I watched this the night it aired. Keith was truly amazing. Best ever classical keyboardist and a top rate showmanship. The most dangerous band was very tight here.
I remember this, too, and I had the impression at the time, with all the charts everyone was looking at, that they were sweating bullets with the dense arrangement all the changes. Looked like they were having more fun than I remembered. '80's Dave was so awesome!!!
Indeed the band was great, and particularly Sid on guitar. In all honesty, although I was a huge fan of Keith Emerson and went to many E,L,& P concerts in the 70's, and also a huge fan of the music of "West Side Story", I thought this take on "America" was less than very interesting and Keith was not 100% on his game. Regardless, the keyboard arrangement required some deoration from another melodious instrument, and Sid provided that.
First saw him perform in ‘71. Two more times afterwards. Always fantastic. Once he was strapped to a wizbang that spun him upside down as I recall. Big fun!
The only hard part of this is where the breaks come and their sheet music tells them that. Otherwise it is very simple stuff in 4. Trivial for professionals.
I seem to remember a Letterman Mailbag from around this era (‘86-87ish) where the writer asked Paul why he used “(that old) organ” if he had “$20,000 of digital synthesizers” on stage - does anyone remember that?
Well done Don, I just stumbled on this 2 yrs late but as someone who was privileged to be Emerson, Lake & Powell's Tour manager and who was at this event I'm delighted to finally have a copy for my memory lane. I worked with a number of A-list artists over a 30 yr period in the 70s 80s & 90's but this tour in 86 was my favourite. We had such a blast and now sadly the 3 of them are no longer with us. Cozy in a car accident in 98 and Keith depressed cos his hands weren't working well enough to perform to his high standard whilst the larger than life Greg fell foul of the big C. That album has just been re released with extra material including a full live performance. Wonderful stuff and as someone else commented Cozy rocked big time, as always. I'm now in my mid 70s but those were truly happy days.
I had the privilege to see Emerson, Lake, and Powell at the Lloyd Noble Arena, on the OU campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Cozy had a big drum solo during the show. He had two large flamethrowers pointed at the ceiling, which were fired off at the end of his solo. I could feel the heat from halfway across the arena. The flames shot up near the ceiling, and started melting and / or blowing loose several of the large acoustical tiles in the arena, and they started falling down onto the crowd on the floor. No one seemed hurt. True to form, when Emerson and Lake returned to the stage, Keith spoke into the mic and said “We’ll done, Cozy, you literally brought the house down!”
@@jamespowell7399 Haha I remember that and yes thankfully nobody suffered other than the wounded ego of the pyro tech! That show was just the 2nd of the tour on the 17th Aug 86 with the first having been in El Paso on the 15th following 10 days of prod rehearsals in Las Cruces. We did have some teething issues with the set production which we modified after the first few shows. Cozy always loved the pyro for his solo and a few years previously when he was drumming for Whitesnake while I was production mgr he had a similar incident in Newcastle UK when there was a control failure of the pyro firing system which ended up with more roof tiles getting trashed!! Again thankfully nobody was hurt.
Wow - so glad you were helping bringing this terrific music to the world. Thank you. Keith's trademark keys were so unique to him, and I could listen to Greg's voice all day long. People can't be this talented and not be a little odd - I've always wondered - who was the most eccentric of the three?
Listened to Tarkus in college, a novice to album music, and the first side blew me away. It actually forever changed the way I appreciated music. Then circa 1973 or '74, went to see them in Champaign, Illinois, on the Brain Salad Surgery tour. The band was amazing, and Keith Emerson was other-worldly. A true savant. Just kept elevating his game, to throwing a little Beatles into "Hoedown" to playing the Hammond upside down/backwards. I feel fortunate to have seen them in concert. Just a class of their own back then.
Feeling fortunate and grateful I got to see the full ELP lineup on their final tour. A friend invited me at the last minute. We rolled the dice on tickets and went to the venue's box office. The clerk said something like, "Oh... you're in luck! These people just canceled their tix as they can't attend this evening." It was 5th row center. Now a cherished rock & roll moment. Of course... they were amazing. 🎹 🥁 🎸 🎤
This just makes me sad that he was so depressed he killed himself. I like how Keith is conducting the band and the band all have music they're following, even the drummer.
