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Emerson, Lake, & Palmer - Pictures At An Exhibition - Extended Play Lounge (Episode 16) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-21 15:44:44
Edited:
2024-06-04 21:05:14
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

For our next installment of the EPL, we have some ELP!

I really enjoyed this listen. Their take on this classic piece is at times inspired and at other times just downright strange. But, it's always a fun trip with these musicians. I was especially taken with the sheer performance quality of all of these musicians...recorded live! I hope you enjoy!

Files

Emerson, Lake, & Palmer Pictures At An Exhibition Extended Play Lounge Episode 16

Comments

George Davis-Stewart

Fun-filled virtuosity, but it's his previous band, The Nice, that I look back on with greater fondness.

Gerard Dion

Hello Doug. Thanks for reviewing this album. I got a kick out of some of your facial expressions and reactions! It reminded me of the first time I listened to this decades ago! I think you have to remember that this was a very experimental era in popular music. Keith was using all types of things to generate those sounds like using the Moog to literally spinning, riding, and throwing his poor abused Hammond organ around! He was pushing the boundaries of what was popular music. The Nutrocker was written by Kim Fowley. It's just a fun piece that was an ELP concert favorite. I have fond memories of watching them perform this song and at the end, Keith would yell in a cartoonish cockney accent, "Did you like that?" and of course we would scream in approval and then he would say, "Do you want us to do it again?!" and we would scream again in approval and sure enough, they would play it again in an equally rollicking fashion. It was pure fun! As far a The Great Gates of Kiev, have you heard their live version performed with an orchestra at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal? I'd really be interested in your thoughts on that one! Cheers! I just wanted to add that this album sparked my interest in learning, listening to, and appreciation of classical music that has grown steadily over these many years, so I have ELP to thank for that!

Adie

I can only add some timings to Randy Hammill's accurate info - 14'40" Ribbon controller, 24'35" Ribbon controller, 51'30' Hammond L100 organ spin + knifes. At 40'47" the 'weirdness' might well be the modular moog going out of tune as the temperature increased through the concert. This was in the very early days of synthesizers being used in concert, and they often drifted out of tune. For me this album introduced me to the original, and Great Gates of Kiev was definitely grander in the original - how a trio could have achieved the power of a full symphony orchestra at it's grandest is beyond me, but in the album it pointed to the grandness, and that worked for me. This was/is a nostalgic joy, and so goo to share it in reverse (both time-wise and discipline-wise) with Doug.

Trevor Cotterell

This was THE album that got me into music properly. I was studying the original at school for my music O level and heard this playing in a jeans shop and life has never been the same since

Great Scott

Just for some fun -- here is the Animusic version of this, their piece Cathedral Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmzCDutDOYA enjoy! Adding some commentary -- during The Old Castle, the opening, Keith was using his Ribbon Controller, where he'd get a VCO control voltage that continuously varies depending on where he's touching the Ribbon. Otherwise while he's on his synth keyboards, he has a "pitch bender", and it's got a wide range. Blues Variation ended the first side of the original vinyl album, so you had to get up and turn it over on the turntable to get to Promenade 3. As for the weird part in the middle of Great Gates -- that's where he's assaulting a sacrificial hammond organ, with switchblades stuck in the keyboard for "sustain", and he's bouncing it up and down and otherwise damaging it. The whole of Pictures was frequently the entire Encore to one of their concerts, a two-album-side encore. Found a nice version of ELP doing nutrocker here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y30jjHw0ecw Also TSO covered ELP's Nutrocker during a number of their shows.

David Crossen

Doug, to answer your question about the portamento. Keith used a ribbon controller - a kind of conductive strip that you can slide your finger along to create the effect. It is hooked up to his (massive) Moog Modular synth.

Chris Ramsbottom

Just watching this now Doug. I think you need to explore 70s synthesisers and Emerson's touring rig. Basically he had a Hammond organ of course: but then there was the Moog synthesiser which he used to produce those portimento (?sp) sounds and the smooth glissandi by turning knobs. He did have a theremin but we don't think he was using it here. This link https://synthandsoftware.com/2020/05/the-birth-of-keith-emersons-moog/ tells you what happened to one of them. Another one is in the hands of the British band Noddy's Puncture, I saw them play Tarkus on it at the Keith Emerson tribute concert in Birmingham, 2017.

FallingLeaf

I have mixed feeling about ELP, too difficult to recount, however Greg Lake's voice is wonderful, as was his bass and guitar playing. I've not got that far into this reaction vid, just starting on The Sage and I'm instantly reminded of his contributions on In the Court Of the Crimson King. Just such a beautiful voice. This is the first time I've listened to this album, since '74, I still have the vinyl, so it deserves some air and a spin.

