Emerson, Lake, or Palmer? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Keith Emerson

The strange breed of person who likes ELP (a class to which I belong) is perfectly used to the mockery they receive - much of it more than deserved. Music critic George C. Brett, writing for "The Loud Bassoon," begins his *laudatory* review of "Brain Salad Surgery" thus: "Even the liner notes of this reissue attest to the fact that Emerson, Lake, & Palmer were probably the most reviled band of their day (...) Everything this band did was done to excess, musically and personally - this was the band that made it acceptable to take 36 tons of equipment on the road - including a 1˝ ton rig that elevated Keith Emerson's keyboard set-up, and drum cylinders made of steel."

Moog synthesizers, the first commercially available synthesizers, really blew the possibilities of electronic music wide open. Emerson was influential in the development of Hammond organs and Moog synthesizers, and he would often play both in the same time, playing chords on the Hammond while producing ethereal sounds through the Moog. Monster Moog towers before the player, a mess of dangling wires, switches, and knobs.

Answer: Keith Emerson

Lake and Palmer did assist with arrangements, but Emerson has by far the most arranging credits. As a child, Emerson's father encouraged him to learn as many styles of music as he could, from big band to boogie-woogie to country-western to jazz. According to Emerson, "I was a very serious child. I used to walk around with Beethoven sonatas under my arm. However, I was very good at avoiding being beaten up by the bullies. That was because I could also play Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard songs."

Classical inspiration was always crucial to ELP's sound. The heavy complexity of compositions for organ and orchestra matched the band's weighty style perfectly, especially given the deep timbre of those early synths. Other composers Emerson arranged for ELP include Holst's "Planets," Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," and Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." For his version of Alberto Ginastera's "Toccata," the composer himself said in the liner notes*: "You have captured the essence of my music, and no one's ever done that before."

Answer: Keith Emerson

Remember when we were talking about ELP's excesses? Knifing the keyboard was just one of the crazy things you could see onstage at an ELP show. What's funny is that a lot of Emerson's maneuvers produced some auditory effect. He would bash up his keyboards to make jarring sounds, and lay the entire organ on its back on top of himself to distort the output. And, according to Emerson's interview with Louder, "I found [the stabbing] helped the sustain." He claims that he started doing this with "small kitchen knives" - making it sound like this is a way reasonable people would induce sustain - until a roadie gave him huge German military knives that made it look cooler on-stage. That roadie was Lemmy, the lead singer of Motörhead!

There's quite a bit of Nigel Tufnel in Keith Emerson - or, probably, a lot of Emerson went into developing Tufnel.

Answer: Keith Emerson

Carl Palmer was a founding member of Asia, along with Yes alumni Steve Howe and Geoff Downes, and ex-King Crimson singer John Wetton. Asia found its biggest success immediately, with their first US single "Heat of the Moment" remaining their most popular and highest-charting track. Despite being formed by established prog rockers, Asia leaned towards more commercial rock; as a commercial venture, it was successful but not massively so. This may explain why the group rotated musicians so quickly. On the other hand, it apparently promoted several lasting friendships; Wetton and Downes were still making albums together (under the name Icon) into the 2000s.

Greg Lake's involvement with Asia was somewhat limited. He fronted the group for a few shows on their "Asia in Asia" tour thanks to a very, very lucrative contract. One of the Lake concerts, "Live at Budokan Tokyo 1983," can be had on vinyl.

While Emerson was a well-known force in rock before and after ELP, he was never a member of Asia, although he did poach a few of their musicians.

Answer: Greg Lake

"Lucky Man" was released on ELP's self-titled first album from 1970. The song's lyrics are a fairly corny account of a young man with "white horses/And ladies by the score/All dressed in satin," who nevertheless is killed in wartime. Lake dredged up the lyrics when the group realized they needed to flesh out the album; the backing music was heavily revamped by Palmer and Lake and the outro improvised by Emerson. Several keyboardists have since said that the song was the first to prove what the Moog synthesizer was capable of, at a time when guitarists had firm control of the spotlight.

Overall, the group had limited success releasing singles. "Lucky Man" was probably their biggest success, reaching the middle of the charts in much of Europe and the U.S. Weirdly, they did not release the single in their native U.K. Their highest-charting song in Britain was their version of "Fanfare for the Common Man."

