I knew little about synthesizers back when I first saw this live (on tv, no I wasn't lucky enough to be in the audience.) That K250 just amazes me. Modern keyboards can equal it, but none surpass it. Under Emerson's hands it is a triumph of technology, art and science made one. To have one of these in your stable is to own a piece of history. And good ones are not too dear, surprisingly. Too many think they are old hat, I guess. Wouldn't mind having one, myself.
Why not applaud Keith, More, More, More, pity he didn't have his standard band mates on stage, it looked a pit contrived playing with the studio band, they tried though. It was kind of funny seeing them pretend to be part of a real progressive band, looked like my mates back in our school days, lmfao
@JackinTheWoods Realy why are you reading more into it than what it is, I'm sure Paul wasn't trying to pretend to be anything other than one lucky man probalby playing with one of his all time hereos. By the way in case you hadn't noticed Paul is an acomplished player in his own right.
@ckelley63 All I meant was that you could easily see the difference between an experienced world touring concert legend and the studio boys on the show, yes Paul can play but he has not the concert experience nor the charisma of Emerson. Perhaps you didn't notice the effort Keith made to add some "stage presence" to the performance, something Paul lacks completely.
@JackinTheWoods I don't think Paul was supposed to be out in front. His job is to support Dave & whoever, in this case Keith. They're both good in different ways. (both my heroes. I play keyboards, but not in this league)
Super performance of Keith and this really good band!!! I have a live album of ELP with the fantastic Peter Gunn-theme on it. I did know his name - Keith Emerson - but didn't know what he did in the band or what he looked like. With this video I know more now! I will look it up how he looks in 2011:-)
Let me put it plainly. Keith is the god of keyboard players in more than just the prog rock genre! I guarantee you he could carry his own whether playing jazz, classical, fusion, etc. This man is a master of his craft.
Paul Shaffer pales in comparison. Paul would likely be working at a gas station if it weren't for Letterman.
...If you check the Archives, you'll note that Shaffer had an active Carreer as an Extra Player on "Saturday Night Live", before his Hook-Up with Letterman. Quite likely, he would have become an Actor (Quantity Unkown), without the Letterman Thing, if Music didn't work for him....He was in the NBC Pool of "Guys that do TV Work".
He got the Letterman Gig for his Music, but he got the SNL Gig for his Acting.
Fantastic to see this! ELPowell were an underrated outing for Keith and Greg, but a solid CD and a great, energetic tour. Some of the numbers from the CD ("The Score", "The Miracle") remain among my favorite songs of all time. I missed this performance on Letterman, though; so happy to see it now! Thanks!
@bobyoung53 'I do not like the reappearance of The Jesuits ... If ever there was a body of men who merited damnation on earth and in hell, it is this society of Loyola's. Nevertheless, we are compelled by our system of religous toleration to offer them an asylum.' John Adams, 2nd President of the U.S.A
@bobyoung53 "The high office of the President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom and before I leave office, I must inform the citizen of this plight."
@bobyoung53 Alexandre Dumas pere wrote over 400 historical novels exposing world tyranny(Roman Catholic Empire). Alexandre Dumas pere was born near Paris in 1802 and 'coincidentally' in 1902 The Society of Gesu(Jesuits) were expelled from France for the 3rd and last time. The Society of Jesu(Jesuits) have been expelled from 83 countries and their pope is ARAMIS AND HE IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO(GENERAL OF THE JESUITS).
@bobyoung53 "Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT owing NO allegiance and acknowledging NO responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul this unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of today." PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 1906
one of the best things i ever saw in a live show was in Vancouver 76(?) Keith Emmerson solo on the stage, an organ rose out of the floor, the kind you might see at Grandmas, he started playing it and then started kicking the crap out it, playing it on his back, upside down, backwards and then smashed it like Hendricks on a Stratocaster.
Yes! Dvorak's Symphony for the New World, WOW, then "I Like to Be in America!" From West Side Story Musical. Way to go Keith and Paul. Totally Awesome! Love teh glissando's down the 2nd manual on the B3. Rock On
I seriously dislike David Letterman, but Paul Schaffer is himself an extraordinary musician, and he has always surrounded himself with the best and brightest. Think what you will of his stage persona, but he's a superb musician, and it's WONDERFUL to see Paul & the gang really pushing themselves to this level of performance! Did you hear that bass line? Replay and just listen to the bass, then the guitar, then those massive drums! Paul knows his place when Emerson is onstage, but he rocks too!!!
The whole backup band Paul has are all top flight musicians and after seeing a c lip of Paul not too long ago, for get what it was, I gained a lot of respect for him as well as and incredible keyboard player in his own right. He was/is more than able to backup for Keith Emerson and believe it or not, share lead space with him.
Dude...this house band had to keep up with one of Keith Emerson's arrangements! You know they were sweating bullets!! And am I crazy or does the guitarist have the brand name covered up on the headstock? Kinda weird. And LOL on the mullet comment!
@searayus1 You used to see names covered on headstocks a lot on TV, because NBC, ABC, etc. didn't want to give free advertising to the instrument makers. I've recently noticed the same on old reruns of the Porter Wagoner and Wilburn Bros. shows from the '60s/'70s.
