Elegy (The Nice album)
Encyclopedia
Elegy was the final official album release by The Nice
, Keith Emerson
having moved on to Emerson, Lake & Palmer
, Lee Jackson
to Jackson Heights
and Brian Davison
to Every Which Way. It consists of different versions of already familiar tracks and broke little new ground. However, despite being released after The Nice had disbanded, the album achieved number 5 in the UK album chart.
"Hang On To A Dream" and "America" were recorded live at Fillmore East
, New York
during the group's 1969 tour.
"Azrial" had been the B-side of the single release "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack," and "Diamond-Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" that of "America."
The extended version of "Hang On To A Dream" presents the best documented view of Emerson as a jazz pianist and the relaxed improvisatory style displayed is markedly different from that seen later within Emerson Lake & Palmer. "My Back Pages" is a stunning recomposition, using little more than the lyrics of the Dylan song. Parts of this arrangement were inspired by Keith Jarrett
's 1968 Atlantic recording of the song but the majority is purely Emerson's creation. The performance is in two parts with the first featuring piano and the second featuring Hammond organ.
sleeve, the front section of which is shown here. Designed by Hipgnosis
(Storm Thorgerson
and Aubrey Powell), well-known as designers of album covers for Pink Floyd
and other progressive rock
bands, there are several enigmatic references. The front and back covers show a Sahara desert scene with a line of fifty red footballs (credited to Mettoy Playcraft) receding towards a distant dune. The inside of the cover shows, in the distance, a mesa or plateau; in front is a gravelly landscape strewn with memorabilia of The Nice such as older album covers, publicity shots, press releases and a scrapbook of press cuttings.
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
having moved on to Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, Lee Jackson
Lee Jackson (bassist)
Lee Jackson is a British bass player and singer, best known for his work in The Nice.-Biography:...
to Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights (band)
Jackson Heights were an English rock band, led by bassist and vocalist Lee Jackson, that ran from 1970 to 1973. Other players included Brian Chatton , Dave Watts playing keyboards and King Crimson's drummers Michael Giles and Ian Wallace.Their debut album King Progress included a reworking of...
and Brian Davison
Brian Davison (drummer)
Brian Davison , nicknamed "Blinky", was a British drummer, best known for his work in The Nice. He was born in Leicester and died in Horns Cross, Devon....
to Every Which Way. It consists of different versions of already familiar tracks and broke little new ground. However, despite being released after The Nice had disbanded, the album achieved number 5 in the UK album chart.
"Hang On To A Dream" and "America" were recorded live at Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
during the group's 1969 tour.
Side one
- "Hang On To A Dream" (Live) (Tim HardinTim HardinJames Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
) – 12:43 - "My Back PagesMy Back Pages"My Back Pages" is a song written by Bob Dylan and included on his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk protest songs and features Dylan's voice with an acoustic guitar accompaniment...
" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) – 9:12
Side two
- "Third Movement, Pathetique" (Group Only) (Tchaikovsky arr by The Nice) – 7.05
- "America" (Live) (BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
/SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
/The Nice) – 10:27
CD-release 1990
The CD release 1990 contains six additional bonus tracks and the length of the original four tracks is slightly different.- "Hang On To A Dream" (Live) (Tim HardinTim HardinJames Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
) – 12:42 - "My Back Pages" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) – 9:10 - "Third Movement, Pathetique" (Group Only) (Tchaikovsky arr by The Nice) – 7;05
- "America" (Live) (BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
/SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
/The Nice) – 10:17 - "Diamond-Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" (Emerson, Jackson) – 2:46
- "Dawn" (Davison, Emerson, Jackson) – 5:05
- "Tantalising Maggie" (O'List, Jackson) – 4:19
- "Cry Of Eugene" (O'List, Emerson, Jackson) – 4:30
- "Daddy Where Did I Come From?" (Emerson, Jackson) – 2:46
- "Azrial" (Emerson, Jackson) – 3:46
"Azrial" had been the B-side of the single release "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack," and "Diamond-Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" that of "America."
The extended version of "Hang On To A Dream" presents the best documented view of Emerson as a jazz pianist and the relaxed improvisatory style displayed is markedly different from that seen later within Emerson Lake & Palmer. "My Back Pages" is a stunning recomposition, using little more than the lyrics of the Dylan song. Parts of this arrangement were inspired by Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
's 1968 Atlantic recording of the song but the majority is purely Emerson's creation. The performance is in two parts with the first featuring piano and the second featuring Hammond organ.
2009 Digital Remaster
The 2009 Digital Remastered CD contains only two additional bonus tracks and the length of the original four tracks is slightly different.- "Hang On To A Dream" (Live) (Tim HardinTim HardinJames Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
) – 12:41 - "My Back Pages" (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) – 9:12 - "Third Movement, Pathetique" (Group Only) (Tchaikovsky arr by The Nice) – 7;07
- "America" (Live) (BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
/SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
/The Nice) – 10:22 - "Country Pie" (BBC Radio 1's "Sounds Of The Seventies") (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) - 4:57 - "Pathetique (Symphony No. 6, 3rd Movement)" (BBC Radio 1's Sounds Of The Seventies) (Tchaikovsky arr by The Nice) - 6:59
The Album Cover
The UK edition came in a gatefoldGatefold
A gatefold is a type of fold used for advertising around a magazine or section, and for packaging of media such as vinyl records.- LP covers :...
sleeve, the front section of which is shown here. Designed by Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis was a British art design group that specialized in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands, most notably Pink Floyd, T.Rex, The Pretty Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, ELO and XTC...
(Storm Thorgerson
Storm Thorgerson
Storm Thorgerson is an English graphic designer, known for his work for rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, 10cc, Dream Theater, The Mars Volta, Muse, The Cranberries, and Biffy Clyro.-Biography:...
and Aubrey Powell), well-known as designers of album covers for Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and other progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
bands, there are several enigmatic references. The front and back covers show a Sahara desert scene with a line of fifty red footballs (credited to Mettoy Playcraft) receding towards a distant dune. The inside of the cover shows, in the distance, a mesa or plateau; in front is a gravelly landscape strewn with memorabilia of The Nice such as older album covers, publicity shots, press releases and a scrapbook of press cuttings.
Personnel
- Keith EmersonKeith EmersonKeith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Lee JacksonLee Jackson (bassist)Lee Jackson is a British bass player and singer, best known for his work in The Nice.-Biography:...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Brian DavisonBrian Davison (drummer)Brian Davison , nicknamed "Blinky", was a British drummer, best known for his work in The Nice. He was born in Leicester and died in Horns Cross, Devon....
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....