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From The Nice to Emerson, Lake and Palmer—the true story of the man who changed the sound of rock music. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Overall a Good Read
I've been an ELP fan since I first heard Lucky Man on the radio back in 1970.Keith's book (and it his own autobiography - no co-author) is a must for any ELP or Emo fan. I naturally read the ELP chapters first and enjoyed them tho details are fairly scant.Keith gives Greg Lake a bit of a hard time but, all in all, its easy to tell that their relationship is probably like brothers - great at times, tough at other times.He has nothing but good to say about Carl Palmer who comes across as the peacemaker for the 3 when they were together. A good bloke and fine percussionist. The best part of the book for me is the early years.Keith does a fine job documenting his childhood and teen years with plenty of quaint, funny stories.Lotsa humor from a man who seems quite humble despite the iconic status many of us view him under.For this price, grab it and enjoy.

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 TELLS THE STORY
I LOVE ELP THEN AND NOW...I ENJOYED THIS BOOK...MR EMERSON WROTE WHAT HE LIVED...IT HELD MY INTEREST AND GAVE ME INSITE THAT COULD ONLY BE GIVEN BY KEITH EMERSON...

engaging and very human

I only learned of this book recently. It managed to fly right under my radar until I stumbled upon it almost accidentally. It remains in print and easy to get ahold of, for any of the rest of you who might have missed it before and might be interested now.

In the 70s, I was very much an ELP fan, one of the biggest in my circle of friends, and those records still bring back lush memories of bonding with a best friend; of lounging in hormonal bliss with a boyfriend one Saturday afternoon, dissecting and discussing Karn Evil 9; of my mother accompanying me to a show on the '77 Works tour; of simply spending time alone absorbing the artful complexities of the music. Sure, I delighted in Greg Lake's beautiful, romantic ballads and Carl Palmer's incredible drumming, but it was Keith Emerson who captured my attention and imagination the most, to the point I scoured dusty record store bins for anything by The Nice. It wasn't just his proficiency, speed, and improvisational and writing skills, all of which he certainly has in spades, but his way of combining seemingly disparate styles and elements of rock, classical, and jazz into a new kind of wild and accessible whole.

After the Emerson, Lake and Powell album, I largely lost track of Keith's career, which I was pleased to learn has continued to this day. Beyond his having a new album out, the latest news is not so good, though. Last week he canceled both his Keith Emerson Band tour and (yet another) ELP reunion tour that was planned for late in the year. Ongoing problems with focal dystonia and nerve damage in his right hand are making concert level performance impossible right now. I certainly hope he is able to recover enough to play live in the future, for his own sake as well as the fans'.

This book, Keith's autobiography, opens as he is about to enter the operating room for a procedure to repair nerve damage affecting his right hand. As he is going under, he flashes back to some high points of his career, and thus leads us into the story of his life, from his earliest memories on through to what was the present at the time of publication.

He goes into great detail about his upbringing and formative experiences as an only child from a poor family, who grew up socially always a step behind, inconsistent and largely unmotivated in academics, but with an undeniable love and gift for music, though he was not really a child prodigy. He developed his skills through obsessive hard work and dedication. This book is not just about ELP. In fact, they don't even form until halfway through the book. He discourses at length his years with The T-Bones and The Nice, offering snapshots of life in Swinging London, post-Beatles residency Hamburg, and the hippie world of the late 60s and early 70s, none through a glamorizing lens.

Half tell-all, half very interesting descriptions of the music and the creative process, Keith presents a very human, emotionally honest self-portrait, liberally laced with his own brand of humor. He recounts hilarious misadventures both on and off-stage (including one about his first attempt at getting his pilot's license, and another about trying to adopt a rescued "tame" fox). As you might expect in sections about shared living quarters and life on the road amongst a bunch of guys, there are plenty of bathroom humor pranks and sexual escapades. But it's not all funny stories. There are moments that genuinely made me wince. Things can turn from laugh-out-loud funny to scary or sad, sometimes as quickly as one sentence following another, which makes for quite a rollercoaster. He admits he has done a lot of stupid things, sometimes out of naivete, sometimes owing to admitted character flaws. He also suffered hurts he didn't deserve.

Above it all shines his sheer love for music, for playing music and performing it for others, and how his attentions and intentions regarding it could both uplift and damage relationships. He will lose some readers in the more technical passages, but he doesn't stay in them too long at a time. And there are fun facts sprinkled throughout, like the origins of that enigmatic "someone get me a ladder."

Technically speaking, it's not the best-written book, but it's not bad. He jumps time in places and it's sometimes a little disorienting. There are some dangling questions that it seems to me could have easily been answered with a line or two. The ending seems a little rushed and compressed. But I enjoyed the story so much, and found so much within its pages that resonated with me, that I can mostly overlook the flaws.