@@mfranzusan3014About 1993 - 94 he was surgered badly, he had to get on another surgery to try fix the one that went bad Around the same time his wife asked divorce and a lot of money, and that depressed him a lot. He began to lose strenght on his right hand, but despite that he played with great energy and virtuosism even with three fingers at least until 2009. After he read haters comments that made him depressed again. His new young girlfriend Mari Kawaguchi was a great support on him but she couldnt save him. She remembers him with both pain (for her loss) and love, just as their fans do
I'm a pianist and keyboardist and last year I had emergency heart surgery. It was so severe that I couldn't play with my left hand for a couple of months and it was scary and depressing... now I'm fully recovered, after many many hours of therapy, but the mere possibility of being unable to play was destroying me emotionally... being Keith my main inspiration, I'm so sorry he couldn't get over his limitations neither physically or emotionally :-(
I've watched Keith's performance of "America" on a German TV broadcast (found here on youtube), but never knew he performed it or anything on Letterman. My heart is soaring for this entire performance. So great. And co-keyboarding with Keith Emerson? This has to be a top memory of Paul Shaffer's entire musical career.
Keith was such an amazing talent. He was my biggest early musical influence (I'm 62 now, and have been playing keyboards since I was 12, mostly because I wanted to sound like Keith, back in 1971). Thanks for this awesome upload, Don!
Try so hard... not technically .. that was no harder than playing with James Brown, or anyone else. Not how it works. They were just having fun. No keeping up involved. For the first time it was Kieth who had to keep up with a drummer who doesn't suck at keeping time, like Carl.
Love how the piece is led in and out with Swan Lake.. ELP was always throwing in obscure snippets of this and that in their live shows just to keep spry listeners on their toes, such a fun thing to take in. Paul and the band are such professionals, they just effortlessly rip through this cut with Keith, so awesome to see. Great upload Don!!
I loved the score that Keith did for film director Dario Argento ('Inferno' 1980). It's possibly my favorite score of all of Argento's films. It's bonkers (in the best possible way).
@@robertglisson6319 Crap you're right!🤦♂️ How embarrassing.. thank you for pointing that out without being rude about it, as so many people are these days. I'd buy you a drink if I could, cheers friend!
I have seen the late show band play with many great artists, but I have never seen them play with the charts at all, much less charts as lengthy as what Keith brought. Excellent work on everyone’s part. I miss you Keith.
First.....! A great keyboard driven song 🎵 👌 I liked how Keith E. kept looking toward Paul S. at certain parts. Paul was spot on! The beginning and its first few bars werre the best, I feel. I was a *"lucky man"* to catch them (ELP) in concert in the '70s.
Nothing surprising here actually. Paul S had a gig as bandleader and keyboard player on a major show, all all he had to do on this piece was to play some simple chord accompaniment to Keith's solo. Sure he was "spot on".....ANY proficient keyboardist would have been. And nothing Keith played here was particularly difficult or spectacular. TONS of keyboardists could do what he did here. But fans will insist that these two guys were something special, or spectacularly talented or skilled. Mostly, they were just famous.
@@youtuuba You are utterly ignorant. Emerson was a pioneer. But you’d know that if you knew the first thing about him and his contributions historically.
For what it's worth, Emerson also arranged his own music. Concert pianists may be just as technically proficient, but they are playing notes written by someone else. If everything Emerson did was that easy, you'd think a lot more people would do it. I mean, you get to be famous and make a lot of money and all.
I saw them on the same tour in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena - hardly a perfect sonic venue. Nonetheless, all these years (and many concerts later) it was one of the most amazing sonic experiences I've ever had. One of, if not the best sound I've ever heard at a live concert. To this day I remember walking out feeling like the sound had picked me up and held me to a wall for the entire concert with its intensity and clarity. Not the most exciting stage or light show, but who cared - it was all about the music, and the music was incredible!
his show, along with Jeff Beck & Stevie Ray Vaughn are the only two shows I ever failed to get into see. I was so bummed out & pissed...no tickets or scalpers anywhere those nights. I still regret it not seeing them
@morbidmanmusic You shouldn't believe that good musicians are as arrogant as you are. If they were playing without feeling they weren't that good. Who are you anyway to think you have the right to mansplain the world to me?
Saw ELP at Lincoln ABC, several decades ago. Keith Emerson and Greg Lake jumped off the stage to go to the toilet at the back of the hall whilst Carl Palmer did his drum solo. On the way back, they sat in the empty seats next to us and booed Carl Palmer….
I remember waiting up for this performance so I could catch it on the VCR. ELP almost never appeared on American television so this was a rare opportunity to see Emerson in action in those days.
I gotta give that a thumbs up. That was a challenging piece for the house band to do. At the first time through the "America" part it was just coming together, and then as the piece progressed they just got tighter and tighter. Loved the keyboard solo too. Great performance. RIP Keith Emerson, a very talented musician.
Paul Schaffer's eyes are so happy and large playing next to Keith Emerson. Anyone would too playing next to a virtuoso wizard. Outstanding jewel from television courtesy of Letterman!!
@@tommyd1871 eh? the moog was being used in the early 1960s - he was a great keyboardist but to call him the greatest that ever lived is ridiculous and offensive to him and every great musician.
