Divulge Magazine interviews Carl Palmer ,and the death of Keith Emerson
You see I really have to tell you
that it all gets so intense.
From my experience,
It just doesn't seem to make sense.
Still...you turn me on
Excerpt from the song Still You Turn Me On from ELP’s Brain Salad Surgery album. Lyrics by Greg Lake
March 10. 2016 Keith Emerson, the keyboardist from the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, committed suicide. Two days later bassist/singer for the band, Greg Lake, sent out a statement that said in part “Keith and I spent many of the best years of our lives together and… what I will always remember was his remarkable talent as a musician and composer and his gift and passion to entertain. Music was his life, and I am sure that the music he created will live on forever.” ELP drummer Carl Palmer put out a more personal statement that said in part “Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance will remain unmatched... I will always remember his warm smile, good sense of humor, compelling showmanship, and dedication to his musical craft. I am very lucky to have known him.”
Both statements clearly said that music was the most important thing in Emerson’s life, and that is where you need to start if you want to understand his death. According to Palmer “Keith was in a lot of pain and was worried about his ability to perform.” He was scheduled to appear in Japan where some of ELP’s most rabid fans reside. He continues “Keith had an operation to relieve his carpal tunnel, but there was permanent nerve damage, and he was worried he couldn’t play the way he used to.” This was actually an understatement because, in recent years, Emerson would bring other keyboardists on tour to play in collaboration with him on pieces he used to perform by himself. The nerve damage in his elbow not only sapped his ability to play up to his exacting standards, it also, apparently, left him vulnerable to depression.
Depression is an insidious mental illness that can be treated with both medications and other kinds of therapy but in Keith Emerson’s case, the problem was exacerbated by alcoholism. Palmer said, “He was mixing antidepressants with alcohol. Keith liked his drink. Those kinds of drugs are dangerous and the doctors over here (the UK) will only leave you on them for a short period of time. In America, they’ll keep you on them for too long and Keith was on them for years. You add drink on top of that and, well I blame his doctors.” In the wake of his death, the speculation quickly focused on his physical pain, and his growing fear of performing poorly. While seeming to confirm this assumption Palmer, with a hint of bitterness, say’s “He didn’t have to do this. He was still able to write and arrange on his piano. It didn’t have to be over. He could still play. This was his choice.” Hinting at why Emerson would make such a tragic choice, Mari Kawaguchi, Emerson’s longtime partner, told the UK’s Daily Mail that “Keith was worried because nerve damage to a hand had affected his playing. Last year, he played concerts and people posted mean comments such as, ‘I wish he would stop playing.'” Perhaps that sensitivity is what, in part, led to the depression and alcoholism that marred the final years of his life.
Carl Palmer planned for Emerson to join him for some shows during his upcoming tour. Now, the Miami, Florida show on June 24th is going to be a tribute concert. Palmer says, “I haven’t been in touch with Greg (Lake) yet, but he is, of course, welcome to be part of it.” As for ELP, they didn't perform together since the High-Voltage Festival during the summer of 2010. Palmer says, “It took six weeks of rehearsal to do that one show. All of that playing was hard on Keith.” There were plans to do a couple of shows in the UK, France, Japan, and the US, but “It took at least two days of rehearsal before each concert, and to travel that far and rehearse that much for just two shows wasn't possible, so I decided to pull the plug on ELP.” He adds with finality, “Someone had to.” While it may have saddened their fans, Palmer made the decision with an obvious desire to protect his friend from the physical pain, and stress of the mounting criticism of his playing.
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer formed in late 1969 and began performing together during the summer of 1970. From his work with The Nice, Emerson already achieved both fame and infamy. They recorded the Leonard Bernstein song from West-Side Story, America. In Emerson’s hands, it became a bombastic attack on the 2nd amendment of the American Constitution. The world had witnessed, and were deeply troubled by, the assassinations of President Kennedy, the Reverend Martin Luther King, and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. During a live performance of the piece at The Royal Albert Hall, Emerson burned an American flag.
The stunt may have gotten The Nice banned from that venue, but it surprisingly didn’t get them banned from coming to America. Meanwhile, the band King Crimson, fronted by bassist/guitarist/lead singer Greg Lake reached international stardom with their highly successful record In The Court Of The Crimson King, including the single 21st Century Schizoid Man. That album is still considered one of the most influential albums of all time and is pointed to as one of the earliest records to bring progressive rock to the forefront of the music industry. Emerson and Lake jammed briefly and decided that they wanted to be in a band together. Settling on the idea of being a three piece, they needed a drum player who could keep up with and enhance their prodigious talents. After considering several they soon realized the best man for the job was the drummer from the band Atomic Rooster and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown before that, Carl Palmer.