@aalonso1961 -Yeah as it was really tough to get Carl Palmer to do the album as he was Asia's drummer at the time & to get him to do an album, even if he wanted to, would have been impossible at the time, so, Keith & Greg getting Cozy Powell,....that was brilliant. Cozy was incredible.
Great performance by a wildly underrated late night band. They guys get a chance to show-off with Keith Emerson. Why? Because when Keith's around, it's okay to show off your chops -- all of them.
The audio part of this performance was floating around Napsterland in around 2000, and I still have a copy of that. I wish I could share it with all of you. It's of higher fidelity and doesn't sound so cheesy except in the Kurzweil parts. Actually it excludes the Kurzweil intro altogether and the Hammond false start. It brings out some essential sonic details in the ostinato/solo section.
@MrNicespaces This guy is nowhere to be found now ( for good reason) and even after a year, this is the only neg comment I have received besides the one with only 5 thumbs up. Shows that the masses are not aligned with your opinion. The masses pass on this spastic bullshit playing style. Shit he thinks when he hits a bad note he can just repeat it to make it sound like he meant to do it. Cheap style and talentless. I need to rinse out my ears just from hearing this crap.
@AJollyGoodFelon ELP Passed by the masses? ELP were one of the biggest bands in the 70's. They lost popularity, as did pretty much anything involving musicality, when Punk became the mainstream. Learn your shit.
Wow somebody who is bad as Roger Daltry at keyboards. They sound worse than a garage band. Listen to that guitar! SUCKS! Even the chosen sound of the keyboard SUCKS. Everything about these idiots SUCKS! That's my educated music lover's opinion. This emperor is friggin naked.
Some themes from the allegro part of Dvorak's 9th Symphony, "From the New World" (I like to call it the Hiawatha symphony) combined with Bernstein's 'America'.
hmmm great player..but I once saw someone write that Mr.Emerson is vastly better than Rick Wakeman...ummm.....uhh....hmmmm...he's not even in the same Universe as Rick Wakeman....
@pryzmcat I agree that Keith and Rick are not in the same universe. I believe they are in parallell universes. No one can match Rick for pure talent. But I have always preferred Keith's style. His lack of technical perfection make his improvisations seem real and spontaneous, while Rick can start to seem like a keyboard playing robot.
WOW!! The band was kicking some serious ass!! At first I thought this would be to complex an arrangment for these guys to handle, man, was I ever suprised.
Just for those not familiar: the piece is a montage of clips from the 4th movement of "The New World Symphony" by Antonin Dvorak, wrapped around "America" by Leonard Bernstein, from West Side Story. Keith Emerson was still rockifying classical tunes in 1986, apparently (and, I guess, show tunes as well). Fortunately, he's moved on to more creative ventures since.
I've been to a lot of concerts and seen loads of preeminent musicians. Keith Emerson's performance at New Orleans Lakefront Arena on this tour was easily the most amazing individual display of chops I've actually seen.
Paul S. isn't at all a bad keyboardist so to have him gape at Keith like that says a lot about Keith. I wouldn't be surprised if Keith wasn't Paul's inspiration to be a musician. Also, I found it rather amusing to see a drummer like Anton Figg reading music to keep up with Keith's changes!
You know, when I listen to self-congratulatory compositions like this, it suddenly becomes crystal clear to me why prog is such a polarizing genre of music.
It isn't putting down Schaeffer to say that Emerson's a far better technician (though he isn't served by those cheesy Kurzweill samples from the 80s -- what a wretched time for keyb sounds that was). I used to work with a producer who hired P.S. in the 70s -- he's a decent pop keyboardist/M.D. and he can read charts, but in those days, people hired roughly three keyboardists in New York for pop sessions. Those who hired P.S. usually did so because he was funny and competent, not great.
People that are putting down Paul Schaffer...oh come on. Paul Schaffer is no keyboard slouch. I love Keith, and am going to see him tonight with Greg Lake in Los Angeles, but basically there are just a few standard chords to this song "America," and then he plays arpeggios on them real fast. Nothing that Paul doesn't do a dozen times a night with various standard songs with the Letterman show. (no, I couldn't do it, but Schaffer certainly can.)
@robbopaloobop That was Anton Fig on drums in this clip. Cozy Powell played on the tour with Emerson and Lake. this was Keith Emerson playing with the Letterman house band
I saw ELP(owell) on that same tour at the Fillmore SF.
I have a few versions of this piece by the Nice, I always thought the Dvorak intro and other excerpts blended well with the rest of it.
I like how Shaffer is looking intently at Emerson's playing during one of his solos - not to take anything away from him of course. The guitarist is good too, sounds quite like the guitarist from Nice (Davy O'List).
@yoochoobb That guitar player is Sid Mc Guiness He was in peter Gabriel's band before working with Paul Shaffer. He predated David Rhodes in the Gabriel band
OMG I remember watching this on the Letterman show. I was about 13 years old. I grew up listening to ELP. I got my mom ELP tickets for her Bday! haha!
Paul Shafer is the consumate director. He is probably the best at adapting to anyone that shows up and playing almost anything. That's a tough gig, no matter what your level of talent is. Paul handles it like a pro. You cannot fault him on this. I don't know of anyone that could do what he does better. All my congrats to Paul Shafer. Wish I had his talent.
