I'll see your Janis, and raise you an ELP

November 13, 2006 7:33 AM

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer live, at California Jam. (Google video, approx. 53 minutes)
posted by Eideteker (55 comments total)

See also this MetaChat post, complete with YouTube playlist.
posted by Eideteker at 7:33 AM on November 13, 2006

approx. 53 minutes)

and it's only one song!

I keed...
posted by jonmc at 7:34 AM on November 13, 2006

*flames out, posts lengthly screed to MetaChat declaiming jon*
posted by Eideteker at 7:37 AM on November 13, 2006

First, Janis Joplin now Emerson, Lake and Palmer? WTF?! Okay, first one of you that YouTubes that grainy betamax footage of that MIND-BLOWING 12 minute version of "Fire on the Mountain" from Eugene in '82 wins! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME.

(okay, forgive the snark - I understand many of you like this stuff. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but am probably suceeding)
posted by Heminator at 7:56 AM on November 13, 2006

This is the mellowest concert California has ever had.
posted by chillmost at 7:57 AM on November 13, 2006

*passes Heminator the bong*

relax, man. now puff-puff-pass, alright.
posted by jonmc at 7:58 AM on November 13, 2006

How do spell pretentious? ELP. (old joke my high school music teacher told me. Now I understand)

That piano solo is anything but mellow, man.

Ugh, someone just let me know at what times "Lucky Man" and "In the Beginning" start.
posted by chillmost at 8:09 AM on November 13, 2006

"FROM the Beginning" and let me know too .
posted by OneOliveShort at 8:18 AM on November 13, 2006

I managed to get through a couple of minutes of the first drum solo (I assume every song had one). I think it was just after P began ringing the bell with his teeth -- right around the point where his mighty gong collection started rotating around him so that he might beat them with his mallets.

The WikiPedia entry was interesting though. I had no idea that Hendrix considered joining (to make HELP) or that Lemmy was a roadie.
posted by crumbly at 8:26 AM on November 13, 2006

My wife and I were at that concert and it was one big effin' mess. A lot of fun in the long run, but one big, poorly planned mess. Inadequate traffic control led to a massive backup on the I-10 and many people abandoned their cars on the freeway and walked into Ontario Motor Speedway. All those abandoned cars just added to the backup.

Held in the speedway's infield area (which was basically just a giant field with no improvements, facilities or water system) on a day when the temperature exceeded 110 degrees, no one had thought to provide water or enough toilets to serve the crowd over over 200,000. The water problem became apparent early on and after realizing people were going to die if something wasn't done in quick order, watering stations were quickly plumbed in and thousands upon thousands of 1 gallon plastic milk jugs were brought in (by helicopter, IIRC). By this time, the crowd had grown ugly ( largely due to seconal which was a very popular drug at the time) and people began hurling full water jugs into the air which would then fall out of the sky onto unsuspecting people below. I saw a girl knocked unconscious by one of these andher friends carried her to the medical tent.

Despite bringing in more port-a-potties throughout the day, there were never enough to meet the needs of the huge crowd. Many people just got fed up with the huge queues and pissed and shitted on the ground behind the outhouses. The resulting stench made the long wait even worse.

But it wasn't all bad, we heard some great music (Black Oak Arkansas was my personal favorite of the event) and got in some great people watching. Our group finally settled in near one of the water stations and were treated to what seemed like an endless stream of naked girls frolicing and cooling off in the water.

In the end, though, the event caused so many problems that no more concerts were allowed in the venue and that eventually led to the closure of a very nice motorsport facility. Built as a near clone of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the track was unable to survive without the income of large, non-motorsport events such as concerts and closed it doors in 1980. That was a real loss as OMS was an awesome race venue and secind only to Riverside Raceway when it came to the best racing ever in SoCal.

But we heard some awesome groups, smoked some great dope, met a lot of fun people and saw a lifetime's worth of boobs, so all in all, it was a worthwhile venture.
posted by buggzzee23 at 8:29 AM on November 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah? I'll raise your ELP with this!
YouTube. Trust me, it's totally worth it! umm...
posted by Dr-Baa at 8:32 AM on November 13, 2006

and saw a lifetime's worth of boobs

can one ever, truly, see a lifetime's worth of boobs? I mean, there's always room for one..er..two more.
posted by jonmc at 8:36 AM on November 13, 2006

and Dr-Baa: I concur. Hatchet is far superior to ELP.
posted by jonmc at 8:36 AM on November 13, 2006

