The Court Of King Crimson it draws new research and fresh interviews with all the major participants within King Crimson - including Greg Lake which was conducted with him earlier this year. Greg offers his robust and candid views on the formation of Crimson, the reasons behind his quitting and his overview on his time in Crimson and his subsequent career in ELP. Ordering information can be found by visiting www.inthecourtofkingcrimson.com Extracts from the book can be found by visiting Sid Smith's on-line diary at www.disciplineglobalmobile.com Best wishes, Sid --------------------------------------------- From: bjorn-are.davidsen@telenor.com Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 7:17 AM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: The Nice "The Swedish Radio Sessions" CD Services in Dundee has just announced the following about the newly released Nice CD "The Swedish Radio Sessions" from 1967. Track listing: 1: She belongs to me 2: Flower King of Flies 3: Sombrero sam 4: You keep me hanging on 5: The thoughts of Emerlist Davjack 6: Rondo It may also interest some of you to here that it's also mentioned that "Emerson, Davison & Jackson recently reunited to be interviewed for the forthcoming History of ELP DVD, and there's also talk of a Nice reunion in 2002". Great news indeed! Yours Bjørn Are --------------------------------------------- From: bjorn-are.davidsen@telenor.com Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 7:48 AM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Emo interviewed [... Forwards deleted ...] The 10/28 LA Times' pull out advertisement section for Love Ride 18 had the following rather interesting article (The Love Ride is a 50-mile motorcycle caravan with about 20,000 riders): "The Love Ride is famous for attracting celebrities. Scheduled to be among the stars this year is keyboardist Keith Emerson, formerly of Emerson, Lake & Palmer fame, who is returning for his third Love Ride. Emerson, who turns 57 on Nov. 2, has been a long-time motorcycle rider, so the Love Ride is right up his alley. "I moved from England to California in 1994 and the one thing that I wanted to do was to buy a jeep and buy a Harley," said Emerson, who owned several Nortons, Triumphs and a few "fold-up jobs" in England. "It took me some time to find the right (Harley). But I found some great people in Santa Monica to customize my bike." Emerson's customized street model features unique artwork by H. R. Giger, who designed the cover of ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery" album in the 1970s. Giger probably is best-known for his design work of the creatures and sets for the "Alien" movies, which earned him an Oscar in 1980. "His art is very, very bizarre," Emerson said. Emerson became familiar with the Love Ride a few years ago during a chance meeting. "I was up at the Foundation Room at the House of Blues and met Walter (Moore) there," Emerson said. Moore is one of the promoters of the Love Ride. "We had a talk and Walter found out I was into bikes." Musically, Emerson is hoping to attract fans to his new classical release, "Piano Concerto No. 2," which he recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and which is scheduled to be available in March, 2002 on EMI Classics. "Its a bit of departure from what I've done before," he said. "But I think fans will like it." ------------------------------------------------------------ Great news again (this is one of those years really filled to the brim with ELP related releases and news)!! However, if I'm not mistaken (and I really hope I am) its more probable that it is to be RECORDED than released in March 2002, based on what both Keith and EMI Classics said a few months ago. Though I know he's been rather busy lately ;-) Yours Bjørn Are =========================== Reader Commentary =========================== From: Peter Wilton [pjsw@beaufort.demon.co.uk] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 4:01 AM To: ELP-Digest@reluctant.com; Dave@marks62.freeserve.co.uk Subject: Palmer Gigs and Bootleg releases >From: Dave Marks [Dave@marks62.freeserve.co.uk] >Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 3:25 PM >To: ELP-digest@reluctant.com >Subject: Time to answer my critics........ > >Quite a number of people were able to see beyond our first tour >problems, and see that this band has to evolve. We have had to learn >to play together with the kind of tightness, and that unquantifiable >musical-ESP that only bands who play together for years can achieve. >We had a week. But I don't think we did too bad. Bryan Roberts seems >to think we did. To quote Mr. Roberts, > > "The lead guitarist had a serious charisma by-pass and the > bass player looked like he was on day release from school having > borrowed his dad's ill-fitting suit. Frankly, both guitarists > left me cold and very uninspired. They were plain boring." I have to say that I was rather surprised on reading this "review". It seemed to me that one could both see the facial communication