A Literalist Reaction to Emerson, Lake, & Palmer - Toccata (LIVE)

[@jlinky2746]

The music up until the edit cut is from their live vinyl in '74 I believe, and the percussion solo goes to Cal Jam. The piece then finishes going back to the live recording. It's unfortunate that quality, uninterrupted recordings either are rare or simply don't exist, leaving new generations of KZbin listeners in a lurch. What you viewed here is 0.5 % of ELP. You need to listen to their recordings and learn about the genius of Keith Emerson, who was basically three things rolled into one unique entity that never existed nor will likely ever exist: A gifted composer, technically brilliant pianist/keyboardist and insane showman in his Nice/ELP heydays, who created original compositions (to include a piano concerto) and adaptations of well-known classical repertory fused with rock and jazz elements, who probably inspired a generation of keyboardists to take up the instrument and a liking to classical and jazz in the rocking 70s.

[@adamelliott18]

I checked out the original version and, except for the drum solo ELP do a pretty loyal job. Awesome classical and awesome prog rock!

[@jimwilcox2964]

Tubular bells, the Glockenspiel is the matching band set of bells mounted on and carried

[@cogline]

Hell yeah! The triple live album 'Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends, Ladies and Gentlemen' is jaw-dropping. Having heard it so many times, I can tell you that this is that recording in the beginning and end, and this video's audio in the middle, spliced together to make a complete video. The first synthesized drumming I ever heard. Sorry, but he blows Bonham out of the water technically. Don't hate; Led Zeppelin is the best -- Yeah, I don't watch ST: TOS. Strange New Worlds is great

[@stpnwlf9]

That drumset of Carl Palmer's was legendary. The drum bodies were stainless steel with magnetic pickups built in which were plugged into the drum riser. It was incredibly heavy and it rather famously collapsed a stage during their concert tour. For the record, Star Trek's original series was written by submitted scripts from TV writers. Some of them were bloody awful and some, usually by actual science fiction writers, were brilliant. Unfortunately, they were few and far between.

[@acfiv1421]

Yep, that kit weighed over 2.5 tons. If you look carefully at this and other videos when he played it, you might notice that unlike any other drum kit - the drums don't seem to move at all while he's playing. The way drums are mounted, they always move a bit when being played, especially the toms. The drums on this kit were so heavy that they just did not move no matter how hard he played.

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

I wonder how much that collapse contributed to Van Halen's 'green M&M' requirement in its contracts. For those unaware, VanHalen had notoriously detailed contracts, including meticulous electrical support requirements and some odd details thrown in, like the requirement that the green room have a bowl of M&Ms with all the green ones removed - it may have been another color, the point is it was a picky but immediately obvious on viewing requirement that told them immediately if the venue paid attention to the details or just signed off without reading; if the M&Ms were not right, they would know they had to check all the electrical in detail and either make sure it was fixed to accommodate their show's needs or adjust their show to demand less (which no one wanted, but it required massive electrical) . Anyway, I could well see VanHalen looking at an event like the stage collapsing and saying, we had better make sure in our contracts that the stage set-up can accommodate our shows.

[@LiteralistReactions]

The collapsed riser was probably brought in as part of the touring gear... an internal job, if you will. But, roadies are sometimes as high as the musicians and stuff happens. - JD

[@coachhannah2403]

First attempt at synthesized percussion! Great concerts!

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

The 'long tubes' were a standard set of 'bells' He only needed 2 of them, but it makes a lot more sense to buy and travel with a standard set than to custom build a device to hang just the two needed here. Also, he may have used others on other songs - this was just one song of their set (I assume - it normally would have been, but this festival's rules might have allowed only one piece) - but I cannot say I recall if at this time they had other songs using bells.

[@MisterWondrous]

I saw this brilliant performance live, 4 months after this one, when they trotted the show east here to Charlotte, where around 300,000 people got to witness the future being created by the great ELP, the great PFM, and some Americans bands as well, who were nowhere nearly as advanced, not being progressive and all. Of course, the farmhands were not in attendance, because they would not understand Ginastera even back then, when people were smarter. Ginastera's music only called for the use of two bells, so that is what Mr. Palmer played. And while dated today, the drum synth, and his octoplus kit was brand new, as were the quad speakers around which the sound would travel, making for a most surreal event. Keith's kit was, of course, magnificent, like his playing. Greg was on top of the world, as well as a beautiful rug. Zero relation to Kari, surely.