Answer: Greg Lake

I am referring, of course, to Lake's involvement with King Crimson. Fripp and Lake met through their guitar teacher, a man named Don Strike. Fripp was in need of a vocalist for his King Crimson project, and pressured Lake to take up bass to keep the band a five-piece.

After the group put out "In the Court of the Crimson King," the ensemble lost Mellotron player Ian McDonald and drummer Mike Giles. Lake lost all interest in continuing with King Crimson. The very night they broke up, Emerson pitched the idea of starting a band of their own. Fripp was able to convince Lake to stick around for one last studio recording, "In the Wake of Poseidon." In an interesting what-could-have-been scenario, this bumped another up-and-coming singer from the booking: a fellow by the name of Elton John.

Answer: Greg Lake

Lake is one of a huge list of performers to join Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, a rotating touring ensemble that's played since 1989. Other members include Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Edgar Winter, R&B legend Billy Preston, Sheila E., and Eric Carmen. Lake also played bass with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, contributing to their version of "Karn Evil 9." He also performed on "Nut Rocker," a rendition of Tchaikovsky that ELP had previously covered.

A recording with Lake playing is available on TSO's album "Night Castle". We'll get more into Lake's feelings towards Christmas in a moment...

Answer: Greg Lake

Lake's Christmas tune, "I Believe in Father Christmas", was his highest-charting (in fact, it is one of only two songs that any of Emerson, Lake, or Palmer ever worked on which hit number two in the U.K.). It's kind of an anti-Christmas song, in a way, if the faintly charged title doesn't clue you to that.

At the start of the song, Lake drops a half a dozen bog-standard Christmas cliches as if they're part of the commercial tinsel - "They sold me a dream of Christmas/They sold me a Silent Night" - culminating in the big man himself: "I believed in Father Christmas/And I looked to the sky with excited eyes/And I woke with a yawn and (...)/I saw him and through his disguise." Instead, Lake wishes the listener a "hopeful Christmas," a "brave New Year," and the Christmas "we deserve." I would say it mirrors his attested attitude as a prog rocker, steering away from the "arena rock" of Asia and company - though I say "attested" because the man was definitely *not* above financial incentive...

Answer: Carl Palmer

Emerson and Lake tried a few different drummers on for size, among them Mitch Mitchell of the Band of Gypsies, but could not make the group work. The nineteen-year-old Carl Palmer was introduced to his thirty-something bandmates through producer Robert Stigwood. Both Emerson and Lake declared that the chemistry with Palmer was instantaneously obvious. At one point, Emerson and Lake were also meeting with none other than Jimi Hendrix, not long before Hendrix's death. When the press caught wind of this (this now sounds like I'm making it up) they speculated the new band would be called HELP. I can imagine that being the coolest or worst thing ever, and I don't know which is more likely.

Sadly, both Emerson and Lake passed away in 2016. Palmer, who's still kicking at the time of this writing, put out a few albums in the years that followed, but has gone silent since 2018.

Answer: Carl Palmer

All the members of Emerson, Lake & Palmer had found success in older prog bands: Emerson with The Nice, Lake with King Crimson, and Palmer with Atomic Rooster. Like a lot of bands in the annals of prog history, Atomic Rooster probably would've achieved more success had they kept a consistent lineup. Across their first five albums, the group ping-ponged between four different lead vocalists and three drummers. Palmer, being just nineteen in 1970, left only a few months after their first self-titled release to work with Emerson and Lake.

The album art for "Atomic Rooster" featured a green rooster with prominent nude breasts, a fact that certainly qualifies as interesting information.

Answer: Carl Palmer

Not to be outdone by Emerson's organ-toppling, -smacking, and -stabbing, Palmer would make a big moment of removing his shirt - putting his sticks down, still kick-drumming, taking it off and then smashing a gong. Apparently this was due to the exertion of his drumming, but I'm not naive enough to think that's the only reason. I don't consider myself qualified to comment on the subject, but my review of the tapes confirms that a 25-year-old Carl Palmer looked better than I do shirtless.

Answer: Carl Palmer

Palmer was nominated as part of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, then later as part of Asia's strong original lineup. ELP lost in 1972 to Carly Simon, and Asia lost to Men at Work in 1983. He's one of two men with this unusual distinction, perhaps not surprising for a man involved in so many projects. Care to guess who the other was? It's David Crosby, nominated for his work with The Byrds and later winning with Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby, Stills & Nash... sounds like a sequel to this quiz might be in order.