Tarkus - Emerson Lake & Palmer - Summer of Prog
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Extended version on Patreon: / jtcurtis
Summer's here so let's listen to some Progressive Rock, starting with the classic ELP album Tarkus. Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer released this record in 1971 featuring the memorable album artwork by William Neal. The adventurous title piece takes up all of side 1 while side 2 features single songs like Jeremy Bender, Bitches Crystal, The Only Way and more. Does it still hold up? JT Curtis reviews...
#emersonlakeandpalmer #tarkus #progressiverock #historyofrock #summerofprog #rock #keyboards #albumreview
Emerson, Lake & Palmer are an English supergroup formed in 1970. Keyboardist (organ, piano, synthesizer) Keith Emerson came from The Nice, Greg Lake was the original lead singer / bassist for King Crimson (contributing to their 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King) and drummer Carl Palmer had worked with Atomic Rooster. The trio came together, performing at The Isle of Wight Festival as their second gig, and released their debut record in November of 1970. The album was a mixture of rock and roll, classical and jazz music and included staples like "The Barbarian," a rock arrangement of Béla Bartók’s Allegro Barbaro and "Knife-Edge," performing Leoš Janáček's Sinfonietta with Greg Lake's lyrics. Greg Lake also penned "Take a Pebble" and the single "Lucky Man" featuring Lake on acoustic guitar. Looking to expand their sound, Emerson started working on a new virtuoso organ piece, based around a 10/8 drum pattern Palmer had performed. Lake was initially uninterested in performing Emerson's piece leading to a disagreement that nearly broke up the band, but eventually Lake was convinced to produce the piece and contribute lyrics. Tarkus would end up taking up the entirety of Side 1 at 20 minutes. The artwork by William Neal provided a visual story for the piece of an Armadillo Tank Monster at war with several mechanical foes before its epic battle with the Manitcore. Side 2 featured more conventional songs: "Jeremy Bender", "Bitches Crystal", "The Only Way (Hymn)", "Infinite Space (Conclusion)", "A Time and a Place", and "Are You Ready, Eddy?" The album was released in June of 1971. More albums included their performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, 1972's Trilogy which included Aaron Copland's "Hoedown" and Lake's "From the Beginning" and 1973's Brain Salad Surgery which featured the classic "Karn Evil 9" and album artwork by H. R. Giger. Their 73-74 tour was documented on Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends. After a hiatus, the band released Works Volume 1 & 2 in 1977. The former included the band's rendition of Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." Unfortunately 1978's Love Beach was not well received and the band broke up. They would reunite in the 1990s. In 2016, Keith Emerson committed suicide and that same year Greg Lake died of cancer. ELP's music and virtuoso playing continues to inspire.
Every Summer is the Summer Of Prog in my world!!!!
You're the King, Scot🙂
CLOSE TO THE EDGE LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO THIS SUMMER OF PROG IS GONNA RULE!
Close to the Edge is top 5 Prog albums of all time, if not the top! The first 3 minutes of the title track is my only obstacle to showing it to friends, but so fun for nerds that I guess it's musical ballsiness is forgiven. 😂
Tarkus has allways been my favorite ELP tune. I have listened to it 1000 of times. I never ever get tired of it.
Happy to see Tarkus here! Thank you for this video!
Saw Carl Palmer with his ELP Legacy and he is still phenomenal. Sat in the front row for total heaviosity. Apparently, Keith Emerson made ELP learn Schizoid Band just as a warm up even though they never played it live.
There goes the neighborhood....
I had Tarkus in high school and I do remember playing side 1 over and over.
Interesting album. And you kept it entertaining, Mr. Curtis! Perfect side 1. Keith’s concept was original. You don’t know if you’re supposed to be on the side of the Tarkus or the Manticore’s side. Side 2 is spotty with some great moments and some ok moments. I think I’ll have to listen to the whole album again. Ready Eddie is a fun way to end it. Personally, I liked the live version of Jeremy Bender better from 1974’s Welcome Back… I’ll have to agree with you- the lyrics are just plain weird!
Looking forward to the next episode. Some commenters have already revealed what it is. You can find that out before the end of the video just by reading the comments. I’d rather keep it a surprise! To me, it’s like finding out what you’re getting for Christmas before the big day. But I understand curiosity can be a strong thing!
YESSSS IM SO EXCITED FOR THISSSSSS. This is a great album to start with and can’t wait for more!!
