Keith Emerson

Hi Elizabeth,

Tonight is not the happiest of late nights, but I wish you one anyway. The whole day just felt kind of surreal for me. I had been watching Nancy Reagan's funeral here at Pearl's, and I was very impressed by the number of dignitaries (former First Ladies, ex-Presidents, et al) who attended, and the reminiscing was nice to hear, even though I am not a Republican and was anything but a fan of President Reagan during his tenure. But as I have stated before, there comes a time to have respect for people simply as fellow human beings, and especially when a person has passed away.

I was watching the funeral, and got up to check my Facebook on the computer. It's something we all do several times a day in this era.

And I saw a post that Keith Emerson had died. I Googled it at first, immediately, because of all the hoaxes nowdays, but within a minute or so I could see that it was not a hoax.

I was blown away, of course. Keith Emerson was a musical giant in my life, someone who has had an enormous effect, and this is true for many people. He had millions of fans, and at one time ELP was a gigantic band worldwide.

About an hour later, it was being reported as a suicide. When I first heard he'd died, I was thinking, "what could it be"? I knew that his Mom had lived to be something like 98, because he used to post pictures with her, so I thought, "well maybe Keith was a heavy smoker" or something like that, because usually if you have that kind of longevity in a parent, it means you can live pretty long too.

But then when the suicide reports came in, his death at the relatively younger age of 71 made sense, or rather had an explanation. Suicide makes no sense.

I make no judgement about that, because no one can calculate the pain another person can be in, or the black and empty feeling from depression. We have all suffered a little bit from temporary depression, and we know what it feels like, and it's not just a matter of feeling sad. It's a blackness, a void. My Dad suffered from depression and in the year 1977, he barely got out of bed, literally. Dad had lost his job and got very depressed, and he just stayed in bed most of the time. Finally, one day he caught his foot underneath the bedframe while getting up, and he fell and broke his leg. He was in a cast after that, and the shock and hassle of the whole ordeal led to him getting better. Dad dealt with depression for the rest of his life, on and off, but he made it to 88 years old and was generally a happy person til the end.

I am glad we never had guns in the house. Guns make it too easy to make a split second decision that can't be undone. That's what I think happened with Keith Emerson, and it's really just terrible.

I was thinking today that I am not sure the great musicians of this age fully realise the effect their music - what they have created - has had on we the listeners, we the fans. We are the receptors, after all, so we hear the music in a different way. We receive it as a gift, as fans. And we can't do what these musical magicians can do, so we are also in awe.

We are grateful for receiving the gift of the music from the musicians, and we are also in awe of them for what they can do. And I'm not sure how much they realise it. I mean, I know that they know that the fans "love" them (quote unquote), but I don't know that they can know - as creators rather than receivers - the effect their music has on enthusiastic listeners.

I first heard Emerson Lake and Palmer when I was 13 years old, in November 1973. The album "Brain Salad Surgery" was released then, and I remember it was right around my Mom's birthday. She would have been turning 50. I remember hanging out at College Records one day, and they unpacked this one box of records and out came the album with that cover on it......the famous HR Giger cover. I'd heard of ELP before but didn't know anything about them, and then whoever was working that day put the album on the store's turntable.

And my life changed. I had never heard anything remotely like it. I still haven't, 43 years later, and I suspect I never will. BSS is, in my opinion, the most futuristic record ever made. I have even said, "in 100 years, it will still sound futuristic".

I remember I had to have that album right away, so I think I asked my folks for the $2.99 to buy it. It was Mom's birthday or right around that time. It was the sound of the Moog that got me more than anything, though there were a lot of other reasons. Mostly it was because it sounded like something so incredible, so high level and so musical as to be untouchable.

So that was my introduction to ELP, and to Keith Emerson.

Then, lo and behold, three or four months later they began to advertise in the L.A. Times newspaper for the California Jam. And ELP was going to headline.....

they were gonna headline after Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. All for ten bucks.

It was my first concert as you know, and I've written about the experience. Most of all I've written about Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple, who arguably stole the show that day and night, as the concert stretched into darkness.

Deep Purple blew me off the map. I was a kid, in a sea of a quarter million people. I'd previously witnessed the power of live music, and loud sound, during Black Sabbath's set. And they blew me off the map, too. But they came on in daylight. The real power of the concert increased as night fell, first with Deep Purple's now legendary set, and then....finally, with ELP.

You would have to have a lot of confidence to come on and follow Deep Purple. ELP was touring for the "Brain Salad Surgery" album. It never occured to me, as a 13 year old, if they could pull it off live. The previous bands had built the expectations of the show.

Nowdays, you can see on Youtube what ELP pulled off that night in April 1974. The drumming of Carl Palmer is insane, and in all the concerts I have seen, has never been matched. You would think he powered the group, but in reality he played to match Keith Emerson. They were the rhythm section. Greg Lake's bass, and guitar and vocals played a seperate, leading role. Keith and Carl were the power, and it was quite something to behold at high decibels and in quadrophonic sound, resounding around a huge auto speedway.

I have recounted the story of my first concert before, and in perhaps better detail, but today I was just trying to recall the amazement and sheer power I felt as I watched Emerson Lake and Palmer that night, at my first concert, as a 13 year old, with 250,000 people.

I am just a fan, and it must be hard for a genius musician who has scaled those heights to live a so-called "regular life". Whatever that is.

But depression can also factor in, and actual depression is a clinical thing.

Guns ruin everything, in my opinion, because what they do is final, and they are often used in spur of the moment.

 I hate guns.

But with Keith, what I remember - what I will never forget, because it cannot be forgotten - is what was achieved.

What was acheived was music that is permanent, like the music of Bach or Beethoven. Not all the music, perhaps, because a later album or two was not classic, but for a run of six albums, from their debut to "Works Vol. One", and especially the three album run of "Tarkus", "Trilogy" and "Brain Salad Surgery" (top that, anyone) ELP were the greatest band I've ever heard, or seen. And Keith Emerson was one of the handful of greatest musicians I've ever seen, and he gave me so much......

And he influenced my life in a big way.

And his music will be listened to forever, just like that of Bach and Beethoven.

He created something that is Forever.

Wow.   ////////

Thanks for reading. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)