Drummer reacts to "Knife Edge" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer

[@nofishinmydiet]

the look on Greg's face the moment he realizes he opened with the second verse and now he's singing it again

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

He’s trying not to laugh. But professional as ever holds it together. Did he come in a tad late too? When I saw them live around this time what was nice and surprised me he was the one in the band who egged them all on by talking a bit and sometimes a yell at specific points as if to push the other two on! It worked, tyey heard him.

[@richardbell-vf2st]

@@Saffy-yr8vo I've seen ELP many times. Greg would often do strange things with the vocals. On the BSS tour, when Greg was supposed to sing "welcome back..." he sang "right before your eyes..." Then he sang it where is was supposed to be, and then a third time after that, "Right before your eyes" three times in a row. He didn't do "Welcome back" at all. I would never have known if I hadn't recorded the concert and listened to it over and over. It's very much like this video, same verses get repeated. I don't really mind, just think it's odd.

[@ronniefarnsworth6465]

ELP right out of the box with their 1st album just killing it and having this Live concert on video !!! They were a confident lot and then flaunted it brightly !!! A Fantastic performance by all Lee 👍🎶🎹🥁🎸🎤🎼✌

[@SANPARR1]

Keith Emerson genius, ELP top five progressive rock of all time.

[@moonrich3492]

Right. John Lennon, Moody Blues, King Crimson, The Nice, and ELP.

[@61guitbox]

in my top 5 as well ✌️

[@torccchaser6712]

ELP The best of the BEST

[@emilymartinez6961]

I am soooo lucky that l got to see Greg Lake in a small theater in LA right before he passed and to my surprise, for half of his set he played Kig Crimson songs and needless to say I was floored, a night I'll never forget👍🏼😝🎶

[@BritIronRebel]

Such a terrific performance! But what truly stands out for me is Greg Lake's phenominal vocals! Every bands he's been in, his vocals are just otherworldly.

[@franciscodiaz183]

Thanks, L33, excellent reaction. EL&P and all those we now call progressive from around the 70s, had real musicianship and very high goals, artistically speaking. Years later, an interviewer questioned Emerson about critics calling them pretentious, and he replied, "We weren't pretentious, we were ambitious." He was undoubtedly right and his musical legacy proves it.

[@davidmckenzie420]

My favorite group. Saw them twice in '74. This is a really early performance (70 or 71). This concert brought them to our attention. And as I recall, they were the "new band of the year" when their amazing first album came out. RIP Keith and Greg. And long live Carl.

[@edljnehan2811]

If you'll remember yes opened up for them in 1971😮

[@edljnehan2811]

I saw them in 1971 1974 1976 Journey opened up for them, 1977 and twice in 1978 which wrapped up the 70s then of course saw them in the decades to follow including the group 3 but the 1970s were the important ones to me😮

[@julieb.5860]

carl palmer, too overlooked by too many. he is a genius.

[@markswisher3709]

this song is over 53 years old. It's hard to believe.

[@tubinreo]

With regard to how much they put into performances. I went to an ELP concert in Mobile Al in 1972. Emerson did the spinning piano thing at that concert. In Mobile AL. They laid it all out there! 2 or 3 encores, fabulous! My first concert was a good one. I think that I've only been to one other. (Aerosmith in Memphis 1985). Wouldn't miss ELP though.

[@jpmnewyork]

Wow -- I was an ELP fan right from the beginning, bought their first album and love this song, but I've never seen this before. Now that I've seen the way they performed it live, I'm more impressed than I ever was back then. (Though I must admit, I miss the way the recording was slowed down to end the track on the album.)

[@vichraev.5386]

He was playing it backwards at the end (from behind the keys). I saw them twice in concert in the 90s. The last time was in a small venue and I was in the front row. It was so amazing when Keith would stab the keys to hold down chords with his giant bowie knives.

[@TerryKrysinski]

THanks,Lee-- never seen that live performance. ELP was incredible/beyond belief with talent. Just jaw dropping! Glad you appreciate them so much,bro. Cheers, T

[@darkaether2798]

It’s been a while since I’ve heard this, nice to see it played live!

