Keith Emerson: New Innerviews Interview

**Innerviews** · 08-03-2015

Hey everyone,

The new Innerviews Keith Emerson piece is out. It's utterly hilarious, and hopefully insightful as well.

I tried to talk about stuff not in his autobiography, touching on projects that didn't get much attention in it.

You'll also hear all about meeting the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, his karaoke experiences singing "Karn Evil 9" (yes, really), and well, a whole lot more...

Have a look. It's a fun one.

http://www.innerviews.org/inner/emerson.html

**Rufus** · 08-03-2015

Great read, thanks for sharing!

**Adm.Kirk** · 08-03-2015

I would have loved to hear an epic length version of "Man in the Long Black Coat". A great Dylan song and one of my favorite cuts on In the Hot Seat. That would have been cool.

Bill

**JJ88** · 08-03-2015

^I believe 'One By One'- another strong track- was to be part of that suite, certainly they are in the same key. Those two and 'Hand Of Truth' are the best songs on the album. Most of the rest is forgettable, alas.

It's a very frank interview. Some very revealing behind-the-scenes stories about the Emerson and Lake tour.

**gpeccary** · 08-03-2015

Great interview!

**Scott Bails** · 08-03-2015

Great read, Anil! Keith is a great storyteller. Nice work covering so much different ground.

**Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof** · 08-03-2015

I quite enjoyed that! Thanks

**yamishogun** · 08-03-2015

Really fun to read.

I assume I'm not the only one who likes Emerson Lake and Powell...

**calyx** · 08-03-2015

Can any Brits confirm the bit about having to call the Queen "mum" ? I was wondering if Keith didn't actually say "ma'am" ?

Anyway, great interview, thanks.

Keith's anecdote reminded me of a sequence in the recent Andy Summers documentary, where he comes across a karaoke in Asia where he sings "Every Breath We Take" with nobody recognizing him, and then he takes off his hat, people recognize him and they're all hysterical.

**yamishogun** · 08-03-2015

This stuck out;

"I got a piece of fan mail from a guy who said “You don’t realize what it means when you do that for guys who have problems with alcohol.” I thought “He’s right. That is fucking stupid and irresponsible.” So, I didn’t do that anymore. These days, I like a glass of wine, but it doesn’t go much further than that."

I saw Styx in Milwaukee in 1996 and from a sidewalk dividing the areas yelled at the band: "Your drummer and best friend just died of alcoholism and you have Miller sponsor you?!"

I was pissed -- in both senses of the word...

**-=RTFR666=-** · 08-03-2015

I sorta-kinda knew the guy Keith refers to in this interview Re: The women in 3, from around the time of the Black Moon tour through ELP's last tours of the late 90's. Rik Pepe was a prominent participant at the Prodigy Network ELP forums and on the ELP Digest. Was in phone and email contact, and met up with Rik and others for ELP concerts in L.A. when they were openers for Tull.

As omnipresent as Rik was back then, I'm surprised he isn't here on PE, but I'm sure his work as an anesthesiologist and board member for some medical organizations keeps him busy.

**Don Arnold** · 08-03-2015

I'll echo above sentiments...thanks for posting. That was a fun read.

**WytchCrypt** · 08-03-2015

I love Keith's sense of humour. A friend was telling me in the mid to late 90's he saw ELP and during C'est La Vie, Keith came walking onstage playing the accordion carrying a red rose in his teeth. When Lake saw that, he gave Keith a death stare and didn't find it amusing at all

**Gruno** · 08-03-2015

We sent out a link via the Kevin Gilber Facebook page about this interview. Good one.

**Innerviews** · 08-03-2015

Great. Keith really loved Kevin.

**Innerviews** · 08-04-2015

Originally Posted by calyx

Can any Brits confirm the bit about having to call the Queen "mum" ? I was wondering if Keith didn't actually say "ma'am" ?

It's "ma'am," you're right.

**Conti** · 08-04-2015

It was a fun! Thanks for another great interview.

**Man In The Mountain** · 08-04-2015

Great interview!!! Lots of great insight into Keith's history. I do remember the Emerson & Lake cancelled show mishap very well as I shared some behind the scenes moments with Keith prior to the tour. Keith asked me to do a logo for the tour which started some infighting between Greg & Keith, as Greg wanted his guy to do a logo for the tour. Neither could agree on a logo from either party, so they decided not to have one. But then later someone ended up making a simple logo a bit similar to something I suggested. Keith & I had a laugh over that, that some battles are not worth fighting if you want to move forward.

Love that the interview webpage prominently features the photo of Keith playing the burning piano, which is based on my artwork.

**Scott Bails** · 08-04-2015

Originally Posted by Man In The Mountain

Love that the interview webpage prominently features the photo of Keith playing the burning piano, which is based on my artwork.

I noticed the similarity and was wondering about that.

Great pic.

**JJ88** · 08-04-2015

Originally Posted by Man In The Mountain

Great interview!!! Lots of great insight into Keith's history. I do remember the Emerson & Lake cancelled show mishap very well as I shared some behind the scenes moments with Keith prior to the tour. Keith asked me to do a logo for the tour which started some infighting between Greg & Keith, as Greg wanted his guy to do a logo for the tour. Neither could agree on a logo from either party, so they decided not to have one. But then later someone ended up making a simple logo a bit similar to something I suggested. Keith & I had a laugh over that, that some battles are not worth fighting if you want to move forward.

Those two will never change, I think. Amazing that they have managed to work together so often over the decades, they were arguing right from the start over 'Tarkus'! From everything I've read, Keith is certainly the more easy-going of the two.

I do really like that 'burning piano' art, BTW.

**Man In The Mountain** · 08-04-2015

Originally Posted by JJ88

Those two will never change, I think. Amazing that they have managed to work together so often over the decades, they were arguing right from the start over 'Tarkus'! From everything I've read, Keith is certainly the more easy-going of the two.

Keith is a regular guy. Surprisingly self-conscious about his own work, and not at all too important to call a regular Joe like me on the phone to talk about artwork. I think I may still have an e-mail from Keith where he was seriously doubting the Emo & Lake tour would even happen, just weeks before the tour. Then they cancelled the first show, it was unbelievable.

I do really like that 'burning piano' art, BTW.

Thank you!

**No Pride** · 08-04-2015

Great interview! Keith is a cool guy (besides being an amazing composer/musician) and pretty darn funny too! Lots of interesting stuff there. I could tell from some of his solos that he listened to jazz, but I never would've guessed he was into Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman! I liked hearing his comment on Kevin Gilbert too; he obviously admired him.

Now I want to read his autobiography. I wonder if there's a Kindle version yet; will have to check that out.

**No Pride** · 08-04-2015

Originally Posted by No Pride

Now I want to read his autobiography. I wonder if there's a Kindle version yet; will have to check that out.

Just checked Amazon. Not only is there no Kindle edition, but the cheapest you can get it (paperback or hardcover) used was $98.67. Jeez! Must be oop... bummer!