[@kratino]

OMG. Don't mention her in the same breath with ELP. . .

[@brucebrown73]

This video was cut to death. They had 260 concerts in 320 days or something like that. Lake was soothing his throat from over work. A real drum solo from same concert was KarnEvil 9 1st impression part 2. He will amaze you watching that. No weird editing

[@davidmckenzie420]

I saw them do it in '74. Awesome. By the way...This starts out live and switches to the studio version. Ha.

[@kratino]

He's no Neal Peart? He influenced Neal Peart. He was lauded as one of the best of his generation by Buddy Rich, whom Peart adored. Palmer was (and is still) a far superior drummer. And my dudes, the bells and whistles on the percussion are what he played on one song. Honestly, pointing out that he didn't play all the bells on one song is pretty feeble. Palmer invented synthesized drums and debuted it in this piece. The synth-type sounds you hear during his solo are him hitting a small, cigar box-sized box that triggered the sounds. You would need to hear the original piece they were adapting (not covering) to see how it was really working. It's avant-garde classical music. This band was responsible for introducing millions to classical music, and many orchestral musicians credit Keith Emerson for inspiring their career paths. And yes, I'm blasting you in the comments for taking this on on a channel about literalism when there are no lyrics. How does literalism apply? Regarding Lake's gum chewing, he also chewed it while he sang. He gave a jaw-dropping performance of "Still. . . You Turn Me On" at this festival, all alone with his 12-string on stage. Emerson is wearing a white coat reminiscent of a mad scientist or mental ward orderly. This piece is from their Brain Salad Surgery album. The title is from a Dr. John song and refers to fellatio. In general, I really regret when people familiar with their music throw novices into the deep end like this. I know you've reacted to their work before, but as a mega ELP fan, it's disappointing, to say the least. One last thing: A large percentage of this crowd of 250,000+ was high as hell and wasn't hearing this song for the first time. The album was huge. The band was huge.

[@edljnehan2811]

Wow you tell them Kathy Bravo and good for you. At least 90% of what you've said about ELP and. Some interesting information especially Carl Palmer I've been telling these people for years. Okay those triggers you were referring to in the circuitry box connected to his drums are tripped by an electronic trigger which completes a circuit activating what they called a phase changer back in the day. If you want a good example of this there was a television show back in the early seventies on PBS called Nova and he made an appearance actually demonstrating how the electronics worked and doing a complete electronic drum solo which as you know was new technology at the time. Now it's true Neil Peart was inspired by him however the one thing he couldn't copy was Carl Palmer's ability much like Keith Emerson to use the synthesizer technology of the day. When he appeared on Nova he had just got his stainless steel kit and upgraded percussion synthesizers which were a world of difference from the original drum synthesizer he used at the end of the song tank from the first album. I saw Carl Palmer do an interview a week ago where he stated how he was into the three-piece power Trio and to my surprise mentioned that Rush was one of his favorite bands how he had seen them quite a few times and really like their music. Even though he didn't mention Neil Peart per se he did mention Rush which was the first time he ever did this. Furthermore I don't know if you knew this but he dated buddy Rich's daughter back in the day and Buddy Rich commented that Carl was actually his favorite Rock drummer when Merv Griffin interview Buddy Rich and as usual Buddy Rich was bragging about his self and Merv Griffin said well what about that new kid from England referring to Carl Palmer. Buddy Rich remarked as long as he's over there and I'm over here everything will be fine. LOL so I'm not teasing you I just had to comment on how much I liked and respected your remarks about ELP in your comment to these two guys. You know unfortunately there's a lot of negativity about this group for some reason and I always told my brother who's also a fan that these other critics and musicians are just jealous because they can't make it on that level. One thing about you like myself we don't let anyone put our group down😮 by the way the p r o g corner this Sunday which is tomorrow according to a message I received from Scott will be featuring Pink Floyd who I can really take or leave and then next week it's going to be Rush which will be good the chat is at 1:00 Eastern 12 Central. By the way I was a little disappointed I kind of thought you were going to wish me a happy Thanksgiving😅 LOL anyway I still like you😊 good job

[@edljnehan2811]

If you get a chance go back and read the comment I left these literalist creation guys who took pleasure in putting ELP down