going on between drum and bass player, and clearly hear the results. Clearly some good musicianship going on there. I don't recall seeing that degree of co-operation between Lake and Palmer, or hearing such (apparently!) spontaneous musical cooperation. I would also like to mention to those put off the bootleg series by adverse comments about sound quality: my understanding is that ELP probably didn't make a lot of recordings that could be released, and so these bootlegs are what they say they are: bootlegs. However, for those of us quite happy to listen to great performers of the past on old-fashioned media (such as 78 rpm records, for example) there is simply no difficulty in enjoying these releases. I've often felt that the performances on the officially released records were often not as good as snippets subsequently released elsewhere, so I'm delighted to have recordings of these other performances. The piano solos, for example, are usually more interesting and better played than the well-known one on e.g. WBMFTTSTNE. Even the ribbon controller antics in Tarkus sound more "fun". -- Peter Wilton The Gregorian Association Web Page: http://www.beaufort.demon.co.uk --------------------------------------------- From: Adriano Melis [adriano.melis@st.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 8:32 AM To: ELP digest Subject: some thoughts about ELP current and not so current releases Dear all, although a very long time fan of the three ones, I have to confess to you all several points of disappointment: 1) having listened carefully to Then & Now, there's no reason for purchasing it, because: - the poor performance of each individual - every song/performance is already in much better shape in some other recording Entering in detail: Keith plays dirty, sometimes not in time (I'm a bad keyboard player, but often my intro to Touch and Go is better in sound (I own a GeneralMusic Equinox workstation) and tempo accuracy than this awful one). And this to me is _very_ hurtful, since still I repute Keith the king of rock keyboardists. Carl's solo is amazing in the beginning, s**t in the end. Ugly tamborine sample, (the from me to you gimmick), dead gog sound. And, for heaven's sake, why the double kick disaster (tempo up and down, missed kicks, rallentando)? Well, Carl has to realize that he is not Mike Portnoy, who practiced double kick since he was a kid and masters it effortlessly. I can't attend the current Carl shows, but I bet it would be exceptional if he would give up the double kick drum and gongs and gymnastics, and concentrate on music. Some choices in the performance are imho bad either, like the style of drumming Carl adopts in "America", but these are artistic (interpretation) choices and I must respect them. Greg's voice! Has a raccoon tail entered Greg's throat? Why wasn't it surgically removed? 2) Carl's double anthology. None of the unreleased tracks has some value except that historic. And I had every other track somewhere else. From now on, I will _not_ waste my money in old remuffled crap issued by these gentlemen, unless the three of them reunite and issue new material that you, kind fellow fans, will review positively, perhaps in this Digest. I needed to share these thoughts with you all ////////// (thanks John!) Adriano --------------------------------------------- From: Nick Zales [zales@execpc.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 1:08 PM To: ELP-Digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP at your local library I was perusing the new book section at my local library when I was pleasantly shocked to see a book on ELP. Perhaps it's been mentioned here before but I missed it. "Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Show That Never Ends, A Musical Biography," by George Forrester isn't worth buying but is definitely worth reading. So check it out and if your library does not have it ask them to get it. Heck, I even found a new book on Genesis last week. I guess today's librarian was a Progger back in the "good old days." Nick Milwaukee, WI --------------------------------------------- From: Nick Zales [zales@execpc.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 1:14 PM To: ELP-Digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP Tribute Bands Okay, one more. I saw a lot of discussion about tribute bands in the last ELP digest. I think they are great, it is this "carl palmer" and "greg lake" with "friends" stuff I find wholly uninteresting. Yawn. Old rockers rehashing classics is so boring. I love Carl and like Greg, but what they are doing isn't worth my time or money. I want Emerson. Keith is "the" man. He always was and always will be. The three women ELP fans in the world may love Greg's ballads, but it's Emerson's balls that made ELP so awesome. Nick Milwaukee, WI [ Editor's Note: Though the sarcasm certainly does offer some dramatic effect, I'm sure there are well over 3 female ELP fans. And I feel compelled to chime in that I like Greg's ballads a lot. In fact, one of my friends used