Who mixed this? Way too much guitar and not enough Keith. Dave's drummer is clueless what to play.
Kind of a cool, offbeat tune to pick. But the arrangement sounds like they spent maybe ten minutes on it.
The Kurzweil "ooo ahh" voice patches are all too well known for us keyboard players who played through the '80's. And yep, between Paul and Keith they probably have half a mill of Kurzweil stuff there.
@jfv65: Keith has been playing this arrangement of the Leonard Bernstein piece since his days with the Nice back in the late '60s. You can find footage of him playing it with that group on You Tube from around 43 years ago.
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Paul Shaffer, what a frakkin hack, Could you believe getting on Letterman and having to preform with Paul Shaffer? Wouldn't matter if he had Carl Palmer, Greg Lake and Steve Howe with him that ass would still suck. But he's probably gettin banged by Dave too, that's why he has the job
WOW! I had never seen this footage before. Always been an ELP fan. Heard this track on XM the other day, and had to look it up on UT. Recommend it highly!
Anyone who says that these guys suck ... is just jealous. After all, who else can be mad at the world's greatest musical artists, most of whom died over a few decades ago? Morrison, Van Zant, Mercury ... They were all spectacular and we will never see talent like that again.
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Are you retarded..that doesnt even look like Greg Lake.... fuck do some research!.....PSHHHHHH to be technical MY ASS, Mother Fucker!.......and to top if off Dave even says "With the house band." ....gee i wonder wtf that could be...IDIOT!!!!!!!!
You have a lot of enthusiasm, however, you may want to redirect it. I was at work when I saw this, so I missed the "one-third" comment. But to be "technical"...
1. You missed a question mark after "retarded".
2. You dropped a comma before "do".
3. The phrase is "top it off"
4. Dave says "Paul and the boys" (I missed that, too!)
5. Capitalize "I" unless you are don marquis or ee cummings, Hobbes.
6. I am still right about Dvorak and Bernstein. (I researched)
I think some folks just hate Keith Emerson without even thinking or even listening to him. It is really, really sad and a sad reflection of the state to which understanding or appreciation of music has fallen. Post-punk fall out, in which preferences are based on ideology...
Paul Schaefer is the band leader, he isn't out there to outshine the guests. He is a brilliant musician who knows just about every song ever recorded. He is not "lost" out there, he is giving the spotlight to Emerson, who is also a brilliant musician, and is the guest. That four piece band as well as the Late Show band are some of the best musicians around!!!!
That's not Powell That's anton Fig. I reread my comment and even I was confused. What i was trying to say was fuck Neil peart compared to Carl Palmer. But now that you've called me dumbass I say fuck you and cozy Powell too.
Sure Throw peart 's name after Palmer ALWAYS but know it's Peart's just a parasite that can't get enough Palmer blood to fatten up behind. Parasites end up on bottom of food chain just like peart did in comparison to Palmer
I thought the Korg DSS-1 was huge but the Kurzweil 250 is monstrous in size.
VisceralVoids 4 days ago
Literally one of, if perhaps the best progrock keyboard artist of all time. But Tony Banks is right up there.
Ranzabar 3 weeks ago
hammond is the best. i have a M3...
wandov8 1 month ago
I knew little about synthesizers back when I first saw this live (on tv, no I wasn't lucky enough to be in the audience.) That K250 just amazes me. Modern keyboards can equal it, but none surpass it. Under Emerson's hands it is a triumph of technology, art and science made one. To have one of these in your stable is to own a piece of history. And good ones are not too dear, surprisingly. Too many think they are old hat, I guess. Wouldn't mind having one, myself.
gridsleep 1 month ago
Why not applaud Keith, More, More, More, pity he didn't have his standard band mates on stage, it looked a pit contrived playing with the studio band, they tried though. It was kind of funny seeing them pretend to be part of a real progressive band, looked like my mates back in our school days, lmfao
JackinTheWoods 2 months ago
@JackinTheWoods Realy why are you reading more into it than what it is, I'm sure Paul wasn't trying to pretend to be anything other than one lucky man probalby playing with one of his all time hereos. By the way in case you hadn't noticed Paul is an acomplished player in his own right.
ckelley63 1 month ago
@ckelley63 All I meant was that you could easily see the difference between an experienced world touring concert legend and the studio boys on the show, yes Paul can play but he has not the concert experience nor the charisma of Emerson. Perhaps you didn't notice the effort Keith made to add some "stage presence" to the performance, something Paul lacks completely.
JackinTheWoods 1 month ago
@JackinTheWoods I don't think Paul was supposed to be out in front. His job is to support Dave & whoever, in this case Keith. They're both good in different ways. (both my heroes. I play keyboards, but not in this league)
WaldoJeffers10 1 week ago
Super performance of Keith and this really good band!!! I have a live album of ELP with the fantastic Peter Gunn-theme on it. I did know his name - Keith Emerson - but didn't know what he did in the band or what he looked like. With this video I know more now! I will look it up how he looks in 2011:-)
turquoisecapricorn 2 months ago
Is that a Kurzweil 250 on top of the B3 Keith is playing? What a beast of a keyboard for the day back then!
tonewheeler1 2 months ago
@tonewheeler1 Sure is and Paul's playing one too :)
kms250 1 month ago in playlist Favorite videos
Paul needed a few underwear changes after watching Keith on this one : )
treetoptop 3 months ago
I haven't listened to him in 35 years. Now I remember why.
