Flashback 50: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Get ready for the time-machine as we take a Flashback 50 to the eponymous debut album by Emerson Lake and Palmer, released in England in November 1970 and America on January first, 1971. This was the first supergroup of Progressive Rock. Keith Emerson had been the keyboardist in a 
band called The Nice, who caused quite a ruckus with things like an over-the-top instrumental rendition of Leonard Bernstein’s “America,” replete with tortured screams and the fact that Keith Emerson would abuse his organ including stabbing it with knives. Greg Lake had been the lead singer and bassist on the first two King Crimson albums. Heavy players on the English scene Emerson and Lake had almost formed a group with Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell. That never happened but Carl Palmer did. He had been the drummer in Atomic Rooster as well as The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. All the musicians had technique to spare and brought elements of classical, folk and jazz to their sound as well as a heavy dose of heavy metal energy. The band became enormous, selling out stadiums around the world. Their peak was in the early 70s and their first go-round went to 1979. They got together again a couple of times, but it never had the magic of those first five albums. Today, we flashback to their epic debut.