Lunedì 8 Giu 2009, 10:11
Emerson, Lake and Palmer / Still...You Turn Me On / Beyond The Beginning (2) / Jun 2005
This is the third of three posts honoring the 35th Anniversary of California Jam on April 6th, which I failed at the time to highlight. The first and second posts covered the sets of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, the latter who co-headlined with ELP.
In both of those previous posts I raised the point that while the show was largely simulcast on FM radio and television by ABC, it was not officially recorded and released. For many years, only the Deep Purple set was available. However, in mid-2005, a 2-DVD set called Beyond the Beginning finally saw the release of the entire 45-minute ELP set on the second disc.
The ELP set featured a "magical" sequence following Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression of Keith Emerson playing the piano while spinning in mid-air, setting a standard for highlight special effects for decades to come:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSm5IQFaTZA
The personal highlight for me though is today's selection, Greg Lake's solo performance of my favorite ELP song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoxHGxQw9ws
In closing this series of posts, I mention a very good resource. If you don't know much about California Jam overall and want some great insights as well as a listen to several performances from the show, you're in luck. Mike Stark of WPMD's Rock 50* conducted this interview with Don E. Branker, one of the principal organizers and the promoter of California Jam, in early April just before the 35th anniversary. The two-hour show included many excerpts of interviews and performances from the ABC broadcast, and Don gives a good rundown on the backstory behind the organizing and running of the event.
Check out the great insight from Bill Ward at an hour into the show, including his retelling of literally having his breath taken away at the first roar of the crowd as he tried to count into the start of "War Pigs" at the start of their set.
And pay close attention to the final two minutes of the pocast for a big announcement for California Jam fans, coming April 6, 2010. (…crossing fingers…)
\m/ (ò_ó) \m/
*Rock 50 is an internet-only college radio program broadcast from WPMD (Cerritos College) in California. Mike Stark is the regular host, and once a month he welcomes Bill Ward as his co-host, who spins some of his favorite metal and talks about things related to himself and Black Sabbath. A lot of what Bill says publicly about Sabbath is heard on this show. You can catch Rock 50 each Saturday from 11AM to 1PM Pacific Time.