ELP Digest 02 November 2009
Volume 19: Issue 2
The "Not the first, not the last, not the least" Edition
incorporating the Keith Emerson Birthday edition
and the ELP Digest Anniversary edition
Today's Topics:
Breaking News, Rumors, Etc.
- a comment (December 23, 2008)
Reader Commentary
- ELP everywhere (December 4, 2008)
- new KE band album (December 5, 2008)
- The Sound debate (December 17, 2008)
- Deluxe "Pictures" Edition 2CD Set (December 22, 2008)
Questions (and Answers!)
- ELP Digest - Live "Trilogy" & "Endless Enigma" (December 11, 2008)
- synthesizer ringtone (December 23, 2008)
ELP-related products, tribute bands, promoters
(The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.)
- ELP Tribute Project BSS European Tour is here! (December 12, 2008)
- ELP for church organ (December 14, 2008)
- Aquatarkus Tribute Band (December 14, 2008)
===========================
Prelude
===========================
My apologies for the ELP Digest's long absence. If many or all of you
thought that we had permanently gone 'off the grid', I would fully
understand. It's been a hectic year - even more hectic than my usual
excuses would convey.
There were times when I thought I was poised to send out a Digest and
something would happen to get me to hold off 'just a few days'. Then,
that time would pass and nothing would come of the hoped-for
announcement (e.g., announcing a Keith Emerson Band tour that got
cancelled due to problems with Keith's arm/wrist).
And, for a time, I thought I was just about ready to convert the ELP
Digest to a 'blog format' so I could update the blog and get you the
info in closer to real time. And then work or family would take
precedence.
So, on this 18th birthday (I think) of the first issue of the ELP
Digest, I will make an early New Year's Resolution and re-commit to
updating the method and manner in which I get the ELP news and
commentary out to you.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
On with the "old" show - and I hope to have the next batch of newer
information out in time for Greg's birthday edition next week.
- John -
P.S. For those of who remember back to last edition of the ELP Digest
(in January), that announcement of ELP mention on the BBC, we
learned that the BBC player for that content only worked in the
UK. I didn't know that at the time and hope that the content
becomes available to those of us who aren't in the UK to see it
sometime.
------------------------------
Latest News from the Official ELP sites in case you haven't kept up
on your own during the year:
Keith Emerson: http://www.keithemerson.com/News/whatsnew.html
Greg Lake: http://www.greglake.com
Carl Palmer: http://www.carlpalmer.com/
And there seems to be an effort to re-launch the official ELP site at:
http://www.emersonlakepalmer.com
Enjoy!
===========================
Breaking News, Rumors, Etc.
===========================
From: James Kolar [jwk123123@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 10:50 AM
To: elp-digest-request@reluctant.com
Subject: a comment
Can you please check your sources about a rumored ELP and YES tour?
Please go here....this is from Henry Potts website:
In a Dec article, Squire said he would like to do a world tour with
this line-up in 2009. A 2009 tour with Asia opening (with Howe
playing both sets) or even with Asia and ELP (with Palmer playing
two sets) is under discussion. A joint tour by all three was first
rumoured in early Nov. After shows in early Dec, Squire was reported
to have said that plans were being ironed out for a tour with ELP,
while White reportedly talked about Asia opening for Yes.
http://www.yesfans.com/showthread.php?t=48601
Thanks,
Jim
[ Editor's Note: As it turned out, Asia did do a tour with Yes earlier
in 2009. Saw them near Boston and it was a great show.
In May or so, the Keith Emerson Band tour got cancelled
due to an arm/wrist problem for Keith. So, we'll
never know if an ELP/Yes/Asia tour would have happened.
Keith's injury also slowed up promotion for his new
album (The Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla).
Let's hope that we'll see Keith out and able to play
a full set in the near future so we can see what may
come of these rumors in 2010!
- John - ]
---------------------------------------------
===========================
Reader Commentary
===========================
From: Burke, Edward
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 12:09 PM
To: elp-digest-request
Subject: ELP everywhere
An old "Cheers" clip with reference to the law firm of ELP...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxlIYukmlVw
Also, did anyone else but me notice during the Nov 23rd
"24:REDEMPTION" prequel what three letters appeared on the underside
of the US Army helicopter at the US Embassy in Africa? "ELP" in bold
white letters! Check your DVR during the second hour of the show!
---------------------------------------------
From: alastair cox
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 1:35 PM
To: elp-digest
Subject: new KE band album
Got this when it came out and havent stopped playing it. Was put off
at first by the fact that the band is really KE and Marc B plus session
men who are different on the dvd and the album. The dvd is a little
bit of a let down too, the interviews and stuff are good but the
concert features once again ( groan!"! ) ELP covers and comes across
as a tribute band in a small club.
Back to the album. I remember going off ELP around the BSS time and
seeing Love Beach in a store and thinking...hmm that looks cr*p.