Gminor7 3 months ago
Back when Lettermans band rocked! Been neutered now....
MajorWatt 3 months ago
Let me put it plainly. Keith is the god of keyboard players in more than just the prog rock genre! I guarantee you he could carry his own whether playing jazz, classical, fusion, etc. This man is a master of his craft.
Paul Shaffer pales in comparison. Paul would likely be working at a gas station if it weren't for Letterman.
DarkAmbient93 3 months ago
@DarkAmbient93
...If you check the Archives, you'll note that Shaffer had an active Carreer as an Extra Player on "Saturday Night Live", before his Hook-Up with Letterman. Quite likely, he would have become an Actor (Quantity Unkown), without the Letterman Thing, if Music didn't work for him....He was in the NBC Pool of "Guys that do TV Work".
He got the Letterman Gig for his Music, but he got the SNL Gig for his Acting.
...But who can predict "What might have been"?
NDL
ninodelobos 2 months ago
@DarkAmbient93 Bet he makes more one show than you make all year!! Where's your talent?
ckelley63 1 month ago
They're the only house band on TV who could keep up with him. They look like they enjoy themselves no matter who they're jamming with.
Howiebob57 4 months ago
Fantastic to see this! ELPowell were an underrated outing for Keith and Greg, but a solid CD and a great, energetic tour. Some of the numbers from the CD ("The Score", "The Miracle") remain among my favorite songs of all time. I missed this performance on Letterman, though; so happy to see it now! Thanks!
CaptainFossil1 4 months ago
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@bobyoung53 'I do not like the reappearance of The Jesuits ... If ever there was a body of men who merited damnation on earth and in hell, it is this society of Loyola's. Nevertheless, we are compelled by our system of religous toleration to offer them an asylum.' John Adams, 2nd President of the U.S.A
uriahheep108 4 months ago
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@bobyoung53 "The high office of the President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom and before I leave office, I must inform the citizen of this plight."
~JFK
uriahheep108 4 months ago
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@bobyoung53 Alexandre Dumas pere wrote over 400 historical novels exposing world tyranny(Roman Catholic Empire). Alexandre Dumas pere was born near Paris in 1802 and 'coincidentally' in 1902 The Society of Gesu(Jesuits) were expelled from France for the 3rd and last time. The Society of Jesu(Jesuits) have been expelled from 83 countries and their pope is ARAMIS AND HE IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO(GENERAL OF THE JESUITS).
uriahheep108 4 months ago
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@bobyoung53 "Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT owing NO allegiance and acknowledging NO responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul this unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of today." PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 1906
uriahheep108 4 months ago
Yeah, this guy is pretty good.
56captvideo 5 months ago
emerson, lake, and SHITE!
Putaspellonyou 6 months ago
@Putaspellonyou No!!!!!
nicothemusicfan 4 months ago
one of the best things i ever saw in a live show was in Vancouver 76(?) Keith Emmerson solo on the stage, an organ rose out of the floor, the kind you might see at Grandmas, he started playing it and then started kicking the crap out it, playing it on his back, upside down, backwards and then smashed it like Hendricks on a Stratocaster.
2leet2cheet 6 months ago
david was gonna say 1/3 of elp is here (or something like that) but than he decided it would be rude so he skipped to the next line on the prompter.
how nice of him lol
SRNF 6 months ago
the only gem of the 1980s and you found it, congratz!
SRNF 6 months ago
Yes! Dvorak's Symphony for the New World, WOW, then "I Like to Be in America!" From West Side Story Musical. Way to go Keith and Paul. Totally Awesome! Love teh glissando's down the 2nd manual on the B3. Rock On
djorlando57 6 months ago
He should have told Paul to take a break.
coldfarted 6 months ago
Musicianship: stellar. Music: BORING
eqsmooth 6 months ago
Emerson places 1s in the top 100 most best keyboard players. Has to count for something
Secondlifecreator 7 months ago
OMG! That's Dvorak's Symphony for the New World he starts off with! Damn Keith Emerson is BRILLIANT!
dcs002 7 months ago
I seriously dislike David Letterman, but Paul Schaffer is himself an extraordinary musician, and he has always surrounded himself with the best and brightest. Think what you will of his stage persona, but he's a superb musician, and it's WONDERFUL to see Paul & the gang really pushing themselves to this level of performance! Did you hear that bass line? Replay and just listen to the bass, then the guitar, then those massive drums! Paul knows his place when Emerson is onstage, but he rocks too!!!
dcs002 7 months ago
i love Keith Emerson!!! by the way, is the drummer Anton Fig?
lamecasuelas2 8 months ago
@lamecasuelas2 Yes, That's Anton.