And yes, there are photos -- two sections of quite nice black and white ones, beginning with his parents' wedding picture and moving up through his life and career as far as 2003.
Jen Grover, Tone and Groove

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 usedfull 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. Theaudience 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 andgrand 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 infinite possibilities of tonal or sound qualities. Another way of looking at it. Imagine if you had just a pencil to do art? Now your given a full pallet of color? Suddenly, the horizon for creative expression has exponentially grown along with criticism. Keith Emerson was and is the Rembrandt of the synthesizer. Listen to Aqua Tarkus on ELP's live album, "Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends Ladies and Gentleman ELP." Keith is playing a Hammond organ with his left hand and a scorching synthesizer solo with his right. Mixed with a quadraphonic speaker system, you can almost see/feel/hear a helix like object with a jet engine running through it, metaphorically speaking! For lack of word's it's music PLUS. Somehow Giger's art on album cover Brain Salad Surgery made sense, syncopating ELP's music on a subconscious level? Both music and art being surreal. Pink Floyd and others used synthesizers but it was musicianship that set Keith Emerson apart. With his screaming ostinato bass and interesting meolodic time signatures on Tarkus, to his piano concerto on Works, he was a musical breath-taker. Emerson's music was so cutting edge that critics and fans are still caught in debate. This spotlight's Keith Emerson as a true artist and history will embrace his contribution with loving arms. His talents for composing, virtuosity, pioneering use of the synthesizer, and musical influences firm my statement. With a figure so important to the world of music, I had to read his book.

I read Keith's book while vacationing in Hawaii and truth be told could not put the book down. I enjoyed Keith's historical time line playing with Gary Farr and the T-Bones, The VIP's, PP Arnold, the Nice, and then ELP. From his keyboard apprenticeship with the early bands all the way to creating masterpieces with ELP. Keith's book is filled with amusing anecdotes. For instance, I was surprised that he had to talk Greg Lake into producing Tarkus? Other interesting stories include, giving Ringo Starr a ride on his motorcycle, Carl Palmer driving Keith's boat over a reef, jamming with Jimmy Hendrix, getting crazy with John Bonham Led Zeppelin's drummer and the list goes on...I found the book wonderfully entertaining and an absolute must for anyone interested in ELP. I'm pleased that Mr. Emerson took the time to write a book and share his involvement with perhaps the best rock band of the 20th Century. For those who wish to compare Keith's writing skills to his musical talent, you might be disappointed. Not to say it's poorly written. On the contrary, it reads easily with good humor and flow. Some set expectations too high. Just remember he's not superman! Well maybe with keyboards... But the book is an honest account shedding light on two sides of a coin - his life and music. For a sense of history about an immortalized musician, Keith Emerson's Pictures of an Exhibitionist is a must read.

-Ken Fritz author of The United States Radio Directory: A Traveler's Favorite Companion 2008-2009 ... Read more

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Possibly the most quoted man in American letters, Emerson's sayings appear in overwhelming numbers in most general quote books but this is the first devoted to Emerson alone. Here are 750 quotes arranged by subject so that readers can easily locate the ideas that interest and inspire them. ... Read more

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Keith Emerson's Foreward begins, "The music in this book has been compiled to be usedas a basic guidance to the music of E.L.&P." The keyboard transcriptions by Emerson and Carlin WITH TABLATURE were intended for advanced keyboard players. CONTENTS:BENNY THE BOUNCETHE ENDLESS ENIGMA (PART 1)THE ENDLESS ENIGMA (PART II)JEREMY BENDERTHE SHERIFFTAKE A PEBBLETRILOGY ... Read more

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Chapters: Neil Peart, Bo Hansson, Todd Rundgren, Keith Emerson, Demetrio Stratos, Stuart Davis, Motoi Sakuraba, Neal Morse, Dan Pinto, Demis Roussos, Collin Leijenaar, Martin Grech, Guy Manning, Brian Doerner, Peter Daltrey, Joey Eppard, Peter King, Chris Rael, David Fenech, Trent Gardner, Per Wiberg, Bryan Josh, Damian Wilson, Michelle Young, Chris Gartmann, Helmut Köllen, Kayanis, Daniel Grimsland, Jordin Mylar, Jürgen Fritz, Su Yong, Hans Bathelt. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 173. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Efstratios Demetriou (Alexandria, April 22, 1945 New York, June 13, 1979) better known as Demetrio Stratos was an Italian lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, music researcher, and co-founder, frontman and lead singer of the Italian progressive rock, jazz fusion band AreA International POPular Group. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, of Greek parents, he studied piano and accordion at the "National Conservatoire". In 1957 he was sent to Nicosia, Cyprus, and, at the age of 17, moved to Milan, Italy, to attend the Politecnico di Milano University at the Architecture Faculty, where he formed his first musical group. In 1967, Demetrio Stratos joined the Italian beat band I Ribelli, and in 1972, founded Area. Stratos recorded many records, and toured festivals in Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, Cuba, U.S. with Area, as well as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. He worked together with musicians, singers, writers, poets, directors, men of learning such as Mogol, Lucio Battisti, Gianni Sassi, Gianni Emilio Simonetti, Juan Hidalgo, Walter Marchetti, John Cage, Tran Quang Hai, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Grete Sultan, Paul Zukofsky, Nanni Balestrini, Claude Royet-Journoud, and Antonio Porta. He studied ethnomusicology...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=14688706 ... Read more