I only bought it many years later, still isnt very good. I also
recall seeing To the Power of 3 in HMV and thought that they all
looked like a New Romantic Band ( actually a good album, just that
the time was wrong and Mr E was as out of fashion as a sausage at a
Bar Mitza) Then waited many years for them to reform only to be
horrified at the sluggish travesty that was Black Moon, even the
cover looked like Phil Collins Live album. Maybe a tour and then
bowing out would have been better than seeing Keith play sloppily due
to his op ( I got used to him playing the amazing album stuff even
faster live....wowie ) and was not prepared to see him make mistakes.
I also think the kit he played on was blurry sounding and mushy. well
at least he got rid of that awful Yamaha..urrgh.
The 90s etc seemd blighted with besty ofs and sub standard albums. I
loved the film stuff especially Taxi ride from Inferno, but Changing
States and off the shelf were too mediocre to stand. They went straight
to a second hand store. I thought that the future as an Emo fan was
bleak.
Now KE returns with a storming album and maybe even he conceeds that
he needed a strong guitarist after all, something I wouldnt have
believed after cheering when O List left the Nice. Loads of aggressive
riffing abounds and some new songs ( hurrah) and I dont miss Greg at
all. This is what he should have done a long time ago, but maybe now
the time is right.Is there any truth in the rumour that Nice live at
the Fillmore tapes exist? Please can we have them?
---------------------------------------------
From: R Wilkins
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 9:39 AM
To: elp-digest
Subject: The Sound debate
I've been putting this off for so long but eventually I had to write
in and maybe stimulate debate. When the Nice reformed there were
various grumblings about how at some concerts the Keyboards, most
notably the Hammond) were not distinct enough in the mix etc. I had
to agree with a lot of the comments and have ruminated since.
The problem for my ears appears to be part of a larger malaise which
is that of equipment. Most of the classic and best ELP material,
including live work was done on specific equipment, C3, L100 and
moogs etc. When not played on that equipment, dare I say with the same
amplification, the sound is going to be different and for me generally
inferior. Does anyone prefer any of the new live versions of Hoedown
to the original or the WBMFTTSTNE version ( or the myriad versions on
the Bootleg series)? Is it the playing or is it the sound? I would
argue, and I'm happy top be shot down, that it is the sound.
I have heard grumbles about Keith's right hand playing of late,
especially something like Hoedown, but I am convinced that with the
right sound we would all be having a good time. The same can be said of
many of the 'Prog Rock' bands who use updated equipment to play their
older material on. Though I hate to say it Yes often appear to stick
to a more representative sound and consequently their live work does
sound very good. Sound wise my cut off point was Works which featured
the Yamaha GX-1 and since then the sounds have become much more
manufactured for want of a better description.
Finally, I need to state that this in not Keith bashing or stick in
the mud philistinism. I have waited thirty years to evaluate the
technology being used by keyboard player and after deliberation,
find it wanting. I love the fact that Keith is touring again and
that he has new material available, which I bought as soon as it
came out (as I have with everything ELP have ever done), but it sounds
like so many other bands. I am ashamed to say that I have a crappy
Yamaha portable keyboard which has a horrid demo song on it to show
the customer how great it is. Unfortunately it sounds just like a lot
of Keith's new album (primarily the guitar by the way). It may be a
dream but how about trying a rehearsal with a Hammond C3 and L100 a
mini moog and modular moog. Powered by a couple of leslies and some
Hiwatt 100s. Play the same stuff and see what it sounds like! (don't
get me started on the drums)
Debate at will - if you read this Keith I hope I have not offended
you. It is not my intention.
RW
---------------------------------------------
From: jesse mcglown
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 11:20 AM
To: elp-digest@reluctant.com
Subject: Deluxe "Pictures" Edition 2CD Set
Hi everyone,
I was hesitant to jump in on this purchase (the new 2CD release of
Pictures at an Exhibition ). Not only the exorbitant price
(import; $32.95 through Amazon ), but that the last several CD
packages from the ELP camp have been more or less the same old
portrait with a new frame (I mean, how many greatest hits collections
do we need? ). Meanwhile, killer concert performances from 1977
remain unavailable as even a legal download from Wolfgang's Vault...
if you're reading, ELP Powers-That-Be, both the Wheeling and Memphis
Works concert recordings would make awesome 2CD sets. Ah, well.
Another topic for Another Time.
Back to the Deluxe Edition of Pictures: I found a used version for
ten dollars less, and had a pleasant surprise: disc two of this
deluxe 2CD package is all from the Lyceum show, and is newly remixed
from the original multi-track tapes. In true stereo!! As virtually
all of us know, the performance of 12/9/70 is a "diamond in the rough",
both in terms of recording quality and ELP's performance, especially
compared to the pristine Newcastle version. But there's always been a
certain charm ( for me, anyway ) in the raw Lyceum concert...
the bum notes, the constant AC hum on the recording all add to the
"rogue" aspect of E, L & P when they were still hungry.