to taunt me occasionally about being a 'Greg Lake romantic'. But I've never really taken that description as a criticism. Though I probably like The Nice and Three more than any other non-ELP band that at least one of Mssrs E, L, and P have been in, I think part of the magic of ELP is the variety, talent, and skill that each of them brought to the band. - John - ] --------------------------------------------- From: Daniel Moser [danmoser@earthlink.net] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 5:28 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: the night Carl crashed into the Steinway ELP fans, I enjoyed the new ELP book by Forrester, Hanson, & Askew. It sheds some light on the inner workings of our favorite band. However, there was an omission of a significant concert event you might find of interest: One of the two ELP concerts I have attended was in Normal, Illinois, USA, on the campus of Illinois State University. (This was about 1977 or 78, but the book does not confirm this, for some reason). They were FANTASTIC, playing music from Works, BSS, Tarkus, and some fabulous solo improvisations. E's keyboard work was unbelievable, L's voice was perfect, and P's drumming was world class! They were as sharp and fresh as when I had seen them a couple of years before in Chicago. After the main set was over, the dynamic trio were exhausted, taking their bows before a packed house of fans madly cheering for an encore. Keith's Steinway grand piano was sitting midstage on a motorized elevating orchestra pit. Carl had failed to notice this part of the stage had been lowered. To the shock of everyone in the place, he lost his balance and fell off the stage, landing hard with his side impacting the edge of the piano. Collectively the audience gasped, OOOOH, OUCH, that looked serious! They later discovered that the Champion of Percussion had cracked a rib or two in that very public fall. But here's the best bit: After ELP took a short breather, they came out and played a dynamite encore! Pictures, as I recall. Carl's mid-section had been wrapped with a bandage, but he insisted that the show go on! He even did a drum solo as if nothing were wrong at all. He didn't miss a beat. The guy must have been enduring a lot of pain! You have to admire that kind of courage and dedication. After the encore, Greg jokingly held Carl around the shoulder like a big brother, preventing him from repeating his plunge. I later heard that ELP had to postpone a concert or two after that night to allow Carl to heal a bit before continuing the tour. Sadly, I have not seen them in concert since that night, but I'll keep on playing the old stuff, ever hopeful of something new in the Works. Dan Moser Sandy, Utah danmoser@earthlink.net --------------------------------------------- From: Akiko Hada [akiko@bunnies.de] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 8:03 PM To: ELP-Digest@reluctant.com Subject: Re: FW: Keith Emerson recording with the LSO Michael Bier forwarded in Vol. 11 #10: > Dear Mr. Bier, > > Thank you for your enquiry regarding a possible recording by Keith > Emerson and the LSO. > > It is true that the Orchestra has been involved in discussions > about this project, but no sessions or events have been scheduled > as yet. > > Yours sincerely, > > Tessa Milne > Concerts Assistant > London Symphony Orchestra That also reminds me... Paul Mann, who worked with Deep Purple conducting various orchestras worldwide during their "Concerto" tours 1999-2001, including the initial (not the 1969 original but the 30th anniversary) performances at the Royal Albert Hall with the LSO, mentions he might be working with Keith on his Piano Concerto. I'm not sure if he means the recording or the tour which (at least theoretically) follows the album. http://www.deep-purple.com/specials/pmann/paul.htm Akiko Hada akiko@bunnies.de / akiko@deep-purple.com --------------------------------------------- From: GLB [gbaucom@trellis.net] Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 9:50 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Manticore Bootleg Series Ok, first of all, I'll admit to owning a few ELP boot tapes/cds from various dates/sources. My question is simple (but perhaps not allowable on this mailing list?): is there anyone who has boot copies of these specific live shows that they could directly compare to the Manticore bootleg series? I don't own the Manticore releases yet, but I plan on buying them. Until then, I'm quite curious...from the negative sound of some of the reviews I've read, I could be led to think that some of the tape and/or cd copies of these same dates are better quality that the legit release. Is that true? I would be surprised if it is. It seems that ELP would at least find the lowest generation tapes they could if they were going to officially release these shows. I tend to think that the negative reviews are probably coming from fans who have never been into trading live shows, and thus aren't accustomed to the sound of audience recordings