[@dandundon9503]

Saw them live twice, wish I had seen them more time!

[@penelopehornswaggle102]

I love this whole Switzerland concert. It's so good. I can't believe the tempo of this song. Carl is so amazing how he could keep up with Keith for that long. I love this song. I love that you are doing these songs.

[@shemanic1]

I had seen them in S .Britain about this time it was a superb time to be a music lover. Great to see your reaction.

[@wpollock1]

This is total genius played by real musicians .....I caught their 1977 Works tour with the orchestra then they came back without. Love it!

[@alanmazon6543]

This whole concert is bad ass. You better remember one thing they were only together for six months at this point and for them to play this good is amazing. Goes to show how good their musicianship is. You’ve been a drummer. Listen to the song from the same concert called Rondo. You will definitely like that song and watch Carl Palmer. Go at it. Please listen to that.

[@craigfazekas3923]

I'm happy just to know that I've been alive during certain composers & musicians lives. Among these are Keith Emerson, Frank Zappa, Becker & Fagan, Bruford & Squire, Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp, ect. I love those dudes !! 🚬😎👍

[@alrivers2297]

Love this one. It's actually Knife Edge without the S. If you listen to the studio version on your own time, you might like it more. Lots of reactors have done their song From the Beginning, i think without issues

[@L33Reacts]

Thanks for watching 🙏

[@yes_head]

Wow, copyright strikes from ELP? That's a bad idea, Bruce (Pilato, the guy who manages ELP's catalog these days. ELP needs all the promotion they can get.) Things to note about this performance: Greg screwed up the lyrics in the beginning, which is why he and Carl exchange smiles when he starts the second verse (basically a do-over.) The main riff from this song is yet another thing Keith took from classical composers and then built it into a rocker designed for live performance. The synthesizer break exposes the challenge Keith faced trying to integrate that thing into his setup. Keith was the first rock musician to take an analog synthesizer on the road, well before the Minimoog came along. The film doesn't really show how big and unruly that Moog modular synth was. It was a hands-on piece of kit, and only grew over the years until the 1974 tour when it had become this behemoth that was almost more about the visual spectacle than the sound it could produce. And that closing bit where Keith molests the reverb unit of that Hammond was something he'd been doing going well back to his days with The Nice. He was into squeezing any sound possible out of the Hammond organ, back when there weren't many other instruments a keyboard player could take on the road. Lastly, ELP played pretty fast and loose in the early days, and if you pay attention Keith commits tons of little flubs all over the place. But he got away with it just because the overall impact of his and others' performances was like a brick upside the head! 😄

[@RichieG]

Have you ever noticed that Greg chews gum while playing and singing.

[@RalphSpoiledsport]

That's high quality video for that era! Especially the audio.

[@EdwardBast]

The music, except for improvised parts, was composed 100 odd years ago by Leos Janácek. It's from his Sinfonietta.

[@L33Reacts]

That's so cool how they modernize all these classics and make it sound so damn COOL lol

[@EdwardGregoryNYC]

Emerson takes "killing it" on the organ to a new level. If you really want to see him abuse his organ on stage, take a stab at Rondo.

[@mlinderict]

Stab ... 😂😂😂

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

With the knives saw him use them.

[@davidrauh8118]

They just improvised that middle part. They were always a great band live.

[@1ergnas1]

Got to see them do this song in Detroit in 1970, Fantastic!

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

It’s great you like the prog bands I saw them live round about this time Greg was wearing the same shirt! Unbelievable in every way. Look around at other music genres Reallly boring and although a fan of the Beatles we needed something new and they were IT! Greg even answered my email once internet started he had a page called ‘were you there?’ Asking when we saw them live. Wow! The stories of fans problems getting to gig in time, rail strikes, (you had to find a way home somehow) if you missed the bus, train you were sleeping rough! Parents wouldn’t pick you up back then. Only way you couid find out where when they were playing was Rock magazines ads and magazines were fairly expensive! Oh god it wasn’t easy. You bonded with them because we all knew the efforts they and us had made. I suppose it was music and love.