I learned side 1 on piano in the 70s .. what an album! And I’ve never really been a prog rocker
In my progrock utopia/alternate history Jimi did join ELP to form HELP and he and Keith would exchange riffs with Keith copying Jimi's string bends with the pitch wheel on his MiniMoog. In this universe Joe Meek didn't go nuts and became Pink Floyd's producer, Syd laid off the acid and also didn't go nuts and Floyd did an electronic concept album in 1969 with Delia Derbyshire and the Radiophonic Workshop to celebrate the Moon landings.
Aquatarkus is the perfect culmination of the previous carnage
Enjoyed the Tarkus video, but that tease for Close to the Edge at the end has me excited! Close to the Edge is a favorite of mine, and is one of the most re-listened to studio albums of all time for me. I can never get tired of it & I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
Tarkus is a great ELP album, and I’m warming up more and more to Jeremy Bender.
Love Tarkus, I actually love side 2 nearly as much as I love side one, bitches crystal, time and a place, The only way and even Jeremy Bender stand out to me personally. Not huge on infinite space but it’s a nice continuation. And for ready eddy…. c’mon, how can you not like it!?
RIP Keith Emerson
RIP Greg Lake.
As teenager Brain Salad Surgery was my favorite ELP album. As an adult, it would be Pictures at an Exhibition
No need to get confused about side two, especially Jeremy Bender and AreYou Ready Eddy, it‘s just Keith Emerson‘s handwriting. There is a solo album, I guess it‘s Emerson Plays Emerson, on which you can hear him play Jazz Swing, Blues Standards, Boogie Woogie and lots of other Honky Tonk stuff. He had very obviously very much fun with it, and sure enough more than Greg and Carl might ever had.
One of my all time favorite record finds was an early German press of ELP Tarkus on vinyl. 10/10 prog album
Honesty I prefer Brain Salad Surgery if we're comparing albums, but Tarkus is one of my top 3 favorite songs of all time.
Good album as well though I honestly prefer Tarkus to Karn Evil.
Tarkus é meu album favorito do ELP saudo desde brasil
Very excited for the summer of prog, as I've started to dive deeper into prog by listening to most of king crimsons discography, your videos, I'm sure will make a great companion to my "prog journey" this summer. Keep up the good work!
Phenomenal review as always. I'm more familiar with Brain Salad Surgery, so this gives me something to look into. Looking forward to Close to the Edge. I know it much better than I knew Tarkus, and I think the album is an apex for creativity for the entire era. During the 70's, we just listened to this stuff on the radio and enjoyed the moment. I never imagined in a million years that it would be valued so highly by generations to come. Thanks for carrying the torch, I'm sure it's helping others to see.
I recommend reviewing their self title, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery, and their live album pictures at an exhibition!!
The endings of "Tarkus" (Side 1) and "A Time and a Place" (Side 2) include synth-level keyboard which predate 80s music, and having first heard ELP on the "Best of" CD, made a fairly even set when put with songs from the "Trilogy" album.
My local record store (which is actually owned by a family friend) had a single copy of In the Court of the Crimson King one day and I was able to snap it up before somebody else could get it. If I were closer to New York I'd totally be able to loan it.
Algorithm found me, my mom has this album and I listened to it all the time as a kid and listened through again and I know now why I love tool as much as I do 😂
@@Yadudeboibro good to hear the algorithm is actually working in my favor for once 😆
Hey JT. Ever heard of a prog rock band known as Caravan? From what I know, it's difficult to find their work on Spotify, so it's probably only available on records. The concepts for their albums seem pretty out there, if you take my meaning. Perhaps they might be a contender for your Summer of Prog, if only for more people to hear the music. Love your work, BTW, especially the JTC Playlist series! Keep it up!
Heard of them but I don't know their catalog all that well.
Caravan are on Spotify I suggest in the land of pink and grey, they are fine just a bit to much English whimsy
They are on Spotify , land of pink and grey their best , bit heavy on English whimsy
Ah yes Caravan! You need to check them out. I know you know Camel. I may like Camel a bit better but Caravan is great too!
ELP is so cool. My favorite album is Salad Brain Surgery and their live cover of a classical piece, Pictures at in Exhibition.
Borrowed this album from the library when I was 12 in 1975. Listened to it for a week. Took it back and borrowed it again. And again... Bought a copy after that and still have my favorite album of all time. LOUD RULES.
Fantastic vid JT! If you want to listen to a couple more songs recorded around the same time of this record, check out "Oh, My Father" and "Unknown Ballad" on the deluxe edition of Tarkus. They're two songs I wish were included on the original record and are some of my favorite ELP songs.