[@LiteralistReactions]

You're such an idiot, @edljnehan2811. I LOVE ELP music and all three members in their other projects and Dave has been thoroughly impressed in our two other ELP reaction videos. Here's a link to one since you probably don't know how to use the interweb so well. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3KsnmCtodael6c

[@djlaino]

LD likes, or at least knows, classical music as I recall. And so do EL&P. Their more famous covers are Aaron Copland's Fanfare for The Common Man and HoeDown, which most people already know in their original classical form. I would suggest those for LD as he probably knows both pieces already. It doesn't need to be said, but that won't stop me: 3 fabulous musicians gelling so perfectly. Not as perfect as Rush...jus' sayin' ;)

[@kratino]

They did so many classical adaptations. The Barbarian, Knife Edge, Romeo & Julliet, Peter Gunn (Henry Mancini -- not classical, but orchestral), Pictures at an Exhibition (which took up an entire album).

[@eckthtraetheth]

I'll rethpond with a loothe analogy. Many moonth ago, after an aggrethive night of theriouth conthumpthion, I thomehow made it home at 4am. Three thheetth to the wind. Ath tendth to happen, I wath thuddenly craving thuthtinenthe, and checked the fridge. Empty. Eckthept for one raw egg in a glath. I wath too impaired to quethtion the logic, and dethided to fry it up. Tho I poured it into a pan and cranked up the gath. But thomething wath wrong. It tharted popping and thputtering violently, but it wathn't cooking. I thtared in dithbelief for theveral minuteth quethtioning reality, then finally gave up, turned off the thtove and thtaggered to bed. When I woke up, my roommate athked me why I tried to fry an apricot. I think you thee what I'm thaying, Jon.

[@LiteralistReactions]

That reminds me of the golden urinal I once used at a bar in New Orleans... - JD

[@HollowGolem]

Genuinely surprised you haven't done Mike Oldfield's _Tubular Bells_ as a "halloween" song. It's a beautiful piece of music, would probably be right up this channel's alley, and is famous for being the credit music from the Exorcist. It is, however, quite long. But Mike Oldfield is one of those artists who doesn't get enough of his due as a writer.

[@kellingc]

During the chimes, I kept thinking, "It needs more cowbell" He's no John Bonham, either. The full Moog is impressive.

[@dharlow5810]

No, he is MUCH more talented that Bonham.

[@kratino]

@@dharlow5810 Far, far more.

[@quentinmichel7581]

Agreed 😊 Carl was/is the GOAT

[@mlinderict]

I saw them live in my much younger years. Yes, they were this exciting live! The skill and talent they embodied was unique. Carl was tuning the timpani as he played. Greg is working the full console of the Moog as he goes. This song was intended to be discordant as written by Ginestera (sp?). Yeah, the editing was shit.

[@kratino]

Keith is working the full console. . .

[@mlinderict]

@@kratino I stand corrected! Typo-ish.

[@edljnehan2811]

It was later rechecked and California Jam one had closer to 350 thousand people also the Isle of Wight which ELP also appeared at had close to 400,000 people not bad for a couple of gum chewers huh. That's right Keith Emerson chew gum as well and I know you're not going to put his playing down he was the goat he was God on the keyboards

[@LiteralistReactions]

@edljnehan2811 Seriously, lighten up and replay EXACTLY what we said about the gum chewing. You're obviously an ELP fanboy, regardless your advanced age. - JD

[@LiteralistReactions]

Halloween Playlist 2022 kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5qxhaqpo72klas&pp=gAQBiAQB

[@coachhannah2403]

He IS no Neil Peart! He's much better... 😎

[@PaulMcGarry-bo3jg]

The peak of prog. Not better keyboard players though.

[@ronjm945]

And better reactors…

[@davidbooth7778]

FLAME YOU then. You will miss alot of great music being so rigid. Bet you hate jazz, blues, etc.

[@kratino]

Heart on this comment? Dudes. It's hard to believe you're reading these when you do that.

[@LiteralistReactions]

Really? Interesting. I'm a cynic as well, so no hard feelings, @kratino - JD

[@kimmomaki]

the much-lamented Greg Lake is probably the one person I'll give a pass to for chewing gum in public. Disgusting habit, though.

[@kratino]

John Lennon did it, among others. Kept the saliva flowing.