SpahnRanch1969 7 months ago
@lamecasuelas2 anton fig,one of my favorite drummers
lamecasuelas2 7 months ago
The whole backup band Paul has are all top flight musicians and after seeing a c lip of Paul not too long ago, for get what it was, I gained a lot of respect for him as well as and incredible keyboard player in his own right. He was/is more than able to backup for Keith Emerson and believe it or not, share lead space with him.
eddieman45248 8 months ago
I miss ELP.
While technically interesting, nothing can beat the sheer bombastic sound of the original line up.
TheSynthZone 8 months ago 2
ahora a escuchar este temazo..
nalcow 9 months ago
Really, really fun video, thanks! Paul's got some top flight session players in that band. Will Lee on Bass and Anton Figg on drums. Tasty!
rebbi51 9 months ago
Los musicos del programa seguro se sienten en el cielo. :]
pollaris18 10 months ago
Dude...this house band had to keep up with one of Keith Emerson's arrangements! You know they were sweating bullets!! And am I crazy or does the guitarist have the brand name covered up on the headstock? Kinda weird. And LOL on the mullet comment!
searayus1 10 months ago
@searayus1 You used to see names covered on headstocks a lot on TV, because NBC, ABC, etc. didn't want to give free advertising to the instrument makers. I've recently noticed the same on old reruns of the Porter Wagoner and Wilburn Bros. shows from the '60s/'70s.
aircap 9 months ago
God I remember watching this. Still sends chills up and down my spine!
raydeen2k 11 months ago 2
What's the name of the backing band? 'The Mullets'? ;-)
mitchikaboola 11 months ago 2
this is good
12stringbabe 1 year ago
and LAKE ????? and POWELL ?????????????? =(
aalonso1961 1 year ago
@aalonso1961 -Yeah as it was really tough to get Carl Palmer to do the album as he was Asia's drummer at the time & to get him to do an album, even if he wanted to, would have been impossible at the time, so, Keith & Greg getting Cozy Powell,....that was brilliant. Cozy was incredible.
mrspringheeledjack1 9 months ago
these guys should have feel happy to get the chance to play whit such a legend.
Akron162 1 year ago 11
Great performance by a wildly underrated late night band. They guys get a chance to show-off with Keith Emerson. Why? Because when Keith's around, it's okay to show off your chops -- all of them.
bearmare 1 year ago 2
The audio part of this performance was floating around Napsterland in around 2000, and I still have a copy of that. I wish I could share it with all of you. It's of higher fidelity and doesn't sound so cheesy except in the Kurzweil parts. Actually it excludes the Kurzweil intro altogether and the Hammond false start. It brings out some essential sonic details in the ostinato/solo section.
rsp196607 1 year ago
I thought it sounded awesome.
backgame 1 year ago
Whoa! Paul with hair!
mharris802000 1 year ago
I've watched this since it aired and I continue to wonder whether Anton is even playing in the same time signature as Keith.
Soamsey 1 year ago
They needed to turn Keith WAY up. He's barely audible here especially on the sweeps.
cranie4 1 year ago
Keith = Legend. Great to see him kicking butt on Letterman.
Gordomusic1 1 year ago
Keyboard sounds like some damn old church lady. I hate it. The guy needs to have his hands amputated.
AJollyGoodFelon 1 year ago
@AJollyGoodFelon;
You've successfully annnounced your ignorance.
MrNicespaces 4 months ago
@MrNicespaces This guy is nowhere to be found now ( for good reason) and even after a year, this is the only neg comment I have received besides the one with only 5 thumbs up. Shows that the masses are not aligned with your opinion. The masses pass on this spastic bullshit playing style. Shit he thinks when he hits a bad note he can just repeat it to make it sound like he meant to do it. Cheap style and talentless. I need to rinse out my ears just from hearing this crap.
AJollyGoodFelon 4 months ago
@AJollyGoodFelon;
BACK-TO-BACK HOMERS!
You have CLEARLY established your referencial expertise!
The masses rule! All Hail Bieber!!
MrNicespaces 4 months ago
@AJollyGoodFelon ELP Passed by the masses? ELP were one of the biggest bands in the 70's. They lost popularity, as did pretty much anything involving musicality, when Punk became the mainstream. Learn your shit.
joverboss 3 months ago
Emerson, Lee and Fig
funkster007 1 year ago
give the band a break, they got to play with one of thier heros, that dowsnt happen everyday for them
ELP71 1 year ago
I remember watching this on TV when it was first broadcast. It holds up still. Go Keith!
madhattan65 1 year ago
what.
boibad12 1 year ago
@ruemiser, correct sir!
That band had 'cheese' written all over them, Emerson was great as usual
WyldeWannabe 1 year ago
Wow somebody who is bad as Roger Daltry at keyboards. They sound worse than a garage band. Listen to that guitar! SUCKS! Even the chosen sound of the keyboard SUCKS. Everything about these idiots SUCKS! That's my educated music lover's opinion. This emperor is friggin naked.
