No brainer

It's no secret that Emerson, Lake & Palmer plundered the classical repertoire mercilessly. Their debut album was them performing Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky's piano concerto in 10 movements) live at Newcastle City Hall; I know, it's insane. Everyone, even non-prog fans knows their take on Coplands's Fanfare for the Common Man but for Monday Long Song I would never be so populist. Instead I've gone for their interstellar version of Alberto Ginastera's Toccata. This, and every other track on the album it came from (1974's Brain Salad Surgery), changed my life overnight. I bought the album the week it came out and I've still never heard anything quite like it.

ELP - Toccata (1974) 

And for anyone who wants to compare and contrast, here's the source material. 

Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (feat. Astuko Seta) - Piano Concerto No. 1 (4th. movement) Toccata 

... 

 Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)

Keith Emerson (1944-2016)

Greg Lake (1947-2016)

Carl Palmer (1950-)

Wood for the trees

Duology(?)

Under normal circumstances you'd be hard pushed to link former England captain and '66 World Cup hero Bobby Moore with prog rockers ELP; wouldn't it be nice to discover that in 1973 Messrs. Emerson, Lake & Palmer had invited West Ham's finest to sit in on the Brain Salad Surgery sessions and sing the odd harmony (just like he did on Back Home)? Or, even better, to unearth evidence that Keith Emerson once had trials for the Hammers? I'd even have been happy to read that Carl Palmer's original drum teacher had been Bobby's brother when he was living up in Cradley Heath. Alas, no.

Trilogy

However, what I can tell you is that in the early seventies both Bobby (and his missus, Tina) and the band John Peel once described as a waste of time, talent and electricity had their mugshots taken deep in the heart of Epping Forest.

I can't tell you how many hours I pored over the Trilogy gatefold sleeve that depicted all three members of the band lurking behind every tree. It was like Where's Wally?' only in reverse.

Confession time (1). Every time I see a wooded glade (especially when I'm in the car) I shout out 'Trilogy!' It's at times like this, I suspect, that members of my immediate family fear for my sanity.

Confession time (2). As much as I love ELP, and I do, the image of Tina Moore with the England shirt pulled down as far as it will go does it for me every time. I'm only human after all, as Rag'n'Bone Man would say.

The 70s: brought to you by the letter B

Living through the 70s was by turns grim and grimmer still. Thank you to The Dabbler for pointing me in the direction of Seasons in the Sun: The Battle for Britain 1974-1979 by Dominic Sandbrook. I shall of course be reading the tome in its entirety, but just a quick glance through Sandbrook's index tells you everything you need to know about the decade that still haunts us. Just a few of the Bs: Bouquet of Barbed Wire, Brain Salad Surgery, Black & White Minstrel Show, Brentford Nylons. Says it all really.

Here's the author being interviewed about his book.

Giger counter

Above: Work No. 217 (Brain Salad Surgery 1/2)

To the best of my knowledge both these artworks by H R Giger, the Swiss surrealist with a penchant for skulls and all things phallic, are still at large. Each measuring 34 x 34 cm (acrylic on paper) they were stolen from a Prague gallery in 2005. If you should see them at your local car boot sale be sure to contact the police and or Mr. Giger.

Left: Work No. 218 (Brain Salad Surgery 2/2) 

Karn Evil 8

This afternoon I found myself listening to The Sounds of Jimmy Smith, his long player from 1957. I'm guessing a young Keith Emerson probably played this album a lot when Emerson Lake & Palmer were writing Brain Salad Surgery. The Fight predates prog by a good ten years and is almost certainly the template for ELP's Karn Evil 9; God knows what the jazzers made of this when it landed on their turntables.

Jimmy Smith - The Fight (mp3)

Hey Keith, Aaaaagh!

John Lydon and Keith Emerson 2006

Depending on which side of the prog fence you reside, the chances are you have an opinion on the merits, or otherwise, of Emerson Lake and Palmer. You'll either be scratching your head in wonderment that, once again, they missed out in the Queen's New Year Honours list, or you'll have filed them away in the furthest recesses of your brain under T for tossers. And reading Keith Emerson's candid biography Pictures of an Exhibitionist would only reinforce one or other of those schools of thought. Yes, of course they were overblown. Yes, of course they were one of the reasons why punk had to happen. But in their defence they did record Brain Salad Surgery. OK, we'll pretend that whole Jim Davidson thing never happened, shall we?

However, and thank you to Sid Smith for lighting the blue touch paper, even if you despised ELP and all the pomp and circumstance they crammed into their audacious career, you can't help but tip your hat to Emerson for his elegant one night stand in 1976 with jazz legend Oscar Peterson. That Peterson saw fit to have him on his highly prestigious show in the first place speaks volumes; that and the fact that Peterson was often heard bigging Emerson up to his friend Count Basie. And praise doesn't come much higher than that in my book.

Look out for a 'heavily disguised' Carl Palmer behind the drum kit.

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