GREG LAKE
''SONGS OF A LIFETIME''
2013
75:17
1 - 21st Century Schizoid Man/0:59
2 - Lend Me Your Love Tonight/3:39
3 - Songs Of A Lifetime Tour Introduction/1:03
4 - From The Beginning/5:04
5 - Tribute To The King/7:03
6 - Heartbreak Hotel/2:25
7 - Epitaph The Court Of The Crimson King/5:05
8 - King Crimson Cover Story/4:46
9 - I Talk To The Wind/4:30
10 - Ringo And The Beatles/4:15
11 - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away/2:51
12 - Touch And Go/3:06
13 - Trilogy/2:57
14 - Still... You Turn Me On/3:34
15 - Reflections Of Paris/1:21
16 - C'Est La Vie/3:58
17 - My Very First Guitar/4:05
18 - Lucky Man/4:45
19 - People Get Ready/3:25
20 - Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2/5:36
REVIEW
By Ralph Greco, Jr.
It's those classic songs and the stories behind them that make Greg Lake's Songs Of A Lifetime so special. While the former Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and one-time Asia vocalist and bassist penned his autobiography Lucky Man, "songs would crop up that were in some way crucial or extremely important in the development of my career," giving Lake the idea to go out and perform these tunes - both his own and ones that influenced him.
Blasting storm effects, jabbing keys and a drum machine back Lake's powerful vocal on a snippet of the King Crimson classic, "21st Century Schizoid Man," that opens the 20-track disc. He moves onto a much less complicated "Lend Your Love To Me Tonight," a personal highlight for me when I caught this tour in New York and one of the better songs on this CD.
Lake's stories are as every bit as important as the songs he performed at these concerts. He recalls seeing Elvis in Lake Tahoe in the early 70s before going into a rendition of what he calls "the greatest rock and roll song ever written," a rather solid stab at "Heartbreak Hotel." Then we're into the court of King Crimson with "Epitaph," followed by a delicious story about the players in King Crimson and the famous cover of their debut album. On "I Talk To The Wind," another classic Crimson tune, Lake's vocals are very strong, even though at times the backing keys bleed through, adding a slight karaoke feel.
Bright quick audience participation lifts the equally bright and quick Beatles song, "You Got To Hide Your Love Away," after Lake's story about touring with Ringo Starr. A major highlight is when Lake's vocal and acoustic guitar brush over "Trilogy," which is practically worth the price of this CD alone. "Still You Turn Me On" sounded big and another story about how "C'est la Vie" was a hit for Johnny Hallyday (aka the French Elvis) in France certainly explains the global appeal of ELP.
The night wouldn't be complete without the ubiquitous "Lucky Man." Lake's powerful voice and simple playing on the keys work well on a very sweet "People Get Ready." The encore of ELP's "Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part 2" gets the crowd really crazy with full complement of backing tracks. We do get a good mix of Lake's bass up nice and high and his voice sounds as good at the end of the show as it did at the beginning. Overall, Songs Of A Lifetime does a stellar job of bringing a show from Greg Lake's recent tour to life. We can only hope more will follow.
MORE REVIEW
Greg Lake - "The Songs Of A Lifetime"
This disc was advertised as a two disc set and as it turns out it is a single CD from different shows Greg performed in 2012 worldwide so Greg's voice will vary from night-to-night as there is: "Strong-Voice" Greg and then there is: "Decent-Voice" Greg and then there is also: "Voice-Shot" Greg all here together. There are highlights of Greg singing wonderful ("I Talk To The Wind" "C'est Le Vie" "Touch & Go") and doing a fine Beatles cover of: "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" that is cool for the ears. Six of the 20 tracks found on this disc are spoken introductions and they are not too long but after a few plays you won't need them any longer.
This disc is well paced and the order of the show has been bended and turned around more than once and the only real problem is when Greg sings the delicate ELP tune: "Trilogy" as wherever he was when he sang it (not played in San Francisco at my show) his voice was a smokers-rasp and he couldn't sing this difficult piece of music snd that is indeed a shame as it one of ELP's very finest compositions and one of my favorites from this mighty band. The show ends with the closing section of "Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression - Part Two" where with first a bass guitar and then a Stratocaster (quick switch!) Greg sings...."Come and see the show." The encore (placed here before the 2nd set closer) was a real surprise as Greg sat at an electric piano and sang the Curtis Mayfield classic: "People Get Ready" that was a big shock as Greg could really play that piano (not Emerson quality but very good!) and he sang the devil out of this one and it was a dramatic and majestic ending to a very nice show.
So that is Greg's new CD with 20 tracks and 75 minutes of talk and music and sounding much better than you might think it would. Greg, has recorded live music for his albums in San Francisco before so I just might be heard giving him a shout-out after the end of: "In The Court Of The Crimson King." Maybe....