AJollyGoodFelon 1 year ago
@AJollyGoodFelon 6th grade band doesnt qualify your opinion as educated.. Emerson is the best progressive rock keyboardist of all time!
chili4x4 1 year ago 8
@chili4x4 to date ;)
IaxobusJames 8 months ago
@AJollyGoodFelon Townshend did keys, you plebian.
ebaumsboy09 1 year ago
Some themes from the allegro part of Dvorak's 9th Symphony, "From the New World" (I like to call it the Hiawatha symphony) combined with Bernstein's 'America'.
coosoorlog 1 year ago
where the fuck is cozzy?
balerinauzicka 1 year ago
emerson es un recapo!! escuché la original de west side story y la verdad me gusta más esta!!! AGUANTE KEITH EEEEEMEERSOOOOON!
FUKIMAKAI 1 year ago
1. Total pro.
2. +1,000,000 points for playing a Nice tune.
3. Nobody wears leather better than Keith Emerson.
mchampag 1 year ago
Could you imagine this airing on controlled network TV today? Where has all the great music gone
rg2027x 1 year ago
aaaaaahhhhhhhhh......what a shame!!!!where are your knifes Keith?
aab1221baa 1 year ago
With The Nice they burned the stars & stripes while playing this. Would have been fun on the Letterman show.
vunzwijk 1 year ago
hmmm great player..but I once saw someone write that Mr.Emerson is vastly better than Rick Wakeman...ummm.....uhh....hmmmm...he's not even in the same Universe as Rick Wakeman....
pryzmcat 1 year ago
@pryzmcat I agree that Keith and Rick are not in the same universe. I believe they are in parallell universes. No one can match Rick for pure talent. But I have always preferred Keith's style. His lack of technical perfection make his improvisations seem real and spontaneous, while Rick can start to seem like a keyboard playing robot.
TimGR 1 year ago
@TimGR I don't rate Rick that highly. His left hand work is comparably poor. Emerson, Lord, Moraz and Brian Auger are the best imo.
shiftwork 11 months ago
EXPERT OF THE HAMMOND ORGAN great KEITH EMERSON, king of musical creativity.
organeu 1 year ago
EMERSON realmente disfruta lo que hace ... especialmente en el 86 que hacia musica mas pop
gran versión y mas para ser del 86
FUKIMAKAI 1 year ago
WOW!! The band was kicking some serious ass!! At first I thought this would be to complex an arrangment for these guys to handle, man, was I ever suprised.
kubrick681 1 year ago
oh my god just getting better and better! the greatest, man and k.e. should be voted most sexy ever!
minirampchamp1 1 year ago
Awesome. Too bad something like that would never happen on tv today. Even if it did, it would be cut in half time-wise, at least.
wild4queen 1 year ago
Just for those not familiar: the piece is a montage of clips from the 4th movement of "The New World Symphony" by Antonin Dvorak, wrapped around "America" by Leonard Bernstein, from West Side Story. Keith Emerson was still rockifying classical tunes in 1986, apparently (and, I guess, show tunes as well). Fortunately, he's moved on to more creative ventures since.
philWynk 1 year ago 2
He uses dvorak 9 all throughout it <3 my favourite symphony everrrrr
trebleconeftw 1 year ago
Fucking brilliant.
trebleconeftw 1 year ago
I've been to a lot of concerts and seen loads of preeminent musicians. Keith Emerson's performance at New Orleans Lakefront Arena on this tour was easily the most amazing individual display of chops I've actually seen.
seismiccowboy 1 year ago
Paul S. isn't at all a bad keyboardist so to have him gape at Keith like that says a lot about Keith. I wouldn't be surprised if Keith wasn't Paul's inspiration to be a musician. Also, I found it rather amusing to see a drummer like Anton Figg reading music to keep up with Keith's changes!
ablethevoice 1 year ago
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EXPERT OF THE HAMMOND ORGAN great KEITH EMERSON, king of musical creativity.
organeu 1 year ago
You know, when I listen to self-congratulatory compositions like this, it suddenly becomes crystal clear to me why prog is such a polarizing genre of music.
I certainly respect the musicianship though.
kidglovesnomore 1 year ago
I think this song sucks extremely. I want to break this assholes fingers.
AJollyGoodFelon 1 year ago
@AJollyGoodFelon shut the fuck up you fag you have no idea what genius is.....
TweedleDumm1 1 year ago
holy shit...I knew the k250 was big...but not THAT big. WTF.
kekenalii 1 year ago
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It isn't putting down Schaeffer to say that Emerson's a far better technician (though he isn't served by those cheesy Kurzweill samples from the 80s -- what a wretched time for keyb sounds that was). I used to work with a producer who hired P.S. in the 70s -- he's a decent pop keyboardist/M.D. and he can read charts, but in those days, people hired roughly three keyboardists in New York for pop sessions. Those who hired P.S. usually did so because he was funny and competent, not great.
Fremglerk 1 year ago
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Fremglerk 1 year ago
People that are putting down Paul Schaffer...oh come on. Paul Schaffer is no keyboard slouch. I love Keith, and am going to see him tonight with Greg Lake in Los Angeles, but basically there are just a few standard chords to this song "America," and then he plays arpeggios on them real fast. Nothing that Paul doesn't do a dozen times a night with various standard songs with the Letterman show. (no, I couldn't do it, but Schaffer certainly can.)
twtom 1 year ago
Paul Schaffer must feel so worthless in this clip....I mean seriously...this IS Keith Emerson!
mr063 1 year ago
@mr063 Paul could/can keep up
snoogans999 1 year ago 2
With a little squinting of the eyes, Keith looks like Uncle Joey from Full House.
