Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 3/13/16 – Through the years, I’ve failed to see many of my musical heroes in concert. But, I got to see Keith Emerson and ELP at their peak for the princely sum of $7.50. The year was 1977.
In addition to his own formidable compositions, Keith Emerson made his name by burning classical music beyond recognition, then feeding it back to the culture starved Rock music fan as music to hoist Bics by. Keith loved and studied the classics and jazz, but thumbed his nose at the orthodoxy. How many Rock and Roll fans took the plunge into classical music due to the efforts of Keith Emerson? Countless. I can testify to that. I was there.
I was living in Marin County and the word Punk had just entered the lexicon. Emerson, Lake and Palmer were on a roll. ELP had cashed in with their (1973) studio album “Brain Salad Surgery” that hit number 11 in the U.S. A year later they headlined the The California Jam before 250,000 people. Their (1974) triple live album “Welcome Back My Friends…” further stoked the coffers going to number 4. They maintained momentum with a string of radio friendly hits; “Lucky Man”, “From the Beginning”, Still You Turn Me On, and “C’est la Vie”.
In 1977 they pushed all their chips forward and released “Works” a self-indulgent double LP that contained a piano concerto (composed by Keith) and a hodgepodge of solo tracks. The Works Orchestral tour would be bigger than anything ELP had done before. They auditioned and assembled their own 70 piece symphony orchestra for a globetrotting tour of football stadiums. It was the largest and most ambitious travelling rock show ever attempted. It established a new world record for semi-trucks contracted. During this brief sliver of time, ELP and Progressive Rock ruled the world. The band’s penultimate moment was their mammoth concert at Olympic Stadium in Montreal before 73.000 fans. It snowed up until show time. The symbolic ‘big chill’ had begun. Thankfully, the show went on and was captured on film. It’s not often you capture the apex of something at the precise moment before the fall.
As the tour progressed, news clippings told of financial problems and postponed dates. Then, a date was announced at the Oakland Arena; a cozy 12,000 seat venue an hour away, just across the Richmond Bridge. The orchestra had been given night off. ELP was scaling back to their original power trio format. I bought tickets post haste.
What I saw was the greatest Progressive Rock band ever assembled. Even before ELP formed, the individual members were stars and grizzled veterans of the progressive rock wars. Keith Emerson established his brand in a group called The Nice back in the sixties. He was widely recognized as the ‘Hendrix’ of keyboards. His stage antics included shooting flames out of a ribbon controller and attacking his organ with a dagger while the suffering instrument wailed in pain.
Luck conspired to give us loge seats in a prime location off to the side where Keith’s keyboard rig resided. I went with my girlfriend who happened to be the keyboardist in my band at the time. The show both inspired her and made her want throw in the towel. The show was a stripped down affair (by ELP standards) and that suited me just fine. Gone where the sequined, spandex jumpsuits. Keith wore a simple leather vest over his bare upper torso. He was trim, sexy, and possessed a monster left hand that held the whole superstructure of the band’s music together.
As I watched the band effortlessly glide though the technical minefield “Tarkus”, I sat in stoned reverie. It was as if all the music of the ages was being compressed and channeled through the portal of the Oakland Arena stage. It was a moment in time. Life altering and ephemeral. I carry it in my soul to this day. And in some indirect way, it informs every note I’ve played since.
Keith paid his dues and suffered. In the nineties, a debilitating nerve condition compromised his right hand and required a nerve graft, diminishing his ability to play. Though he remained productive and busy, Keith never again scaled the heights he did with ELP in the seventies. He was one of my first Facebook friends and I often saw pictures of him out and about. Smiling and friendly; taking selfies with the locals. He lived in Santa Monica, a mecca for ex-patriot Brits. In 2010, the news came that he had cancer. On March 10, 2016, he decided he could no longer live in this world. When he left, he took a large chunk of my youth with him. I’ll be listening to his music with sadder ears now. Goodbye Keith.
THE MUSE PATROL 