Michael Brown

It's good that you listen to these recordings with an open mind. It was never going to be a faithful rendering of the original. I suspect that the audience was mainly unaware of the original and was as new to them as new to me when I first heard it. in the years since I have listened to many versions personally, I prefer the Askenazi piano version. always good listening to you take on older pieces. they were new to us at one time.

Peter Tutak

This may already have been answered, but....if I remember correctly, the wide glissando effects are by an external ribbon controller, which can create a note and move it in a 'gliss' either up or down by sliding the finger along the ribbon. There is also portamento capability on the Moog keyboard whereby successive pitches played on the keyboard are joined in a portamento effect. The crashing effects are by shaking and disturbing the reverb springs inside the Hammond.

Chris Moorcroft

Thanks for your work on this. For the gaps in your knowledge: Nut Rocker was a 1960s hit single by B.Bumble and The Stingers. The synthesiser portamento is done on the modular Moog using a ribbon conrol, similar to that on an Ondes Martinot. The other electronics in Great Gates of Kiev is done by abusing a Hammond, something he was doing with The Nice. For more Hammond abuse, listen to the Karelia suite on side two of Five Bridges.

Woofy

Back in 1974 (yeah, I'm old) I heard a college freshman perform "The Sage" at a talent show. He was almost as good as Greg Lake. Astounding.

Stop Propaganda

A long time ago I requested you give "The Sage" a review by itself because its an astounding piece by Greg and he was always overshadowed by his fellow musicians. Its hard to compete with spinning drum kits and a man stabbing a Hammond Organ with daggers ... as a matter fact one of the weird moments you heard was Kieth tilting the organ on one corner and rotating it for feedback with daggers in the keys ... lol!

Woofy

I had their early albums. Loved them, but had a hard time believing it was just 3 guys. Then I saw them in concert. Wow.

MrWondrous David Beckwith

That slide effect was from his mini-moog, which has a setting for the speed adjustment. That extreme high-pitched cat with a theremin was from a pitch stick thingy he would manustuprate (to use a g-rated term for shucking the monkey.) His Nice antics carried over into ELP. He was acting the fool upon his instruments, which became a signature, like breaking guitars. Those actually brand new sounds, aside...this may well be their best work, and mostly because of Lake, who was the most beautiful of the three, musically. Congratulations on those great milestone achievements. Rituals, done well, can be a transcendent, transformative experience.

Noah Hallman

There are live videos of them playing this that I recommend, I have seen it so many times. And this is one of my favorite albums ever, and definitely my favorite live album. Only MOFI I got for my record collection so far. Been wanting to watch someone react to this for the first time for a while, the piece gives me goosebumps already and seeing people react to this craziness is so cool. Also nice to see someone point out Carl Palmer in this piece, I feel usually people focus on the others and forget about him.

Rick Morse

The portamento is done on the Moog synthesizer with something commonly called a "Pitch Wheel". It's a simple manually operated wheel on the LH side of the keyboard, which can be programmed to san several octaves as desired.

Bernie

Interesting fun fact for you, Doug: In the early 70s (went to school then) "Pictures" was a fixed standard in our musical education. We heard the Mussorgski piano version, Ravel's orchestral and ELP (was brand new then) and our music teacher commented on the specifics of each piece. Funny enough this is how I learnt to know this piece. And every person who attended that type of school in my area had this experience. Where? Bavaria, Southern Germany.

Martin Broten

I think I was 11 when this came out. I loved “Tarkus” already. I knew this was a “live” album but didn’t recognize any of the songs (“live” albums usually being live versions of studio stuff). And who was this Mussorgsky guy? Bought it and loved it. Of course, one of the first classical albums I ever bought was the orchestral version of “Pictures…” just to check it out. As far as some of the weird sounds emanating from the keyboards, remember this was a live show and Emerson was indeed a showman. He loved to ride his Hammond across the stage at least once during a show. He would bounce it off the floor and get it to make all kinds of ungodly noises – that’s probably what you’re hearing during “Kiev”. Interesting to think that all those kids in the audience were going crazy over music whose source was Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky.

Brian Pate

Those early Moog were notorious for going out of tune live. That is the sourness you hear sometimes but some was just Keith's strangeness.

Brian Pate

Oh Yeah that part in the Great Gate is Keith taking a Hammond L-100 and stabbing knives in between keys and throwing the instrument round the stage. He cut that one short on this album as he did not lay down and pull it on to himself and play Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor upside down. You were correct in assuming this was live and it was a big time rock concert so there was some showmanship going on that does not translate to the audio listener. You have to expect moments like that in those days. There is a recording they did in the 90's that they did in the studio and used the London Symphony to play along a shortened version of this piece. It is an interesting contrast to this original live version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1ZomrLkAKE&ab_channel=JoshS

yes.elp.krimson

You mentioned that this was released in late 1971, after their 2nd studio album Tarkus, which is correct; however ELP had been performing this set since their first concerts in August 1970, around the same time they were recording their eponymous debut album.