BearNachos 1 year ago
Keith can rock, but let's be honest, this is some seriously cheesy shit.
roos08824 1 year ago
I remember seeing this on TV, and I also went to the concert tour too.
pschroeter1 1 year ago
lotta cocaine....
ComradeCrusty 1 year ago
The beginning sounds like the main riff from Sesame Street!
treetoptop 1 year ago
Paul pwned! ;-)
carlgt1 1 year ago
I keep thinking .Sesame street.
ronnieclarke 1 year ago
nice to see Cozy Powell....RIP
thanks for posting this
robbopaloobop 1 year ago
@robbopaloobop That was Anton Fig on drums in this clip. Cozy Powell played on the tour with Emerson and Lake. this was Keith Emerson playing with the Letterman house band
I agree RIP COZY POWELL
ps one of the great musician names of all time
klangfarben 1 year ago
@klangfarben
thanks....I stand corrected
(I completely forgot that Anton Fig had hair at one time)
robbopaloobop 1 year ago
Me thinks Paul is thinking "I'm not worthy"...Hey Paul can hold his own for sure...but w/ Keith?!?...soak it ma brother
SolarTiger 1 year ago
paul had hair?
Putaspellonyou 1 year ago
great archive,,,love the mullets
def2251 1 year ago
anyone know the model of the Kurzweil he's using?
cvl85 1 year ago
And that's the Massive sound of a Kurzweil....
cvl85 1 year ago
great as usual. so what's new?
Paul kicks ass too,a great musician but Keith always great. Still My keyboard hero in my 50's.
fadethetrade 1 year ago
I saw ELP(owell) on that same tour at the Fillmore SF.
I have a few versions of this piece by the Nice, I always thought the Dvorak intro and other excerpts blended well with the rest of it.
I like how Shaffer is looking intently at Emerson's playing during one of his solos - not to take anything away from him of course. The guitarist is good too, sounds quite like the guitarist from Nice (Davy O'List).
yoochoobb 1 year ago
@yoochoobb That guitar player is Sid Mc Guiness He was in peter Gabriel's band before working with Paul Shaffer. He predated David Rhodes in the Gabriel band
westpalmscott 1 year ago
Emerson never got that far from The Nice, did he?
CatapultYourMom 1 year ago
eat that paul shaffer!
HeartAttackMan74 2 years ago 21
@HeartAttackMan74 You should watch a Jordan Ruddes clip and post eat that Keith Emmerson...
vismundcignus 1 year ago
OMG I remember watching this on the Letterman show. I was about 13 years old. I grew up listening to ELP. I got my mom ELP tickets for her Bday! haha!
sarahsmiles114 2 years ago
This is from "Late Night with David Letterman", on NBC. The move to CBS (and "Late Show" name) came several years later.
ueberRegenbogen 2 years ago
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is that music? horrible, horrible!!!!!!
juniorusa0001 2 years ago
Paul Shafer is the consumate director. He is probably the best at adapting to anyone that shows up and playing almost anything. That's a tough gig, no matter what your level of talent is. Paul handles it like a pro. You cannot fault him on this. I don't know of anyone that could do what he does better. All my congrats to Paul Shafer. Wish I had his talent.
drdave25 2 years ago 2
@drdave25 you are crazy paul is nothing
steve89z 2 years ago
nice watch
jrandaz2 2 years ago
Who mixed this? Way too much guitar and not enough Keith. Dave's drummer is clueless what to play.
Kind of a cool, offbeat tune to pick. But the arrangement sounds like they spent maybe ten minutes on it.
The Kurzweil "ooo ahh" voice patches are all too well known for us keyboard players who played through the '80's. And yep, between Paul and Keith they probably have half a mill of Kurzweil stuff there.
chaosIsTheOnlyPower 2 years ago
"i like to be in America!"
Cool sound!
jfv65 2 years ago
@jfv65: Keith has been playing this arrangement of the Leonard Bernstein piece since his days with the Nice back in the late '60s. You can find footage of him playing it with that group on You Tube from around 43 years ago.
aarfeld 2 years ago
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Paul Shaffer, what a frakkin hack, Could you believe getting on Letterman and having to preform with Paul Shaffer? Wouldn't matter if he had Carl Palmer, Greg Lake and Steve Howe with him that ass would still suck. But he's probably gettin banged by Dave too, that's why he has the job
chipmacgill 2 years ago
wait... Letterman's been running for THAT long? jeez, im so lost lol.
Cruz08erZ 2 years ago
WOW! I had never seen this footage before. Always been an ELP fan. Heard this track on XM the other day, and had to look it up on UT. Recommend it highly!
BigTony1956 2 years ago
How nice of Keith to shake hands with Paul as a partner on keyboards
juulbrie 2 years ago 9
@juulbrie As well he should. Paul is a master.
minggnim 1 year ago
WTF, that's a massive kurzweil
freitasnetuno 2 years ago
Original Kurzweil K250, £1/4 worth at the time I believe.
There are moments when Keith is 'at his best' here.