and I raise you both
posted by jonmc at 8:40 AM on November 13, 2006

(why didn't they give poor Robbo a guitar? He looks like a total wanker dancing around. Worth it to hear the song and see teh hawtness of Kelly and Kim, though)
posted by jonmc at 8:42 AM on November 13, 2006

buggzzee23, awesome, awesome comment. Thanks for the firsthand recount. ELP has always held a special place for me as one of the few links (along with Rush, also well-hated) I shared with my somewhat-estranged father. Bonding over our LP collections was one of the things that brought us back together in the two years preceding his death from cancer in 2004. So the haters can hate (and what would MeFi be without them? Pleasant?), but to me, ELP will always rock. Who else can I turn to for the pure prog rock cheese of lines like: "Let the bridge computer speak." and grown men playing the strings inside the piano.

The tubes have recorded their fames, indeed.

BTW, I should've also linked to this Google video as well. (52 min, covers about 2½ movements of one song, eh jon?) Enjoy, if that's your thing!
posted by Eideteker at 8:45 AM on November 13, 2006

hey, they said black oak arkansas ... where's black oak arkansas? ... well, i'll just have to find it myself

(yes, i know they suck)

(i win!!)
posted by pyramid termite at 8:46 AM on November 13, 2006

actually, that's Philthy. He still looks ridiculous.
posted by jonmc at 8:47 AM on November 13, 2006

I see Banana Jr makes its premiere at the 41 minute mark.
posted by hal9k at 8:47 AM on November 13, 2006

"why didn't they give poor Robbo a guitar?"

They could always give him a stun guitar:

According to Albert Bouchard, there is a somewhat interesting story
regarding Eric Bloom playing guitar with the band. After the band's
first performance with Bloom as lead vocalist (at the Fillmore East in
New York City), it was decided that he should have a guitar. For their
next performance (at The Electric Circus in New York City), Bloom had a
guitar, however it was not plugged in at the time. Elektra executives
were at the performance, and later remarked that they felt that Bloom's
rhythm guitar added greatly to the band's sound.

posted by Eideteker at 8:51 AM on November 13, 2006

more california jam goodness ... OZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZYYYYY!!!!
posted by pyramid termite at 8:53 AM on November 13, 2006

Fun post. I remember ruining "Just Take A Pebble" for me mates by singing along in Elmer Fudd's voice.

"... in our wiiiiiiiiives"
posted by hal9k at 8:59 AM on November 13, 2006

Oh, you guys want to see a jam?
posted by Bookhouse at 9:02 AM on November 13, 2006

Sadly, only eight minutes long.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 9:12 AM on November 13, 2006

The quintessential ELP moment to me is that live recording of their take on Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" that you hear every now and again. The audience members were actually shushing each other.

Boy and girls, that is NOT rock 'n' roll.

Prog rock has some interesting moments (most of them were on Close to the Edge), but to me, ELP represents the absolute worst of the genre.
posted by psmealey at 9:15 AM on November 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

Did I hear somebody ask for The Tubes?
posted by SteveInMaine at 9:37 AM on November 13, 2006

one of the meanest guitars in the world
posted by pyramid termite at 9:49 AM on November 13, 2006

White punks on dope, all af ya...
posted by TedW at 9:56 AM on November 13, 2006

Do any of these YouTube links feature the lifetime's worth of boobs? Cuz that's the only reason I'm going to click on any of this ELP shiznit.
posted by spicynuts at 10:07 AM on November 13, 2006

I just wanna know where I can get me one of them "Bummer Squad" t-shirts. Groovy, man.

Also, I really don't have the patience, so can someone tell me if they ever come clean on whether it's Tarkus the armadillo-tank or that stunned-lookin' manticore that wins in the end?
posted by gompa at 10:10 AM on November 13, 2006

Old Man Tyree does not approve of ELP.
posted by photoslob at 10:15 AM on November 13, 2006

Girls frolicking and cooling off...a lifetime's worth...okay, that ought to be good for raising something.
posted by pax digita at 10:22 AM on November 13, 2006

you can never have enough frolicking girls, indeed.
posted by jonmc at 10:27 AM on November 13, 2006

so can someone tell me if they ever come clean on whether it's Tarkus the armadillo-tank or that stunned-lookin' manticore that wins in the end?

dude, the manticore wins ... that's why half of tarkus' head is hanging on the manticore's tail and the rest of him is down in that funny looking river bleeding

damn, i HATE having to explain fine art to people like this
posted by pyramid termite at 10:41 AM on November 13, 2006

/me hating on ELP
posted by oncogenesis at 10:44 AM on November 13, 2006

psmealey, "Pictures" was ELP's take on Ravel's orchestration of the original Mussorgsky composition for piano, so it's an adaptation raised to the second power, or at one remove, or something. And the idea of an audience shushing each other at a concert (to hear the music more clearly, I assume) is reassuring even if it isn't very rock-and-rollish.

