Summary
The band Nice introduced the idea of
keyboard-driven arrangements of classical and jazz music.
Rather than writing new songs, and sticking to the pop format,
the Nice relied on
standards of the classical and jazz repertory, but deformed them through
psychedelic-style jamming.
They placed emphasis on virtuoso performances (particularly by
keyboardist Keith Emerson) and on lengthy solos.
It was the same idea of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and of the Cream,
except that the lead-instrument was the organ.
Full bio.
The Nice launched the short-lived “classic rock” trend in Britain (classical music performed with rock instruments and rhythms, as well as rock-style performances), and their keyboardist, Keith Emerson, would make a career out of it.
At first, Emerson simply tried to become the Hendrix of keyboards, but later he specialized in concept albums.
Keith Emerson was coming from the rhythm and blues circuit, and the Nice began as the backing band for a pop singer. Emerson was undoubtedly a keyboards virtuoso (although in this case “virtuoso” does not necessarily mean “genius”), but the other members of the Nice were clearly below average. The mediocrity of the leader's compositions and the band members' so-so performances meant that the Nice devoted themselves almost exclusively to covers, even if these were drastically different from the originals.
The Nice made their debut at the end of 1967 and would always be famous for their jazz and classical pieces
(Dave Brubeck's Rondo,
America from Bernstein's West Side Story,
the Intermezzo from Sibelius' Karelia Suite,
Bach's Branderburg Concerto No 3
Cajkovsky's Pathetique),
which were augmented live by torrential improvisations, more in line with jazz than classical music, and were designed to enhance the most stirring passages, in line with the emphasis of rock music. The function of these performances was essentially to highlight the theatrical personality of the leader.
In reality, on the album
The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (Immediate, 1968)
the most experimental tracks are actually
Bonnie K and War & Peace,
and there are even hints of the psychedelic pop of the “Summer of Love” in
Flower King Of Flies and The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack.
Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Immediate, 1969)
drowns in pretentious classical adaptations, but at least
Daddy Where Did I Come From and Happy Freuds
are actually accomplished footnotes of psychedelia (although nothing that dozens of American garage bands hadn't already done two years earlier).
Nice (Immediate, 1969), recorded
1969), half studio and half live, contains a jazzy version of Tim Hardin's
Hang On To A Dream, an endless and even more “free-form” version of Bob Dylan's She Belongs To Me, and the elegant Azrael Revisited. The Nice's flaws are evident in the pompous suite For Example.
The Five Bridges Suite (Charisma, 1970),
performed with an orchestra, is simply embarrassing, but the live
Elegy (Mercury, 1971) is perhaps the album on which the Nice found the fusion of classical, rock, and jazz that they had been seeking for years.
What really made Emerson famous were his live performances, tumultuous sadomasochistic celebrations of his love-hate relationship with his instrument. The brief saga of The Nice, on the other hand, had very little to do with music.
In 1969, Emerson joined forces with
King Crimson's
bassist Greg Lake and with drummer Carl Palmer (who had played with Arthur Brown and in Atomic Rooster) to form Emerson Lake & Palmer (EL&P), therefore remaining faithful to his great invention: the organ-bass-drums power trio.
The group made its debut at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival with a version of Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition.
Emerson definitively established himself as a showman (although he perhaps demonstrated his limitations as an organist) and finally became an international star.
With EL&P, progressive rock became a commercial genre rather than an intellectual one.
Emerson Lake & Palmer (Atlantic, 1970) was launched with great fanfare in the era of “supergroups” (Crosby Stills & Nash's album had just been released).
Lake's influence (less interested in reinterpreting the classics) is positive, but Emerson retains the flaw of ruining the most ambitious pieces
(Tank, The Barbarian, Knife Edge)
with his exhibitionism. It is significant that the band is more successful in the relaxed and crystalline ballad Lucky Man (by Lake) than in the classical-style piece Three Fates.
Tarkus (Atlantic, 1971)
was perhaps intended to be a futuristic album, but it was actually quite backward-looking (something quite more futuristic was happening in Germany in that year as far as keyboards-driven music was concerned).
The eponymous suite draws on a mythological theme from comics and mimics the triumphant symphonism of the 19th century. However, despite its limits, this remains the band's most representative and least derivative composition. Frank Zappa's symphonism is here adapted to apocalyptic scenarios and to the anxiety of the technological age. In the end, however, a rock and roll joke, performed with the flair of a pyrotechnic entertainer, such as Are You Ready Eddy, feels like a breath of fresh air. For what it's worth, Battlefield perhaps features Greg Lake's best guitar work.
Pictures At An Exhibition (Atlantic, 1972)
finally gave the public the composition with which they had debuted. The mediocrity of the three musicians was barely masked by the grandeur of the undertaking. The best track is the least serious one, the quadrille of The End Nutrocker.
With
Trilogy (Atlantic, 1972)
they briefly returned to the relative humility of the first album, well represented by Lake's new acoustic ballad, From The Beginning, and by The Endless Enigma.
The ups and downs continue with Brain Salad Surgery (Manticore, 1973), which perhaps represents their “technological” peak (Emerson on the Apollo synthesizer and Palmer on the “electronic drums”) and which revolves around the excessive suite Karn Evil 9. Dated in its conception and cold in its execution, it made one regret The Nice. Technically poor (despite their insistent “virtuosity”) and incapable of composing music, EL&P didn't stand much of a chance.
The triple live album archived the band among the paradoxes of their era,
with Emerson making ends meet by recording funny covers
(like the famous Honky Tonk Train Blues by Meade Lewis).
Instead, the three got back together and started churning out pretentious double albums again:
Works Vol I (Atlantic, 1977) includes a ridiculous
Concerto No 1 composed by Emerson ( and perhaps a better Pirates)
and Vol II sounds almost
comic, with another celebrated cover,
Fanfare For The Common Man (by Aaron Copland).
Love Beach (1978)
seemed to definitively close the chapter on easy listening for the living room (but Emerson couldn't resist including a four-movement suite, Memoirs of An Officer and Gentleman). Emerson devoted himself to soundtracks (a genre in which he was no more brilliant than with EL&P records), while Palmer joined
Asia, the only one of the trio to remain in the limelight.
Emerson and Lake formed a new trio with Cozy Powell on drums and released
Emerson Lake And Powell (Polydor, 1986).
A new bassist accompanied
Emerson and Palmer on
To The Power Of Three (Geffen, 1988).
Emerson and Lake finally reunited with Palmer for
Black Moon (Victory, 1992).
In The Hot Seat (1994) was their last insult.
The Atlantic Years (Atlantic, 1992) is an anthology.
The band Refugee was instead a nostalgic reenactment of Nice with the original rhythm section
(Lee Jackson and Brian Davison) and Patrick Moraz replacing Keith Emerson.
Refugee (1974).
Emerson committed suicide in 2016 at the age of 71 and Greg Lake died a few
months later.