Thanks for sharing.
osummuso 2 years ago
Kurzweil 250 on top ..Hammond B3 on the bottom ...
The Hammond is the big slob !
dgcmusi 2 years ago
This is truely awesome!
VilleKoo01 2 years ago 2
i bought the album when it came out but never saw this performance! paul is watching emerson in aww!! great video thanx!!
killcraz 2 years ago
Back when Paul had a normal band. He should have been playing tambourine. KE is great, Dave is great
RogerMurdock 2 years ago
ROFL that made my night....:::Tambourine:::...
PaPhotographer 2 years ago
What do you mean "normal band"?
Soul74 2 years ago
Emerson looks like he has to take a dump...
rotory2002 2 years ago
Anyone who says that these guys suck ... is just jealous. After all, who else can be mad at the world's greatest musical artists, most of whom died over a few decades ago? Morrison, Van Zant, Mercury ... They were all spectacular and we will never see talent like that again.
antagonist42 2 years ago 3
Greatest Letterman show ever!!
FergusonTO35 2 years ago
To be technical, this is a quodlibet of two melodies; America by Leonard Bernstein and Antonin Dvorak's "New World" Symphony.
Was that Lake on the bass?
gilgamess 2 years ago 2
That's Will Lee.....
silenteyeone 2 years ago
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Are you retarded..that doesnt even look like Greg Lake.... fuck do some research!.....PSHHHHHH to be technical MY ASS, Mother Fucker!.......and to top if off Dave even says "With the house band." ....gee i wonder wtf that could be...IDIOT!!!!!!!!
CommBreakDown 2 years ago
You have a lot of enthusiasm, however, you may want to redirect it. I was at work when I saw this, so I missed the "one-third" comment. But to be "technical"...
1. You missed a question mark after "retarded".
2. You dropped a comma before "do".
3. The phrase is "top it off"
4. Dave says "Paul and the boys" (I missed that, too!)
5. Capitalize "I" unless you are don marquis or ee cummings, Hobbes.
6. I am still right about Dvorak and Bernstein. (I researched)
7. Thanks silenteyeone!
gilgamess 2 years ago
I think some folks just hate Keith Emerson without even thinking or even listening to him. It is really, really sad and a sad reflection of the state to which understanding or appreciation of music has fallen. Post-punk fall out, in which preferences are based on ideology...
garygomesg 2 years ago
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The music is even worse than the haircuts.
Widmerpool99 2 years ago
Ignorante !!
batatacollins 2 years ago
no the song is called 'america'. look it up along with 'the nice'
Quadrophenia47 2 years ago
No, it's clearly "Big Bottom".
chupathingy99 2 years ago
Paul Schaefer is the band leader, he isn't out there to outshine the guests. He is a brilliant musician who knows just about every song ever recorded. He is not "lost" out there, he is giving the spotlight to Emerson, who is also a brilliant musician, and is the guest. That four piece band as well as the Late Show band are some of the best musicians around!!!!
acey68 2 years ago
I think his real name is PAUL Allen Wood SHAFFER.
vivelavidarocka 2 years ago
Mind blowing!!!! Emerson is GOD!!!
sophiegromit 2 years ago
Yeah, Schaefer looked a little lost there. It's easy to see why Keith had to have surgery, his wrists never bent during any of the high-speed stuff.
markkens 2 years ago
whose dick did shaefer suck to even get into show biz? emerson could perform by himself without these other idiots.
steve89z 2 years ago
What is Paul Shaffer trying to do? Please, dude, Keith never needed help......
vivelavidarocka 2 years ago
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paul is a no-talent jew motherfucker
steve89z 2 years ago
bigot
4evrhackett1 2 years ago
I've seen this video a lot of times. Surely a masterpiece of prog rock and I think it is even better than the original America version
8Tarkus8 2 years ago
NICE..SID!!
deheckler 2 years ago
i cant wait to see Asia next month
stanmirales 2 years ago
That's not Powell That's anton Fig. I reread my comment and even I was confused. What i was trying to say was fuck Neil peart compared to Carl Palmer. But now that you've called me dumbass I say fuck you and cozy Powell too.
rrdrums110 2 years ago
That Kurzweil keyboard is an absolute beast - huge!
PaulRoberts 2 years ago
Sure Throw peart 's name after Palmer ALWAYS but know it's Peart's just a parasite that can't get enough Palmer blood to fatten up behind. Parasites end up on bottom of food chain just like peart did in comparison to Palmer
rrdrums110 2 years ago
It's POWELL, dumbass. And he was a fantastic drummer in his own right. His style just didn't correspond to ELP's tightness as much.
mooghammondb3 2 years ago
This is very tight for an late night show. 10 out of 10.
ashipwreck 2 years ago 5
This nutrocker kills my nuts!
Yo Youtube, stop asking my password every 3rd time I post a comment. It's very annoying, you sunsabitches.
castingtherunes 2 years ago 3
++ On the kaptcha thing. Youtube sucks for that.
einarabelc5 2 years ago
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gay
yonnii 2 years ago
Who cares about your personal issues?
einarabelc5 2 years ago
I remember that Nice album with the Beach Ball.
I need to donate an organ.
I, eye, aye.
npspec34 2 years ago