Today's Quote

"If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living. Music is it's own reward." ~Sting

Another Internet Obsession

I started a Facebook page about a month ago so if you're on Facebook drop by and say hello. Profile

Today's Quote

"The man that hath no music in himself Nor is not move'd with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons , strategems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus: Let no such man be trusted." ~William Shakespeare

Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery (1973)

This is the album that solidified my long running admiration for ELP. I had heard bits and pieces of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's music from previous albums at a friend house but Brain Salad was the first ELP album I bought and had a chance to really listened to and listen I did. Over the next few days I must have listened to this album a dozen times. I couldn't get enough ELP and started buying anything I could get my hands on. Today I probably have more ELP music in my collection (including solo projects) than any other single artist.

Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio release from the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer released in November 1973 and features a mixture of rock and classical themes. Lyrics were co-written by Greg Lake and fellow ex-King Crimson member (and frequent ELP collaborator) Peter Sinfield. The album features cover art by surreal artist H. R. Giger.

"Jerusalem", an adaptation of Hubert Parry's hymn based on William Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time", was the only single, but it was not released in the UK due to objections from the BBC.

The instrumental "Toccata" is based on the Fourth Movement of Alberto Ginastera's 1st Piano Concerto, arranged by Keith Emerson with special synthesized effects; Carl Palmer wrote a percussion accompaniment using newly-developed drum synthesizers. Ginastera's agent apparently did not care for ELP's rendition and wasn't going to grant the publishing rights. Emerson, however, contacted Ginastera himself, who liked it and personally arranged for clearance. "Toccata" also gained fame as the theme to the New England cult TV show Creature Double Feature.

"Still... You Turn Me On" is one of the darkest and haunting songs on the album and one of the best.

"Benny The Bouncer" is my least favorite work on the album. To me it is just a short ragtime type song added to fill in space. Even with that being said, Keith Emerson's piano work on this song is amazing.

The album's longest composition, Karn Evil 9, which is nearly 30 minutes in length, consists of three movements or "impressions", the first and third separated by an extended instrumental passage. The most well-known section is "Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression, Part 2" (Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends...). "Karn Evil 9" was so long that the first movement originally had to be split between sides 1 and 2 of the album. The original U.S. CD release also divided the piece, but subsequent releases have presented it in an uninterrupted version.[3]

"Karn Evil 9" includes vocal credit for Keith Emerson, and is Emerson's only official vocal credit on an ELP record, despite the fact that the only 'vocals' he contributed to the song were those of the computer voice in the Third Impression.

The album cover is considered one of the most memorable (and often disturbing) of its time. It features distinctive Giger monochromatic biomechanical artwork, integrating an industrial mechanism with a human skull and the new ELP logo (created by Giger). The lower part of the skull's face is covered by a circular "screen", which shows the mouth and lower face in its flesh-covered state. In the original LP release, the front cover was split in half down the center, except for the circular screen section (which was attached to the right half). Opening the halves revealed a painting of the complete face: a human female (modelled after Giger's wife[4]), with "alien" hair and multiple scars, including the infinity symbol and a scar from a frontal lobotomy. The two images of the woman are very similar, but the outer image (in the circle) contains what appears to be the top of a phallus below her chin, arising from the "ELP" column below (the second painting originally had the complete phallus, but this was removed at the insistence of the record company. The back cover was solid black with the album title in plain white lettering.

Track Listings

1. Jerusalem (2:44)
2. Toccata (7:23)
3. Still... You Turn Me On (2:53)
4. Benny The Bouncer (2:21)
5. Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression - Part 1) (8:44)
6. Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression - Part 2) (4:47)
7. Karn Evil 9 (2nd Impression) (7:07)
8. Karn Evil 9 (3rd Impression) (9:03)

Line-up/Musicians

- Keith Emerson / organ, piano, Harpsichord, accordion, Custom-built Moog synths, Moog polyphonic ensemble, vocals on "Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression - Part 1)"
- Greg Lake / vocals, bass, Zemaitis electric 6-string and 12-string guitars
- Carl Palmer / drums, percussion, percussion synthesizers
- Produced By Greg Lake

Today's Quote

"Your art kind of changes as you get older, by nature of the fact that you’re hopefully gaining wisdom and you’re starting to watch things with a better overview." ~Sheryl Crow

Old Glory

 
On a cold and drizzly morning, it sure makes the heart feel warm seeing Old Glory flying proudly.

Two worker from my department, including myself just finished installing this new flagpole this morning at one of our educational buildings. There was absolutely no wind until we raised the flag and just as we walked away a gust of wind came up and you can see the result. God Bless America.

Today's Quote

"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." ~Kurt Cobain

Today's Quote

"All a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws". ~John Coltrane

Gary Thain 1948 - 1975

This is the fifth installment in a series of profiles on some of Rock And Roll's most influential bass players.

Gary Thain was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on May 15, 1948. He started performing at the very early age of 13 when he entered a high school talent contest and won singing the Pete Seeger folk song Where Have All The Flowers Gone. The official start to Gary's career was with the New Zealand band "The Strangers". The group released three singles in their short time together. One of the singles was a Gary Thain penned song titled I'll Never Be Blue. He was 16.

At age 17 Gary moved to Australia and joined the band The Secrets. They released one single in 1966. Soon after this release The Secrets broke up. After this break up Gary played for a number of other small bands touring the UK and Europe until 1968 when he joined the Keef Hartley Band. He recorded six albums with the band.

In 1972 Gary was contacted by Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep and asked if he would be interested in taking over bass duties due the departing of bassist Mark Clarke. He agreed. Up until this time most of Gary's musical background had been in jazz and blues which ended up complimenting Heep's progressive/space genre very well.

The first album that Gary recorded with Uriah Heep was the 1972 release Demons and Wizards, just 4 months after joining Heep. The Magician's Birthday followed the same year which included two songs co-written by Gary (Spider Woman and Sweet Lorraine). 1972 was a very successful year for Heep and Gary alike. Throughout the remaining of '72 and '73 Heep toured almost nonstop resulting in the release of the double album Uriah Heep Live 1973. The success of Uriah Heep continued with the 1973 studio album Sweet Freedom which included the song Circus, another Thain co-written piece.

1974 brought an end to Gary's recording with Uriah Heep with the release of Wonderworld which he was credited with co-writing half the songs on the album. On stage in Dallas, Texas on September 15, 1974 Gary received an electrical shock while playing the song July Morning. His health never really recovered and he had to leave Uriah Heep in January 1975.

On December 8, 1975 Gary passed away from continuing heath problems partially due to the shock he received in Dallas and years of drug use. He was 27 years old.

Today's Quote

"Song writing is about getting the demon out of me. It's like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won't let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you're allowed to sleep". ~John Lennon