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Commentary (music and lyrics not included).Chapters: The Return of the Manticore, From the Beginning, the Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Live. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Return of the Manticore is a 4-disc retrospective on the band Emerson, Lake and Palmer's career. It was released in 1993 and features several new recordings of previously released songs, most notably a studio recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition," presented in Dolby Surround Sound. Also, a live recording of Dave Brubeck's Rondo features on disc 2; the track was previously unreleased on any live or studio album by ELP. The box set is a fairly comprehensive cross-section of the band's history, offering tracks from all of ELP's studio and live albums (at the time of release), as well as new ELP renditions of hits previously recorded by bands they were members of prior to forming ELP. ...http://booksllc.net/?id=3661035 ... Read more

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Chapters: Freddie Mercury, Maurice Gibb, Peter Gabriel, Rick Wakeman, Elvis Costello, Keith Emerson, John Gosling, Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Jon Lord, Paul Carrack, Richard Wright, Alan Wilder, Richard Archer, Tony Banks, Geoff Downes, Tony Kaye, Zoot Money, Max Décharné, Andrew Fletcher, Eddie Jobson, Mike Pinder, Jem Godfrey, Rod Argent, Morgan Fisher, Keith Levene, Dave Rowberry, Ken Lockie, Ian Mclagan, Roy Lynes, Eddie Hardin, Dave Greenfield, Mick Gallagher, Clint Boon, Mike Barson, Jay Darlington, Paul Humphreys, Steve Nieve, Andy Bown, Lisa Harriton, Vincent Crane, Roy Hay, Andrew Giddings, Mark White, Mike Hugg, Clive Williamson, Darren Wharton, Pete Solley, Tim Gane, Cy Curnin, Ian Gibbons, Frank Esler-Smith, Mickey Billingham, Mick Talbot, Dan Donovan, Kate Radley, John Mealing, Monty Oxy Moron, Dino Dines, Ben Leach. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 301. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara (Gujarati: ), 5 September 1946 24 November 1991), was a British musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his powerful vocals and flamboyant performances. As a songwriter, Mercury composed many hits, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "We Are the Champions", and "Barcelona". With Mercury, Queen had sold more than 300 million albums internationally as of 2009. In addition to his work with Queen, he also led a solo career and was occasionally a producer and guest musician (piano or vocals) for other artists. Mercury, who was a Parsi born in Zanzibar and who grew up there and in India until his mid-teens, has been referred to as "Britain's first Asian rock star". He died of bronchopneumonia brought on by AI...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=42068 ... Read more