[@RichieG]

During their 4-date tour with a full Orchestra (two nights in New York and two nights in LA if I remember correctly) knife edge was was a real star of the show.

[@andrewk5710]

They played 16 shows in total with the orchestra, but as you probably know they dropped it because it nearly bankrupt them

[@RichieG]

@@andrewk5710 yes. I knew the tour was horribly foreshortened due to bankruptcy, I didn't know they got in that many shows! (I saw the 2 shows at MSG.)

[@jeffrubinelectronics]

You nailed it. Keep those thoughts in mind when making your music, and you'll have something your peers don't. Nicely done. Yeah, Keith "animalized" Classical music. Carl's drumming was perfect for the band, Greg's voice sounds like God is singing from the top of the mountain and it lands on our ears. He has that English authority in his voice. They are a treasure. The entire Brain Salad Surgery album. Them at their apex.

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

Keep going I thought I’d subbed ! Now I have Anything by them early days, same with early King Crimson line ups with Wetton or Greg, Camel, PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI , And anything else. Cheers, we will be back.

[@Lwize]

Carl killed it.

[@donaldanderson6604]

So good to hear ELP on your channel . You are absolutely right about the energy of these guys. Believe it or not PFM were even better live; absolutely manic. They used to do a cover of Schizoid Man!!!! Check out their "Cook" live album. You are also right about live bands in the 70s. I grew up in London and and saw all the big names as a teenager; gigs were NOT expensive and there were lots of them. There was an expectation that bands would kick ass and heaven help any who didn't. However, the good bands were rewarded with energetic audiences who bought their albums. Live gigs were a way to promote the LPs, which is where the real money was. Also the music press in England reviewed the live shows and the whole gig culture was very important.

[@jamespaivapaiva4460]

2 Copyright strikes with E.L.P.? It Sounds like you're walking the Knife's Edge just doing this! Peace & Love.

[@L33Reacts]

LOL well that made me smile, thank you

[@joelliebler5690]

Keith was a genius and Carl always kicked butt on drums.

[@gregjones861]

ELP - a metal band. How do I know? Because Keith's roadie who saw him jamming steak knives into his keyboards to hold two adjacent keys down simultaneously gave him actual daggers to use instead. That roadie's name? LEMMY...

[@jimreeves1]

The main melody of this track is taken from Leoš Janáček's "Sinfonietta" (1925).

[@L33Reacts]

Thank you for letting me know. They love doing that it seems. Keith knew his musical history as a piano player!

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

Pictures at an Exhibition next

[@briancotter2666]

You should check out "Father Christmas" a decades long christmas classic on the radio every year.

[@kevinmauch5622]

Saw ELP in '71 in Dayton Ohio. When they did this tune Emerson drew two daggers that he was wearing on his waist and furiously stabbed his Hammond organ. Quite a show. The opening band was Edgar Winter's White Trash. It seemed like an odd pairing but it was cool nonetheless.

[@tubinreo]

The exact stuff that I was into at the time. It will last forever I suppose.

[@sheilaescott9619]

Keith also plays upsidedown and backwards

[@bobcorbin3294]

Check out how Keith Really abuses that organ on their performance of Rondo from the same concert.

[@edljnehan2811]

Nice hook they had in that song.. also check out the one from the BBC it was about the same years this one and it's even better😮

[@chrisbanks5925]

Epic.

[@raymondregis6219]

Keith abusing his organ live on stage. Always an entertainer as well as brilliant mucisian.

[@pauldover1403]

Even then you didn't hear the best of it. The keyboards should be further up in the mix. When Greg finishes the verse the organ crashes in in the studio version. The song itself is very good.

[@thomassanchez-oo6sb]

What about a Carl Palmer drum solo 1977 live from Montreal Tank….