You gotta do the early Genesis prog albums some day. Some of the best in the genre, especially Foxtrot.❤
Saw ELP during the, "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends" tour..... third row from the stage. Blew my mind.
More elp!!!
ELP came from another planet , their best for is their first though.
Might be my favorite prog album. But I love most everything ELP did. Saw them twice in '74. Awesome.
Everyone’s recommending King Crimson and Rush so I’ll switch it up and recommend Thick as a Brick, and album I learned about from History of Rock 70s
Love the video! When you say it's hard to find a copy of ITCOTCK and would like one to review at 1:07, would any release do or are you looking specifically for a first edition? Keep it up, great stuff!
As long as it plays fine, I’d gladly accept any copy of the album. I was also thinking about trying to get my hands on Red, that’s the King Crimson album I probably have the most to say about.
Next close to the edge I see. Awesome album too.
Yes. I really like the daily dough. Awesome channel.
You should cover Tubular Bells. It's an essential prog album as far as I'm concerned.
If I can get it on vinyl...
@@JTCurtisMusic it was reissued recently so you should be able to.
Would you consider who's next a prog album? If so you should defintely cover it.
To be honest, I considered Quadrophenia. I think it is absolutely a prog album. I know Who’s Next was meant to be a followup rock album to Tommy called Lifehouse but even as is, Who’s Next is an adventurous album.
@@JTCurtisMusic OK I just love the Who so I would love to see any of their stuff
Awesome review. ELP is one of my favorites but I have not listened to all of them
I snagged a Spanish (text on the sleeve and labels) version of Tarkus in art school in 1983. It is probably their best overall offering. If you want to hear what ELP wanted to be, search out the Dutch band Trace - specific, their debut album.
ELP
With Hendrix in the band they could call themselves HELP ...
I know this is unrelated but would you ever consider doing a playlist on the Rush?
Same issue with Pink Floyd, their albums don't really work for playlists. You can't really include the songs 2112 or Hemispheres on a playlist as they'd take up entire sides. However if I can get my hands on either vinyl album I'll gladly review it for Summer of Prog.
@@JTCurtisMusic I can definitely see what you’re saying, A lot of the early albums definitely function that way, but the songs on moving pictures like Limelite or Tom Sawyer and definitely work well on their own.
Listen to Dick Hyman's
track 'Minataur' from his 1969 album 'Moog-The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman' and the similarities with 'Aquatarkus' are unmistakable. Keith must have been influenced by this although I've never come across any interview where this is credited. Any thoughts ?
The Moog on Lucky Man comes to mind !
Great video as always and exceptionally fair on the record; amazing title track, weird and patchy second side. I'm not a massive ELP fan, but I always wonder if they encountered the same issue Pink Floyd did with Meddle: they composed this masterpiece for one side of the album and virtually forgor they had a second side to fill. The difference being that Pink Floyd managed to create 3 amazing tracks for their other side, while ELP struggled to come up with one.
Heh, I just knew you were about to bring out Close to the Edge, before I even saw the first hint of green.
Please tell me you are doing a Mike Oldfield album. While Tubular Bells is the obvious choice, it would be fun to see you do Amarok. Although, unless you already have it, it'd probably be hard to find on vinyl.
Great job on the review! Yeah, as basic as it is to say this, side 2 definitely doesn't compare to side 1. The actual Tarkus epic is pretty much perfect and really changed my perspective on what prog could be. I was already familiar with the more melodic Pink Floyd and Yes, but Tarkus blew my mind when I first heard it. It's sounds so chaotic and atonal upon a first listen, but repeated listens reveal what geniuses these guys were. It's not easy to have memorable hooks in a piece as experimental as this. As for side 2, I really like Bitches Crystal, The Only Way, and A Time and a Space. The rest are definitely weaker tracks the bring the album down, but they're still inoffensive. Definitely gets a gold fish from me too! That tease at the end with Close to the Edge though...
Getting to know prog through Pink Floyd, King Crimson was amazingly Fresh and has really turned the concept of prog upsidedown.
I find it difficult to listen to Pink Floyd again though, I find their melodic take on the genre simplistic. As much as it hurts me to say their music no longer satisfies my hunger for the conceptual an instrumental depth King Crimson has in spades. I feel very guilty.