Check out Emerson Lake and Palmer's discography, the first song on their self titled debut will set your speakers on fire. My uncle bought me that CD for my 13th birthday back in the 90's and I was hooked, had never heard of them before then
K. Q., I'm going to second S Mc's suggestion. Now go back and listen to the entire ELP discography. Also, if you enjoyed this, you'll want to search TH-cam here for their performance at the California Jam in 1974. Trust me, you have many fine hours of jaw dropping amazement ahead of you.
man that was great!! even more astonishing was the show that was mentioned at msg, I went to thar show, and thought it was really really good. Bravo Kieth !!
I watched that live the nite it was on with my Dad ! The catch is my Dad was in the music 🎶 business in the 50s , 60 and early 70s . He finished as GM of Canadian American records . But it was me who wanted to watch my favorite musician with my Dad who knew his music 🎶 ! When they were done my father was amazed! I always liked watching bands on T V with Dad . And he would give me his professional opinion and explain things to me technically! He knew Keith was the best ever . And I watched Greg one time with him . I told him he was the best singer before we watched . After he said he still thinks Elvis was the best . But Greg might be second ! And that was good enough for me ! Carl was the first guy we watched together actually. It was on Johnny Carson when Carl and his giant drum set had a drum off with The master Buddy Rich on his 3 piece drum set 1 symbol and a high hat ! My father said after wow ! 😮
@Miracle Tire I just listened a few ELPowell shows a month or two ago and they did a similar thing but without the silence and with the polysynth instead of an organ. There is also a studio version recorded somewhere in the 80s included into a compilation, with another band, where the riff is the same but over recorded with the poly synth while organ soloing with a guitar solo too
Fun to come across this. I saw ELP at Hull City Hall doing their fourth ever gig and Emerson played the big Hall organ to do Pictures at an Exhibition! Brilliant.
The keyboards: Top is a Kurzweil K250 Sampler/Synth. Revolutionary at this time. The organ below is a Hammond B3 Organ. They looked like old furniture and most were installed in churches. Paul (Letterman Band Director uses both of those as well.)
I learnt to play this in the 70s. I had no video like this to go on. I set both mauals to the same tone and alterated left hand and right hand. After a while it felt natural. Never at quite this speed but certainly with the single.I imagined that this is how Emerson did it. But no, here we are with him really playing it that fast with one hand. No wonder he needed surgery! I recomo=mond my method.
WOW! This was great! Another one to add to the pile of great musical performances w/ Shaffer and company. And LOL to that very very very awkward sponsor plug at the end.
Wish I could have seen them live, but they spent most of their USA touring in the big cities, and being in the USAF, none nearby bases, WHEN I wasn't overseas. Got a great chance to see Asia in the early 2000, with the original lineup, so got one third with Carl on drums. Absolute shame Keith ended it that way, and Greg is gone as well. RIP guys, and hope If there is a heaven, they have to be headlining!
Ha. That's a Kurzweil K250 Keith's playing. I've actually got one of those in my home studio. Paul has another one in his own setup that was his go-to in the 80's. Amazing device and one of the most ahead of its time boards/samplers/Apple-linkable analog/digital instruments ever. But you had better have a sturdy dolly with a strong dude to get it onstage, lol.
Love this band. I featured them in my Planetarium Laser Show back in the 80’s. In De Anza Planetarium in now Silicon Valley. Cosmic Concert. ( yeah, we paid em’ royalties). Great music. Of course along with Genisis, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Great stuff.
And that folks is whats missing in today's music. ORIGINALITY & CREATIVITY..... Man the creative brain of EMERSON is mind boggling, well next to Frank Zappa of course 😎✌
Brilliant performance from all - how much rehearsal time did they have on this difficult piece? God bless the original Hammond Organs - modern technology can recreate the sound but never the essence of these electromagnetic angels. Keith Emerson - you were taken too soon, but thank you so much for what you left behind for us.
Normally an hour’s rehearsal. Band members were usually given cassettes of a song the night before it was scheduled to be played on the show. So they’d have time to learn it on their own before coming in for rehearsal the following day.
If I remember correctly, Keith had played it with the band the night before but it kind of fell apart, due to lack of rehearsal time with the band. Keith asked to return the next night and this was the performance.
Perhaps you’re thinking of another show, as what you describe here didn’t happen on Dave’s. The night before, Billy Joel sat in with the band and, in his own segment, performed “A Matter of Trust.” The next night -this one - was Keith’s only appearance.
Interesting to see legendary rock drummer Anton Fig, Ace Frehley 79-80 Kiss etc reading a chart here. Keith Emerson used to play this in The Nice which is why he plays it so effortlessly.
@Don And straight into rock star status in September 1978, not a bad progression. More importantly I wonder who wrote that chart as the chart was nothing like the Brian Davison version so I wonder if Anton cribbed it himself from rehearsals.
