Emerson Lake & Palmer* – Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Perfect in every way. Take a peddle and Lucky Man show Greg at His best. Whilst in Three Fates Keith is Summed up. Program rock For
Sure

Writing and recording of ELP's debut started in the summer of 1970, Emerson didn't waste anytime after he broke up the Nice in March of the same year. While I quite like their debut, unfortunately I never thought any of their other albums were quite as consistent. Emerson rehashed a lot of old Nice ideas throughout the rest of ELP's career, which ironically he broke up the Nice as he felt that band had nowhere else to go, although he just added moogs to the Nice's classically influenced sound, while Brian Davison went in a fusion direction and Lee Jackson went folk. While Lake is a significantly better singer than Jackson, he is not necessarily a better bassist. Also Palmer was all flash and nothing else, Davison kept better time.

[copied from Discogs Master Notes text - author unknown]

EL&P started writing and recording their first album in summer 1970, interrupted by their first gig, on August 23rd at Plymouth Guildhall in front of 3000 visitors, followed by their second gig 6 days later, August 29th at the Isle Of Wight Festival, where they made their international debut before a crowd of 600.000.

By the end of the first week of Sept. 1970 they cut their debut album within 1 week at Advision, London.

The first track, "The Barbarian" which has been adapted from Béla Bartók’s 1911 piano piece "Allegro Barbaro," who wasn’t credited initially is an especially aggressive piece of music, realised by by Emerson’s Hammond Organ attack. A sprightly piano interlude in the middle section set the tone for what EL&P’s music emphasised, the unpredictability factor. EL&P got into hot water from Bartók’s estate with regard to the copyright. The main objection was not the missing credit but more that the band had changed the piece so much.

Similar problems were encountered with Leo Janacek’s "Sinfonietta," which was adapted in the track "Knife Edge."

"Take A Pebble," the second track, Lake wrote in late 1969. It starts as a folk song, but it really turned out as a piano showcase for Emerson. It’s quite a drop in the tempo after "The Barbarian."

The relaxing atmosphere is brought to a halt by the next track "Knife Edge." The heavy organ sound makes it a good companion to "The Barbarian." Lake wrote the lyrics with some help by Robert Fraser (a roadie), who also wasn’t credited initially. The band is very together here and it’s very heavy.

"The Three Fates" opens side two on vinyl editions. It refers to the legend of the three goddesses in Greek mythology and is a conceptual piece by Emerson. The three parts are:
"Clotho" - the organ solo was recorded at the Royal Fesival Hall.
Lachesis – a piano solo.
Atropos – a piano trio.

"Tank," the next track, features a studio drum solo. The music is firstly dominated by a clavinet and then the Moog Synthesizer, which create a dense layer of sound that dazzle the senses.

The final track is "Lucky Man," penned by Lake and one of their most famous pieces. It was written when Lake was still a schoolboy. The synthesizer part was a groundbreaking solo and is still to be mentioned in relevant publications.

781 519-1