From The Beginning

When I first started listening to music and taking it seriously was when I got my first record on that old record player that belonged to my sister.

That record was KISS ALIVE. This is a long way from ELP, but I will get there.

Many years later, I went to work for a company that I am still with and started to later work with a guy that knew and awful lot about music. It was his goal in life to expose people to many different types of music almost to the point where you have to say stop.

One of the groups he got me hooked on was ELP.

I believe it was the Trilogy CD that I heard first. It had such an impact with me that he started introducing me to more and more and the rest is history.

How can you not listen to the ENDLESS ENIGMA and not be hooked?

Then, going back two years with the first recording, you have TAKE A PEBBLE, KNIFE EDGE, AND LUCKY MAN.

Since then I have been making it my goal to collect everything ELP has out their and also everything out their that Greg Lake has sung on. Can I tell you what my favorite ELP song is?

The answer is NO. There are two many to like and two many to mention.

It all depends on your mood. They have so many different styles that they play from classical to rock you just have to pick.

For example, many of Keith Emerson's piano work would fall into this category, classical or rock. He even has many ragtime numbers to choose from. Then, last but not least, you have Carl Palmer who has many different drum sections to choose from, pure power all the way.

What I like about this group is that they gear numbers that feature every member in what they do best. There just won't be groups like this anymore, not that their ever was. I also believe that if they had started when the Beatles did, they would be looked at in a much higher regard than they are.

Even though, by their own admission, they are heavily Beatle influenced, I think they achieved much more. It is not my attempt here to compare the two, but to say that they are better just seems obvious to me.

Their is also the chance that some of their more complicated numbers may not go over with today's audiences.

But it is my opinion they should be listened to first. Karn Evil 9, Tarkus, and Pictures at The Exhibition, just to name three.
They show the talents of all three as a group. You just don't find music like this anymore.

Then I discovered the PICTURES AT THE EXHIBITION CD.

This one as with Tarkus didn't grab me at first. As a Greg Lake fan, I would look at the vocals first. Then after listening to it over and over it has an energy all its own. It is incredible to hear and see them play the complete version.

Now there is a longer version out on video that pales in comparison to any hard driving classical number. It blends many different kind of genres classical, rock, blues, and Greg's incredible vocals on THE GREAT GATES OF KIEV as well as THE SAGE. Keith Emerson's keyboards are just beyond belief.

Their is nobody that can do what he can do. This just proves the point I am trying to make. That they utilize the talents of the three and not the one like most groups. If more groups focused on this aspect longevity certainly would not have been a problem.

Different in style from PICTURES, TARKUS takes a more rock approach.

TARKUS, on the other hand, I have seen performed live and in person in the summer of 1997. Even though the band is apart now they will forever live on in our mind and in our hearts. Here is to the power of three individuals and what they can accomplish. I hope we haven't seen the last of ELP?

I dedicate this site to them, to ELP FANS, and to whatever the future may hold.

 I got a call from a good friend telling me we are going to ELP.

I was very excited to say the least. This is a short time before the break up of the band.

In telling this so far after the fact its very hard to remember everything.

The show was at the LB Day Amphitheater in Salem OR.

A nice venue for the band.  I realized going in that they wouldn't play my favorite songs but I didn't care I was there finally.

They did ELP staples of course, From The Beginning Lucky Man etc.

They also did Benny the Bouncer (Bobby help me here). There were solos from Carl Palmer and Keith Emerson.

The show was so long ago and indescribable.

Jethro Tull was on after them It just wasn't the same. I realized that they have all moved on but it is my fondest hope that someday they may do something again.

Maybe if more people would listen to the bands of this generation maybe the music of today would be better than it is.

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