Don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Anton did it himself. Each band member was given music cassettes at least the night before, if not earlier, of the song they were to cover, so it’s probable Anton had written it out before the day’s rehearsal with the performer.
I watched this the night it aired. Keith was truly amazing. Best ever classical keyboardist and a top rate showmanship. The most dangerous band was very tight here.
I remember this, too, and I had the impression at the time, with all the charts everyone was looking at, that they were sweating bullets with the dense arrangement all the changes. Looked like they were having more fun than I remembered. '80's Dave was so awesome!!!
Indeed the band was great, and particularly Sid on guitar. In all honesty, although I was a huge fan of Keith Emerson and went to many E,L,& P concerts in the 70's, and also a huge fan of the music of "West Side Story", I thought this take on "America" was less than very interesting and Keith was not 100% on his game. Regardless, the keyboard arrangement required some deoration from another melodious instrument, and Sid provided that.
@@kikovazquez7277 I've always loved Yes's America. They took it far off into their own special space, especially Steve Howe's country-esque guitar.
Wow. Emerson was so amazing. That aggressive style was impressive. Early synth pioneer and other-worldly musician. RIP.
Saw ELP in 91. Great show!
Most this was played on a old school Hammond B3
Really?
Aggressive is the right word. If you ever saw him attack his little Hammond with knives and play it on top of him from the back.
First saw him perform in ‘71. Two more times afterwards. Always fantastic. Once he was strapped to a wizbang that spun him upside down as I recall. Big fun!
Great how the band played it so tightly after learning it presumably very recently.
Those guys are pros!
Yes indeed. This was a brilliant performance of a complex arrangement.
They’re all reading music so that helps.
The only hard part of this is where the breaks come and their sheet music tells them that. Otherwise it is very simple stuff in 4. Trivial for professionals.
Paul only hired the best. There’s a reason Letterman had fabulous musical guests. He had Schaffer recruiting them! RIP Keith!
I could listen to him play 24 / 7
I do !
The organ was so rare in rock by the 1980s; thanks to Keith (and Paul!) for keeping the Hammond sound alive in a synthy era!
Nuthin' like a B3!!
I seem to remember a Letterman Mailbag from around this era (‘86-87ish) where the writer asked Paul why he used “(that old) organ” if he had “$20,000 of digital synthesizers” on stage - does anyone remember that?
Has any drummer in history played with more great musicians than Anton Fig?
Great video; Keith brought out the best in all those musicians.
Anton is terrific! Let’s add Steve Jordan, his predecessor in The World’s Most Dangerous Band to your list though.
They’ve both had the luxury of playing with the world’s top notch musicians - definitely including Paul Shaffer.
Now, bangin on the drums just like Charlie Watts
Jim Keltner?
Hal Blaine...
Well done Don, I just stumbled on this 2 yrs late but as someone who was privileged to be Emerson, Lake & Powell's Tour manager and who was at this event I'm delighted to finally have a copy for my memory lane. I worked with a number of A-list artists over a 30 yr period in the 70s 80s & 90's but this tour in 86 was my favourite. We had such a blast and now sadly the 3 of them are no longer with us. Cozy in a car accident in 98 and Keith depressed cos his hands weren't working well enough to perform to his high standard whilst the larger than life Greg fell foul of the big C. That album has just been re released with extra material including a full live performance. Wonderful stuff and as someone else commented Cozy rocked big time, as always. I'm now in my mid 70s but those were truly happy days.
Man I miss Emerson's thunderous sound! What a great player.
I had the privilege to see Emerson, Lake, and Powell at the Lloyd Noble Arena, on the OU campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Cozy had a big drum solo during the show. He had two large flamethrowers pointed at the ceiling, which were fired off at the end of his solo. I could feel the heat from halfway across the arena. The flames shot up near the ceiling, and started melting and / or blowing loose several of the large acoustical tiles in the arena, and they started falling down onto the crowd on the floor. No one seemed hurt. True to form, when Emerson and Lake returned to the stage, Keith spoke into the mic and said “We’ll done, Cozy, you literally brought the house down!”
@@jamespowell7399 Haha I remember that and yes thankfully nobody suffered other than the wounded ego of the pyro tech!
That show was just the 2nd of the tour on the 17th Aug 86 with the first having been in El Paso on the 15th following 10 days of prod rehearsals in Las Cruces. We did have some teething issues with the set production which we modified after the first few shows. Cozy always loved the pyro for his solo and a few years previously when he was drumming for Whitesnake while I was production mgr he had a similar incident in Newcastle UK when there was a control failure of the pyro firing system which ended up with more roof tiles getting trashed!! Again thankfully nobody was hurt.
