162-466: Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he
324-573: A plectrum , was a distinctive part of the band's overall sound. He was influenced by Bob Dylan , whose songs were often covered at the time; the Nice interpreted several of them, typically reducing them to three or four verses and featuring a long improvised middle section, such as "She Belongs to Me". "The Nice will be here when all the others are in Pantomime in Wolverhampton ." John Peel Though noted in rock history primarily as
486-591: A "rather dangerous" polyp in his lower colon. Emerson died on 11 March 2016 in Santa Monica, California, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. His body was found at his Santa Monica home. Following a post-mortem , the medical examiner ruled Emerson's death a suicide, and concluded that he had also had heart disease and depression associated with alcohol. According to Emerson's girlfriend Mari Kawaguchi, Emerson had become "depressed, nervous, and anxious" because nerve damage had hampered his playing, and he
648-528: A Dream ". In 1969, the band found time to contribute to other projects. Emerson performed as a session player for Rod Stewart and the Faces , while the whole group provided instrumental backing for the track "Hell's Angels" on Roy Harper's 1970 album Flat Baroque and Berserk . Mid-year, tour promoter Michael Emmerson asked the Nice to write some music for the Newcastle upon Tyne Arts Festival. The result
810-592: A band meeting with Jackson and Davison and stated flatly that O'List should be sacked. They agreed, and immediately after their performance at The Ritz, Bournemouth in October, he was fired by Stratton Smith with the rest of the band present. O'List, however, claims that he left the band voluntarily because he was upset at Smith's decision to make Emerson the front man, saying: "I left the band and waited for Keith to get in contact... I should have gone straight to Keith, but I didn't." The Nice briefly considered looking for
972-557: A band together. The group carried on touring into 1970, but sometime early in the year, Emerson told Jackson that he would be leaving the band. Matters were not helped by Immediate Records filing for bankruptcy; the band later said they received no royalties from the label while an active group. In February 1970, the group collaborated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra led by Zubin Mehta . This
1134-503: A brain tumour. Emerson died on 11 March 2016 in Santa Monica, California , of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The Nice were primarily a live band. Their stage performances were bold and violent, with Emerson incorporating feedback and distortion. He manhandled his Hammond L-100 organ, wrestling it and attacking it with daggers (which he used to hold down keys and sustain notes during these escapades). Emerson's playing
1296-575: A charity event, Come Back Africa in London's Royal Albert Hall . The group were subsequently banned from ever playing the venue again. By summer 1968, the group had become concerned about O'List's reliability and matters came to a head following a gig in Croydon 's Fairfield Hall in September. According to roadie Ward, O'List had an altercation with him mid-performance. Emerson subsequently called
1458-456: A classical-rock blitz" and firing cannons from the stage, which had been tested out on a field near Heathrow Airport . ELP's record deal provided funds for Emerson to buy his own Moog modular synthesiser from the US, which was a preset model that had fewer leads and punch cards to call up certain patches. He used the patch that Vickers provided, which contained six distinctive Moog sounds and became
1620-630: A commercial disaster for ELP). Emerson also toured briefly in 1990 with The Best , a supergroup including John Entwistle of The Who , Joe Walsh of the Eagles , Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers , and Simon Phillips . This project focused on covering songs from each of the members' past bands. In the early 1990s, Emerson formed the short-lived group Aliens of Extraordinary Ability with Stuart Smith , Richie Onori, Marvin Sperling and Robbie Wyckoff. The group's name came from
1782-535: A crime scene: Jerry Lee Lewis slaughters his rivals in a thirteen-song set that feels like one long convulsion." Frustrated by Smash's inability to score a hit, Lewis was planning on leaving the label when promotions manager Eddie Kilroy pitched the idea of cutting a pure country record in Nashville . With nothing to lose, Lewis agreed to record the Jerry Chesnut song " Another Place, Another Time ", which
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#17327875783541944-456: A documentary film based on his autobiography. As of March 2016, production was still ongoing and the filmmakers were seeking funding to finish the film, according to the webpage of an artists' management company representing Emerson. Around the Christmas of 1969, Emerson married his Danish girlfriend Elinor Lund. They had two sons, Aaron and Damon, before they divorced in 1994. Emerson said it
2106-617: A dozen gold records in rock and country. He won four Grammy awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. Lewis was inducted into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and his pioneering contribution to the genre was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame . He was also a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame . He
2268-701: A gallery exhibition celebrating the 300th anniversary of the piano. Emerson later headlined both the first and third Moogfest , a festival held in honour of Robert Moog , at the B. B. King Blues Club & Grill at Times Square in New York City, in 2004 and 2006 respectively. Emerson opened the Led Zeppelin reunion/ Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at the O2 Arena in London on 10 December 2007, along with Chris Squire and Alan White ( Yes ) and Simon Kirke ( Bad Company / Free ). The supergroup played
2430-553: A given style with one hand and a contrasting one with the other. This structure can be seen in works such as "Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite", "Rondo", and others. Emerson's love of modern music such as Copland and Bartok was evident in his open voicings and use of fifths and fourths, "Fanfare" emulated guitar power chords. He also used dissonance, atonality, sonata and fugue forms, exposing rock and roll audiences to myriad classical styles from Bach to Stravinsky. Emerson used
2592-477: A good person and treat people right." Lewis was married seven times, including bigamous marriages and a marriage with his underage cousin. He had six children during his marriages. When Jerry Lee Lewis was 16, he married Dorothy Barton, the daughter of a preacher. The union lasted from February 1952 to October 1953. Lewis's second marriage to Sally Jane Mitcham in September 1953, was of dubious validity because it occurred 23 days before his divorce from Barton
2754-414: A group. Emerson agreed, but only on the condition the band could perform on their own as a warm-up act. Since it effectively meant getting two bands for the price of one, manager Andrew Loog Oldham readily agreed. Emerson recruited Jackson, drummer Ian Hague and ex- The Attack guitarist David O'List , the latter by recommendation from journalist Chris Welch . The name came from Arnold saying, "Here comes
2916-551: A large Yamaha GX-1 that required eight roadies to move it. Michael "Supe" Granda of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils recalled Emerson's organ rig as being "as large as [the Daredevils'] entire stage plot". The Nice The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock , jazz and classical music . Keyboardist Keith Emerson , bassist Lee Jackson , guitarist David O'List , and drummer Ian Hague originally formed in 1967 to be
3078-474: A longer set of ELP music using a backing band including guitarist/vocalist Dave Kilminster . During the spring of 2010, he toured with Greg Lake in the United States and Canada, doing a series of "Intimate Evening" duo shows in which they performed newly arranged versions of the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Nice, and King Crimson as well as Emerson's new original composition. On 25 July 2010,
3240-538: A major part of Lewis's repertoire. As Colin Escott observes in the sleeve to the 1995 compilation Killer Country , the conversion to country music in 1968 "looked at the time like a radical shift, but it was neither as abrupt nor as unexpected as it seemed. Jerry had always recorded country music, and his country breakthrough 'Another Place, Another Time' had been preceded by countless country records starting with his first, ' Crazy Arms ', in 1956." The last time Lewis had had
3402-626: A new arrangement of " Fanfare for the Common Man ". Emerson also made a guest appearance in 2009 on Spinal Tap 's album Back from the Dead , and played on several songs at Spinal Tap's "One Night Only World Tour" at Wembley Arena on 30 June 2009. In 2004 Emerson published his autobiography entitled Pictures of an Exhibitionist , which dealt with his life up to his nearly career-ending nerve-graft surgery in 1993. In 2007, Emerson began working with Canadian independent filmmaker Jason Woodford to make