and high generation tapes. Some of the illegitimate tapes/cd live shows of these dates sound quite nice. I can vouch for that. This opinion does, however, come from someone who has heard his share of truly poor bootlegs. Any comments? Kind regards, GLB --------------------------------------------- From: Steven G. Brant [trimtab@sprynet.com] Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 11:46 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP were part of the Concert for New York City Hi all, It's 11:40 pm NYC time on October 20th and I just watched Billy Crystal introduce about 20 local sports heroes as part of the Concert for New York City (just before Janet Jackson's set). And wouldn't you know it, the music that was played while all these sports heroes were being introduced was ELP's rendition of Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man". Another great musical moment in an amazing concert - broadcast live on VH-1. Steve Brant New York City --------------------------------------------- From: Paul Crane [paul.crane@virgin.net] Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 12:37 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Carl in Swindon John Just got back from the Swindon show 19/10/12001. I have to say this will not be a critique based on my knowledge of music as I am not a musician nor can I play an instrument but do enjoy listening to good music. Swindon is a couple of hours west of London down the M4 motorway, the hall is small with no more than 300 seats I guess and quite a small stage. I arrived early and had a beer in the bar. It was interesting to see the wide cross section of people. There were young and old (i.e. 40 plus) ;-) who had obviously been fans at school and university in the seventies. I was on my own, so had one of the spare single seats fairly near the front and sat next to a couple of kids who could have been no older than 12 or 13. I didn't speak with them but they were obviously looking forward to the show, eagerly counting drums and cymbals!! The set was basically the same as described at length in Andy Wilson's review from the summer. It was good to see Carl so relaxed and enjoying his time on stage. There seemed to be lots of encouragement and support for his two younger band members. I have to say though the bass did seem to be a bit "big" with some vibration. I feel sure some people were uncertain what to expect when they bought their tickets and I am afraid I saw 3 walk, out never to return!!! This was never meant to be ELP reincarnated and it was certainly a very different experience, if that is what you were expecting. I had a great time just being there and admiring these 3 guys and their obvious skill. Thanks guys you were great!! Paul Crane. Sandhurst Berkshire UK --------------------------------------------- From: MACglon@cs.com Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 5:48 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: ELP live "nuggets" yet to be unearthed? Hello fellow avid ELP fans... I guess I'm somewhat baffled. If the best the Powers That Be have to offer us is old, inferior bootleg recordings Of ELP during those Dark Seventies, then I have one question for The Suits: Where did they unearth that previously-unreleased version (sans orchestra) of "Pirates" on the 1997 King Biscuit "Greatest Hits Live" 2CD set? I've pointed this out previously in this forum: According to the KBH liner notes, the Works Tour '77 tracks on that compilation were recorded at Wheeling, West Virginia (Peter Gunn, Tiger in a Spotlight, The Enemy God, C'est La Vie and Pirates, etc.). I personally liked the previous mixes of these on what was originally the "In Concert" album, but the difference in sound quality between these and the remaining tracks is like night and day! The fact that a previously-unavailable version of Pirates suddenly surfaced in the late nineties strongly suggests that the multi-track tapes still exist from the Wheeling concert. These would most likely be 24-track recordings---the industry standard of location recording in the late seventies--- on a few reels of two-inch tape. Whether these tapes have since been lost, inadvertently erased, etc., I don't know...but location recording is very expensive, and I highly doubt that the record label would have gone to that trouble to record them only to let the tapes go! I am also highly skeptical about the purportedly erased California Jam master tapes. I read a blurb in an old Billboard issue that the ABC network spent about a quarter of a million dollars videotaping the California Jam event. Why would they wipe those tapes, unless the executives were so shortsighted as to not have a glimmer in their eyes about VCRs just down the road? (of course, this is the same network that could manage to have archived all 1226 episodes of "Dark Shadows" on those same 2" reels of videotape, so who knows what passes for logic on these guys' part!). Am I alone, or would some other people like to hear "Tarkus", "Pictures", "Nutrocker", etc., remixed