A technical note or two: in the ELP paperback biography of a few years
back, Greg Lake had made reference to his disappointment with the
original Lyceum recording, citing "spillage on every track" of
instruments bleeding over onto adjacent tracks ( severely limiting
mixdown flexibility ), also mentioning that the engineer had let the
first tape run out during the performance. There is indeed a point
during the Baba Yaga segment where there is no glaring edit or missing
portion, but the stereo separation goes to monaural...presumably they
had no recourse but to crossfade to the mono audio track from the
videotape to cover the missing portion of the number while the
engineer was threading a fresh multi-track tape to finish the show.
It is very well done, and if you're not under headphones you might not
even notice the transition...it only lasts for half a minute, then
the stereo separation is back. Those endowed with perfect pitch will
also notice that the AC hum prevalent througout the Lyceum show is
A-flat ( 50 cycles in Europe and England ), whereas over here in the
States it would manifest itself as B-flat ( 60 cycles ).
Take A Pebble from the Lyceum performance is the only missing number
on this CD, probably for the CD time limitation. Disc one contains
the classic Pictures version originally released as an album.
Interestingly, the remainder of this CD contains the version of
Pictures done at the Isle of Wight set. I would've thought they might
have found the Newcastle versions of The Barbarain, Knife-Edge, Rondo,
etc...but since they didn't bother to remix the Newcastle performance
of Pictures, I suppose no effort was made to find those multi-track
tapes. All speculation, sure, but this deluxe edition makes for some
interesting comparisons between versions of this epic undertaking by
The Boys.
===========================
Questions (and Answers!)
===========================
From: Bill Sautter
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 8:36 PM
To: John Arnold
Subject: ELP Digest - Live "Trilogy" & "Endless Enigma"
Does anyone have a [good quality] live recording of ELP doing
"Trilogy" and/or "The Endless Enigma"? I have lots of rare ELP
material, but have never seen or heard of a live version of either
track.
Regards,
Bill
---------------------------------------------
From: David Belson
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 12:51 PM
To: elp-digest-request
Subject: synthesizer ringtone
To whom it may concern;
This comes to ask if there is a ringtone available for my cell phone
that has the synthesizer sequence that you hear at the end of the
“Welcome Back My Friends” live album? Hope to hear from you soon.
Dave
[ Editor's Note: If you have a phone that can assign a ringtone to an
MP3 file on the phone, there are tools that you can
use to rip that sequence to MP3 and edit it to size.
(Many phones limit ringtones to 30 seconds or less.) ]
===========================
ELP-related products, tribute bands, promoters (The ELP Digest does not endorse, etc.)
===========================
From: Mauro Aimetti
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 10:02 AM
To: John Arnold
Subject: Re: ELP Tribute Project BSS European Tour is here!
Hi John,
We got a very successful BSS European Tour! Here it goes some
clips in High quality!!
Let me know your thoughts!!
Cheers,
Mauro
Video in Alta definizione tratti dal Tour Europeo Novembre 2008:
Mauro let me vidoetape the whole concert at Z7 in Pratteln
(close to Basle) Switzerland.
Here is the first bit - Trilogy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp8xksXInvs
and Karn Evil 9, 2nd Impression:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86QWOnvwPcc
and Karn Evil 9, 1st Impression, 2nd part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayz4kQXgrl0
as you see it was a real great concert. I have uploaded it as high
quality, but you have to choose that button if you have the needed
bandwith.
---------------------------------------------
From: Sergio Lombardi
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 5:09 PM
To: elp-digest
Subject: ELP for church organ
The Italian maestro Marco Lo Muscio, a church organ and classical
piano player, has been performing world wide for years his adaptations
of Keith Emerson scores for church organ. Promenade, The Three Fates
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK3nS31SMyo
and Fanfare have long become part of his repertoire. After releasing
a cd being an officially authorized tribute to Steve Hackett's works
"New Horizons", he will release soon a new one on Emerson and ELP
music, authorized by Keith. In the meantime, he's going to launch one
more cd with his own compositions "Dark and Light", deeply influenced
by Keith Emerson. A sample here:
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=tsKCYxUKU7I
The multimedia section of his website www.marcolomuscio.com is rich
of several video (including those from Youtube).
Sergio Lombardi
---------------------------------------------
From: Sergio Lombardi
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 7:09 PM
To: elp-digest
Subject: Aquatarkus Tribute Band
After some 15 years, the Aquatarkus, ELP tribute band, have returned
to stage on Oct. 30th. Their first gig in Rome, Italy has been
astonishing: faithful renditions of great ELP songs.
Setlist: Promenade; Knife-edge; Hoedown;
Endless Enigma pt.1/Fugue/Endless Enigma pt. 2;
From the Beginning; Profondo Rosso (Goblin);
21st Century Schizoid Man (K.Crimson);
Take A Pebble/The Sage/Lucky Man/Inferno (main theme - Emerson)
/Take A Pebble (finale);
Jeremy Bender/The Sheriff; Tarkus.
Encore: Fanfare/America/Rondo/The Great Gates of Kiev (finale).
Website: www.myspace.com/aquatarkus featuring tracks from their
performance.
Sergio Lombardi
===========================
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End of ELP Digest [Volume 19, Issue 2]
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