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#17327875783543564-514: A new song he recorded called "It Was the Whiskey Talkin' (Not Me)" was included in the soundtrack to the hit movie Dick Tracy . The song is also heard in the movie, playing on the radio. The public downfall of his cousin, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart around the same time, resulted in more adverse publicity to a troubled family. Swaggart is also a piano player, as is another cousin, country music star Mickey Gilley . All three listened to
3726-572: A one-off Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunion concert closed the High Voltage Festival as the main act in Victoria Park, East London , to commemorate the band's 40th anniversary. Emerson continued his solo and soundtrack work into the 2000s. His solo releases included the all-piano album Emerson Plays Emerson (2002), several compilations, and contributions to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin tribute albums (see Discography ). He
3888-488: A piano suspended as high as 20 feet in mid-air and then rotated end-over-end with Emerson sitting at it. This was purely for visual effect, as the piano was fake and had no works inside, leaving Emerson to mime playing. Emerson was introduced to Bob McCarthy, former circus employee on Long Island, New York who demonstrated the stunt piano for him at his home. It was used for shows at Madison Square Garden in December 1973 and
4050-404: A record deal with Atlantic Records . ELP became popular immediately after their 1970 Isle of Wight Festival performance, and continued to tour regularly throughout the 1970s. Not all were impressed, with BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel describing their Isle of Wight set as a "tragic waste of talent and electricity". Their set, with a half-million onlookers, involved "annihilating their instruments in
4212-634: A record shop owner played him Switched-On Bach (1968) by Wendy Carlos , and thought the instrument looked like "an electronic skiffle ". He got into contact with keyboardist Mike Vickers , who had paid £4,000 to have one shipped from the US, and organised to play it at an upcoming The Nice concert at the Royal Festival Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , in February and March 1970. Vickers helped patch
4374-486: A remarkable turnaround, Lewis became the most bankable country star in the world. He was so huge in 1970 that his former Smash producer Shelby Singleton , who purchased Sun Records from Sam Phillips in July 1969, wasted no time in repackaging many of Lewis's old country recordings with such effectiveness that many fans assumed they were recent releases. One of his later unreleased Sun recordings, " One Minute Past Eternity ",
4536-521: A replacement, with Steve Howe auditioning. Howe got on well with the rest of the band, but a week later had second thoughts and decided not to join. Emerson tried to learn guitar so he could cover some of O'List's old parts, but gave up after one gig. The band's second LP, Ars Longa Vita Brevis , featured an arrangement of the Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite by Jean Sibelius , which
4698-489: A revitalized public interest in vintage rock and roll , inspired Mercury to fly Lewis to London in 1973 to record with a cadre of British and Irish musicians, including Rory Gallagher , Kenney Jones , and Albert Lee. By all accounts the sessions were tense. The remake of Lewis's old Sun cut "Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" was the album's hit single, reaching number 20 on the Billboard country chart and peaking at number 41 on
4860-405: A rock format. Following ELP's break-up at the end of the 1970s, Emerson pursued a solo career, composed several film soundtracks, and formed the bands Emerson, Lake & Powell and 3 to carry on in the style of ELP. In the early 1990s, ELP reunited for two more albums and several tours before breaking up again in the late 1990s. Emerson also reunited The Nice in 2002 and 2003 for a tour. During
5022-462: A short duo tour with Greg Lake. Apart from these reunions, he continued his solo career, releasing solo and soundtrack albums, touring with his own Keith Emerson Band, and making occasional guest appearances. Starting in 2010, he increasingly focused on orchestral collaborations. A documentary film based on his autobiography was reportedly in production at the time of his death in 2016. In 2002 Emerson reformed and toured with The Nice, though performing
Keith Emerson - Misplaced Pages Continue
5184-529: A social visit while Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks with Lewis backing him on piano. Johnny Cash was also there watching Perkins. The four then started an impromptu jam session and Phillips left the tape running. These recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, were released on CD as Million Dollar Quartet . Tracks also include Elvis Presley's " Don't Be Cruel " and " Paralyzed ", Chuck Berry 's " Brown Eyed Handsome Man ", and Pat Boone 's "Don't Forbid Me". Lewis's own singles (on which he
5346-792: A song on the country charts was with "Pen and Paper" in 1964, which had reached number 36, but "Another Place, Another Time" would go all the way to number 4 and remain on the charts for 17 weeks. Between 1968 and 1977, Lewis had 17 Top 10 hit singles on the Billboard country chart, including four chart-toppers. Hits include "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out of Me)", "To Make Love Sweeter For You", "She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me)", "Since I Met You Baby", "Once More With Feeling", "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)", and "Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough". The production on his early country albums, such as Another Place, Another Time and She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye ,
5508-530: A song that they felt would be perfect for Lewis and, as Colin Escott writes in the sleeve to the retrospective A Half Century of Hits , "Mercury held the presses, thinking they had found Lewis's comeback hit, and it might have happened if the Beatles hadn't arrived in America, changing radio playlists almost overnight. Mercury didn't really know what to do with Lewis after that." One of Smash's first decisions
5670-445: A source of inspiration. Although almost entirely self-taught, Lewis conceded to biographer Rich Bragg in 2014 that Paul Whitehead, a blind pianist from Meadville, Mississippi, was another key influence on him in his earliest days playing clubs. Along with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison, Lewis received the first Grammy Award in the spoken-word category for the very rare album of interviews released with some early copies of
5832-468: A special private show at the 100 Club on October 25, and at the London Forum on October 28 with Wanda Jackson and his sister, Linda Gail Lewis . In August 2009, in advance of his new album, a single entitled " Mean Old Man " was released for download. It was written by Kris Kristofferson . An EP featuring this song and four more was also released on November 11. On October 29, 2009, Lewis opened
5994-574: A standard solo performance piece for Emerson during at ELP shows throughout the next decade, Lucio Fulci 's Murder Rock (1984), and Michele Soavi's The Church (also known as La chiesa ) (1989). He was also the composer for the short-lived 1994 US animated television series Iron Man . Starting in the mid-1980s, Emerson formed several short-lived supergroups . The first two, Emerson, Lake & Powell (with Lake and ex- Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell ) and 3 (with Palmer and American multi-instrumentalist Robert Berry ), were intended to carry on in
6156-479: A strong influence on heavy metal musicians. Away from The Nice, Emerson was involved in the 1969 Music from Free Creek "supersession" project that included Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck . For the session, Emerson performed with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Chuck Rainey covering, among other tunes, the Eddie Harris instrumental "Freedom Jazz Dance". Emerson first heard a Moog synthesizer when
6318-564: A strong-minded and fierce passion for music making. In very different ways, they all have left a lasting impact on the industry and generations of fans alike. I am thrilled to welcome this deserving class to the Country Music Hall of Fame." "I'm just overwhelmed that they asked me here today," Lewis, 86, said during an event earlier that week at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, adding that his career had taught him to "be
6480-564: A studio in Nashville . It was at the latter studio that Lewis recorded his only major hit during this period, a rendition of Ray Charles 's " What'd I Say " in 1961. In Europe, other updated versions of " Sweet Little Sixteen " (September 1962 UK) and " Good Golly, Miss Molly " (March 1963) entered the hit parade . On popular EPs, "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes", "I've Been Twistin ' ", "Money", and "Hello Josephine" also became turntable hits, especially in nascent discothèques . Another recording of Lewis playing an instrumental boogie arrangement of
6642-465: A variety of electronic keyboard instruments during his career, including several Hammond organs and synthesisers by Moog Music , Yamaha , and Korg . From time to time he also used other instruments such as pipe organs , a grand piano , a clavinet , and very briefly, a Mellotron . During his ELP years, Emerson toured with a large amount of gear, taking thirteen keyboard units to a December 1973 show at Madison Square Garden , and later travelling with
