Thank you for your comments, words like that make the effort worth it. It's why I still love the Canteen after some 15 years of juking here.
I too listened to The Nice and ELP in HS and imagined I was their biggest fan. I was, after all, a classically trained, music reading percussionist from the age of 9, and Carl Palmer was second only to Buddy Rich in my pantheon of drum gods. While I could bungle through Buddy's big band Jazz charts, I was obsessive in the early 70s about transcribing and performing Carl Palmer's classically influenced and technically executed drum parts note-for-note (sans Moog Drums which only top-tier icons and multi-millionaires could requisition). Unfortunately, I was never blessed with compatriots to recreate the other instruments with authenticity (the cost alone of Keith's early prototypes from Robert Moog could mortgage a small country, not to mention the technically acumen to understand and wrestle music from those dinosaurs) - otherwise, I'd perhaps be in an ELP tribute band today instead of my current "Room Full of Mirrors" Jimi Hendrix tribute act.
However, the ELP/Palmer influence remains in my stage set-up to this day, as my current rig more resembles Carl's massive intimidating chrome drum kits of the 70s with the first pagoda-style "racks" ever devised for touring, rather than the classic old-school set-ups of Mitch Mitchell. I currently construct a massive UFC-style cage around my beloved vintage chrome cannons - (the only thing missing is the chain link fence) and imho, all drummers who utilize rack systems owe a tip-o-the-hat to Carl's innovations in the 70s presenting the drum kit as, if not a lead instrument, at least an equal among giants.
That said, it was Keith who took popular music into the realm of Classical Art Rock with The Nice as early as 1967 while Carl was still a mere sideman with "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown". When Carl and Keith joined forces and incorporated many of Brown's hell-fire stage theatrics with Keith's solid Classical chops, composition skill and over-the-top showmanship, the result was an undeniable special effects tour-d-force and led to scores of break-through artists following in their formidable footsteps from YES to Genesis to RUSH. The after-shocks of ELP continue as an influence to this day. Keith Emerson helped (if not single-handedly) elevated Rock music from 3 chords and 4 letter words to an art form respected by and influencing all genres. God bless Keith Emerson and God speed kindred spirit.
