B
Bogtrotter07
Guest
I was shocked at the news from yesterday. Keith was truly a gentle soul, not just from the PR, but from every story I heard, and from a personal experience accosting him as a rabid fan! (Mostly kidding, but he was gracious and gentle. I was even more shocked that few people I encountered knew who Keith was.
Brain Salad Surgery in my opinion was an almost one of a kind album in rock-'n'-roll from my youth. It opened the world for genres from punk to alternative rock. The band was a collection of classically trained musicians, to those that cut their teeth as drop-outs on the back streets, playing in clubs for nickels.
Brain Salad surgery was lofty, incredibly well performed and written, and could be performed on stage virtually as it was recorded. And their performance revealed no slips covered by overdubbing in the recording studio! The range in topics and origins for the tracks on this album was broad, so broad that it was a thinking mans album. I felt it changed the way I looked at and listened to rock. And I felt it had a profound effect on rock moving forward, not to mention it went platinum, incredibly quickly.
Keith, I for one will miss you : The example you set -- The composer and performer you were -- The genius you demonstrated throughout your career.
Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer Dies at 71
by The Associated Press
Keith Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died in what may have been a suicide, it was announced Friday. He was 71.
Emerson's longtime partner, Mari Kawaguchi, called police to his condominium in the coastal suburb of Santa Monica, California, about 1:30 a.m.
Emerson had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said. "It's being investigated as a suicide," Sgt. Erika Aklufi said.
Kawaguchi told police that Emerson could have died anywhere between Thursday evening and Friday morning.
"Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come," his former bandmate, drummer Carl Palmer, said in a statement. "He was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz. I will always remember his warm smile, good sense of humor, compelling showmanship and dedication to his musical craft. I am very lucky to have known him and to have made the music we did together."
Kawaguchi said Emerson was able to compose without any instrument.
"He was just natural. The music was always in his head, always," she said. "Even when he was sleeping, you know, I could tell he was always thinking about music. Sometimes he would wake up and compose music. And it was all so, so beautiful."
Emerson, Palmer and vocalist/guitarist Greg Lake were giants of progressive rock in the 1970s, recording six platinum-selling albums. They and other hit groups such as Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues and Genesis stepped away from rock's emphasis on short songs with dance beats, instead creating albums with ornate pieces full of complicated rhythms, intricate chords and time signature changes. The orchestrations drew on classical and jazz styles and sometimes wedded traditional rock instruments with full orchestras.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer's 1973 album "Brain Salad Surgery" included a nearly 30-minute composition called "Karn Evil 9" that featured a Moog synthesizer and the eerie, carnival-like lyric: "Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends."
Brain Salad Surgery in my opinion was an almost one of a kind album in rock-'n'-roll from my youth. It opened the world for genres from punk to alternative rock. The band was a collection of classically trained musicians, to those that cut their teeth as drop-outs on the back streets, playing in clubs for nickels.
Brain Salad surgery was lofty, incredibly well performed and written, and could be performed on stage virtually as it was recorded. And their performance revealed no slips covered by overdubbing in the recording studio! The range in topics and origins for the tracks on this album was broad, so broad that it was a thinking mans album. I felt it changed the way I looked at and listened to rock. And I felt it had a profound effect on rock moving forward, not to mention it went platinum, incredibly quickly.
Keith, I for one will miss you : The example you set -- The composer and performer you were -- The genius you demonstrated throughout your career.