Keith Emerson - Misplaced Pages Continue
6804-403: A whip, pushing it over, riding it across the stage like a horse, playing with it lying on top of him, and wedging knives into the keyboard. Some of these actions also produced musical sound effects: hitting the organ caused it to make explosion-like sounds, turning it over made it feed back , and the knives held down keys, thus sustaining notes. Emerson's show with The Nice has been cited as having
6966-576: Is certain is that Siggi Loch on this spring evening captured something brutally honest about the Killer, about the primal and timeless centre of the very best rock & roll..." The album showcases Lewis's skills as a pianist and singer, honed by relentless touring. In a 5-out-of-5-stars review, Milo Miles wrote in Rolling Stone magazine that " Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is not an album, it's
7128-522: Is characterized by a regular left-hand bass figure and dancing beat, but his command of the instrument and highly individualistic style set him apart. Appearing on Memphis Sounds with George Klein in 2011, Lewis credited his older piano-playing cousin Carl McVoy as being a crucial influence, stating, "He was a great piano player, a great singer, and a nice-looking man, carried himself real well. I miss Carl very much." Lewis also cited Moon Mullican as
7290-586: Is murdered by the hand of the inevitable." The new arrangement was released under the title "America (Second Amendment)" as a pointed reference to the US Bill of Rights provision for the right to bear arms . In July 1968, Immediate Records publicised the single with a controversial poster picturing the group members with small boys on their knees, with superimposed images of the faces of John F. Kennedy , Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. on
7452-470: Is the use of distinct styles in a piece of music, combined by alternating between two different segments (in Emerson's case, most frequently alternating classical and non-classical); this technique can be seen in numerous works, such as "Rondo", "Tantalising Maggie", " The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack " and others. Vertical contrast is the combination of multiple styles simultaneously; Emerson frequently played
7614-516: Is two songs, for about eight minutes of stage time maximum) and invited Del Wood —the one member of the Opry who had been kind to him when he had been there as a teenager—out on stage to sing with him. He also blasted through "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On", "Workin' Man Blues", "Good Golly, Miss Molly", and a number of other classics. Lewis returned to the pop charts with " Me and Bobby McGee " in 1971 and " Chantilly Lace " in 1972, and this, coupled with
7776-514: The California Jam in April 1974, which was filmed. Emerson said: "After that every TV show I did came the question ... Keith, how do you spin around on that piano? I'd say what about my music? ' " The stunt caused Emerson to suffer multiple finger injuries and a broken nose. He wished to use it at the band's reunion concert in 2010, but was forbidden by the local authority who said that
7938-592: The Class of '55 album in 1986. The original Sun cut of "Great Balls of Fire" was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and Lewis's Sun recording of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" received this honor in 1999. Only recordings that are at least 25 years old and have left a lasting impression can receive this honor. On February 12, 2005, Lewis received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award
8100-618: The Glenn Miller Orchestra 's " In the Mood " was issued on the Phillips International label under the pseudonym "The Hawk". Lewis's turbulent personal life was hidden from the public until a May 1958 British tour where Ray Berry, a news agency reporter at London's Heathrow Airport (the only journalist present), learned about Lewis's third wife, Myra Gale Brown. She is Lewis's first cousin once removed and
8262-900: The Moog synthesizer , in ELP. John Peel , an early champion of the Nice, called ELP "a waste of talent and electricity". Notes Citations Bibliography Further reading Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935 – October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. Nicknamed " The Killer ", he was described as " rock 'n' roll 's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa 's J&M Studio in New Orleans , Louisiana, and early recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee . " Crazy Arms " sold 300,000 copies in
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#17327875783548424-715: The National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress . According to several first-hand sources, including Johnny Cash , Lewis, a devout Christian, was troubled by the sinful nature of his own material, which he believed was leading him and his audience to Hell . This aspect of Lewis's character was depicted in Waylon Payne 's portrayal of Lewis in the 2005 film Walk the Line , based on Cash's autobiographies. As part of his stage act, Lewis pounded
8586-639: The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra . Yoshimatsu's arrangement has been featured in multiple live performances and two live recordings. In September 2011, Emerson began working with Norwegian conductor Terje Mikkelsen , along with the Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla and the Munich Radio Orchestra , on new orchestral renditions of ELP classics and their new compositions. The project "The Three Fates"
8748-516: The 1969 US tour. Emerson had no involvement with compiling the album, which was done by Jackson, Davison and Charisma Records . The album reached No. 5 in the UK. Jackson formed Jackson Heights which released five albums between 1970 and 1973. Emerson supported the band and became a fan. Davison formed "Every Which Way" which released an album in 1970. Both Jackson and Davison formed Refugee with keyboardist Patrick Moraz in 1974, but Moraz left
8910-477: The 1970s when Lydon was a member of the punk band Sex Pistols , was Emerson's neighbour. The two became friends, with Lydon saying in a 2007 interview, "He's a great bloke". In 2002, Emerson was in the process of returning to live in England. In 1993, Emerson was forced to take a year off from playing after he developed a nerve-related condition affecting his right hand that he likened to "writer's cramp", and that
9072-452: The 2000s, Emerson resumed his solo career, including touring with his own Keith Emerson Band featuring guitarist Dave Kilminster, then replaced by Marc Bonilla, and collaborating with several orchestras. He reunited with ELP bandmate Greg Lake in 2010 for a duo tour, culminating in a one-off ELP reunion show in London to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary. Emerson's last album, The Three Fates Project , with Marc Bonilla and Terje Mikkelsen,
9234-692: The Bahamas with local musicians, it departed from Emerson's usual style in featuring calypso and reggae songs, and was generally not well received, except in Italy where it was a hit. Emerson's subsequent solo releases were sporadic, including a Christmas album in 1988, and the album Changing States (also known as Cream of Emerson Soup ) recorded in 1989 but not released until 1995, after several of its songs had already been re-recorded and released in different versions on ELP's 1992 comeback album Black Moon . Changing States also contained an orchestral remake of
9396-510: The Billboard 200 album chart. On November 5, 2007, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland , Ohio, honored Lewis with six days of conferences, interviews, a DVD premiere, and film clips, dedicated to him and entitled The Life And Music of Jerry Lee Lewis . On November 10, the week culminated with a tribute concert compered by Kris Kristofferson . Lewis
9558-509: The ELP song "Abaddon's Bolero" with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and "The Church", which Emerson composed for the 1989 Michele Soavi horror film of the same name. In the 1980s, Emerson began to write and perform music for films, as his orchestral and classical style was more suited for film work than for the new wave -dominated pop/ rock market. He was given the script for Chariots of Fire , but turned down
9720-554: The Fairfield Hall, Croydon, and after a short German tour the band broke up, playing their last gig on 30 March at the Berlin Sportpalast . Emerson and Lake recruited Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster and formed Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). In 1971, the posthumous Nice album Elegy was released. It included different versions of previously released tracks, two being studio versions and two live from
9882-474: The Hammond became his instrument of choice in the late 1960s. Emerson acquired his first Hammond organ, an L-100 model, at the age of 15 or 16, on hire purchase and a loan from his father. He had saved money to buy a Bird electric organ with built-in speakers on each side, but then spotted a Hammond in the shop and thought it was a better purchase. Emerson's initial plan was for a non-musical career while playing
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#173278757835410044-600: The Hot Seat (1994)) and world tours in 1992–1993. After the 1993 tour, Emerson was forced to take a year off from playing due to a nerve condition affecting his right hand (see Health issues ). Following his recovery, ELP resumed touring in 1996, including a successful US tour with Jethro Tull , but broke up again in August 1998. Emerson participated in The Nice's reunion tour and a 40th anniversary show for ELP, preceded by
