Pioneer of Prog Rock, Keyboard player extraordinary has died.
RIP Keith
RIP Keith
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Another one gone. Reports that it's a possible suicide.Steve -
Very sad news indeed.
I wonder how many on here are aware he wrote a Piano Concerto (Works Volume 1,Emerson, Lake & Palmer).
RIP Keith EmersonComment
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He was one of my bridges from Rock into Classical Music. Reportedly he shot himself after being diagnosed with a progressive neurological issue that was impairing his ability to play.
It's been a bad year for the Rock Stars of my youth.Comment
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Awesome and legend are very over used words these days but in this instance, he was not. He was an Awesome musician and a Legend!Don’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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I always wondered how he avoided being electrocuted from ramming knives into his Hammond's keyboard, let alone doing his back in from manhandling it the way he did onstage. Barbara Thompson - who incidentally has in the last year had to give up playing in public due to Parkinsons - has emailed me to say that she and Jon Hiseman knew Keith in the mid-70s, when the New Jazz Orchestra backed his hit Honky Tonk Blues. He gave them his baby's buggy, which he had outgrown, and it proved just right at the time for Marcus, the Hisemans' then two-year old.Comment
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I never quite know what to do in these situations. That is, when while there is absolutely nothing bad to say about someone, they were never, in truth, in the CD collection or ever likely to get there. That was why I didn't comment on the departing of Lemmy. But this sad event gives me an opportunity to do so with specific reference to the punk movement. Emerson Lake and Palmer were to many symbolic of what punk was intended to counter. For those, rock music in the mid 1970s had become too intricate, too extensive, too pompous, too grandiose. In contrast, the very different music of Motorhead circa 1980 - pared down, speedy, hard rock/metal - was able to be accommodated by some punks.
There was an odd personal twist. Having arrived at a "posh" school on a local authority grant, I had my head in the more succinct aspects of art rock, soul records and some folk music. What I wasn't anticipating was ELP occasionally blasting out of the sixth form common room, nor ultimately the use of "Brain Salad Surgery" in a school assembly. The latter occurred on the annual day when the students were given management of the worship. (Actually, in another year they did (latterly) pick out Stevie Wonder's "Superstition"). And what I felt momentarily in the division of ELP people and the rest was that somehow those of us who weren't ELP people were insufficiently progressive. Whether we liked it or not, this was the future of music and it was unquestionably cool. Then the Sex Pistols arrived and the Damned and the Clash to redefine the terrain. Suddenly I was at a "grammar school" in my mind. It made sense to me. Along the way, I assumed that most progressive rock fans - not all - had largely dropped music in favour of executive boardrooms.
Anyhow, I think one can say with hindsight that a very wide range of artists contributed to the fascinating journey of pop and rock music in the second half of the 20th Century. Especially in 2016, its kaleidoscopic nature seems extraordinary. Even at that time there were attempts to meet others halfway if only with reference to the UK singles chart. Consequently, the memory is of Emerson's aforementioned "Honky Tonk (Train?) Blues" and Greg Lake's very good "I Believe in Father Christmas". That included a portion of "Troika" from "Lieutenant Kijé" at Emerson's suggestion. Moreover, while what follows was not my introduction to Copland - I had as often stated been involved in a performance of "Old American Songs" - it was hard to ignore. A Top 30 hit in 1977 - the first main year of punk (and disco) - it was then at a perceived turning point towards grassroots equality!
Emerson Lake and Palmer - Fanfare For The Common Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgpnlLz7WR0
RIP Lemmy and Keith Emerson
Last edited by Lat-Literal; 12-03-16, 14:53.Comment
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Great post Lat 
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Concur, thanks, Lat!
Don’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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He even had a pretty good go at George Malcolm's "Bach Before The Mast"!
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