[@jerryclark1903]

I like ELP, and they put out a lot of beautiful great and beautiful progressive music. However, Toccata is not one of them, ELP to the excess. And I believe this is a TV broadcast. But horrible video editing, not even in sync with the music.

[@edljnehan2811]

You two guys aren't very bright are you especially when it comes to Drums. I saw both drummers when they first came on the scene and you guys were probably in diapers of course Carl Palmer predates Neil Peart who was a big fan of Palmers and was completely inspired by him. Just being able to play with Keith Emerson as complex as he was is a feet in itself and I don't really think Neil Peart would have been up to the task. Don't get me wrong I like Neil Peart and guess what I happen to be a maestro percussionist so trust me when I tell you Neil Peart is no Carl Palmer as a matter of fact after Carl Palmer my pic is Bill bruford and Dave weckl and Billy Cobham. You know the thing about non drummers is they tend to worship at the altar of Neil Peart and that's fine he's a great drummer but don't get your proficiency mixed up. Carl Palmer is both Jazz and classically trained Neil Peart was a rock drummer with some flashy percussion pieces which he got the idea for from watching Carl Palmer who was the first to introduce such things to rock drumming. Neil can't really do jazz like Palmer and bruford can and of course the great Dave weckel is a jazz drummer. You know you two guys sit up there judging ELP who were considered the standard for excellence in musicianship that all other bands were measured by back then. I don't think either of you were around for that era and if you were you were too damn young you talk about gum chewing which shows your amateurish just by bringing something like that up which has nothing to do with a musicians playing but you two use it to try and be cute and funny and put somebody down which makes you no better than Lester bangs or some of those other dildo critics back then. Do you even know why people chew gum when they're involved in an activity rather it's musicianship or something else? It's because chewing gum is a stress reliever and actually relaxes you. You'll find weightlifters chew gum while they're lifting I used to and I do when I'm playing drums😮 I've seen all of the great groups and drummers. I see Neil Peart on his first tour to the states when Rush backed up Charlie Daniels it was a freaking free concert given by my local radio station and Neil Peart wasn't that good back then until he started practicing and copying Carl Palmer with all of the added percussion pieces. You bring up Carl Palmer's Orchestra Bells and how he only hit two well you're full of s h i t I've seen their four full shows in 1971 1973 1976 twice in 1977 and 1978 and that's just the 1970s shows and he uses everything. Neil Peart has a humongous drum kit and he doesn't hit 3/4 of those drums. Man you t w o guys are ridiculous clowns and need to get out of this and go back to working the drive-thru at McDonald's😅 hahaha I'll tell you what go back to watching bands you really love like Kiss the New York Dolls Madonna Courtney Love and leave the complex progressive rock and Jazz Rock Fusion to The Experts

[@LiteralistReactions]

@edljnehan2811 I love a-hole responses. Yours was a beaut. Thanks. It might be good if you read the bio of the people you are criticizing. I have an idea, why don't you watch a handful of our 225 reactions and learn a little about us and our style before calling us out, so you don't end up doing to us what you claim we did to Carl Palmer. - JD

[@edljnehan2811]

@@LiteralistReactions the only place I would take your bio is into the head for Light reading material. The two of you sat there cutting down my and Kathy ratino Heroes with a look on your faces like you were ready to give someone a BJ rewatch your video it's hilarious by the way Kathy is the girl that wrote you along common pretty much in the same spirit that I did so I'm not the only one that was offended. By the way I've been on KZbin for a long time and in the KZbin p r o g community so I have good friends with KZbin channels that do exactly what you do just with a lot more professionalism. So I don't need to re-watch anything are research your illustrious career because I don't care I'm a quick tempered Irishman and I just need to get stuff off of my chest when I feel wronged. I happen to be quick w i t t e d and a master of the insult. They used to call me Don Rickles back in the seventies I don't know if you two Bozo's or even aware who that is by the way are you two guys fruit? Haha I mean I'm not trying to insult you but quite frankly I was getting some funny Vines when I was watching your video it doesn't matter to me

[@LiteralistReactions]