10206-678: The London Philharmonic "who weren't that helpful to begin with" and "had the attitude of 'What's a rock musician doing writing a piano concerto?'" Emerson said, "I wanted people to say, look, I'm a composer, I do write my own music, and what greater challenge than to write a piano concerto." The recording later appeared on ELP's album Works Volume 1 . Emerson's concerto has since been performed by classical pianists, most notably Jeffrey Biegel, who has performed it several times and recorded it with Emerson's permission. In 1976, while still in ELP, Emerson also released his first solo record,
10368-1073: The Moog was so critical to the development of new Moog models that he was given prototypes, such as the Constellation, which he took on one tour, and the Apollo, which had its début on " Jerusalem " on Brain Salad Surgery (1973). As synthesiser technology evolved, Emerson went on to use a variety of other synthesisers, including the Minimoog , Yamaha GX-1 , and several models by Korg . Emerson performed several notable rock arrangements of classical compositions, ranging from J. S. Bach and Modest Mussorgsky to 20th-century composers such as Béla Bartók , Aaron Copland , Leoš Janáček and Alberto Ginastera . Occasionally Emerson quoted from classical and jazz works without giving credit, particularly early in his career. An early example of Emerson's arranging
10530-508: The Moog, and the concert saw Emerson perform " Also sprach Zarathustra " by Richard Strauss with Vickers behind the machine to swap patches. After The Nice split in March 1970, Emerson formed a new band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), with bassist Greg Lake from King Crimson and drummer Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster . After four months of rehearsal, the band played its first shows and recorded its first album, having quickly obtained
10692-626: The Naz", which the group misheard as "the Nice". The band played its first gig in May 1967, and had its first major break at the 7th National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor on 13 August. Oldham had managed to secure a separate set for the group in a side tent away from also accompanying Arnold on the main stage, where they gained attention. The next week, Welch wrote in the Melody Maker that "it
10854-416: The Nice and " The Knife " from their album Trespass was directly inspired by the band. Though the Nice were not the first to combine a rock band and orchestra, they did inspire similar attempts by other groups, such as Pink Floyd 's Atom Heart Mother . Emerson's showmanship was more important in the Nice, and he mostly used just a Hammond organ live as opposed to a wider range of keyboards, including
11016-416: The Nice created an arrangement of Leonard Bernstein 's " America " which Emerson described as the first ever instrumental protest song . The track used the main theme of the Bernstein piece (from West Side Story ) but also included fragments of Dvořák 's New World Symphony . The single concludes with Arnold's three-year-old son speaking the lines "America is pregnant with promise and anticipation, but
11178-421: The Nice expanded their gear, recruiting roadies Bazz Ward and Lemmy , the latter of whom provided Emerson with a Hitler Youth ceremonial dagger to stick into the keys on his Hammond organ. They spent the end of 1967 on a package tour with Jimi Hendrix , Pink Floyd , the Move and Amen Corner . Pink Floyd's then leader, Syd Barrett , missed several gigs and O'List had to stand in for him. The group's first album
11340-445: The Nice had progressed as far as it could musically, and was particularly dissatisfied with Jackson's limited vocal style. He asked Jack Bruce and Yes' Chris Squire about forming a new band, but both turned Emerson down. While on tour in the US with King Crimson , Emerson held a meeting with Stratton Smith and declared "the Nice had outlived its usefulness". By the end of the year, Emerson and Crimson's Greg Lake had decided to form
11502-503: The Nice's 1968 live performance of "Hang on to a Dream" on the German television program Beat-Club (later released on DVD in 1997), Emerson can be seen and heard reaching inside his grand piano at one point and plucking its strings. In addition to such experimentation, Emerson also incorporated unique musical stylization into his work. Emerson is recognized for having integrated different sounds into his writing, utilizing methods of both horizontal and vertical contrast. Horizontal contrast
11664-494: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In May 2013, Lewis opened a new club on Beale Street in Memphis. Lewis was still considered actively performing in concert, though he had to cancel all shows following his February 28, 2019, stroke, waiting for his doctors' go-ahead. In 2017, Lewis had a personal presence at The Country Music Television Skyville Live show. It
11826-713: The South Shore Symphony at his 70th birthday tribute concert at Molloy College in Rockville Centre , New York . The concert also featured the premiere of his Three String Quartets , and a performance of Emerson's "Piano Concerto No. 1" by Jeffrey Biegel. In 2000, Emerson was a featured panelist and performer at "The Keyboard Meets Modern Technology", an event honouring Moog presented by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. , in conjunction with
11988-475: The Southern United States, but it was his 1957 hit " Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On " that shot Lewis to worldwide fame. He followed this with the major hits " Great Balls of Fire ", " Breathless ", and " High School Confidential ". His rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown , his 13-year-old first cousin once removed. His popularity quickly eroded following
12150-659: The VIPs, who toured the Star-Club in Hamburg , and his playing style became influenced by the organist Don Shinn , including standing up to play the instrument and rocking it on stage. Meanwhile, P. P. Arnold , a performer who reached a higher level of popularity in the UK than her native US, was unhappy with her backing band, the Blue Jays, and wanted a replacement. Her driver suggested Emerson would be able to put together such
12312-656: The Worthing and Brighton area, Emerson played in John Brown's Bodies where members of The T-Bones, the backing band of blues singer Gary Farr , offered him a place in their group. After a subsequent UK and European tour with the T-Bones, the band split. Emerson then joined The V.I.P.'s , which he described as a "purist blues band"; his noted flamboyance began when a fight broke out during a performance in France. Instructed by
12474-543: The age of 87 due to an illness. His death was mistakenly reported by TMZ two days before he died, with a representative stating that TMZ had reported "erroneously off of an anonymous tip." His funeral was held on November 5, 2022, in his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana. The service was officiated by his cousin Jimmy Swaggart and Swaggart's son. Lewis was an incendiary showman who often played with his fists, elbows, feet, and backside, sometimes climbing on top of
12636-412: The application process for a US work visa , and the members included several British musicians who, like Emerson, had come to Los Angeles to further their careers. The group turned down a record deal with Samsung because of Emerson's commitment to an ELP reunion and Smith's involvement with a possible reformation of The Sweet . In 1991, ELP reformed for two more albums ( Black Moon (1992) and In
12798-516: The backing band of soul singer P. P. Arnold . After replacing Hague with Brian Davison , the group set out on their own and quickly developed a strong live following. The group's stage performances featured Emerson's Hammond organ showmanship and abuse of the instrument. Their compositions included radical rearrangements of classical music themes and Bob Dylan songs. The band achieved commercial success with an instrumental rearrangement of Leonard Bernstein 's " America ", following which O'List left
12960-432: The band and Emerson's redefining of the role of keyboard instruments in rock set the Nice apart from many of its contemporaries. He used a combination of Marshall Amplification and Leslie speakers in order to project a full sound to compensate for the lack of a guitarist. Jackson never considered himself a great singer, partly because the group chose poor keys for his vocal range, but his bass playing, with heavy use of
13122-457: The band to keep playing, he produced some explosion and machine gun sounds with the Hammond organ, which stopped the fight. His band members told him to repeat the stunt at the next concert, where Emerson played the organ back to front. In 1967, Emerson formed The Nice with Lee Jackson , also of the T-Bones, David O'List , and Ian Hague, after soul singer P. P. Arnold asked him to form a backing band. After replacing Hague with Brian Davison ,
13284-405: The band which brought Keith Emerson into the spotlight, the Nice were one of the pioneering progressive rock bands and their fusion of styles strongly influenced the movement into the 1970s. Their commercial success on Charisma Records was key to establishing the label, which went on to include several other progressive acts, including Genesis and Van der Graaf Generator . Genesis were fans of
