EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL

DATE: 16 September 1986

LOCATION: Mansfield, Massachusetts, USA

VENUE: Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts

RECORDING TYPE: Audience ["AR"]

THE TAPER-AUTHORIZED ORIGINAL MASTER

LINEUP:

Keith Emerson - Keyboards, daggers and acrobatics
Greg Lake - Vocals and guitars
Cozy Powell - Percussion

SETLIST [for 80-minute CDR]:

Vol. 1

01V1 - The Score
02V1 - Learning How to Fly
03V1 - Pirates
04V1 - Knife Edge
05V1 - Medley: Tarkus excerpt/Pictures at an Exhibition excerpt*
06V1 - Still You Turn Me On
07V1 - Keith Emerson Solo [The Dreamer (Love Theme)]**
08V1 - Keith Emerson Solo [Creole Dance]
09V1 - From the Beginning
10V1 - Lucky Man
11V1 - Fanfare for the Common Man

Vol. 2

01V2 - Touch and Go
02V2 - Mars, the Bringer of War [includes Cozy Powell solo]
03V2 - Medley: Karn Evil 9 Excerpt/America [Bernstein-West Side Story]
/Rondo [Paul Desmond]

* Tape flip occurred during Pictures segment
** Title unconfirmed

TAPER: Barry Rogoff (Balrog)

SOURCE: Original Master Tapes: Sony WM-D6C [Dolby B in], Sony ECM-150T
Electret condenser mikes > Maxell XLII-S

TRANSFER: February 2009, at 48kHz/24 bit resolution. Downsampled to
standard CD resolution here

LINEAGE: Nakamichi Dragon [Dolby B out] > RDL FP-UBC6 > MOTU 896 >
Sound Forge > Wave [48kHz/24 bit] > Izotope RX/CEP 2.0/Izotope Ozone >
Wave [44.1kHz/16 bit]

ORIGINAL ART by Gromek

NOTES FROM THE PRODUCERS:

Each recording no matter its source quality presents unique challenges
when it comes to restoration and/or excavation [words I choose
carefully because ‘enhancement’ is what amateurs and label producers
alike do to ruin fine live documents all the time].

This one was a challenge like no other - and there have been some real
monsters - thanks mostly to a taping compromise involving stealthier
microphones. The minimikes used and described in further detail below
by the taper were designed for broadcasts and of the type we still see
clipped to lapels on talk shows, newscasts, etc. Their quality is and
has long been excellent, but they’re designed to capture sound more in
the immediate vicinity than at greater distances. Not to say they
didn’t capture the larger, high amplitude soundstage of ELP very well
- they just couldn’t do it as well as a set of Nakamichi CM-100/CP-1's
or their equivalent.

The most obvious effect on dynamic range here will be the lower
frequencies. They’re present and more so than in many an AR made with
similar mikes, but a bit muddy and reminded me of CMBR [cosmic
microwave background radiation] during efforts get them more defined
as the audience experienced them. Lake’s bass and some of Emerson’s
nearly subsonic tones remain the most problematic, beyond a certain
amplitude actually becoming too much unless some detail in things like
kick drum left behind. As it is now they’re right on the edge, so be
warned some older and cheaper speakers will really ‘fart’ with this
one. Happily though, much more low end detail can now be heard [and
felt] despite compromises needed to avoid distortion.

Some lower high frequencies are also effected by the ECM-150T’s, with
a net result of ‘distance’ in things like nonmetal percussion even
less surmountable than in recordings with worse taper position but
made with Nak mikes [see Yes, Boston Garden 1977]. Overall the
recording has a slightly ‘compressed’ sound across the spectrum even
though no compression was used in the mastering process. It’s not
intolerable by any means, and everything including the low end now
‘breathes’ much more than in the raw master, just not quite to the
wonderful and warm extent we’re used to in Nak mike ARs.

Two other factors strongly effect properties in this AR - a semi-
outdoor venue with even stranger acoustics than many similar
amphitheaters, and an unusually loud p/a output. I saw ELPowell in a
different city and it was the only show in my experience I’d have to
call too loud. Though sound was very clear and well-balanced, it was
also a bit harsh. Both are on display in Mansfield as well, and
together with the tunnely-sounding amphitheater contribute to less
than desirable minimike-related properties.

UPSIDE: It’s still the best AR of the ELPowell tour I’ve heard. It’s a
Balrog tape, with no compromise in the outstanding record deck - one
used a few years earlier to get the best analog audience capture I
have ever heard [although that also involved Nak mikes]. It delivers
the "BLG" AR sound and feel we strive for, if a bit ‘pinched’. It
documents a superb ELP performance, with Greg Lake’s voice and range
still completely intact and a sense of fun not heard since 1974 among
other goodies.