Wow - so glad you were helping bringing this terrific music to the world. Thank you. Keith's trademark keys were so unique to him, and I could listen to Greg's voice all day long. People can't be this talented and not be a little odd - I've always wondered - who was the most eccentric of the three?
Where did EL&Powell play in Orlando in 1988?
Listened to Tarkus in college, a novice to album music, and the first side blew me away. It actually forever changed the way I appreciated music.
Then circa 1973 or '74, went to see them in Champaign, Illinois, on the Brain Salad Surgery tour. The band was amazing, and Keith Emerson was other-worldly. A true savant. Just kept elevating his game, to throwing a little Beatles into "Hoedown" to playing the Hammond upside down/backwards.
I feel fortunate to have seen them in concert. Just a class of their own back then.
Tarkus is my favorite ELP album of all time.
I seen them on the same tour in Michigan Pine Knob.
Can’t forget The Nic3 either
Feeling fortunate and grateful I got to see the full ELP lineup on their final tour. A friend invited me at the last minute. We rolled the dice on tickets and went to the venue's box office. The clerk said something like, "Oh... you're in luck! These people just canceled their tix as they can't attend this evening."
It was 5th row center. Now a cherished rock & roll moment. Of course... they were amazing.
🎹 🥁 🎸 🎤
A dream!
That was very Nice.
I see what you did there…
😂
"I git it!"
@@JamesFolkers Sigh, you beat me to it. But I still have the Nice vinyl. :) Great music back in the day..
Bravo!
This just makes me sad that he was so depressed he killed himself. I like how Keith is conducting the band and the band all have music they're following, even the drummer.
he lost his ability to play like that. imagine the sadness
@@damnyankeeflhe developed arthritis in his hands. It became too painful to play and it literally defeated him.
@@mfranzusan3014About 1993 - 94 he was surgered badly, he had to get on another surgery to try fix the one that went bad
Around the same time his wife asked divorce and a lot of money, and that depressed him a lot.
He began to lose strenght on his right hand, but despite that he played with great energy and virtuosism even with three fingers at least until 2009.
After he read haters comments that made him depressed again. His new young girlfriend Mari Kawaguchi was a great support on him but she couldnt save him. She remembers him with both pain (for her loss) and love, just as their fans do
I'm a pianist and keyboardist and last year I had emergency heart surgery. It was so severe that I couldn't play with my left hand for a couple of months and it was scary and depressing... now I'm fully recovered, after many many hours of therapy, but the mere possibility of being unable to play was destroying me emotionally... being Keith my main inspiration, I'm so sorry he couldn't get over his limitations neither physically or emotionally :-(
Paul and the band go prog... nice 😎
I've watched Keith's performance of "America" on a German TV broadcast (found here on youtube), but never knew he performed it or anything on Letterman. My heart is soaring for this entire performance. So great. And co-keyboarding with Keith Emerson? This has to be a top memory of Paul Shaffer's entire musical career.
Keith was such an amazing talent. He was my biggest early musical influence (I'm 62 now, and have been playing keyboards since I was 12, mostly because I wanted to sound like Keith, back in 1971). Thanks for this awesome upload, Don!
I love it how Paul Shaffer and his band try so hard to keep up with Emerson! Thank you, Mr. Letterman, you had the best late-night show ever.
Try so hard... not technically .. that was no harder than playing with James Brown, or anyone else. Not how it works.
They were just having fun. No keeping up involved. For the first time it was Kieth who had to keep up with a drummer who doesn't suck at keeping time, like Carl.
They are reading charts.
Such incredible, alive music! Keith was the GOAT!
Only Keith could pull off being the lead in a rock and roll band ! Unbelievable!
Love how the piece is led in and out with Swan Lake.. ELP was always throwing in obscure snippets of this and that in their live shows just to keep spry listeners on their toes, such a fun thing to take in. Paul and the band are such professionals, they just effortlessly rip through this cut with Keith, so awesome to see. Great upload Don!!
I loved the score that Keith did for film director Dario Argento ('Inferno' 1980). It's possibly my favorite score of all of Argento's films. It's bonkers (in the best possible way).
Swan Lake? Dvorak wrote Swan Lake? I think it was 9th Synphony (The New World)...
@@robertglisson6319 Crap you're right!🤦♂️ How embarrassing.. thank you for pointing that out without being rude about it, as so many people are these days. I'd buy you a drink if I could, cheers friend!
@@ontologicallysteve7765 He also penned the music for 1981's "Nighthawk" great soundtrack.
@@jackinthewoodsii8653 And "Godzilla: Final Wars". Not sure if it sold well but who care because ..... Godzilla and Keith. 😁😁
I have seen the late show band play with many great artists, but I have never seen them play with the charts at all, much less charts as lengthy as what Keith brought. Excellent work on everyone’s part. I miss you Keith.