13446-428: The band's friend Roy Harper had recommended they cover, and the album's second side was a suite which included an arrangement of a movement from J.S. Bach 's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The group used an orchestra for the first time on some parts of the suite. The band were on the bill at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival and briefly toured Ireland with Yes and Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band which, by all accounts,
13608-480: The ceremony took place, so he remarried Brown on June 4, 1958. They had two children: Steve Allen Lewis (1959–1962) and Phoebe Allen Lewis (b. 1963). Brown was only 14 years old when their son was born. In 1962, Steve Allen Lewis drowned in a swimming pool accident at the age of 3. In 1970, Brown filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and abuse , stating that she had been "subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable." His fourth marriage
13770-402: The children's heads. A spokesman for the band said: "Several record stores have refused to stock our current single .... the Nice feel if the posters are issued in United States they will do considerable harm". During the tour that followed the release of their second album in July, the group spawned controversy when Emerson burned an American flag onstage during a performance of "America" at
13932-559: The day before the Recording Academy's main Grammy Awards ceremony, which he also attended. In June 1989, Lewis was honored for his contribution to the recording industry with a star along Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . On October 10, 2007, Lewis received the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's American Music Masters Award. His next album, Mean Old Man , was released in September 2010 and reached No. 30 on
14094-443: The decades, and he embraced his rock and roll past with songs such as a cover of The Big Bopper 's " Chantilly Lace " and Mack Vickery 's "Rockin' My Life Away". In the 21st century, Lewis continued to tour worldwide and released new albums. His 2006 album Last Man Standing was his best-selling release, with over a million copies worldwide. This was followed by Mean Old Man in 2010, another of his bestselling albums. Lewis had
14256-848: The finale's final act with a medley of " Roll Over Beethoven ", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", and "Great Balls of Fire". In December 2019, Lewis was honored with a Mississippi Country Music Trail marker at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi to celebrate his contributions to country music. In May 2022, Lewis was announced as a member-elect to the Country Music Hall of Fame , to be inducted in October 2022. "This year's inductees are trailblazers who each paved their own unique path within country music," Sarah Trahern, CMA chief executive officer, said. "Jerry Lee, Keith ( Whitley ), and Joe ( Galante ) each found their musical callings early in life and displayed
14418-469: The foundation of ELP's sound. It was a temperamental device, with the oscillators often going out of tune with temperature change. Emerson was the first artist to tour with a Moog synthesiser. His "Monster Moog", built from numerous modules, weighed 550 pounds (250 kg), stood 10 feet (3 m) tall and took four roadies to move. Even with its unpredictability, it became an indispensable component of not only ELP's concerts, but also Emerson's own. His use of
14580-404: The full use of his hands and could play to his usual strength. In 2016, he was corresponding with a carpal-tunnel syndrome expert about his struggle with focal dystonia , who said "Musicians can't talk about it because they won't get another gig if word gets out that they're in pain so they keep quiet." In September 2010, Emerson underwent immediate surgery after a routine colonoscopy had revealed
14742-563: The general style of ELP in the absence of one of the original members. Emerson, Lake & Powell had some success, and their sole album is considered one of the best of both Emerson's and Lake's careers. Stylistically, it was a departure from their 1980s progressive rock peers, Genesis and Asia. Progressive rock analyst Edward Macan wrote that Emerson, Lake & Powell were closer to the "classic ELP sound" than ELP's own late-1970s output. By contrast, 3's only album sold poorly and drew comparisons to "the worst moments of Love Beach " (which had been
14904-663: The greatest, most technically accomplished keyboardist in rock history". In 2019, readers of Prog voted him the greatest keyboard player in progressive rock. Emerson was born on 2 November 1944 in Todmorden , West Riding of Yorkshire. The family had been evacuated from southern England during World War II, after which they returned south and settled in Goring-by-Sea , West Sussex. Emerson attended West Tarring School (now Worthing High School ) in Tarring . His mother Dorothy
15066-531: The group after one album to replace Rick Wakeman in Yes . After over three decades of inactivity, the Nice reformed in 2002 for a series of concerts. A three-CD set Vivacitas was released, with the third CD being an interview with Emerson, Jackson and Davison. O'List did not attend the reunion and was replaced by guitarist Dave Kilminster . Davison died on 15 April 2008 aged 65 in Horns Cross, Devon , from
15228-400: The group set out on its own, quickly developing a strong live following. The group's sound was centred on Emerson's Hammond organ showmanship and theatrical abuse of the instrument, and their radical rearrangements of classical music themes as "symphonic rock". To increase the visual interest of his show, Emerson abused his Hammond L-100 organ by, among other things, hitting it, beating it with
15390-449: The group. The remaining members carried on as a trio, releasing several albums, before Emerson left the band in early 1970 in order to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer . The group briefly re-formed in 2002 for a series of concerts. The Nice evolved from Gary Farr and the T-Bones , which keyboardist Keith Emerson and bassist Keith "Lee" Jackson were both members of before the band dissolved in early 1967. Emerson then briefly played with
15552-559: The host. Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind is a documentary on Lewis, released in 2022 and directed by Ethan Coen . That same year, Lewis and his cousin Jimmy Swaggart collaborated on and released a gospel album, called The Boys from Ferriday . Lewis had a minor stroke in Memphis on February 28, 2019, which forced him to cancel several appearances. Lewis died at his home three years later on October 28, 2022, in Nesbit, Mississippi, at
15714-428: The interior of his piano and hit, plucked, or strummed the strings with his hand. He said that as a keyboard player, he hated the idea of being "static" and that to avoid it, he "wanted to get inside the piano, brush the strings, stick Ping-Pong balls inside". "Take a Pebble" included Emerson strumming the strings of his piano, a technique pioneered by avant-garde composer Henry Cowell , referred to as string piano . In
15876-658: The keys with his heel, kicked the piano bench aside and played standing, raking his hands up and down the keys, sat on the keyboard and stood on the piano. He told the Pop Chronicles that kicking over the bench originally happened by accident, but when it got a favorable response, he kept it in the act. His inaugural television appearance, in which he demonstrated some of these moves, was on The Steve Allen Show on July 28, 1957, where he played " Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On ". His dynamic performance style can be seen in films such as High School Confidential (he sang
16038-527: The late 1960s and 1970s, he regularly topped the country-western charts; throughout his seven-decade career, Lewis had 30 songs reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart . His No. 1 country hits included " To Make Love Sweeter for You ", " There Must Be More to Love Than This ", " Would You Take Another Chance on Me ", and " Me and Bobby McGee ". Lewis's successes continued throughout
16200-609: The live album By Request, More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth , Lewis is heard naming Moon Mullican as an artist who inspired him. His mother enrolled him at the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas , so that he could sing evangelical songs exclusively. When Lewis daringly played a boogie-woogie rendition of "My God Is Real" at a church assembly, it ended his association with
16362-473: The offer to score it. Films for which Emerson contributed soundtrack music include Dario Argento 's Inferno (1980), the action thriller Nighthawks (1981) starring Sylvester Stallone , (1984 film) Best Revenge, notable because he collaborated with Brad Delp from the rock band Boston and Levon Helm from The Band both on vocals, and Garth Hudson also from The Band on accordion, that also featured an instrumental piece called "Dream Runner" that became
16524-399: The physical abuse of his Hammond organ that he had developed with The Nice, including playing the organ upside down while having it lie over him and using knives to wedge down specific keys and sustain notes during solos. He also engaged in knife throwing using a target fastened in front of his Leslie speakers. He was given his trademark knife, an authentic Nazi dagger, by Lemmy Kilmister , who