from twenty-four track source tapes...live from 1977! If anyone out there can shed some light on these speculations, I'd be most grateful! --------------------------------------------- From: René Laursen [r.laursen@get2net.dk] Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 4:44 PM To: ELP-Disc; ELP-Digest Subject: Emerson soundtracks I have recently acquired Keith Emerson's Inferno. I have to say that I am positively surprised by it. I remember hearing it a long time ago when it came on LP, and it didn't do me anything back then. Several recommendations from time to time did make me curious though - Thank You ! Now I discover that Cinevox has also released "Murderock" and "La Chiesa", never having heard any of those my question is now: Any recommendations - or the opposite ??? I have cross mailed this to ELP-Disc and ELP-Digest: If you are member of ELP-Disc and want to reply to this mail, please "Cc" it to my private mail: r.laursen@get2net.dk as I am not always reading all on ELP-DISC. René Laursen. --------------------------------------------- From: John Arnold [arnold@reluctant.com] Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 8:06 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: From jonanderson.com Hi. I just got an announcement from YesWorld about Jon Anderson's new official web site. (For those of you who don't know, Jon is one of the founders of Yes). I was looking over the site and going through the extensive biography section. Here's in interesting entry: (http://www.jonanderson.com/life/html) "Early 1983 Jon explores forming a trio with keyboardists Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson (ELP). It doesn't come together." Hmmm. I wonder what that would have been like. - John - --------------------------------------------- From: Shanne Roberts [shanne.roberts@virgin.net] Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2001 2:45 PM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Dave Marks's comments I was amused to read Dave Marks's comments about my rather caustic review of the Palmer concert at the Festival Hall Purcell Room. Sorry Dave, but after fifteen minutes of that thrashing din I was unable to hear, let alone review the 'depths' of the fine music you were no doubt playing and so the disappointment with that led me to focus more on the visual aspects of the performance. Whether your fault, the promoter's fault or the RFH's fault, the result was disastrous from a music-lover's perspective - hence the tone of my review. Full marks to the band for trying to overcome the situation - I agree that was an omission from my review. That said, I think you walk a dangerous line when you accuse me of being a gratuitous and shallow joker and at the same time submit your own edict of what form a review should take (a little arrogant coming from a performer perhaps?). As someone who paid money to see the show I have a right to comment on the 'experience' - you set yourself up, take the audiences money, and so if the results are poor you should be big enough to take the consequences. If it helps put things in perspective I am a devoted music-lover of a number of genres. I've attended hundreds of concerts since the early 1970's and submitted many reviews to this site and others - some detailed, some more shallow depending upon how it moved me... Anyway, I'm glad you responded and that in this modern age we can at least have an exchange of views. I'm sure things have improved for you, along with the venues, and I wish you every success with the band. Next time you're in the London area I'll be along to watch again and hopefully next time to listen too! Regards (and no hard feelings I hope!) Bryan Roberts, London --------------------------------------------- From: bjorn-are.davidsen@telenor.com Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 7:24 AM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Sound and sensibilities The latest Nice release has led to some more complaints about the recent ELP bootlegs. I just have to admit that it puzzles me, as it's in no way possible to compare the two releases. This Nice release is a wonderful example of how they sounded live in 1967, recorded on good equipment by a radio station, just like what we have with ELP's "Isle of Wight" and "Lyceum" from 1970, "Pictures" from 1971, "Welcome Back" from 1974, "Works Live" from 1977 and "Live at The Royal Albert Hall" 1992, to mention some. These are the only releases in any way reasonable to compare with each other, except for the accidental fact of which year things are released... The ELP bootlegs are something completely different. However poorly recorded some of them are, these audience recordings show performances so SENSATIONAL that it gives a whole new insight into how incredible good ELP were at playing and improvising live. I may be prejudiced, however I've always fancied ELP more for their music than for any High Fidelity. In short I can only feel pity for those not "getting this" due to being "blinded" by