First.....!
A great keyboard driven song 🎵 👌
I liked how Keith E. kept looking toward Paul S. at certain parts. Paul was spot on!
The beginning and its first few bars werre the best, I feel.
I was a *"lucky man"* to catch them (ELP) in concert in the '70s.
Nothing surprising here actually. Paul S had a gig as bandleader and keyboard player on a major show, all all he had to do on this piece was to play some simple chord accompaniment to Keith's solo. Sure he was "spot on".....ANY proficient keyboardist would have been. And nothing Keith played here was particularly difficult or spectacular. TONS of keyboardists could do what he did here. But fans will insist that these two guys were something special, or spectacularly talented or skilled. Mostly, they were just famous.
@@youtuuba You are utterly ignorant. Emerson was a pioneer. But you’d know that if you knew the first thing about him and his contributions historically.
Me too!!
For what it's worth, Emerson also arranged his own music. Concert pianists may be just as technically proficient, but they are playing notes written by someone else.
If everything Emerson did was that easy, you'd think a lot more people would do it. I mean, you get to be famous and make a lot of money and all.
Saw Emerson Lake and Powell at MSG.(1986)
The sound was incredible.
I saw them on the same tour in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena - hardly a perfect sonic venue. Nonetheless, all these years (and many concerts later) it was one of the most amazing sonic experiences I've ever had. One of, if not the best sound I've ever heard at a live concert. To this day I remember walking out feeling like the sound had picked me up and held me to a wall for the entire concert with its intensity and clarity. Not the most exciting stage or light show, but who cared - it was all about the music, and the music was incredible!
Saw them in Hampton VA in September 1986!!!
Although I was dubious at first that there was not Palmer, they far exceeded my expectations. Emerson and Lake and Powell at their zenith.
his show, along with Jeff Beck & Stevie Ray Vaughn are the only two shows I ever failed to get into see. I was so bummed out & pissed...no tickets or scalpers anywhere those nights. I still regret it not seeing them
I saw the “Quad Tour” MSG ‘72
I worked at Moog in the early 80’s and Keith’s synth was in our demo room for a couple years. Very cool.
lies
They'll never be no better, Keith will always be the best ever in the universe
what a fantastic group of musicians that house band was
Yes! They could play anything with anybody and sound as good as the original, if not better!
Yep.
The drummer was Cozy Powell he was with Keith !
That drummer was Cozy Powell! He was with Keith .
Greatest keyboard player of all time!!!!!!!!!!
I'll be generous.. he's not on the list. Fans don't play.
@@morbidmanmusic What "list"?
hands down
Sorry, that honor belongs to Wakeman.
@@jefffoster3557 Wakeman is not NEARLY as talented as Emerson was.
It ist so great to see, how the house band is enjoying this, and how they are fascinated by Keith's play 🎶 What a high speed, just wonderful
They aren't fascinated. They've played with much bigger and better talents. It's the job. Stop romanticizing it .. not how it works.
@morbidmanmusic You shouldn't believe that good musicians are as arrogant as you are. If they were playing without feeling they weren't that good. Who are you anyway to think you have the right to mansplain the world to me?
@@morbidmanmusic It's amazing how you can even think to be the owner of the only truth ... And what gives you the right to mansplain the world to me?
@@morbidmanmusic "Much bigger and better talents" ??? Emerson was the "G.O.A.T" !!!!!!
Saw ELP at Lincoln ABC, several decades ago. Keith Emerson and Greg Lake jumped off the stage to go to the toilet at the back of the hall whilst Carl Palmer did his drum solo. On the way back, they sat in the empty seats next to us and booed Carl Palmer….
He used to perform this in the late 1960s with his band “The Nice.”
I loved the Nice ! But I actually got into ELP first . Because of my age . Than checked out the Nice .
I remember waiting up for this performance so I could catch it on the VCR. ELP almost never appeared on American television so this was a rare opportunity to see Emerson in action in those days.
This has to rate as one of the band's favourite guests. What an awesome opportunity to have as a working musician.
Saw them in NJ at an outdoor show for this album. Wonderful.
Holy cow dude is off the chain on those keys!!! 🎼🎹
I gotta give that a thumbs up. That was a challenging piece for the house band to do. At the first time through the "America" part it was just coming together, and then as the piece progressed they just got tighter and tighter. Loved the keyboard solo too. Great performance. RIP Keith Emerson, a very talented musician.
Paul Schaffer's eyes are so happy and large playing next to Keith Emerson. Anyone would too playing next to a virtuoso wizard. Outstanding jewel from television courtesy of Letterman!!
Shaffer; Paul Shaffer.
You could tell he was thrilled.
I'm only 21 and never heard of this guy but that performance was amazing. That's for the upload, Donz.