@@SuZuka07 Yeah honestly, I can see where you're coming from. Don't feel guilty about it. It's all a matter of personal preference. I listened to their whole discography so many times in high school that I got a little tired of them. I still love Floyd and they're one of my three favorite bands, but I tend to like King Crimson and Jethro Tull more for their complexity and instrumental virtuosity. When I'm in the mood for 'em, Echoes and Shine On really do hit the spot for me. If anyone were to make that dumb claim that Pink Floyd "aren't prog", I'd turn them to those two compositions.
ELP were anything but pretentious. Their bombastic style came from a place of the most absolute sincerity. In fact they always made sure of put tongue and cheeck songs in their albums to balance the heavier pieces Such as Benny the Bouncer and Are you ready Eddie. The so called backlash was mostly a bunch or so called critics with very limited knoledge of music who just weren't up to the task of reviewing most of their music. Prog was still very popular up to the late 70's. And it actually influenced a lot of punk, post punk and new wave acts from the time. John Lydon was a big fan of Van Der Graaf Generator and Can, Rat Scabies was into Genesis, Ian Curtis was into Nenktar, freaking NEKTAR man!
I first heard about this album from the book "The Worst Rock-and-Roll Records of All-Time" by Jimmy Guterman and Owen O'Donnnell. They put it as the 34th worst album right between 4x4 by the Starland Vocal Band and Joey Biship SIngs Country Western.
I hated the Sec Pistols and loved ELP so Johnny Rotten can go away, he certainly didn't have the complexity of Emerson, not by a long shot.
Yea punk is really a big decline from this
Great work man , but what is that Hammond music in the background ? Sounds great !
Thank you! A few tracks of my own music: Elements (which I'm selling on vinyl now):
jtcurtis.bandcamp.com/album/elements-2024-version
And several pieces from an album by 7th Sun called From the Beginning:
open.spotify.com/album/4O8ufy3bgUdgMknGIOK3wd?si=gnObIaFcS_CNPwnm3QUzHg
All ELP albums are “uneven”. There is plenty of great playing interrupted by silliness or showing off. Luckily with digital technology it is easy to skip tracks we do not care much about. I had never seen ELP live but I hear there is even more odd showmanship. Well, they had to sell tickets.
More in terms of writing rather than silliness or showing off. Like I said, I think “Are you Ready Teddy” would have been an acceptable silly ending if the rest of the side had been a little stronger, I refer again to MEDDLE by Pink Floyd.
For your 2010's to 2020's history of rock and roll can you put the band Djo or post animanls end of beginning for one of the band I know you will not see this but hopefully you do I would like that please
Lydon and Emerson became friends in the later days. Lydon was a bit of a pompous poser in his own way.
Omg! You do know the Are you ready Eddie is about Eddie Offord, they're producers engineering? Really?
The copyright claim is imminent…
Don’t jinx it!
At some point do hemispheres by Rush
Great album, but only have Moving Pictures on vinyl.
12:01 sadly
Tarkus is about the only album of theirs I can stand. When insufferable individual ability appears to supersede composition then I flee.
great video, but gonna have to disagree with you here, JT. the Tarkus artwork is the very definition of DATED. instead of epic and grandiose (which is what i think it's going for), it's kinda amateurish, and so 70s it hurts. also, the concept behind Tarkus, despite it having roots in mythology and legend, is just plain silly. do they really expect us to swallow a story about a giant tank-armadillo hybrid having epic battles with other similarly cockamamie monsters without at least giggling at the ridiculousness of it all?
I mean is it anymore ridiculous than a Greek soldier riding on a winged horse with the severed head of a witch with snakes for hair that turns you into stone if you look at it? I think all mythology is at least a little silly. I certainly find it more grandiose than Taylor Swift whining about her ex again.
Try it with some mescalin. If any of that's still around.
Mn-s
Love ya, bro, but seriously, you're a walking stereotype of a prog fan. lol Side two of Tarkus is just not intellectually stimulating enough for me, and as for Meddle, sometimes I just listen to Echoes and nothing else. Man, what I really want to do is make an audio loop of the 5 minutes of sonar pings, just play it all day long... when I'm not listening to obscure bad bootleg recordings on cassette of King Crimson playing live free-style jazz.
Well what exactly is your argument for Side 2? Which songs stand out to you? If you can bring a different POV rather than leaving a patronizing comment, I'd be more than happy to give it another spin with that mindset.
Ah, you took my humor as derision. I apologize. I was celebrating you as the archetypal prog fan and not at all trying to be patronizing. I don't always agree with you (Gilmour over Waters?!), but I enjoy your point of view. As for Tarkus, I agree the title song is the highlight, but I love the entire album. Again, apologies for the misunderstanding. Cheers!