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Chapters: Keith Emerson, Demetrio Stratos, Jad Fair, Craig Clark. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 47. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Efstratios Demetriou (Alexandria, April 22, 1945 New York, June 13, 1979) better known as Demetrio Stratos was an Italian lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, music researcher, and co-founder, frontman and lead singer of the Italian progressive rock, jazz fusion band AreA International POPular Group. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, of Greek parents, he studied piano and accordion at the "National Conservatoire". In 1957 he was sent to Nicosia, Cyprus, and, at the age of 17, moved to Milan, Italy, to attend the Politecnico di Milano University at the Architecture Faculty, where he formed his first musical group. In 1967, Demetrio Stratos joined the Italian beat band I Ribelli, and in 1972, founded Area. Stratos recorded many records, and toured festivals in Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, Cuba, U.S. with Area, as well as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. He worked together with musicians, singers, writers, poets, directors, men of learning such as Mogol, Lucio Battisti, Gianni Sassi, Gianni Emilio Simonetti, Juan Hidalgo, Walter Marchetti, John Cage, Tran Quang Hai, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Grete Sultan, Paul Zukofsky, Nanni Balestrini, Claude Royet-Journoud, and Antonio Porta. He studied ethnomusicology, vocal extensions, Asian music chant, compared musicology, the problem of ethnic vocality, psychoanalysis, the relationship between spoken language and the psyche, the limits of the spoken language. He was able to reach 7,000 Hz, and to perform diplophony, triplophony, and also quadrophony. Daniel Charles has described him as the person who decimated monody by the demultiplication of th...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=14688706 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Keith Noel Emerson (born 2 November 1944 in Todmorden, West Yorkshire) is a British keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice (which evolved from P.P. Arnold's band), he started Emerson, Lake ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Rick Wakeman, Norman Cook, Keith Emerson, Photek, Goldie, Squarepusher, Paul Oakenfold, Luke Vibert, Imogen Heap, Coil, Brian Eno, Little Boots, Richard Wright, Muslimgauze, Vince Clarke, Jimmy Cauty, Mr. Scruff, Howard Jones, Alan Wilder, Mark Van Hoen, Delia Derbyshire, Patrick Wolf, Krafty Kuts, Andrew Diey, Peter Cusack, Y.misdaq Aka Yoshi, Mick Harris, Burial, Skream, Daniel Bedingfield, si Begg, Carl Cox, Kieran Hebden, Tristram Cary, William Orbit, Kevin Martin, Andi Spicer, Frankmusik, Danny Howells, Daphne Oram, Simon Harris, Dj Ebk, Bonobo, Chris Carter, Roni Size, Andrew Fletcher, Cass Fox, Mike Paradinas, Robin Rimbaud, Paul Kodish, Adamski, Daniel Miller, Iamx, Idc, Roger O'donnell, Donny, Talvin Singh, Robert Marlow, Will Holland, Ben Watt, Chris Lowe, Ian Craig Marsh, Funki Porcini, Aim, Sarah Cracknell, Maxim Reality, Ewan Pearson, Grant Nelson, Kris Weston, Luke Slater, Anne Dudley, Conquering Lion, Morgan Fisher, Rollo Armstrong, James Lavelle, C. J. Bolland, Jim Noir, Jack Dangers, Keith Flint, Dancing Robot Music, Steve Edwards, Kontour, Liam Howlett, Dj Scotch Egg, Faultline, Jon Kennedy, Richard H. Kirk, Rob Overseer, John Rocca, Basil Kirchin, Freeform Five, Nathan Fake, Douglas Benford, State of Bengal, Lindy Layton, Freq Nasty, Priceless, Allan Banford, Damien King, Nada, Freeform, the Normal, Paul Hartnoll, Fauxstar, Beaumont Hannant, Global Goon, Klute, Zed Bias, the Caretaker, Steve Cobby, Reuben Wu, Hint, Leeroy Thornhill, Darrell Fitton, Martin Iveson, Andrea Parker, Riton, Jega, John Richards, Kemistry, Nigel Sixsmith, Andy Votel, Phuq, Chris Clark, Tom Middleton, Ann Lee, James Yuill, Hiem, Shitmat, Ladyscraper, Mark Brydon, John Roome, Mat Jarvis, Minotaur Shock, Marc Heal, Andy Cato, Hallucinogen, J Majik, Desmond Briscoe, Steve Pickton, Joy Orb... ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Keith Emerson, Walter Livsey, Derek Shackleton, John Cockcroft, Joshua Fielden, Geoffrey Wilkinson, Jack Mitton, Alan Godfrey, Peter Lever, Grenville Turner, Herbert Lomas, Harold Dawson, John Ramsbottom, John Fielden, Geoff Love, William Holt, Wilfred Judson, Dicken Ashworth, Robert Shackleton, Billy Nesbitt, John Helliwell, Clifford Merrick, Philip Hodgson, John Mitchell Nuttall. Excerpt:Alan Godfrey is a former policeman from Todmorden in West Yorkshire , who has claimed to have been abducted by aliens, whilst on duty. Career When a policeman he had an incident when was physically injured in a scuffle, affecting his ability to father children. He was told by doctors that he was infertile, however he was later to father children. It is not known how this occurred, to confound his doctor. Zigmund Adamski On 11 June 1980, he was called to an investigation at J.W.Parker's coal yard at Todmorden next to the railway with Malcolm Agley. The body of 57 year old Zigmund Adamski , from Tingley , had been discovered on a high pile of coal. Adamski had gone missing five days earlier. It is unclear why he died or left in that place, and a kidnap has been suggested as a possible, though unlikely cause. Alleged abduction In the early morning of 29 November 1980, he was driving his police car whilst investigating and alleged disappearance of cattle in Ashenhurst. These cattle were mysteriously found later in the morning after dawn, in completely different location (a muddy field) with no sign of hoof marks indicating their movement. Unidentified flying object At around 5am he decided to give up on the cattle investigation and go back to his base to finish his shift. As he was driving he noticed a large object in his path, which he initially thought was a bus. As he approached it, he notice... ... Read more

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Chapters: Jimmy Eat World, Afi, Eels, Toby Keith, Jessica Andrews, Emerson Drive, Darryl Worley, Jimmy Wayne, Linda Davis, Mark Oliver Everett, Eric Heatherly, Hanna-Mceuen, Hot Apple Pie, Scotty Emerick, Jolie ... Read more