All hyperbole aside, I think it’s great that you’ve discovered this great talent.
@@tommyd1871 eh? the moog was being used in the early 1960s - he was a great keyboardist but to call him the greatest that ever lived is ridiculous and offensive to him and every great musician.
@@NagasakiBladers You literally have no idea what you’re talking about
Check out Emerson Lake and Palmer's discography, the first song on their self titled debut will set your speakers on fire. My uncle bought me that CD for my 13th birthday back in the 90's and I was hooked, had never heard of them before then
K. Q., I'm going to second S Mc's suggestion. Now go back and listen to the entire ELP discography. Also, if you enjoyed this, you'll want to search TH-cam here for their performance at the California Jam in 1974. Trust me, you have many fine hours of jaw dropping amazement ahead of you.
I've seen the Real ELP several times. One of my all time favourite Bands. RIP Keith & Greg. Thanks for posting this.
Best keyboardist I ever saw live.
man that was great!! even more astonishing was the show that was mentioned at msg, I went to thar show, and thought it was really really good. Bravo Kieth !!
I was there to!
I watched that live the nite it was on with my Dad ! The catch is my Dad was in the music 🎶 business in the 50s , 60 and early 70s . He finished as GM of Canadian American records . But it was me who wanted to watch my favorite musician with my Dad who knew his music 🎶 ! When they were done my father was amazed! I always liked watching bands on T V with Dad . And he would give me his professional opinion and explain things to me technically! He knew Keith was the best ever . And I watched Greg one time with him . I told him he was the best singer before we watched . After he said he still thinks Elvis was the best . But Greg might be second ! And that was good enough for me ! Carl was the first guy we watched together actually. It was on Johnny Carson when Carl and his giant drum set had a drum off with The master Buddy Rich on his 3 piece drum set 1 symbol and a high hat ! My father said after wow ! 😮
Wow! I wish I'd seen that drum off between Palmer and Rich! Is that online? Any links?
The Keith Emerson solo with the band silent until they follows back again during the middle to end of it, is a great touch.
@Miracle Tire I just listened a few ELPowell shows a month or two ago and they did a similar thing but without the silence and with the polysynth instead of an organ. There is also a studio version recorded somewhere in the 80s included into a compilation, with another band, where the riff is the same but over recorded with the poly synth while organ soloing with a guitar solo too
Fun to come across this. I saw ELP at Hull City Hall doing their fourth ever gig and Emerson played the big Hall organ to do Pictures at an Exhibition! Brilliant.
Did you pop into Sidney Scarborough's?..... :o)
Phenomenally perfect; thanks for sharing.
I never met a happier musician than Keith Emerson live when I met him at guitar center in Hollywood. He played so magnificently!
WOW, that was amazing. Paul Schafer and the band are pure class. They obviously respect or even love this song and Keith is amazing.
Shaffer; Paul Shaffer. :)
Probably one of Pauls favorite guest performances. Thanks for posting this superb performance , great keyboardist. 🎶
That was TIGHT!
So amazingly brilliant, even the mullets look cool.
The keyboards: Top is a Kurzweil K250 Sampler/Synth. Revolutionary at this time. The organ below is a Hammond B3 Organ. They looked like old furniture and most were installed in churches. Paul (Letterman Band Director uses both of those as well.)
Wow missed this live. Nice work by Paul and the band. Saw this tour at Irvine, Powell was a fun addition.
Excellent performance! I love the arrangement- wish they had ended on those same chords in ELP! 🙂
When I'm at a loss for words I just say wow, so WOW.
I learnt to play this in the 70s. I had no video like this to go on. I set both mauals to the same tone and alterated left hand and right hand. After a while it felt natural. Never at quite this speed but certainly with the single.I imagined that this is how Emerson did it. But no, here we are with him really playing it that fast with one hand. No wonder he needed surgery! I recomo=mond my method.
The Nice(Emerson's previous band) recorded "America" on their '68 LP...very artistic...
WOW! This was great! Another one to add to the pile of great musical performances w/ Shaffer and company. And LOL to that very very very awkward sponsor plug at the end.
Kudos to Paul and the band for a fantastic job on a difficult piece that they probably had to put together rather quickly! Emerson was the tops!
Saw this as it originally aired so fantastic
A keyboard of any kind maestro! He set the bar that only he could reach.
I was there Sept 20 1986 The Garden!!
I loved Yeses version so I was looking forward to seeing this. Well done, and especially to the band for keeping up! 🎹🎸🥁🍾❤️
He was amazing. We had a similar keyboardist who also played brilliantly. Marián Varga from group Collegium Musicum.
BRAVO MAESTRO !
He had the same number of notes to use as the rest of us, but the way he put them together, sounded like he had twice as many as anyone else!
Not always a good thing, and that was basically a cover of someone else's chords structure, other than the solos.