Four Stars!
BIOGRAPHY
by Bruce Eder
As a singer and instrumentalist, Greg Lake had his greatest success and influence in the progressive rock outfit Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, before that, as a founding member of the original King Crimson. He has also been reasonably popular as a solo artist working in more of a hard rock idiom. As a boy, growing up in a poverty stricken part of the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, he got his first guitar for his 12th birthday, as a gift from his mother, and began taking lessons from a local teacher named Don Strike, one of whose other students was Robert Fripp, who became close friends with Lake. Around the time he was 12 years old, Lake also wrote a folk-style song that played a major part in his future, entitled "Lucky Man."
Lake learned to read music and also to play pieces by Paganini, among other classical composers, but his aspirations lay with emulating the sound of his favorite band of the era, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, and their lead guitarist, Hank B. Marvin. Lake passed through a succession of groups, including a local quartet called Unit Four, in which he played guitar and sang. He and Unit Four guitarist David Genes later formed the Time Checks, and, still later -- around 1967 -- with another Unit Four member, John Dickinson, was a member of a band called the Shame, who cut a single in 1968. He also sang on a record by a band called the Shy Limbs. In 1968, Lake succeeded Mick Taylor as a member of an outfit called the Gods, whose other members included future Uriah Heep founders Ken Hensley (keyboards, vocals) and Lee Kerslake (drums), and it was there that his songwriting first blossomed. He left the Gods just before they began to record, having been approached by his boyhood friend Robert Fripp to join the outfit that he was putting together out of a failed trio called Giles, Giles & Fripp -- Lake joined the quintet (Fripp on lead guitar; Ian McDonald on keyboards, saxes, and flute; Michael Giles on drums; and Peter Sinfield as lyricist) as lead singer and bassist.
King Crimson proceeded to carve out a name for themselves unique in the history of rock music as the leading progressive rock band of their era. Their first album, In The Court of the Crimson King, became the standard for serious progressive rock albums. Lake, along with the others, was suddenly a star. That first lineup of the band only lasted a year -- by December of 1969, Giles and McDonald were tired of touring and opted out, and Lake refused to continue working with the group, although he stayed around long enough to sing on the second King Crimson album, In the Wake of Poseidon (1970).
At the suggestion of Tony Stratton-Smith, Lake was approached by keyboard player Keith Emerson, who was in the process of putting together a new group after three years with his current band, the Nice. The latter group's main fault was its lack of a real lead singer, and Emerson saw in Lake -- whose voice had dominated In The Court of the Crimson King -- the solution to that problem. The two eventually recruited drummer Carl Palmer and formed progressive rock's first supergroup, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who were a success from their self-titled first album, released in 1970, which closed with Lake's old song "Lucky Man." The latter became one of the group's few successful singles, one of their rare attempts to compete on AM radio -- it also turned Lake into one of the most familiar voices in progressive rock, rivaling such figures as the Moody Blues' Justin Hayward. Lake's production experience as a member of King Crimson (who had produced their own debut album) also served ELP in good stead, and his songwriting became the creative nucleus for the group's first three studio albums.
ELP dominated the charts and the field of progressive rock right up until 1977, by which time the entire genre of "art rock" was beginning to lose popularity. The stresses between the trio members caused them to split up after a tour in 1979, and Lake embarked on a solo career. Lake organized a new band with ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore on lead guitar, Rory Gallagher alumnus Ted McKenna on drums, and ex-Joe Cocker/Gerry Rafferty keyboard player Tommy Eyre, and recorded Lake's first solo album, Greg Lake (1981). The sound on that record was very different from ELP, as it was dominated by guitars, rather than keyboards, and featured Lake singing in a harder, more aggressive style. On tour he covered material going back to the King Crimson days, but he also regaled audiences with pumping versions of the new songs. A second album, Manoeuvres, followed in 1983, but by that time the creative and commercial bloom was off the rose, and Lake took his first break from music. He appeared in 1985 as the lead singer of Asia during that group's tour, but he didn't remain with the band.
In 1986, he re-teamed with Emerson and drummer Cozy Powell as Emerson, Lake & Powell, and recorded an album for Mercury Records, which was followed by a world tour. After a stint with ex-Asia member Geoff Downes and King Crimson drummer Michael Giles in a group called Ride the Tiger, Lake re-teamed with Emerson and Palmer for a film that was never finished, which led to their first new album in 13 years, Black Moon (1992). During the mid- and late '90s, Lake continued to work with Emerson and Palmer, while pursuing his solo work as well. The latter included a 1994 tour of the United States. He had also done a considerable amount of charitable work on behalf of missing children, and his song "Daddy," written in response to one such case, which ended tragically, achieved national exposure as a theme for a television series devoted to the plight of missing children.