REMASTER SUMMARY: All work done at the 24/48 resolution, before
downsampling. EQ work to reveal detail, as the audience heard and felt
it and as far as the raw master would permit without added distortion
or artifact. No compression or noise reduction. Pitch-tempo correction
was indicated [raw master runs slightly slow].

-Lestat, July 2009

INDEPENDENT SOUND ANALYSIS:

Several trusted 'beta testers', including Barry, Gromek, and others.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to ELP, then and now.

Special thanks to Gromek for artwork [as always] so perfectly
evocative of the show's energy and this effort.

Endless, endless thanks to Barry for another miraculous AR, the
expertise, bravery and sacrifice of enjoyment it required.

BARRY'S NOTES

First, a note about the microphones. As Lestat has already pointed out
in detail, the Sony ECM-150T electret condenser microphones were a
substantial downgrade from the Nakamichi CM-100s used to record all
previous BLG offerings. All I can say in their defense is that they
were extremely stealthy, which had become a necessity by that point in
time. I had been shut down a number of times due the fact that the Nak
mikes, no matter how well camouflaged, were simply too visible and had
become familiar to alert security people.

It was 1986 and the Internet was still a long way off. I made many
phone calls trying to identify more stealthy alternatives of the same
or better quality but had no luck, probably because I was too honest
about their intended purpose. Everyone I asked blew me off once they
heard that I wanted to make stereo recordings of rock concerts.
Grateful Dead tapers didn't need stealth mikes so therefore this guy
must be trying to sell bootlegs.

The ECM-150Ts were readily available and seemed worth a try. I read
somewhere that they had the same Panasonic capsule used in the
original Oade Bros. and Core Sound mikes. Unfortunately, I had no idea
how to do the modifications needed to flatten the frequency response.
My old ADC graphic equi-analyzer allowed me to boost the bass enough
so that the curve looked pretty much like any other audience tape and
that was that.

A slight digression. I once sat behind a couple of guys recording a
show (ABWH?) at Great Woods with what appeared to be modified
ECM-150Ts. They told me that they were using experimental mikes but
wouldn't say anything else. Taping shows, among other things, makes
one a bit paranoid. You never know who or what you're talking to. I
still wonder who they were.

A note about the venue:

The Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts, known afterward as the
Tweeter Center (for Tweeter Etc.), is currently known as the Comcast
Center. It's an indoor-outdoor amphitheater in Mansfield,
Massachusetts that is still in use today. Its current capacity is
19,900 of which 14,400 are reserved seats, 7,400 are in the pavilion,
7,000 are open air seating, and 5,500 are on the lawn. I think it was
somewhat smaller in 1986.

I've heard Great Woods described as a smaller and cheaper version of
the famed Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York. It's an
enjoyable place to take in a concert but, in my experience, the
acoustics are spotty. Move over a few seats and it sounds quite
different. According to today's seating chart, we were at the back of
the reserved area but I'm sure we were closer than that. I distinctly
remember being able to see the slot in the Hammond Organ into which
Keith Emerson plunged his dagger in such dramatic fashion.

A note about the performance:

I don't remember much except that I enjoyed it tremendously. Hearing
it again, I remember being surprised and blown away by the keyboard
break at the end of Lucky Man. I'm pretty sure Emerson had never
played it live before that tour.

In retrospect, I truly wish ELPowell had stayed together long enough
to record another album or two. To me, the album was like a breath of
fresh air - as if it were follow-up to Brain Salad Surgery - and the
performance did it justice. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I have no idea what caused the booing in the audience at the end of
Keith's "harpsichord" solo, probably because it happened behind me.
Having the mikes taped to my glasses, I wouldn't have suddenly turned
my head around. It causes a rather unsettling effect.

Boston-area concert goers are largely sports fans so it might have
been a Yankees fan holding up an inflammatory sign. The Red Sox were
in first place in the pennant race with the Yankees trailing, so
baseball excitement and the ever-present antagonism towards the
Yankees was high. Five weeks later, the Red Sox lost the World Series
to the Mets in the most painful fashion imaginable.

A note about other sources:

There's a commercial boot called "Passion and Warfare" that shows up
in a few lists such as "Covers at an Exhibition" (unrelated to Steve
Vai's album of that title). The cover art appears to be identical to
the ELPowell studio album with only the title changed. I have no idea
whether it's an old trade copy of my source or some other source.

GROMEK'S NOTES

As ever i am very happy to be part of this "BLG Product" you are
listening to now. This "Balrog" recording is truly outstanding, and
"Lestat" remastering it makes it even better! So i hope you will enjoy
this cover design/layout as much as you will enjoy this fantastic live
performance.