the sound. The only theory I have as to why some bicker about these (FINALLY (I've been urging and waiting for this for decades, well documented to anyone going through earlier ELP Digests)) officially released bootlegs, is that it makes people "fear" they may hinder good sounding releases in the future. Which of course is nonsense. If anyone would really like to make a comparison, there are several incredible poor sounding Nice bootlegs "out there", which I would enjoy being released officially. Though everyone sensible to sound should be afraid - very afraid. Yours Bjørn Are --------------------------------------------- From: Pendragon [pendragon@elp-cdtrading.com] Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 12:46 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Manticore Bootleg Box sets Hi all, I read in the last digest, that many ELP guys are disappointed about the Bootleg Box Sets. Well, these are BOOTLEGS - therefore you can't expect the quality of an official release. Except the New Haven 77 show (which is from FM soundboard) all other are AUDIENCE recordings - I don't know if anybody knows how difficult that was - especially in the 1970ies - to tape shows. Additionally ELP hired 'Bootleg Hunters' to prevent audience recordings. But it's true that it would be only little work for a professional studio to 'fresh up' the recordings: de-hissing, equalizing ...... one of the easiest things for modern software. OK, and they didn't choose the best quality available - give them a chance for Box #3, perhaps with a really great 77 and 78 show! Anyway the main thing of these releases is to get the atmosphere and the performance of an ELP show! So I agree to Bjorn-Are's performance rating in the last digest. They didn't catch the best performances but they are good. BTW the most bootlegs (and I know many of them) are much better performance than on the official releases! And listen to the quality of the official 'Works Live' - would you call that quality? :-) In my opinion it has a rather poor performance and a lousy quality. Don't compare them e.g. with Led Zeppelin boots. Many of these are from soundboard and there are rumours, that Jimmy Page himself is the source because Robert Plant never wanted a Zep live album! Hey guys, so don't be disappointed about the quality. Enjoy the great performances and the development of ELP over the years and you'll be keen on it. Cheers Dirk Uther --------------------------------------------- From: Dominik Brueckner [nikbrueckner@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 1:35 PM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Progressive Rock Bibliography Hi! I thought you might be interested in a website I started a few months ago. It is a Progressive Rock Bibliography and it is - as far as I know - the most complete one on the net. I experienced that many Prog fans tend to read a lot about the music, more than many fans of other popular musics. Additionally, there is a lot of interest in this particular kind of music by musicologists. So there are books and articles written by fans, musicologists, as well as journalists and musicians themselves, such as Rick Wakeman, Ian Carr and Peter Hammill. The titles featured on my website are monographies and musicological articles. I try to avoid fanzine articles, but you can find a link to a bibliography of fanzines, to give the visitor as much information as possible. I also added a list of songbooks and, maybe even more interesting, a list of literature that inspired Prog musicians. There you can find obvious titles like "Journey to the centre of the earth", but there are also some less known titles. If this sounds interesting, you can have a look at: www.progbibliography.de If you like the website, and if you think it might be of interest to your visitors, it would be great if you put a link to it on yours. Please tell me what you think about that. Regards, Dominik Brueckner =========================== Questions (and Answers!) =========================== From: Joe Gerardi [joegerardi@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 11:57 AM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Emo's Hammond settings > I am a long time fan. Well... from the beginning! I am wondering whether > there is any info available on specific Hammond drawbar settings used by Mr. > Emerson. Or is this stuff top secret? I have a QS8, but would prefer to > know the actual Hammond settings, if possible. Emo's favorite setting is pretty much the jazz standard: First 3 drawbars (16, 5 1/3, 8) out full. To that he adds Chorus 3 ("C3" on the chorus/vibrato dial) and he uses percussion on the 3rd harmonic with fast decay. Another element to his sound is the Leslie. He overdrives it to give the sound that spit and crackle. ..Joe --------------------------------------------- From: Joe Gerardi [joegerardi@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 12:01 PM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Emo sheet music > I love playing music written by Emerson