Pictures of an Exhibitionist: From the Nice to Emerson Lake and Palmer - The True Story of the Man Who Changed the Sound of Rock

by Keith Emerson

Book Overview

Keyboard legend Keith Emerson is one of the most important figures to emergerom the thriving rock scene of the sixties and seventies. Fusing rock 'n'oll with classical, jazz and world music, he has... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1904034799
• ISBN13: 9781904034797
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Blake Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 9.4" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Keith Emerson's Autobiography

Having a collection of ELP albums,this book is a worthy addition to that collection. Emerson's writing style is fluent & very readable & made the book hard to put down.He mixes humour with the technical & this takes the reader smoothly through the narrative of his life. This book satisfied my curiosity about the processes behind not only Emerson's music,but ELP's as well. To anyone who has seen Keith Emerson's performance live with both The Nice & ELP & would like to know the story behind this superb performer,then that story,in his own words,is best told in this book. A great book with a title that says it all;well worth reading!

Keith Emerson the Rembrandt of Fusion

This is an autobiography of the greatest composer of the 20th Century. Yes, it's a bold claim. But look at the evolution of music if my statement is a hard pill to swallow. Bare with me.. Music started with Gregorian chants where melody was only offered. Duo-phonic music was introduced in the renaissance period. Music now had a with a bass line and melody. Then Bach and Vavaldi, changed the old into new with counterpoint, introducing multiple melodies all happening simultaneously. This was dubbed the baroque period. Classical music introduced sonata form. Music was written in three to four movements and used full orchestras. The first movement being fast, then slow, then fast, and maybe another movement like a rondo. For long periods of time this is how things were done. But music and art constantly evolve. A true artist changes the old into the new. The audience resits change and are slow to catch new ideas - just like Dana Carvey's character on SNL "we did things this way and we liked it!!" Never does the Dana Carvey character deviate from the norm. Franz Liszt introduced a triangle to his 1st piano concerto. The audiences' horrified reaction was, "what the hell is that doing on stage with the orchestra?" Focusing more on the triangle than the music. To this day Franz Liszt's 1st piano concerto in E major is called the triangle concerto. Disc jockeys broke Elvis Presley records - again resistant to change. I personally wrestle with rap being called music. The point being, without artist's innovations we'd still be listen to Gregorian chants! Keith Emerson started the progressive rock movement. Like Liszt's triangle, some critics have yet to understand Keith Emersons's music especially the synthesizer. It will only take time. Keith Emerson's first introduction with the synthesizer was Walter Carlos's album switched on Bach. What happened in succeeding years with ELP was nothing short of remarkable. Keith was the 1st to take the synthesizer on the road with help from friend and inventor of the synthesizer Bob Moog. ELP was the first rock band to tour with a full orchestra. Keith introduced audiences to sounds never heard. He was well versed in a cornucopia of music influences including counterpoint, jazz, rock, and classical. His delivery frenzied and dazed audiences. Rock fusion was born. New sounds of the synthesizer, married with Hammond organs and grand piano, put ELP on the map. Music's new movement fusion or progressive rock was equivalent to modern physic's discovery of nuclear fission. One could compare the sublime experience of seeing an atomic bomb exploding or Emerson Lake and Palmer play live! Yes, it had an impact on that scale for those who understood the music!! Not able to finish a concert in Japan, the band ran for their lives from a frenzied crowd. If Franz Liszt thought he had critics with his triangle, imagine what Keith Emerson has endured?! Most musicians have one instrument to master. With a synthesizer, there are inf

Thoroughly enjoyable and pertinent account of Emerson's rise and heyday

Fans of ELP and Keith Emerson will definitely want to read this. A thoroughly engaging, often hilarious account of Emerson's success story from his humble beginnings, through his struggling years with early bands, on past his first major success with the Nice, beyond his wild days of stardom with ELP, and back to his ironically humble present-day existence as a struggling artist in L.A. I enjoyed hearing about Emerson's personal encounters with Jimi Hendrix, the members of Led Zeppelin, Ian Anderson, and other rock luminaries. Also described by Emerson, and previously unknown to me, is the intense rivalry that existed between a newly established keyboard icon Emerson and up-and-coming British keyboardists Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz. I would have also liked to know Emerson's "take" on other notable keyboardists of his era, especially Tony Banks and Elton John, and I would further have been interested in Emerson's reaction to copycat band Triumvirate, who themselves put out amazing music, but whose cuts on the Pompeii album sounded a little too close to "Trilogy," "Third Impression," etc. Quite shocking, too, is the apparent dislike Emerson and Greg Lake had for each other throughout their time working together in ELP. Most interesting is the tidbits concerning some of the songs- how Emerson still cringes when he hears "Lucky Man" because he had played a better solo to the ending in the studio, but it mistakenly didn't get recorded, or how the Nice recorded an initial scratch track of "America" in the studio which was to be built upon, but instead an overzealous manager RELEASED the track to radio and pressed it to vinyl BEFORE the Nice could return for their follow-up studio session! From a literary standpoint, this book sorely lacks an editor; there are places where there is no continuity- Emerson's relationship with his wife and family is interwoven into the Nice and ELP years, but suddenly Emerson is living alone in L.A., with no prior mention of any type of separation from his family; similarly, Pete Sinfield, whose co-writing was integral to ELP throughout their career, isn't even mentioned until near the very end of the book; and there are also occasional grammatical errors, incomplete sentences, etc. However, my 5 star rating is solidly based on content, and this book certainly delivers! If you are an ELP fan like myself, this is a must-read.

Great bio from the best rock keyboard / HAMMOND organ player

If you want some insight into what makes Keith Emerson "tick" as the best rock keyboardist ever, read his biography. Emo shares some great stories and a real look at life on the road as a rock star. Get the EL & P videos to watch Keith play the HAMMOND organ as no other musician can.

Keyboard God Sets The Story Straight

This is an excellent book written by the most important, talented and influential keyboardist of our time. Being a huge Emerson, Lake and Palmer fan from the beginning (no pun intended), I was delighted to come across this book. Keith Emerson has a great sense of humor and writing style and the 324 pages go by quick and effortlessly. He takes you on a wonderful journey from his childhood days of piano lessons, through his early bands, through the Nice, and finally ELP and beyond. This is required reading for all musicians and music lovers. I highly recommend this book! ELP forever!!