MikeCarr

One of the most fascinating albums I've ever heard. I don't know the original piece, but I agree with Doug about the Great Gate that it's the weakest track on the album. I think it is just this particular performance - Lake's voice sounds tired, and something seems "off" between the organ and Greg/Carl.

Frank D

3 men - one a fantastically talented drummer, one a very accomplished acoustic/lead/bass guitarist with the voice of an angel and a madman virtuoso on keyboards. The band was still in a very experimental stage sound wise at this stage and at times Keiths' excesses don't quite gel with the theme of the piece. But I loved this show, saw it as a young man when I lived in the UK and was absolutely spellbound. I really enjoyed, as always, your take on what you heard and your analysis is so insightful. Sometimes with Keith, you just really had to be there! Thanks for another highly enjoyable episode Doug!

Randy Hammill

To start, what a wonderful story about the Great Gate of Kiev. While I see others have answered some of these questions, I'd like to clarify a few things. In addition, you can watch a full performance recorded December 9, 1970, while the album version was from March 26, 1971. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQz7MuXEe1A&t=1507s The crowd cheering is interesting, since only those who had seen them live over the last year would have heard the piece. A studio version wouldn't be recorded until 1993. In terms of the sounds - in the Gnome, the sounds are made by the Modular Moog synthesizer. The portamento is turned up very high, and the attack is low. The long "landing" is simply a run down the keyboard, but with those settings it all blends into a long "slide." You can clearly see that in the video version. The modular Moog was an analog synth where each component (envelope filter, oscillator, etc.) was a different physical component/box arranged in a rack. You would connect them with patch cables and adjust settings primarily with pots. You can blend multiple oscillators and sequence the filters in whatever order you'd like. Of course, today's synths have these capabilities too, but they are often buried in menus and harder to get to. Keith could adjust things like tuning, blends, detuning one oscillator from another, changing envelope filters, portamento, etc. all just by turning knobs. While a keyboard seems the most logical controller for getting a specific note, other inputs were also available. For the "cats playing a Theremin" he's using a ribbon controller. It looks like a long 1"x4" piece of wood, with two resistive strips that you can slide your finger on. What that does depends on what that controller is running through. Initially it's changing pitch and acts very much like a Theremin. It's a continuous slide of pitch, and hard to target a specific pitch. Later he's adjusting an envelope filter to adjust the timbre. This part of the show (and always part of the show, it just depends on where they put it in) is a bit of a call/response between Keith and Carl as Keith wanders to the front of the stage making noise and even playing it with his ass. At other times, he's creating the effects by turning the knobs to adjust pitch and portamento, and occasionally a pitch wheel. This was the first tour (and he was the first) with a Minimoog, which was a portable version of the Moog synth, and that would have been used in addition to the Modular Moog. Like the feedback during the middle of the Great Gates of Kiev (where he's taking his Hammond L100 organ and picking it up and slamming it down, manually manipulating the innards from the back, turning it on one corner to get different feedback, and even climbing on top and rocking it back and forth) is all part of rock'n'roll in an era with Jimi Hendrix on guitar. From Keith's perspective, there's no reason to limit that to guitar. Here's a video of Keith demonstrating the Modular Moog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpgS9prNZT4 The reference to the knives was when (typically during (Blue) Rondo (a la Turk) he would use (what look like) steak knives wedged into the keyboard to hold down keys while playing. Again, it's about the show and doesn't come across the same way on just an audio recording. Another usual part would be Keith lying on the stage and pulling the L100 on top of him and playing the keyboard from the back side (everything backwards and upside down). The absurdity reached its height with his flying piano where they lifted his grand piano off the stage and did somersaults while he was "playing" it. You can see that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSm5IQFaTZA It's clear that he's not actually playing what you're hearing, probably because they wouldn't have had an easy way to mic the piano that's flying. I don't even think it's the same piano he performed on during the show. But again, it's all about the spectacle here, not the performance in this part of the show. As a live piece, this is a mix of an interpretation of the music with the rock'n'roll live show mixed in. The Sage was a typical Greg Lake piece - acoustic, on a guitar in a drop-D tuning (low E tuned down one step) but since it sounded somewhat "medieval" or "classical" was deemed a good fit for this. Greg wouldn't have been the sort of songwriter to try to emulate a particular composer's style, as Keith would be more inclined to a more "classical" approach to variations on a theme. He was a master at this type of song, though, and I think you'll really like his side of "Works Volume 1." As for Carl's playing, during this period in ELP he started studying with classical drum/percussion instructors and the drum parts were often worked out between Carl and Keith from a "classical" approach as an expanded percussion session, rather than as a drummer in a rock band, although he has plenty of moments of that style as well. This performance is really a rock interpretation of a "classical" piece (I don't know if it actually falls in that actual category), with equal parts "standard" ELP performances and reinterpretation/reorchestration of the actual piece. I love it, and I think it also introduced a lot of rock fans to classical music.