''SONGS OF A LIFETIME''
2013
75:17
1 - 21st Century Schizoid Man/0:59
2 - Lend Me Your Love Tonight/3:39
3 - Songs Of A Lifetime Tour Introduction/1:03
4 - From The Beginning/5:04
5 - Tribute To The King/7:03
6 - Heartbreak Hotel/2:25
7 - Epitaph The Court Of The Crimson King/5:05
8 - King Crimson Cover Story/4:46
9 - I Talk To The Wind/4:30
10 - Ringo And The Beatles/4:15
11 - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away/2:51
12 - Touch And Go/3:06
13 - Trilogy/2:57
14 - Still... You Turn Me On/3:34
15 - Reflections Of Paris/1:21
16 - C'Est La Vie/3:58
17 - My Very First Guitar/4:05
18 - Lucky Man/4:45
19 - People Get Ready/3:25
20 - Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2/5:36
REVIEW
By Ralph Greco, Jr.
It's those classic songs and the stories behind them that make Greg Lake's Songs Of A Lifetime so special. While the former Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and one-time Asia vocalist and bassist penned his autobiography Lucky Man, "songs would crop up that were in some way crucial or extremely important in the development of my career," giving Lake the idea to go out and perform these tunes - both his own and ones that influenced him.
Blasting storm effects, jabbing keys and a drum machine back Lake's powerful vocal on a snippet of the King Crimson classic, "21st Century Schizoid Man," that opens the 20-track disc. He moves onto a much less complicated "Lend Your Love To Me Tonight," a personal highlight for me when I caught this tour in New York and one of the better songs on this CD.
Lake's stories are as every bit as important as the songs he performed at these concerts. He recalls seeing Elvis in Lake Tahoe in the early 70s before going into a rendition of what he calls "the greatest rock and roll song ever written," a rather solid stab at "Heartbreak Hotel." Then we're into the court of King Crimson with "Epitaph," followed by a delicious story about the players in King Crimson and the famous cover of their debut album. On "I Talk To The Wind," another classic Crimson tune, Lake's vocals are very strong, even though at times the backing keys bleed through, adding a slight karaoke feel.
Bright quick audience participation lifts the equally bright and quick Beatles song, "You Got To Hide Your Love Away," after Lake's story about touring with Ringo Starr. A major highlight is when Lake's vocal and acoustic guitar brush over "Trilogy," which is practically worth the price of this CD alone. "Still You Turn Me On" sounded big and another story about how "C'est la Vie" was a hit for Johnny Hallyday (aka the French Elvis) in France certainly explains the global appeal of ELP.
The night wouldn't be complete without the ubiquitous "Lucky Man." Lake's powerful voice and simple playing on the keys work well on a very sweet "People Get Ready." The encore of ELP's "Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part 2" gets the crowd really crazy with full complement of backing tracks. We do get a good mix of Lake's bass up nice and high and his voice sounds as good at the end of the show as it did at the beginning. Overall, Songs Of A Lifetime does a stellar job of bringing a show from Greg Lake's recent tour to life. We can only hope more will follow.
MORE REVIEW
Greg Lake - "The Songs Of A Lifetime"
This disc was advertised as a two disc set and as it turns out it is a single CD from different shows Greg performed in 2012 worldwide so Greg's voice will vary from night-to-night as there is: "Strong-Voice" Greg and then there is: "Decent-Voice" Greg and then there is also: "Voice-Shot" Greg all here together. There are highlights of Greg singing wonderful ("I Talk To The Wind" "C'est Le Vie" "Touch & Go") and doing a fine Beatles cover of: "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" that is cool for the ears. Six of the 20 tracks found on this disc are spoken introductions and they are not too long but after a few plays you won't need them any longer.
This disc is well paced and the order of the show has been bended and turned around more than once and the only real problem is when Greg sings the delicate ELP tune: "Trilogy" as wherever he was when he sang it (not played in San Francisco at my show) his voice was a smokers-rasp and he couldn't sing this difficult piece of music snd that is indeed a shame as it one of ELP's very finest compositions and one of my favorites from this mighty band. The show ends with the closing section of "Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression - Part Two" where with first a bass guitar and then a Stratocaster (quick switch!) Greg sings...."Come and see the show." The encore (placed here before the 2nd set closer) was a real surprise as Greg sat at an electric piano and sang the Curtis Mayfield classic: "People Get Ready" that was a big shock as Greg could really play that piano (not Emerson quality but very good!) and he sang the devil out of this one and it was a dramatic and majestic ending to a very nice show.
So that is Greg's new CD with 20 tracks and 75 minutes of talk and music and sounding much better than you might think it would. Greg, has recorded live music for his albums in San Francisco before so I just might be heard giving him a shout-out after the end of: "In The Court Of The Crimson King." Maybe....