16686-414: The piano during gigs and even apocryphally setting it on fire. Like Chuck Berry's guitar playing, Lewis's piano style became synonymous with rock and roll, having influenced generations of piano players. In a 2013 interview with Leah Harper, Elton John recalls that up until "Great Balls of Fire", "the piano playing that I had heard had been more sedate. My dad collected George Shearing records, but this
16848-505: The piano on the side. Upon leaving school he worked at Lloyds Bank Registrars where he played the piano in the bar at lunch times and local pubs at nights. He was ultimately fired from the bank. Emerson played in a local 20-piece swing band run by Worthing Council , performing Count Basie and Duke Ellington tunes. This led to the formation of the Keith Emerson Trio, with the group's drummer and bassist. While performing in
17010-472: The plans did not meet health and safety standards. After ELP disbanded in 1979, Emerson pursued a variety of projects during the 1980s and 1990s, including solo releases, soundtrack work and other bands, including supergroup the Best . In the early 1990s, Emerson rejoined the reunited ELP, but the group broke up again by the end of that decade. In 1981, Emerson released his debut solo album, Honky . Recorded in
17172-405: The pop chart. The Session was his highest pop charting album since 1964's Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis , hitting number 37. It did far better on the country albums chart, rising to number 4. Later that year, he went to Memphis and recorded Southern Roots: Back Home to Memphis , a soul-infused rock album produced by Huey Meaux. According to Rick Bragg's authorized 2014 biography, "the Killer"
17334-427: The process. The group clashed with producer Oldham in the studio over the length of the track, but eventually won the argument; the full eight-minute piece was included on the album. After the album was released, the group realised that Oldham had a conflict of interest as manager and record company owner, so they recruited sports journalist Tony Stratton Smith to take over management duties. For their second single,
17496-430: The public eye, especially when he decided to re-record all his songs for the movie soundtrack. The film was based on the book by Lewis's ex-wife, Myra Gale Lewis, and starred Dennis Quaid as Lewis, Winona Ryder as Myra, and Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart. The movie focuses on Lewis's early career and his relationship with Myra and ends with the scandal of the late 1950s. A year later, in 1990, Lewis made minor news when
17658-402: The recording setup was uncomplicated, with microphones placed as close to the instruments as possible and a stereo mic placed in the audience to capture the ambience. The results were sonically astonishing, with Bonomo observing, "Detractors complain of the album's crashing noisiness, the lack of subtlety with which Jerry Lee revisits the songs, the fact that the piano is mixed too loudly, but what
17820-461: The same music in their youth and frequented Haney's Big House, the Ferriday club that featured black blues acts. Lewis and Swaggart had a complex relationship over the years. In 1998, Lewis toured Europe with Chuck Berry and Little Richard . On February 12, 2005, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy . On September 26, 2006, a new album titled Last Man Standing
17982-539: The scandal, and with few exceptions, such as a cover of Ray Charles 's " What'd I Say ", he did not have much chart success in the early 1960s. His live performances at this time were increasingly wild and energetic. His 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is regarded by many music journalists and fans as one of the wildest and greatest live rock albums ever. In 1968, Lewis made a transition into country music and had hits with songs such as " Another Place, Another Time ". This reignited his career, and throughout
18144-660: The school the same night. Pearry Green, then president of the student body, related how during a talent show Lewis played some "worldly" music. The next morning, the dean of the school called Lewis and Green into his office to expel them. After that incident, he went home and started playing at clubs in and around Ferriday and Natchez, Mississippi , becoming part of the burgeoning new rock and roll sound and cutting his first demo recording in 1952 for Cosimo Matassa in New Orleans. Around 1955, he traveled to Nashville , where he played in clubs and attempted to build interest, but
18306-574: The single "Honky Tonk Train Blues" b/w "Barrelhouse Shake-Down". "Honky Tonk Train Blues", Emerson's cover of a 1927 boogie-woogie piano song by Meade Lux Lewis , reached No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart . In addition to his technical skills at playing and composing, Emerson was a theatrical performer. He cited guitarist Jimi Hendrix and organist Don Shinn as his chief theatrical influences. While in ELP, Emerson continued to some degree
18468-596: The songs are credited correctly. By 1971, with the releases Pictures at an Exhibition and Trilogy , ELP began to fully credit classical composers, including Modest Mussorgsky for the piano piece which inspired the Pictures album, and Aaron Copland for "Hoedown" on the Trilogy album. Emerson indicated in an interview that he based his version of Pictures at an Exhibition on Mussorgsky's original piano composition, rather than on Maurice Ravel 's later orchestration of
18630-820: The time and chose jazz piano. His studies in Western classical music largely inspired his own style in his professional career which often incorporated jazz and rock elements. Although Emerson did not own a record player, he enjoyed listening to music on the radio, particularly Floyd Cramer 's 1961 slip note-style " On the Rebound " and the work of Dudley Moore . He used jazz sheet music from Dave Brubeck and George Shearing and learned about jazz piano from books and Andre Previn 's version of My Fair Lady . He also listened to boogie-woogie , and to country-style pianists including Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson , Russ Conway and Winifred Atwell . Emerson later described himself: "I
18792-401: The time, such as George Jones and Merle Haggard . In his book Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story , biographer Rick Bragg notes that the songs Lewis was recording "were of the kind they were starting to call 'hard country', not because it had a rock beat or crossed over into rock in a real way, but because it was more substantial than the cloying, overproduced mess out there on country radio". In
18954-575: The title song from the back of a flatbed truck ), and Jamboree . Cub Koda called him "rock & roll's first great wild man" and also "rock & roll's first great eclectic". Classical composer Michael Nyman has also cited Lewis's style as the progenitor of his own aesthetic. In 1960, Phillips opened a new state-of-the-art studio at 639 Madison Avenue in Memphis, abandoning the old Union Avenue studio where Phillips had recorded B.B. King , Howlin' Wolf , Elvis Presley , Roy Orbison , Carl Perkins , Lewis, Johnny Cash , and others, and also opened
19116-522: The work. Following ELP's 1974 tour, the members agreed to put the band on temporary hiatus and pursue individual solo projects. During this time, Emerson composed his " Piano Concerto No. 1 " and recorded it with the London Philharmonic Orchestra . According to Emerson, he was motivated by critical comments suggesting that he relied upon adapting classical works because he was unable to write his own music, and further motivated by
19278-427: Was 13 years old when they married—though Lewis, who was 22 years old at the time, claimed she was actually 15. The publicity caused an uproar, and the tour was canceled after only three concerts. Lewis's Sun recording contract ended in 1963, and he joined Smash Records , where he made several rock recordings that did not further his career. The team at Smash (a division of Mercury Records ) came up with "I'm on Fire",
19440-470: Was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups. Emerson, Lake & Palmer were commercially successful through much of the 1970s, becoming one of the best-known progressive rock groups of the era. Emerson wrote and arranged much of ELP's music on albums such as Tarkus (1971) and Brain Salad Surgery (1973), combining his own original compositions with classical or traditional pieces adapted into
19602-410: Was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come." Lake said, "As sad and tragic as Keith's death is, I would not want this to be the lasting memory people take away with them. What I will always remember about Keith Emerson was his remarkable talent as a musician and composer and his gift and passion to entertain. Music
19764-546: Was a roadie for The Nice in his earlier days. Emerson toned down his theatrics with the organ when ELP used more stage props for their shows. While touring Brain Salad Surgery from 1973 to 1974, at the end of the show, a sequencer in Emerson's Moog Modular synthesiser was set running at an increasing rate, with the synthesiser pivoting to face the audience while emitting smoke and deploying a large pair of silver bat wings from its back. The same tour featured one of Emerson's memorable live show stunts with ELP, which involved playing