Blinky
>>80294779

In terms of being "classical" the precise label for Mussorgsky is "romantic."

Douglas Graham

There is a whole book recently written about this ELP album written by Laura Shenton. You might be interested in reading it. Wymer Publishing in the UK published it. It’s only about 100 pages.

John Gamesby

That sound that you keep asking about is from the Old Modular Moog,

VW

Hey Doug, others have mentioned already that Isao Tomita's interpretation of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is a delight and real sonic treat. Maybe listen first to his version of the Great Gate of Kiev to see if this whets your appetite for more. Tomita, like Keith Emerson, used the same Moog modular synthesizer but whereas Keith's use was purely 'rock' orientated Tomita's is 'orchestral' and the sounds he coaxes from it are unbelievable. Check out especially his version of Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite.

Scot Poland

Another fun version is the transcription for solo guitar by the classical guitarist Kazuhito Yamashita.

Denis Perron

One of the first progressive music I have heard, I was probably around 17 or 18, having this on a 8 track cartridge in my room. I always loved it. ♥

Itsfun2listen

No group does progressive rock and defines it as much as ELP, excellent musicians and craftsmanship. Lots of bands take influence from them but lack the skill. Brilliant album and Live using extremely temperamental equipment for the era. I saw this live and Tomita later in the ’70s

Ginny Jackson-Pownell

Greg Lake had a voice like no other. Before ELP, he was in a band called King Crimson. His voice shines through everything they did. It might be fun for you to listen to "Epitaph." I have a lot of Greg's solos on my Channel. The Sage is one of them. He's excellent with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. "Fanfare for The Common Man," is a take off on Aaron Copeland's piece. Check them out. Thanks Doug !

Les Mable
>>80279167

Agreed. Stability of pitch over time was a significant problem, made worse by the effects of temperature as circuits warmed up. Temperature changes of 10 degrees or so would potentially be audible.

Les Mable
>>80268915

While it can be done with a pitch wheel, it was not uncommon to have hardware in the synthesizer to create this effect by modifying how the VCO control voltage changed as different notes were played. It's relatively simple compared to much of the hardware in the instrument.

Nicholas Karter

I listened to this as a teen and it incented me to seek out the original. Candidly the Ravel orchestral version is far superior. The ELP version just seemed to be a rocked/amped up version of either the piano or orchestral version. ELPs version of Tocatta ( from Ginastera piano Concerto) or HoeDown (Copeland) innovated on the original without being overbearing. In fact Ginastera was very supportive of the ELP version of his piece. Maybe the next listen? By the way, that strange sound in the middle of the Great Gate is Keith beating up his Hammond organ to get feedback. Something he did with the Nice and carried it forward to ELP.

Matthew Weber
>>80255116

There is also a portamento setting for when you're using the keyboard, so that rather than moving from one discrete pitch to another the oscillator slides between them. Its speed can also be set so that it moves relatively quickly (as on "Lucky Man") or slowly, like with the "spaceship-landing" effect on this album.

Kathy Ratino
>>80280442

The hall let them use the organ only if Keith promised not to stick knives in the keys. :P

Tony Wawryk

Hi Doug, new Patron here. Re Greg Lake's solo piece, The Sage, the risks he takes here - complicated picking, otherwise unaccompanied and beautiful singing - are immense, nothing to hide any errors he might make, alone on stage. He was a fabulous singer, and for me his ultimate vocal performance - while playing bass in a long (over ten minutes) and complicated piece - is on the live version of Pirates, live with orchestra at Montreal Olympic Stadium - it's on YouTube. Would be very interested to hear your take on that. Cheers from England!

Tony Wawryk

Oh, the sounds Emerson is getting after The Sage are made with a ribbon controller, sliding his fingers up and down and for laughs, wiping his backside with it! ELP always had a sense of humour amid the sound and fury.

Gerard Dion
>>84416433

Keith, besides being a virtuoso, was indeed always quite the rock and roll showman!

John Swaren
>>80634973

Agreed. PLUS Greg Lake PRODUCED ELP's 1st 6 masterpieces... thru BSS... as well as earlier, King Crimson's Court of CK.

John Swaren
>>84406233

Brand-new Patron here... And totally agree re: Greg's talent & risk-taking. Incredibly, the Producer (overseeing arrangement mixing too?) for their first six masterpieces, thru BSS & WBMF... and earlier as well for King Crimson's CCK!

Kathy Ratino

The applause you said might be for something Keith was doing was the audience's response to The Sage. It's an audience favorite.