The band’s talent was manifest in many ways, especially in their ability to bring jazz and classical music into the rock context. ELP didn’t just tip its hat to classical music. Much of its music was interpretations of the classics. Some of the best known of the ELP’s works were “covers” – it’s an accurate though strange sounding term in this context – included “Hoedown” by Aaron Copland and “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Paul Mussorgsky.
The Wikipedia profile offers a fascinating story about the band, though one that was said to not be true a few years ago by Greg Lake. Legend has it that Jimi Hendrix had almost joined the band, which then would have been called HELP.
ELP was loud and, to some ears, pretentious. The distinctive sound was driven by the organ and Moog synthesizer of Keith Emerson (formerly of the Nice). AllMusic’s Bruce Eder calls ELP “progressive rock’s first supergroup” and notes that it paved the way for others, including Yes – which was its main competition in the 1970s.
Greg Lake had been in King Crimson. He and Emerson joined forces and Carl Palmer – not yet 20 years old — was added on drums by way of audition. The band played its first concert just before of The Isle of Wight festival. There, according to Eder, ELP “astonished more than half a million onlookers with their sound and instrumental prowess.”
The profiles describes several landmarks band, including the concept album Takrus, which was released in 1971. The title is a seven-part rock suite, recorded in four days, that features a number of complex time signatures, according to Wikipedia.
“Karn Evil 9” is above and “Hoedown” is below.
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