@edljnehan2811 I was serious about enjoying your rant. I appreciate a good quick wit. The thing I don't understand is how on earth you think we are deriding the BAND and how you think I am "young." Anyway... The word "fan" is short for FANATIC. And just as whenever a true FANBOY or FANGIRL tunes in, the reactioneer had better not say anything negative in any way, shape, or form or they will be flamed to a crisp by said fanpersons. I am rewatching this reaction and both (young) Dave and (old) John are bopping right along and jamming to the song right up until the point where it becomes discordant, then the huge TV edit, then the percussion solo. While I have seen ELP (in the 90's in Atlanta) and go to as many live shows as my wife will allow into our budget, Dave's ONLY rock concert experience is when my wife and I took Dave and his wife to see YES (or what's left of them) in Atlantic City fewer than 10 years ago. Again, our bio or watching our older videos would perhaps shed some light into your hollow heart, but in short, I have been trying to slowly and carefully introduce Dave to Prog music (and other styles, but mostly prog). Dave initial surmisal was "That was weird." You'd have to be an idiot to not understand why a 36-year-old would consider that particular version of the song "weird" but later in our talk he said, "... it was interesting" and he called them pioneers. When I said "He's no Neil Peart," it was done a tad tongue-in-cheek as we have tons of Rush fan subscribers. So, from one Irish-blooded man to another, bite me. And have a nice day. - JD

[@edljnehan2811]

@@LiteralistReactions bite you that goes right back to my earlier comment are you fruit? Hahaha it's also getting me extremely nauseated after just waking and eating breakfast now I feel like I'm about to toss my cookies. So is one Irishman to another go jam it up your boyfriend's dirt shoot. You saw them in the 90s? I suggest then that you really didn't see them you needed to see them in 1973 41976 or even 1971 which brings me to your age it's very hard to tell how old a fat man is however you yourself mentioned in the video that you are not around when these songs were being made you started that one chubby not me I probably just embellished on it a little. If you would have seen them back then you would have been a fan boy like you said as well because no matter what age you were you would have been awestruck by not only the musicianship but the virtuosity and the sheer cojones these guys had fusing these types of music together in an age of deep purple and Led Zeppelin. Not only that but the sheer stage antics from the daggers to the rotating drum kit to playing the Hammond backwards and even venturing forth into the guts of the organ and the piano. No gentleman to say I was a little disappointed in your amateurish presentation would be a gross understatement as a matter of fact I left with the firm belief that the two of you had IQs somewhere in the neighborhood of a rose bush LOL you know I woke up this morning feeling kind of humble and a little bad that I had to give you boys a spanking in the comments now I digress after your last comment which was a lame and totally unimaginative childish comment I suddenly felt empowered to give you some more so here we go with a final word of advice don't mess with an ELP fanboy I don't want you to come to that realization someday when you're no longer doing this and making up a batch of that stale coffee at your new job at the convenience store 711 as for the rest of your long totally ignorant and boring comments please don't piss in my ear and tell me it's raining because I can see right through the attempt at patronization and you trying to justify your stupidity. This is a long long way from The Humble apology I was thinking about giving. If you want some more witty remarks y'all make sure and come back n a w yah h e a. Hahaha

[@LiteralistReactions]

Love it. You're a true wit. Laughing with you. You seem still confused about who is who. The fat boy on the left is Dave, that's not me. I'm John, the fat-ish guy in the dark on the right. Dave is 36, I am 60. Correct, I came to ELP late. But as a YES freak, I was a bit distracted. - John Doh

[@gregscott7992]

As much as I appreciate the talent of EL&P. For me, some of their music is unlistenable. (If that's a word) My wife says that about Rush but I can't understand that! Lol

[@JohnBrooking4]

I feel your pain. My wife complains that Geddy Lee sounds like an angry elf. (She bases that on their early stuff. I’m slowly trying to introduce her to their later work, after his voice matured and lowered. But at least she likes them instrumentally, right up until the singing starts.)

[@kratino]

I am always saddened to see the channel creators like a comment that slams the artists. I don't think there's anything unlistenable from ELP, and I've heard it all.

[@kratino]

@@JohnBrooking4 I agree with that. I have the same reaction to Jon Anderson.

[@LiteralistReactions]

@kratino - I read every comment but I don't have near the time to reply to every comment as I would want to. Thus, I drop a heart on each comment I read whether I agree with the commenter's point or not. - JD

[@LiteralistReactions]

@kratino - for example, as a massive YES freak and Jon Anderson fan, I do not agree one tiny little bit with your opinion of Jon Anderson, yet you got a heart.