From the moment they formed, ELP was considered a "Supergroup," and they would live up to, and exceed, that hype. Palmer says, “We were heavily influenced by classical music, Bach, Ginastera, Mussorgsky." Their first album, self-titled Emerson, Lake, and Palmer reached #4 in the UK and #18 on the Billboard charts. It is best remembered for the song Lucky Man. Ironically, throughout their career ELP is remembered as a keyboard rich, bombastic group that played songs that were frequently more than 10 minutes long. However, it was their oddly contrasting acoustical music that brought them the most success on the single's charts. Their third record, but second release was called Tarkus. Here the band pushed the music into high tech science fiction fantasy. The album cover featuring an armadillo/tank hybrid complete with smoking cannons was a painting by artist William Neal. The 23+ minute oeuvre contained every element the band was becoming famous for. It featured stunning, anti-war, anti-religious lyrics, brilliant musicianship, and a startling array of key, tempo, instrumental, and style changes throughout. Each movement was unique, and it was all bridged together with surreal lyrics. Palmer says, “Greg Lake had a beautiful choir boy voice, and Keith was a virtuoso, especially with the Moog.” Palmer himself didn’t just keep a back beat, his drumming added a complex and complimentary melody track that refused to fade into the background and yet, somehow, didn’t overwhelm the whole. Next up was a purely classical record with the typically unusual ELP take on it. Palmer explains, “Our album, Pictures At An Exhibition, was the first time a rock band released a classical record.” Atlantic Records, their label, was reluctant to put it out as a rock record because they feared its length and its ability to interest an audience of teenagers. After a lot of wrangling, and despite being the second album they actually recorded, Pictures at an Exhibition became their 3rd release. All the hand wringing proved to be unnecessary because the record sailed up the charts and became ELP’s third gold record in a row.
These recordings were followed up with Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery. The Trilogy album contained two songs that went on to be staples of the ELP live show Hoedown, and The Sheriff. The album also featured the Greg Lake acoustic ballad From The Beginning. Released as a single, it didn’t sell particularly well, but it kept ELP on FM radio, which continued to grow their audience. Brain Salad Surgery, widely considered their best record, and usually near the top of any list of greatest albums of all time is the jewel in the ELP crown. Of their 10 gold, or better, selling records, BSS is the one that became their most popular, and it continues to be a strong seller today. They released the Greg Lake acoustic ballad, Still You Turn Me On, and like From The Beginning, and Lucky Man before it, it barely made a dent in the singles' market. It did, however, receive enough airplay to continue bringing and ever-increasing number of fans to their live performances. Once in the arena audiences were treated to a dynamic stage show featuring Emerson stabbing the keys of his organ with knives, Palmer’s lightning fast hands, and Lake’s driving bass lines, accenting lead guitar runs, and pure voice.
The band reached their zenith and then catalogued their career with a brilliant live album called Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends. They had become successful beyond their wildest dreams, and their wealth fueled an incredible stage show supported by several tractor trailer’s full of equipment. Emerson’s instruments included Hammond organs to abuse and destroy, a grand piano, many keyboards that he would play simultaneously, and of course his signature instrument, the Moog Synthesizer. The Moog was a keyboard under a panel of hanging wires, and a plethora of switches, dials, and buttons. It looked like it had descended from the spaceship the band sung about in their magnum opus Karn Evil 9. Carl Palmer played a drum set that was held together by a stainless steel frame, including some of the first synthesized percussion used and its weight was measured in tons. Greg Lake, whose setup was quite modest by comparison, included a Persian carpet reported to cost $6000, and one of the first double neck guitars ever built. Eventually, the excess caught up to them and their next few albums sold less well. Works Volume one reached their Gold standard, but, despite including many great moments it felt fragmented. The fragmentation continued on Works Volume Two which was their first album that failed to reach the top 10 in either the UK, or the US. To make matters worse the band chose that moment to take a 70 piece classical orchestra on tour with them. Unfortunately, between the massive expenses and poor ticket sales, they had to cut the orchestra loose. Next up was the 1978 album Love Beach, and it was easily their biggest commercial failure in their career thus far and was the last new music ELP and it was easily their biggest commercial failure in their career thus far and was the last new music ELP would record together for 15 years. Eventually, the band would reform and release two more albums, one of which, Black Moon, was well received by the critics and lifelong fans.
Though they would never again reach the same dizzying heights of fame they did in the mid 70s, ELP hung on to its core audience and remained a concert staple until 2010 when Carl Palmer finally as he put it, “pulled the plug.” Keith Emerson’s passing is both tragic and sad because he left behind so many people that admired and loved him. For his lifelong partner Mari Kawaguchi, it is the heartbreak of a lifetime and for Carl Palmer, Greg Lake and a legion of fans, it is the end to an era that was marked by some of the most innovative, and adventurous music ever released. Clearly, Palmer believes suicide should not have been his friends' answer, but he did add, “when I reach the point where I can no longer play up to my own standards, I would like to simply fade away.” Keith Emerson, the consummate and flashy musician and showman who stabbed his organ with knives, simply fading away wasn’t in his repertoire.
Carl Palmer and his band are currently on tour check out the website http://carlpalmer.com/ for the details.