I did the cover art in two different layouts this time. The reason for
this being, that ink is more expensive that gold is (it still amazes
me). So, one layout is for the "ink conscious" among us, and the other
is for those who just don`t care ;-). This is a first for "GROMEK
Cover Designs & Layouts"!

So please, sit back, lean forward, or, feel free to jump around, and
enjoy the sounds or "Emerson, Lake & Powell"

NOTES FROM RAMBLE ON JOE [project test listener, musician and writer
in residence]

ELP 86

In the 1970s, dinosaurs roamed the earth in the form of flashy
performance, long compositions, and larger-than-life showmanship --
none more so than Emerson Lake & Palmer. From the firing of twin
cannon at the Isle of Wight festival, they pushed out new standards of
performance intensity & musical achievement -- either amazing or
ridiculous, depending on your views and/or prejudices. At the heart of
their focus was the combining of rock & roll energy with the European
classical tradition, since labeled "progressive rock" by those who had
nothing to do with it. This inspired many bands to do likewise, or at
least similarly; like ELP, many of them did not survive the decade.

Consequently, in the 1980's, a fan of those dinosaur days had few
choices still in active service: Asia, Yes and Genesis, all taking
shorter, more commercial forms than their antecedents. The formerly
grim King Crimson had reformed as a dance band, but keyboard titans
Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson were scoring movie soundtracks. Late-
prog dabblers like Styx and Rush were slimming down to more radio-
friendly fare.

By 1985, the choices were slimmer than slim -- they were none. The
King was dead, and the other bands were either in abeyance or
converted to outright pop music, the 'prog' elements dwindled to
nothing more than polished musicianship. A prog fan might enjoy
Patrick Moraz supporting the Moody Blues (or better yet, his jazzy
duets with Bill Bruford), but the grand pomposity that once astounded
or dismayed critics and fans alike was a thing of the past -- no
longer even ridiculed, if even remembered.

Into this came the most discredited, most vilified, most safely dead
of all the prog-rock dinosaurs: Emerson Lake and ... well, Carl Palmer
wasn't available, being still dedicated to Asia. But he nominated Cozy
Powell as a replacement, and the resulting trio was most certainly ELP
in all the ways that ELP had once ruled the prog-rock roost: big
noises, long compositions, and bombastic stage presentation. And they
had a single to boot -- right in the middle of the hair-band 80s!

Could such a band still succeed the way it had in the extravagant 70s?
Ultimately, we wouldn't find out -- or perhaps we did, in the fact
that Cozy Powell chose not to continue into a second album & tour. But
it's not hard to see Emerson Lake & Powell as Greg's lyrical tossed-
into-the-sea pebble: the next Yes album leaned further back to prog
than before (despite the heavy-handed engineering), and various Yes
alumni eventually reconvened as Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Even
Carl Palmer finally let go of the foundering Asia and rejoined ELP,
though by then Emerson's once-dominant presence was already
diminishing. For their parts, Genesis and King Crimson also reformed,
though for them the ELP reactivation didn't matter: both avoided the
conundrum of combining challenging music with commercial success by
focusing exclusively on the one or the other.

Nowadays, progressive rock is fossilized into an acceptable vein of
contemporary music, occasionally heard on radio stations slated for
"classic rock" or heavy metal. Still, few bands combined rock & roll
energy with the European classical tradition as well as ELP did, and
none as successfully. In the middle of the punk/disco/metal 80s, ELP
rose like an island unto itself, entirely accessible without the
slightest concession to any of the current trends -- just the way
music used to be made, before corporate VPs had to bet their careers
on which bands might be the Next Big Thing. ELP didn't have to be the
Next Big Thing -- they'd already won that lottery back in 1970; all
they had to be was themselves.

Neither the beginning nor the end of Emerson & Lake's joint career,
neither peak nor nadir, Emerson Lake & Powell has often been
overlooked; if it had occurred in 1976 instead of 1986, it would still
arguably fit right in. This warm, clean recording should redress that
oversight: dinosaurs could indeed still roam the earth in the 1980s,
and cause the ground to tremble. Here is the evidence.

***********************************************

Please share freely but losslessly, and never, EVER even THINK of
selling for any sum anywhere. Reseed or redistribute this recording in
its complete and original form only. Should we become aware of an
incomplete reseed or distribution, we will publicly discredit the
party responsible.

On that note, be also vigilant against for-profit `boot factory'
ripoffs. We've seen this done with our work already. While flattering
they'd covet it on the one hand, the dishonesty of it and idea of
anyone spending good money for what can be had freely are both
infuriating. Last time it happened Gromek's fabulous art was dumped in
favor of the usual boot factory crap, and none of the lineage/process
info provided here was included in the ripoff either. Truly criminal -
intellectually as much as legally.