Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake and Palmer Dies

Ultimate Classic Rock ^ | 3/11/2016 | Nick DeRiso

[ez]

I saw Asia’s first ever show at the Clarkson Arena at Clarkson College in Potsdam NY. They were launching their tour in Rochester the next night and scheduled the college gig as a tune-up to get their sound set etc. Geoffrey Downes stood facing away from the crowd but had an entire wall of keyboards with a mirror at the top to see the people. Cool concert. We played a lot of ELP songs back in the day..Karn Evil 9, Epitaph, still you turn me on. RIP Keith.

[Dr.Deth]

What happens when you find out that keyboards don't have a whammy bar?

Keith Emerson showed us.

[plain talk]

Certainly a pianist that would rank as one of the best is the HIGHLY underrated Richard Wright - arguably the foundational key for PF’s success. Absolutely an amazingly creative keyboardist - but not necessarily pianist.

I agree! Not a technical pianist by any means as you said. But Rick was able to create textures and sounds like no one else.

[plain talk]

thanks for the article. sad news indeed if it was a suicide. Depression can do strange things. Logically it makes no sense. even if he could no longer play piano - not sure that was the case - Keith was a great composer. He could have continued composing. But again depression does not deal in logic.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Wore out the live version from “Welcome Back.....”

Man, I’m getting old.

[kalee]

Suicide they are reporting.

[21twelve]

IIRC, Greg Lake came up with the lyrics for “Lucky Man” as a young kid - 5th grade or something.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3661

Hey - I found the above link with lots of details on the song. Greg had the lyrics and basic chords at 12 years old. They were short a few minutes for a full album and Greg says “um - well there is a song I have” and he played it. It was dreadful with his singing and the four chords. Emerson said “I’m going to the pub.”

Lake and Palmer kept messing and adding to it, overlaying bass, electric, etc. and it started sounding good. Emerson comes back and says “Hey - this is good. I suppose I should play on it?” It was pretty much done, but he had just received a MOOG synth to try out, so they added that at the end.

[21twelve]

It was very late in life before I got to see them (1992). I was amazed when he started stabbing the knives and rolling that organ around. Not so much on the act, but that the “noise” he was producing was just like on the album. It wasn’t “noise”, it was music! Crazy stuff. (And playing the organ from behind, playing two keyboards, etc.)

Great music, and an even greater show.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[chajin]

There were two organists I admired in the mid 1970s, and they were both named Keith: Keith Chapman who played the Wanamaker organ in Philly, and Keith Emerson. Both of them came out with LPs of organ arrangements of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and both recordings went gold, I think. Because of them, I convinced my now-ex to process to the organist playing the Promenade, and for us to recess to The Great Gates of Kiev. Later, when I became a church organist myself, I would play them as the prelude and postlude for every Sunday nearest our anniversary, until the ex decided to become an ex.

Last night was tough: I was angry at the protestors, greatly disappointed in Cruz's half-hearted response, and saddened at the unnecessary loss of a man who, along with the "other" Keith and Jimmy Smith, led me to a life of enjoying classical, jazz, and rock organ music.

P.S. And the other Keith? I brought him to FL in 1985 for a concert on a Frobenius pipe organ, the only one in FL AFAIK. He stayed with us for the weekend, and one thing he talked about was how he wanted to make enough money to purchase a private plane. He eventually obtained the plane, and that is how he died, crashing the plane four years later in CO.

[SunkenCiv]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Piano Concerto No.1 First Movement

[pallmallman]

I saw them live in 1977,...same here...an awesome concert.

[pallmallman]

I would have loved to see Emerson and Eddie Van Halen play together.