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KEITH EMERSON (11/2/1944 - 3/11/2016) – TIMH

+12 HS
Whoa Nellie's picture
March 10, 2017 at 10:15pm
100 Comments

For a kid growing up in the 60s and 70s, progressive rock was an honored genre, flowing from the wells of classical, folk, and jazz music, and blasted through electric guitars, organs and, ultimately, synthesizers. In those years before Johnny Rotten turned it into a dirty word, prog rock was propelled by musicians, many of them classically trained, who could really play their instruments, in some cases fantastically well. 

Keith Emerson is at the top of every list of greatest keyboard players. Emerson’s mastery of the classical canon (including Bach, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Janacek, Bartok and Dvorak) and his ability to fuse those works with the modern sounds of Copeland, Bernstein, Brubeck, as well as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and even Dylan, was unique and astounding. If you also happened to be a budding musician during those years, Emerson’s impact was colossal and lifelong. I can still see, hear and feel the power as well as the beauty of Emerson Lake and Palmer all these years after attending my first rock concert at Wooster College on April 9, 1972.

Keith Noel Emerson was born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England. His parents were amateur musicians who had him taking piano lessons at age 8. His interests ran from classical to jazz to boogie-woogie to rock and roll. Keith became smitten with the Hammond L-100 organ when he was 14. He played in a variety of blues and jazz bands, most notably the T-Bones and the V.I.P.’s.  Keith co-founded The Nice in 1967, and rock lore has it that Jimi Hendrix was interested in joining them. The Nice broke up in 1969, after releasing their last great albums, Elegy and Five Bridges. Keith and Greg Lake, bassist and vocalist for King Crimson, decided to team up, and after considering pal Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience), they auditioned Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster and Crazy World of Arthur Brown). Their chemistry was immediate and the lineup was set. ELP’s second gig was at the historic Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, and like CSN&Y had done in its second gig at Woodstock the previous summer, ELP became an overnight sensation. The group released 5 hit albums in 4 years: ELP, Tarkus, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery, and Pictures at an Exhibition.

Keith Emerson – Greg Lake – Carl Palmer

The group broke up in 1977 and Keith turned to solo projects, film soundtracks and composing. In the 80s, Keith formed ELP with Cozy Powell replacing Palmer (then with Asia). In 1990, he toured briefly in The Best, comprised of John Entwistle (The Who), Joe Walsh (James Gang, Eagles), Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers), and Simon Phillips (Toto). The original ELP lineup reunited in the 90s and played various reunions through the new millennium. Keith also conducted and collaborated with orchestras, and played and toured with his own Keith Emerson Band. He had written an autobiography Pictures of An Exhibitionist and was working on a film of the book. Ironically, John Lydon and Keith Emerson became neighbors and friends in Santa Monica, CA. "A great bloke" the former Sex Pistol said of his one-time whipping boy.

Keith with Bob Moog

The way Keith Emerson introduced rock fans to his signature sound was all his own. He pushed the technological envelope as an early adopter of virtually every electronic keyboard produced, being the first performer to truck a monstrous Moog synthesizer on tour. Keith was sold on the Moog from the first moment he heard Walter Carlos’ Switched On Bach. Keith’s solo at the end of “Lucky Man” is said to be the first successful rock performance on a Moog. He did it in one take, the same day his first Moog was delivered. Eventually, the sheer number, size and complexity of the keys he took on tour became a kind of joke; one with which Keith was aware and sheepishly comfortable.

Emerson also recognized that musicianship alone might not hold the interest of crowds attending the rock and roll circus. Borrowing from his friend and fellow virtuoso, Jimi Hendrix, Keith practiced showmanship through a variety of manic, destructive, and riveting stage acts. In 1970, Emerson was already firing cannons on stage and spewing gouts of flame from his instruments. His most memorable trick had Keith seated at a piano that rose 15-20 feet in the air and began to rotate end over end – while he seemed to continue to play. The piano was a prop, and Keith was actually playing another keyboard via remote control. But, the effect was mesmerizing.

Some of Keith’s stagecraft dated back to the late 60s, and his time in the bands V.I.P. and The Nice. He discovered that lifting, spinning, and dropping his Hammond L-100 organ produced feedback and battle-like sounds of machine guns and bombs. His discovery came one night when his band told him to “keep playing” during a fight in the club. The act so successful stopped the melee that they told him to repeat the stunt every night. Keith put these effects to good use in The Nice in his anti-war adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s “America” from West Side Story. Keith also found that stabbing knives between the keys of his organ was an effective way to sustain those notes while he played others. Lemmy Kilmister, then a roadie for The Nice and an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia gave him two Hitler Youth knives to use, quipping that they’d do the job right and better than some Boy Scout knives. The act was not only destructive to the equipment (he always had a handful of L-100s in various stages of repair). Keith, an experienced pilot and motorcyclist, said he suffered more injuries on stage than pursuing those hobbies.

One year ago today the world learned of Keith Emerson’s suicide. Keith had a degenerative neurological disease that affected both hands. In 1993, he underwent a nerve grafting operation that nearly ended his career. Keith also suffered from depression, both pre-existing and exacerbated by his progressive loss of control over his hands. We learned after his death that Keith was sensitive to on-line criticisms about his diminishing skills, and was extremely anxious about performing for an up-coming concert tour in Japan. Keith Emerson, for many, the greatest keyboard artist in rock, died at age 71. Greg Lake passed 9 months later.

Requiescat In Pace

Emerson Lake and Palmer – “Hoedown” (Aaron Copeland)

Emerson Lake and Powell – “Touch and Go”

Emerson and Lake – “Lucky Man” – Live from Manticore Hall (2010)

 

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