Song:Lucky Man
Album:The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Limited Edition 3.0
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) were one of the most popular British progressive rock bands of the 70s. They're looked at as an early supergroup. Lucky Man was their biggest hit single and the song most folks will know. But it's atypical of their progressive keyboard driven sound. Of course that sound was driven by rock legend Keith Emerson. In 1969, Emerson was leader of The Nice. They were a very good band but they were getting frustrated with their lack of commercial success and were thinking of splitting up. Greg Lake was lead singer and bassist for King Crimson. The bands were touring together and after meeting at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Emerson and Lake decided to work together. So now they needed a drummer. They talked to Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience but he showed up at a jam session with an entourage. They didn't like that. After auditioning several drummers, they hired Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster. ELP signed with Island Records in England and the Atlantic Records subsidiary Cotillion in the US. Their 1970 debut album Emerson, Lake & Palmer was a series of songs designed to highlight the individual members. They hadn't gelled as a band yet. They finished the album and found they hadn't recorded enough songs to fulfill their commitment to the record company. Greg Lake wrote Lucky Man when he was 12 years old. Emerson didn't like the song but agreed that it could be used as filler on the album. And he even threw in a synthesizer solo. Lucky Man along with ELP's performance at the Isle Of Wight Festival were the perfect launching pad for the album. It reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 200 and Lucky Man reached #48 on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequent albums like Tarkus, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery and Pictures at an Exhibition were very successful and they were a big live draw. Of course burnout was inevitable and ELP split up in 1979. Their catalog is currently available from Shout! Factory and this 3CD comp is budget priced. Emerson took to composing film scores. Lake went solo. Palmer joined Asia. Emerson and Lake formed Emerson, Lake & Powell with Cozy Powell in 1985. Emerson, Lake & Palmer reformed in the 90s and continue to work together occasionally. Here's Greg Lake performing Lucky Man at California Jam 1974.
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