[@raymondregis6219]

Check out Canario. It's high energy and Greg plays lots of guitar as well as bass.

[@thomassanchez-oo6sb]

Fast forward to 1997 Montreux Jazz Festival Live on UTUBE Medley Part 2… 💥💥🔥🔥

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

Did you know that Lemmy from Motörhead was their roadie at this point? He collected nazi knives etc , Keith cudnt get the notes to sustain so he got the knives from Lemmy and stuck them between keys to hold the note. Keith kept them in his knee length boots and pulled them out as needed. Kind of twisted a bit sexy too, but hugely entertaining and exciting if you were 17.

[@axolotl8694]

hilarious... great live performance. the "heavy riff" is taken (stolen?) from classical music again... Sinfonietta by Leoš Janáček. if you dig this, maybe check (Czech) out LJ's string quartets... you might dig. or not, just a suggestion. I wish more people knew where this stuff came from. you're right though... things were different back then. there was far more freedom to experiment. the late 60s to early 70s really was an era that won't be repeated.

[@philsmith2444]

Janáček was credited, as was Bach. This is ELP, not Led Zeppelin! 😁

[@sharondavid-melly1498]

ahh sweet complexity on the edge

[@brucebrown73]

20, 22,24, years old

[@alb21figueiredo]

Você nasceu na época errada, cara! Deveria ser nas décadas de 50, 60 ou 70 "AS MELHORES" Faço um pedido que acho que você vai gostar. Jethro Thull, Locomotiva, ao vivo. Abraços aqui do Brasil!

[@lindaulloa4786]

I don't know what it is about the UK, but England has produced the best music and musicians in my opinion!

[@L33Reacts]

They really did!!

[@Relayer6a]

Carl was 19 or 20 years old.

[@kratino]

Did you post a vid about the strike? If so, could you provide a link? If not, could you tell us more?

[@andrewk5710]

I hope you get Pictures at an Exhibition back up. I saw part of the live premiere but was gonna watch it later. It disappeared and I never saw it. I hope you liked it!

[@L33Reacts]

@andrewk5710 I did! It's on my patreon now. It was great.

[@edljnehan2811]

Good morning kitten.. did you have a nice holiday😊 we've got a 65th birthday coming up soon don't we😊 which knife edge did you like the best one or two😊 I preferred the second one😊❤

[@kratino]

@@L33Reacts The blocks are not coming from the band. They're coming from the owners of the copyrights of the pieces they adapt. Someone below mentioned this, but quite a few reviewers successfully post their stuff. You might want to check out Justin at JustJP, who has reviewed damn near anything of theirs. So has Doug Helvering at The Daily Doug.

[@L33Reacts]

I know how it works lol

[@annheckenbach9396]

And just think- that is what your grandparents were listening to.I 'm not so sure what happened to Gen X, who seemed to be really into stuff like auto-tune.

[@philsmith2444]

ELP, the most metal non-metal band ever.

[@markiosty8748]

The synth solo is way to hot (loud) in the recording mix.......remember it's 1970 !

[@kratino]

Unfortunately, Greg sings the second verse twice in this live version. Still a kick-ass performance.

[@L33Reacts]

Hahaha that's hilarious. He noticed too. That's great

[@edljnehan2811]

Check out knife edge 2 from the beat Club young lady I think you'll really dig it😊 I know you're way too young to remember this song or I should say this performance from back in the day but it'll really demonstrate to you why we were so into this band

[@edljnehan2811]

My bad young lady I was referring to knife edge one I think it was on the BBC young lady. It's too bad you can't go back to those days you would have really loved it😊 thanks Pumpkin❤

[@steveowens2505]

Lake flubbed lyrics. I think he had one shirt for whole tour. He wore it first time I saw too as I had a similar one myself.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

Drummer has a man bud. Unqualified therefore.

[@L33Reacts]

Comment can’t even spell right. Your opinion is invalid.

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

@L33Reacts Comment is invalid? You still have your man bud listening to a Great Prog act? Thanks for getting back!