Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in April 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. With nine RIAA-certified gold record albums in the US, and an estimated 48 million records sold worldwide, they were one of the most popular and commercially successful progressive rock bands in the 1970s, with a musical sound including adaptations of classical music with jazz and symphonic rock elements, dominated by Emerson's flamboyant use of the Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, and piano.
Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and composer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups. Emerson, Lake & Palmer were commercially successful through much of the 1970s, becoming one of the best-known progressive rock groups of the era. Emerson wrote and arranged much of ELP's music on albums such as Tarkus (1971) and Brain Salad Surgery (1973), combining his own original compositions with classical or traditional pieces adapted into a rock format.
Pictures at an Exhibition is a live album by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in November 1971 on Island Records. It is a recording of the band's arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, performed live at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971. Keith Emerson wished to arrange the piece after seeing an orchestral performance of it several years before. He bought a copy of the score, and pitched the idea to Greg Lake and Carl Palmer, who agreed to adapt it.
Tarkus is the second studio album by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in June 1971 on Island Records. Following their 1970 European tour, the group returned to Advision Studios in London, in January 1971, to prepare material for a new album. Side one has the seven-part "Tarkus", with a collection of shorter tracks on side two.
Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 19 November 1973 by their record label, Manticore Records, and distributed by Atlantic Records.
Works Volume 1 is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released as a double album on 25 March 1977 on Atlantic Records. Following their world tour supporting Brain Salad Surgery (1973), the group took an extended break before they reconvened in 1976 to record a new album. They were now tax exiles and recorded new material in London and overseas in Montreux, Switzerland and Paris, France. Works Volume 1 features a side dedicated for each member to write and arrange their own tracks that were performed by the band, while the fourth side features songs written collectively. Keith Emerson recorded his Piano Concerto No. 1, Greg Lake wrote several songs with lyricist Peter Sinfield, and Carl Palmer recorded tracks of varied musical styles.
Works Volume 2 is the sixth studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1977. Unlike Works Volume 1, Works Volume 2 was a single album and it was seemingly a compilation of leftover tracks from other album sessions. While many derided the album for its apparent lack of focus, others felt that it showed a different side of the band, with blues, bluegrass and jazz being very prominent as musical genres in this recording.
Gregory Stuart Lake was an English singer, songwriter, bassist, guitarist and record producer. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP).
Trilogy is the third studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in July 1972 on Island Records.
"Tarkus" is the title track of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's second album. The progressive rock epic lasts 20:35. It was the longest studio song by the band until the three impressions of "Karn Evil 9". The name "Tarkus" refers to the armadillo-tank from the William Neal paintings on the album cover. The artist has explained that the name is an amalgamation between 'Tartarus' and 'carcass'. Consequently, the name refers to the "futility of war, a man made mess with symbols of mutated destruction." The song "Tarkus" itself supposedly follows the adventures of Tarkus from his birth, through a fight with a manticore, which he loses and concludes with an aquatic version of Tarkus named "Aquatarkus". Keith Emerson, when asked what work he is proudest of, named his Piano Concerto and Tarkus.
The Return of the Manticore is a 4-disc retrospective on the career of the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released in 1993, and features several new recordings of previously released songs, most notably a studio recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition," presented in Dolby Surround Sound. Also, a live recording of Dave Brubeck's "Rondo" features on disc 2; the track, although performed by ELP in concert from the band's inception, was previously unreleased on any live or studio album by ELP.
Emerson, Lake & Powell, sometimes abbreviated as ELP, were an English progressive rock band, considered by many as a variant lineup of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, that released one official studio album in 1986. The album's debut single was "Touch and Go" which peaked at number 60 on the Billboard charts on July 19, 1986.
"Karn Evil 9" is an extended work by progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer, appearing on the album Brain Salad Surgery. A futuristic fusion of rock and classical themes, it is regarded by some to be their best work, along with the 1971 song "Tarkus". At nearly a half an hour long, it is also their longest studio recording.
Richard Fraser was a lyricist for the British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP).
Banco is the fourth studio album by Italian progressive rock band Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. The album was originally released in 1975 on the Manticore Records label launched by Emerson, Lake & Palmer with whom the band shared a firm stylistic similarity.
Live at Nassau Coliseum '78 is a double live album by British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 2011.
Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival '72 is a live album by British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 2011. Recorded on 2 April 1972 at the Mar y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico.
"Fanfare for the Common Man" is a song by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, from the group's 1977 Works Volume I album. Adapted by Keith Emerson from Aaron Copland's 1942 piece of the same name, it is one of their most popular and enduring pieces.
"Still...You Turn Me On" is a song by the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released on their 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery. It is the only song on the album that lead singer and guitarist Greg Lake wrote entirely by himself.
"Tiger in a Spotlight" is a song by the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was recorded in 1973, but not released until 1977, when it was released on the album Works Volume 2. "Tiger in a Spotlight" was also released as a single, and became a staple in Emerson, Lake & Palmer later concerts.
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