(I always used to wonder what kind of spin ELP would've put on Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol.")
posted by pax digita at 11:14 AM on November 13, 2006

Y'all mothers seen the Jason Forrest "Steppin' Off" video? Joker's wild.
posted by eatitlive at 11:30 AM on November 13, 2006

Dear Lord. The prog revival lumbers on.

I blame the Decemberists.
posted by jokeefe at 11:33 AM on November 13, 2006

53 minutes? That's awful short for an ELP song.
posted by sourwookie at 11:36 AM on November 13, 2006

Also, I saw ELP on this tour, being a 15 year old prog geek of the most determined order (I cringe to remember writing a deadly serious essay on the lyrics to Karn Evil 9 in Grade 10 English). I particularly remember Karl Palmer ringing that damn bell with his teeth. Ah, youth.
posted by jokeefe at 11:44 AM on November 13, 2006

per pyramid termite: That shit is dope. Sabbath in their prime. "Paranoid" is straight punk fuckin' rock.
posted by oncogenesis at 11:51 AM on November 13, 2006

you gotta see the show. it's a dynamo.
posted by 3.2.3 at 11:53 AM on November 13, 2006

Do not blame the Decemberists. They are awesome; this is not.
posted by dame at 12:23 PM on November 13, 2006

(I cringe to remember writing a deadly serious essay on the lyrics to Karn Evil 9 in Grade 10 English).

I remember Dave Marsh's one Sentence review of their 3-LP live set Welcome Back My Friends To the Show That Never Ends....

"Lives up to the title."
posted by jonmc at 12:49 PM on November 13, 2006

Re: Armitage Shanks' link - I never knew John Cleese was even in a band, much less Focus.
posted by yhbc at 1:25 PM on November 13, 2006

Ah, memories of ELP -- my oldest brother painted a replica of the 'Tarkus' album art on his wall. Keith Emerson's keyboard skill was great -- but, in my book, he was far outshadowed by Rick Wakeman.
posted by ericb at 1:28 PM on November 13, 2006

ELP was the first big group I saw, it was in Blackpool. They were doing the Tarkus tour. Keith Emerson climbed inside his synthesiser and played it from inside. That seemed pretty awesome at the time.
posted by tellurian at 2:19 PM on November 13, 2006

One of my favorite lyrics:
Performing on a stool we've a sight to make you drool
Seven virgins and a mule, keep it cool, keep it cool

I used to be really into this overblown stuff. In fact, I remember the main reason I hated The Stray Cats was "He's just got one drum and a cymbal! How lame!"

I'm glad I outgrew it.
posted by booth at 2:55 PM on November 13, 2006

ELP was the first big group I saw, it was in Blackpool.

I'll see your ELP, and raise you a Deep Purple. St. George's Hall, Liverpool on the Deep Purple in Rock tour.

My first and only lapse of musical taste.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:03 PM on November 13, 2006

There is no shame in loving the Purple, Peter (as long as we're talking about Gillan era).
posted by jonmc at 3:37 PM on November 13, 2006

Black Sabbath was at that same California Jam, so if you wanna "raise" people with other heavy bands then keep it from That show, And by the way, Moly Hatchett ain't a strong hand-they suck bad.
posted by Liquidwolf at 4:19 PM on November 13, 2006

Actually, at around 16:18, there's a damn good take of 'Still...You Turn Me On.'
posted by toma at 5:36 PM on November 13, 2006

Fanfare for the common Metafilter...
posted by Dreamghost at 8:37 PM on November 13, 2006

I came in here to see what kind of good timey ELP slag fest was goin' on, and happily I'm not disappointed. That Molly Hatchett video ... The Tubes ... clappy Ozzy ... buggzzee's report ... best of MeFi.

Hmmm, what can I throw in here to get some old Cheap Trick links going ....
posted by intermod at 4:26 AM on November 14, 2006

BTW, tangentially, Blue Cheer is on a brief tour of the eastern US right now, playing Atlanta tonight at a little club.
posted by intermod at 4:37 AM on November 14, 2006