19926-434: Was a specially recorded performance featuring a whole array of artists paying tribute to the music of Lewis. In March 2020, it was announced that Lewis, together with producer T-Bone Burnett and guitarist James Burton , was recording a new album of gospel covers. It was the first time he entered a recording studio following his stroke. As of 2023 , it is unknown how much progress was made with this gospel album, or if it
20088-465: Was a very serious child. I used to walk around with Beethoven sonatas under my arm. However, I was very good at avoiding being beaten up by the bullies. That was because I could also play Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard songs. So, they thought I was kind of cool and left me alone." Emerson became interested in the Hammond organ after hearing jazz organist Jack McDuff perform "Rock Candy", and
20250-750: Was also one of three composers who contributed to the soundtrack for the Japanese kaiju film Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). Following the August 2008 release of the album Keith Emerson Band Featuring Marc Bonilla , Emerson also toured with his own self-named band in Russia , the Baltic States and Japan between August and October 2008. The tour band members were Marc Bonilla , Travis Davis and Tony Pia. Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu worked with Emerson to create an arrangement of ELP's song " Tarkus ", which premiered on 14 March 2010, performed by
20412-507: Was also reported as a form of arthritis. It marked a low period for Emerson, who was going through a divorce and having financial difficulties. He turned to alcohol, before a course of psychotherapy led to his move to Santa Monica. During his time off, he ran marathons, customised a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and wrote film scores and his autobiography, Pictures of an Exhibitionist , which opens and closes with an account of his illness and subsequent arm operation. In 2002, Emerson had regained
20574-594: Was backed by Ritchie Blackmore and the Outlaws . None of Lewis's early Smash albums, including The Return of Rock , Memphis Beat , and Soul My Way , were commercial successes. One major success during these lost years was the concert album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg , recorded with the Nashville Teens in 1964, which is considered one of the greatest live albums ever. In Joe Bonomo 's book Lost and Found , producer Siggi Loch stated that
20736-417: Was billed as "Jerry Lee Lewis And His Pumping Piano") advanced his career as a soloist during 1957, with hits such as " Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On ", a Big Maybelle cover, and " Great Balls of Fire ", his biggest hit, bringing him international fame and criticism of the songs, which prompted some radio stations to boycott them. In 2005, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was selected for permanent preservation in
20898-536: Was born on September 29, 1935, to Elmo Kidd Lewis Sr. and Mary "Mamie" Herron Lewis in Ferriday, Louisiana . He grew up in an impoverished farming family in Eastern Louisiana. In his youth, he began playing the piano with two of his cousins, Mickey Gilley (later a popular country music singer) and Jimmy Swaggart (later a popular televangelist). His parents mortgaged their farm to buy him a piano. Lewis
21060-488: Was broadcast in the following month as part of the "Switched-On Symphony" program. Following standard television procedure of the day, the Nice's contribution (a version of "America") was recorded ahead of time and the band mimed for the cameras. By March, the group had confirmed they would split, and a report on the band's decision was printed in Melody Maker . The group played their last British concert on 22 March at
21222-543: Was ever completed, as nothing from these sessions has been released; Lewis later recorded another gospel album with cousin Jimmy Swaggart that was unrelated to the 2020 project with Burnett and Burton. On October 27, 2020, to celebrate Lewis's 85th birthday, a livestream aired on YouTube, Facebook, and his official website. The livestream special, Whole Lotta Celebratin' Goin' On , featured appearances and performances by Willie Nelson , Elton John , Mike Love , Priscilla Presley , Joe Walsh , and others. John Stamos served as
21384-468: Was final. They had two children: Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. (1954–1973) and Ronnie Guy Lewis (b. 1956). After four years, he filed for divorce in October 1957. Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. died in 1973, at the age of 19, when the Jeep he was driving overturned. His third marriage was to 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown , his first cousin once removed, on December 12, 1957. His divorce from Jane Mitcham was not finalized before
21546-481: Was fraught with logistical problems. The third album, titled Nice in the UK and Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It in the US, featured one side recorded live on their American tour and one side of studio material. As with previous albums, it included arrangements of classical material, in this case Lalo's Symphonie espagnole which was rewritten as "Diary of an Empty Day" plus rearrangements of Bob Dylan 's " She Belongs to Me " and Tim Hardin 's " Hang On to
21708-415: Was his fault, as he had "fallen in love with someone else." Emerson then had a long-term relationship with Mari Kawaguchi. In April 1975, Emerson's Sussex house burned down and he relocated to London. Emerson enjoyed flying as a hobby, and he obtained his pilot's licence in 1972. When Emerson moved to Santa Monica, California in the mid-1990s, John Lydon , who had openly and harshly criticised ELP during
21870-674: Was his life and despite some of the difficulties he encountered I am sure that the music he created will live on forever." Lake died later that same year. A tribute concert featuring Brian Auger , Jordan Rudess , Eddie Jobson , Aaron Emerson, Steve Lukather , Steve Porcaro , Marc Bonilla , and Rachel Flowers took place at the El Rey Theatre . Proceeds from sales of the DVD go to the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. Emerson sometimes reached into
22032-746: Was in Florida, but producer and engineer Jack Clement recorded Lewis's rendition of Ray Price 's " Crazy Arms " and his own composition " End of the Road ". In December 1956, Lewis began recording prolifically as a solo artist and as a session musician for other Sun artists, including Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash . His distinctive piano playing can be heard on many tracks recorded at Sun in late 1956 and early 1957, including Carl Perkins's " Matchbox ", " Your True Love ", and "Put Your Cat Clothes On" and Billy Lee Riley 's "Flyin' Saucers Rock'n'Roll". On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on Phillips to pay
22194-464: Was in a foul mood when he showed up at Trans Maximus Studios in Memphis to record: "During these sessions, he insulted the producer, threatened to kill a photographer, and drank and medicated his way into but not out of a fog." During one exchange that can be heard on the 2013 reissue Southern Roots: The Original Sessions , Meaux asks Lewis, "Do you wanna try one?", meaning a take, to which Lewis replies, "If you got enough fuckin' sense to cut it." Lewis
22356-405: Was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022. In 1989, his life was chronicled in the movie Great Balls of Fire , starring Dennis Quaid . In 2003, Rolling Stone listed his box set All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology at number 242 on their list of " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". In 2004, they ranked him No. 24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Lewis
22518-463: Was influenced by a piano-playing older cousin, Carl McVoy (who later recorded with Bill Black 's Combo), the radio, and the sounds from Haney's Big House, a black juke joint across the tracks. On November 19, 1949, Lewis made his first public performance of his career, playing with a country and western band at a car dealership in Ferriday. The hit of his set was his performance of R&B artist Stick McGhee 's "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee". On
22680-400: Was inspired by Jimi Hendrix , Billy Ritchie of Clouds , and Don Shinn as well as earlier figures such as pianist Jerry Lee Lewis . The group's early sound was geared more towards psychedelic rock with only occasional classical influences. Following O'List's departure, Emerson's control over the band's direction became greater, resulting in more complex music. The absence of a guitar in
22842-611: Was issued as a single and soared to number 2 on the country chart, following Lewis's recent Mercury hit "She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye". Singleton would milk these unreleased recordings for years, following The Golden Cream of the Country with A Taste of Country later in 1970. Lewis played the Grand Ole Opry only once, on January 20, 1973. As Colin Escott writes in the liner notes to A Half Century of Hits , he had maintained an ambivalence to Music City ever since he
23004-539: Was not musical, but his father Noel was an amateur pianist and taught Emerson basic piano. When Emerson was eight, his parents arranged formal tuition, learning to play and read music with "local little old ladies" until he was around thirteen, with whom he studied to ABRSM Grade 7. Emerson's teacher put him in competitions at the Worthing Music Festival and suggested he finish studying music in London, but Emerson had little interest in classical music at
