Preacher's Blues
Preacher's Blues (or Preacher Man) is a live song by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This song can be found on rare bootleg "Preacher Man".
Personnel
- Keith Emerson - Clavinet
- Greg Lake - Bass guitar, Vocal
- Carl Palmer - Drums
Song
"Preacher Man" is the final Sirene title and contains a brand new audience recording for Emerson, Lake and Palmer's December 4, 1970 gig at the Limmathaus in Zürich, Switzerland. An older tape source exists although has never been issued on a commercial release. This new tape source, for being taped in 1970, comes from the reel-to-reel master and is one of the greatest audience recordings ever made in that year. The stereo separation, depth, detail, balance and mix are as close to perfection as one can hope for. The only complaint that can be made is the hint of high-level distortion during the very loud passages and the sound quality drops for the encores "Nutrocker" and "Preacher's Blues". There are cuts between the drum solo and the reprise of "Rondo" and before the encore section. This concert is one of the earliest ELP shows on tape and occurs during their first trip to Europe after their formation the previous summer. The first appearance is in Bremen, Germany on November 26 for a Beat Club filming (a twenty minute set featuring "Take a Pebble" and "Knife Edge" broadcast on New Year's Eve). The first appearance before a paying audience is two nights later at the Kongresshalle in Frankfurt on November 28 followed by the Circus Krone in Munich on November 29 and Nuremberg on November 30. In December the band played on December 1 in Vienna (of which an eighty minute tape circulates) and December 2 in Stuttgart. Two tapes exist for the final night in Germany on December 6 at the Festhalle in Böblingen. The Zurich tape is so good that someone working at the venue that night must have produced it.
The band take the stage after a short introduction which is cut off in this recording and the first half of the show is devoted to the long, forty-minute "Pictures at an Exhibition." They played this at the Isle of Wight Festival several months before and by this time has taken on its definitive arrangement. The first twenty minutes of the piece is a bit loose with Emerson in particular missing some of the breaks. And since Carl Palmer follows Emerson, he in turn misses some of them too. "The Gnome" in particular gets off to a rocky start but the band hit the tricky rhythms and time signatures and deliver a good performance. "The Sage", which is simply Lake and acoustic guitar, sounds great in this recording. The blues variation, which follows the cacophony of "The Old Castle," is one of the highlights of the early performances of the piece and lasts for almost eight minutes on this recording. Again Emerson seems to lose his place and misses his cues early on and the early synthesizer melodies don't sound as fluid as on the version to be recorded for the official live album. The Hammond organ section sounds like a hurricane, however, and the band really cook. It is great to have such a good recording of the fist half of the piece because in later performances they would drop this altogether and play only the second half, focusing upon expanding the "Baba Yagas" and "Great Gates of Kiev." The second half beginning with the third "Promenade" sounds much tighter and better rehearsed than the first half. The biggest variation to the final version is Emerson's use of the organ sound two minutes into "The Great Gates of Kiev".
There is a long pause before "The Barbarian" as Emerson introduces the band and the next number. His discussion sounds distant and the balance is off, but comes back again for and excellent performance of the song. It is the latter half of the show that holds many of the surprises. "Take a Pebble" has at this stage already been expanded into a twenty-minute medley and improvisation piece. This performance begins with the first verse and moves into Lake's unrecorded "ballad of blue", a clapper about his dog. There is only one line at this point ("I have a dog and his name is Blue, Betcha fine dollar he's a good dog too") but in the future would be expanded to talk about Blue chasing squirrels up trees and stuff. Emerson's piano solo follows and includes the earliest reference to their epic "Tarkus". The distinctive melody of the opening section "Eruption" can be heard with Emerson playing the rhythm with the left hand and melody with the right. It even has the emphatic cadences too and this would of course be expanded greatly when they began to record it the following month at Advision Studios. The keyboardist switches to electric piano and the band play "Tank" from the first LP. "Rondo" including an eight minute drum solo closes the set. The encore is a distinct arrangement of "Nutrocker" with the rarity "Preacher's Blues" thrown in the middle. The music for "Preacher's Blues" would be used later by the band for "Tiger in the Spotlight" but a professionally recorded live version surfaced on the Greg Lake archive release From the Underground Vol II - Deeper into the Mine, released in 2003. For Sirene's final release, Preacher Man is an excellent title.
External links
Greg Lake{{•wrap}} Carl Palmer
Cozy Powell{{•wrap}} Robert Berry{{•wrap}} Peter Sinfield | group1 = Studio albums | list1 = Emerson, Lake & Palmer{{•wrap}} Tarkus{{•wrap}} Trilogy{{•wrap}} Brain Salad Surgery{{•wrap}} Works Volume 1{{•wrap}} Works Volume 2{{•wrap}} Love Beach{{•wrap}} Black Moon{{•wrap}} In the Hot Seat | group2 = Live albums | list2 = Pictures at an Exhibition{{•wrap}} Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends... Ladies and Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer{{•wrap}} In Concert / Works Live{{•wrap}} Live at the Royal Albert Hall{{•wrap}} Live in Poland{{•wrap}} Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970{{•wrap}} Then and Now{{•wrap}} The Original Bootleg Series from the Manticore Vaults | group3 = Compilation albums | list3 = The Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer{{•wrap}} King Biscuit Flower Hour: Greatest Hits Live{{•wrap}} The Very Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer{{•wrap}} The Ultimate Collection{{•wrap}} The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer | group4 = Box sets | list4 = The Return of the Manticore{{•wrap}} From the Beginning | group5 = Songs | list5 = "Fanfare for the Common Man"{{•wrap}} "From the Beginning"{{•wrap}} "I Believe in Father Christmas"{{•wrap}} "Karn Evil 9"{{•wrap}} "Take a Pebble"{{•wrap}} "Tank"{{•wrap}} "Tarkus"{{•wrap}} "Toccata"{{•wrap}} "Preacher's Blues" | group6 = Related articles | list6 = Emerson, Lake & Palmer discography{{•wrap}} Emerson, Lake & Powell{{•wrap}} Emerson, Lake & Powell (album){{•wrap}} Manticore Records{{•wrap}} 3{{•wrap}} To the Power of Three{{•wrap}} The Nice{{•wrap}} King Crimson{{•wrap}} Atomic Rooster{{•wrap}} Asia }}