on my piano. I have the book that was > published by Warner Bros. Publications in 1977 and distributed by IMP. It's > absolutely great. However, I'm sure Keith has recorded a lot more of his > music in writing. Do you know of any other publications with good piano scores? Tarkus was released in 78, (I think) and ELP Anthology in 79 or 80. None of these are in print any longer. All that's available is a piss-poor "Best Of" type book with HORRIBLE transcriptions. ..Joe [ Editor's Note: The as-far-as-I-know complete list of all the ELP music (including Emerson's Piano Concerto #1) officially released is listed on the ELP Digest web site (www.brain-salad.com - click on ELP News and Information and look for "Sheet Music" about half way down the page). There was 1 ELP sheet music book that was released a few years ago and the rest are out of print. But at least the list gives you an idea of what to look for. - John - ] --------------------------------------------- From: GTURCH52@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 12:18 PM To: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com Subject: Fanfare for the Common Man in Montreal Hello folks, I need this question answered, which has plagued me for years. I have seen clips of ELP performing Fanfare for the Common Man, in an empty Olympic Stadium, on a cold winter day, surrounded by snow. The longest clip I've seen, was on MTV, yes! MTV, in the early 80's and it was the last 2 minutes of the song. Anyone familiar with what I am talking about? Is this available or was it available? Any other songs that were performed? Please contact me at GTurch52@aol.com. Thank you, Guy Turchiano [ Editor's Note: I don't know where to get that video since I'm not sure the whole thing has ever been on an official release. The story behind that video, however, is that ELP was in Montreal to film the video and plan for their 1977 Works Vol. 1 tour with orchestra. It was March or April (maybe even May) and a rare spring snowstorm hit the area. So, they donned their winter gear and filmed the video. It just looks like winter. I'm almost positive it was actually filmed in the spring. The video was also shown on the stadium's giant 'TV' during the intermission at the Olympic Stadium show with the orchestra later that summer. - John - ] --------------------------------------------- From: David MacGregor [david.macgregor@totalise.co.uk] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 2:25 PM To: elp-digest-web@reluctant.com Subject: Keith's Bow I am unsure about how to proceed with this but you may wish to announce this to your members....I have acquired an archers bow - a lovely hand crafted wooden piece with a certificate which authenticate its ownership by Keith Emerson signed by the man himself... I have contacted a toxophylist who suggests that as a classic bow without the rock connection it is worth around £150+ so I would be looking for a premium price above this....possibly around £275+ best offer secures I understand from the person who passed this matter on to me that it was used in footage shot for a video of the band's history outside the star's home of him relaxing at home in Sussex/Essex ??? Where he enjoys archery... The footage is owned by a company called "Intermanual Rescue" in East Anglia but I can shed no further light on this bow Thanking you in anticipation David [ Editor's Note: The footage you mention is included in the "Manticore Special" that's available on the official ELP web site. - John - ] --------------------------------------------- From: Mike Le Voi [mlevoi@modemss.brisnet.org.au] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 9:43 PM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: Piano scores and Burning organs (a) Someone asked for some more piano scores of Emerson material. On my ELP tribute site (see my signature block below), you can find numerous MID files of ELP songs. The transcriptions are not perfect but some of them are damn close :-) Any decent MIDI Sequencer program can read a MID file and print out a score. These files are all Shareware and users of them should send Shareware fees to Keith, as described on the site. (b) Someone else asked for a picture of Keith's burning organ - it's on "The Files" page. Cheers, Mike Le Voi Visit my XG/GS/SB MIDI Home Page http://modemss.brisnet.org.au/~mlevoi --------------------------------------------- From: dick jaspers [dick@dickjaspers.nl] Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 10:50 AM To: elp-digest@reluctant.com Subject: question about Cal. Jam video Hello, John! As a big ELP-fan from the Netherlands I'm desperately looking for some video's. It's about the "California Jam '74 Video. Is there also a video of ELP, playing Fanfare for the common man (in the snow in a cold empty stadium?) I'd like to buy these "wanted" items. I hope you can help me!!!!!!! Kind regards from Dick Jaspers =========================== 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 11] ***************************************