23166-664: Was premiered in Norway in early September 2012, supervised by Norwegian professor and musician Bjørn Ole Rasch for the Norwegian Simax label . The work received its UK live premiere on 10 July 2015 at London's Barbican Centre , with the BBC Concert Orchestra , as part of the celebration of the life and work of Robert Moog. Emerson made his conducting debut with Orchestra Kentucky of Bowling Green, Kentucky in September 2013. In October 2014, Emerson conducted
23328-645: Was present to accept the American Music Masters Award and closed his own tribute show with a rendition of " Over the Rainbow ". On February 10, 2008, he appeared with John Fogerty and Little Richard on the 50th Grammy Awards , performing "Great Balls of Fire" in a medley with " Good Golly Miss Molly ". On June 4, 2008, Lewis was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and appeared on A Capitol Fourth and performed
23490-534: Was proven. His sixth marriage, to Kerrie McCarver, lasted 21 years, from April 1984 to June 2005. They had one child: Jerry Lee Lewis III (b. 1987). In 1993, Lewis moved to Ireland with his family in what was suggested (but denied) to be a move to avoid issues with the Internal Revenue Service . He lived in a rented house on Westminster Road in Foxrock , Dublin , and during his time there
23652-400: Was recorded throughout the autumn of 1967, and in October of that year they recorded their first session for John Peel 's radio show Top Gear . The album included classical and jazz influences including extracts from Leoš Janáček 's Sinfonietta and a rearrangement of Dave Brubeck 's "Blue Rondo a la Turk" renamed as "Rondo", changing the time signature from the original 9/8 to 4/4 in
23814-509: Was released as a single on March 9, 1968, and, to everyone's amazement, shot up the country charts. At the time of the release, Lewis had been playing Iago in a rock and roll adaptation of Othello called Catch My Soul in Los Angeles but was soon rushed back to Nashville to record another batch of songs with producer Jerry Kennedy . What followed was a string of hits that no one could have predicted, although country music always remained
23976-418: Was released in 2012. Emerson reportedly suffered from depression, and since 1993 developed nerve damage that hampered his playing, making him anxious about upcoming performances. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 11 March 2016 at his home in Santa Monica, California. Emerson is widely regarded as one of the greatest keyboard players of the progressive rock era. AllMusic describes Emerson as "perhaps
24138-480: Was released, featuring many of rock and roll's elite as guest stars. Receiving positive reviews, the album charted on four different Billboard charts, including a two-week stay at number one on the Indie charts. A DVD entitled Last Man Standing Live , featuring concert footage with many guest artists, was released in March 2007. In October 2008, as part of a successful European tour, Lewis appeared at two London shows:
24300-422: Was responsible for beginning an unplanned jam at the end of the evening, which was incorporated into all future events. That year, he returned to Sun Studio in Memphis to team up with Orbison, Cash, and Perkins along with longtime admirers like John Fogerty to create the album Class of '55 . In 1989, a major motion picture based on his early life in rock and roll, Great Balls of Fire! , brought him back into
24462-427: Was sparse, quite different from the slick " Nashville sound " that was predominant on country radio at the time, and also expressed a full commitment by Lewis to a country audience. The songs still featured Lewis's inimitable piano flourishes, but critics were most taken aback by the rock and roll pioneer's effortlessly soulful vocals, which possessed an emotional resonance on par with the most respected country singers of
24624-489: Was still pumping out country albums, although the hits were beginning to dry up. His last big hit with Mercury was "Middle Age Crazy", which made it to number 4 in 1977. In 1979, Lewis switched record labels to Elektra and produced the critically acclaimed Jerry Lee Lewis , although sales were disappointing. In 1986, Lewis was one of the inaugural inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Although looking frail after several hospitalizations due to stomach problems, Lewis
24786-625: Was the Five Bridges suite. The group premièred the piece on 10 October 1969 at Newcastle City Hall . A complete version with an orchestra was performed at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon on 17 October, which was recorded for the album of the same name. The title refers to the city's five bridges spanning the River Tyne , and Jackson's lyrics refer to his Newcastle childhood and the St James' Park football ground. By late 1969, Emerson thought
24948-423: Was the first time I had seen a group actually in the act of winning its first following in quite dramatic circumstances". When Arnold returned to the US shortly afterwards, Oldham offered the group a contract of their own. Hague was not interested in the "progressive" direction the group wanted to go in, so he was replaced by former Mark Leeman Five and Habits drummer Brian Davison . Now a band in their own right,
25110-476: Was the first time I heard someone beat the shit out of a piano. When I saw Little Richard at the Harrow Granada, he played it standing up, but Jerry Lee Lewis actually jumped on the piano! This was astonishing to me, that people could do that. Those records had such a huge effect on me, and they were just so great. I learned to play like that." Lewis was primarily known for his " boogie-woogie " style, which
25272-452: Was the last surviving member of Sun Records ' Million Dollar Quartet and the album Class of '55 , which also included Johnny Cash , Carl Perkins , Roy Orbison , and Elvis Presley . Music critic Robert Christgau said of Lewis: "His drive, his timing, his offhand vocal power, his unmistakable boogie -plus piano, and his absolute confidence in the face of the void make Jerry Lee the quintessential rock and roller." Jerry Lee Lewis
25434-412: Was the song "Rondo" by The Nice, which is a 4/4 interpretation of Dave Brubeck 's 9/8 composition " Blue Rondo à la Turk ". During live performances the piece is introduced by an extensive excerpt from the 3rd movement of Bach's Italian Concerto . On ELP's eponymous first album , Emerson's classical quotes went largely uncredited. In the 1973 reissue on the group's personal label, Manticore Records,
25596-670: Was to Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate, from October 1971 to June 8, 1982. Pate drowned in a swimming pool at the home of a friend with whom she was staying, several weeks before divorce proceedings could be finalized. They had one daughter, Lori Lee Lewis (b. 1972). Mary Kathy "K.K." Jones of San Antonio, Texas , testified in court during Lewis's income tax evasion trial in 1984 that she lived with him from 1980 to 1983. Lewis's fifth marriage, to Shawn Stephens, lasted 77 days, from June to August 1983, ending with her death from an overdose of methadone . Journalist Richard Ben Cramer alleged that Lewis abused and may have killed her, neither of which
25758-547: Was to record a retread of his Sun hits, Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis , which was inspired by the continuing enthusiasm European fans had shown for Lewis's firebrand rock and roll. In June 1963, Lewis returned to the UK for the first time since the scandal that nearly ended his career five years earlier, to headline a performance on the MV Royal Daffodil , for a cross-channel rock and roll cruise from Southend, Essex , to Boulogne, France . For this performance, he
25920-641: Was turned away as an aspiring musician before his glory days at Sun Records : "It was 18 years since he had left Nashville broke and disheartened...Lewis was never truly accepted in Nashville. He didn't move there and didn't schmooze there. He didn't fit in with the family values crowd. Lewis family values weren't necessarily worse, but they were different." As recounted in a 2015 online Rolling Stone article by Beville Dunkerly, Lewis opened with his comeback single " Another Place, Another Time ". Ignoring his allotted time constraints—and, thus, commercial breaks—Lewis played for 40 minutes (the average Opry performance
26082-653: Was turned down by the Grand Ole Opry , as he was already at the Louisiana Hayride country stage and radio show in Shreveport . Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa 's J&M Recording Studio in New Orleans , Louisiana. He covered Lefty Frizzell 's "Don't Stay Away (Till Love Grows Cold)" and his own instrumental composition "Jerry's Boogie" ( a.k.a. New Orleans Boogie). In November 1956, Lewis traveled to Memphis, Tennessee , to audition for Sun Records . Label owner Sam Phillips
26244-578: Was worried that he would perform poorly at upcoming concerts in Japan and disappoint his fans. Emerson was buried on 1 April 2016 at Lancing and Sompting Cemetery, Lancing, West Sussex . Although his death had been reported by news sources and an official Emerson, Lake and Palmer social media page as having occurred on the night of 10 March, his grave memorial gives his date of death as 11 March 2016. His former ELP bandmates, Carl Palmer and Greg Lake , both issued statements on his death. Palmer said, "Keith
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