Wish I could have seen them live, but they spent most of their USA touring in the big cities, and being in the USAF, none nearby bases, WHEN I wasn't overseas. Got a great chance to see Asia in the early 2000, with the original lineup, so got one third with Carl on drums. Absolute shame Keith ended it that way, and Greg is gone as well. RIP guys, and hope If there is a heaven, they have to be headlining!
How about the band playing all those tight rhythms with Keith Emerson!! They were all great!!
I was at the Isle of Wight 1970 and saw ELP among others. Some guy named Jimi from Seattle was there, too 🤔
🔥🔥🔥🔥
That's quite alright, Dave, I think that Keith just 'cleared the air' with that rousing rendition of Bernstein's America.
Seen ELP 4 times. What a group. What arrangements!
There will never be another ELP! RIP Keith and Greg. The live version of Aquatarkus is the most intense music I've ever heard.
Splendid! Truly epic performance....
Classical music should always be played with such intensity
Thanks a 1,000, @dongiller. Greetings feom Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 👍🏻✨🖖🏼
This is amazing!
Ha. That's a Kurzweil K250 Keith's playing. I've actually got one of those in my home studio. Paul has another one in his own setup that was his go-to in the 80's. Amazing device and one of the most ahead of its time boards/samplers/Apple-linkable analog/digital instruments ever. But you had better have a sturdy dolly with a strong dude to get it onstage, lol.
:) luv the phantom of the organ!! Kieih Emerson. Check out Tarkus .
That has to be the most exhilarating performance I've ever seen for tv!.
See them live at Wembley arena, absolutely brilliant.
You can tell the band loved jamming like this!
The BEST of the BEST
GOAT!
Love this band. I featured them in my Planetarium Laser Show back in the 80’s. In De Anza Planetarium in now Silicon Valley. Cosmic Concert. ( yeah, we paid em’ royalties). Great music. Of course along with Genisis, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Great stuff.
He started with the 4th movement of New World symphony, amazing keith
astounding show!...wow, all!
What's not to like. Brilliant.
His organ sounds the same as on Tarkus!!
Not bad, huh? It, the Leslie it's running through, and the Kurzweil on top are all probably just rentals.
Thanks
majestic
And that folks is whats missing in today's music.
ORIGINALITY & CREATIVITY.....
Man the creative brain of EMERSON is mind boggling, well next to Frank Zappa of course 😎✌
Muy acertada la mención a Antonin Dvrãk con el tema del 4º mov de la Sinfonia del Nuevo Mundo.
👏👏👏👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I love Keith's solo part at 2:12.
Brilliant performance from all - how much rehearsal time did they have on this difficult piece? God bless the original Hammond Organs - modern technology can recreate the sound but never the essence of these electromagnetic angels. Keith Emerson - you were taken too soon, but thank you so much for what you left behind for us.
Normally an hour’s rehearsal. Band members were usually given cassettes of a song the night before it was scheduled to be played on the show. So they’d have time to learn it on their own before coming in for rehearsal the following day.
Incredible.
Keith Emerson, master of the Hammond Organ. RIP
A genuis who will always be missed.
If I remember correctly, Keith had played it with the band the night before but it kind of fell apart, due to lack of rehearsal time with the band. Keith asked to return the next night and this was the performance.
Perhaps you’re thinking of another show, as what you describe here didn’t happen on Dave’s.
The night before, Billy Joel sat in with the band and, in his own segment, performed “A Matter of Trust.”
The next night -this one - was Keith’s only appearance.
@@dongiller Hmm. Miscognizance in some way.
God, how I lusted for the Kurzweil 250's and up and I didn't get there until the 2600XS series.
Not to mention “The World’s Most Dangerous Band”. They could hang with anyone
Interesting to see legendary rock drummer Anton Fig, Ace Frehley 79-80 Kiss etc reading a chart here. Keith Emerson used to play this in The Nice which is why he plays it so effortlessly.
Anton graduated at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1975.
@Don And straight into rock star status in September 1978, not a bad progression. More importantly I wonder who wrote that chart as the chart was nothing like the Brian Davison version so I wonder if Anton cribbed it himself from rehearsals.
Don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Anton did it himself. Each band member was given music cassettes at least the night before, if not earlier, of the song they were to cover, so it’s probable Anton had written it out before the day’s rehearsal with the performer.
@Don That procedure makes sense
Kudos to the band.
I wonder how long they had to rehearse that one.
They didn't! But the 🥁 did that was Cozy Powell
@@michaelgalligan7089They have one rehearsal before taping.
Man!
This Cat was from another Planet. Another Universe, actually.
He's like a Jimmy Hendricks, SRV, Gary Moore.
Insanely talented!
Nothing like the sound of a Hammond B3