Four Stars!
BIOGRAPHY
by Bruce Eder
As a singer and instrumentalist, Greg Lake had his greatest success and influence in the progressive rock outfit Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, before that, as a founding member of the original King Crimson. He has also been reasonably popular as a solo artist working in more of a hard rock idiom. As a boy, growing up in a poverty stricken part of the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, he got his first guitar for his 12th birthday, as a gift from his mother, and began taking lessons from a local teacher named Don Strike, one of whose other students was Robert Fripp, who became close friends with Lake. Around the time he was 12 years old, Lake also wrote a folk-style song that played a major part in his future, entitled "Lucky Man."
Lake learned to read music and also to play pieces by Paganini, among other classical composers, but his aspirations lay with emulating the sound of his favorite band of the era, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, and their lead guitarist, Hank B. Marvin. Lake passed through a succession of groups, including a local quartet called Unit Four, in which he played guitar and sang. He and Unit Four guitarist David Genes later formed the Time Checks, and, still later -- around 1967 -- with another Unit Four member, John Dickinson, was a member of a band called the Shame, who cut a single in 1968. He also sang on a record by a band called the Shy Limbs. In 1968, Lake succeeded Mick Taylor as a member of an outfit called the Gods, whose other members included future Uriah Heep founders Ken Hensley (keyboards, vocals) and Lee Kerslake (drums), and it was there that his songwriting first blossomed. He left the Gods just before they began to record, having been approached by his boyhood friend Robert Fripp to join the outfit that he was putting together out of a failed trio called Giles, Giles & Fripp -- Lake joined the quintet (Fripp on lead guitar; Ian McDonald on keyboards, saxes, and flute; Michael Giles on drums; and Peter Sinfield as lyricist) as lead singer and bassist.
King Crimson proceeded to carve out a name for themselves unique in the history of rock music as the leading progressive rock band of their era. Their first album, In The Court of the Crimson King, became the standard for serious progressive rock albums. Lake, along with the others, was suddenly a star. That first lineup of the band only lasted a year -- by December of 1969, Giles and McDonald were tired of touring and opted out, and Lake refused to continue working with the group, although he stayed around long enough to sing on the second King Crimson album, In the Wake of Poseidon (1970).
At the suggestion of Tony Stratton-Smith, Lake was approached by keyboard player Keith Emerson, who was in the process of putting together a new group after three years with his current band, the Nice. The latter group's main fault was its lack of a real lead singer, and Emerson saw in Lake -- whose voice had dominated In The Court of the Crimson King -- the solution to that problem. The two eventually recruited drummer Carl Palmer and formed progressive rock's first supergroup, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who were a success from their self-titled first album, released in 1970, which closed with Lake's old song "Lucky Man." The latter became one of the group's few successful singles, one of their rare attempts to compete on AM radio -- it also turned Lake into one of the most familiar voices in progressive rock, rivaling such figures as the Moody Blues' Justin Hayward. Lake's production experience as a member of King Crimson (who had produced their own debut album) also served ELP in good stead, and his songwriting became the creative nucleus for the group's first three studio albums.
ELP dominated the charts and the field of progressive rock right up until 1977, by which time the entire genre of "art rock" was beginning to lose popularity. The stresses between the trio members caused them to split up after a tour in 1979, and Lake embarked on a solo career. Lake organized a new band with ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore on lead guitar, Rory Gallagher alumnus Ted McKenna on drums, and ex-Joe Cocker/Gerry Rafferty keyboard player Tommy Eyre, and recorded Lake's first solo album, Greg Lake (1981). The sound on that record was very different from ELP, as it was dominated by guitars, rather than keyboards, and featured Lake singing in a harder, more aggressive style. On tour he covered material going back to the King Crimson days, but he also regaled audiences with pumping versions of the new songs. A second album, Manoeuvres, followed in 1983, but by that time the creative and commercial bloom was off the rose, and Lake took his first break from music. He appeared in 1985 as the lead singer of Asia during that group's tour, but he didn't remain with the band.
In 1986, he re-teamed with Emerson and drummer Cozy Powell as Emerson, Lake & Powell, and recorded an album for Mercury Records, which was followed by a world tour. After a stint with ex-Asia member Geoff Downes and King Crimson drummer Michael Giles in a group called Ride the Tiger, Lake re-teamed with Emerson and Palmer for a film that was never finished, which led to their first new album in 13 years, Black Moon (1992). During the mid- and late '90s, Lake continued to work with Emerson and Palmer, while pursuing his solo work as well. The latter included a 1994 tour of the United States. He had also done a considerable amount of charitable work on behalf of missing children, and his song "Daddy," written in response to one such case, which ended tragically, achieved national exposure as a theme for a television series devoted to the plight of missing children.
