Asia - Fanfarre For The Common Man (ELP)

[THEPOCONOJOECHANNEL]

Did the Buggles do this too?

[armandin2048]

@THEPOCONOJOECHANNEL Probably, they did everything else in search of a hit.

[SerFlemming]

Gregg Lake (vocalist) of Asia and friends

[keithr63]

@SerFlemming

Lake was briefly the vocalist.John Wetton is the vocalist of the original Asia.

[twofeathersnmi]

Asia is Carl Palmer and friends.

[smartlamppost]

Look, people, ELP and Asia ARE NOT enemies, they both shared the best drummer in the world IMO. Just enjoy the song, and don't sit around comparing the two legend's renditions of the classic piece.

ELP's version is more synthesizer-ish, while Asia's is more rock n' roll-ish; frankly, I love em' both. After hearing either of em', I feel like I need to unwind with a crappy song... hmm.... what should i unwind to: Kanye West, or Jonahs Brothers? XD

[rogerisold]

Didn't check all the comments so this may be a repeat, but not only was Palmer in both ELP and Asia, but Greg Lake from ELP was in Asia for a while as well. He stars in the MTV video Asia in Asia after John Wetton bailed out.

[steve89z]

real music as opposed to taylor swift crap

[animatorIsomer]

Asia rocks and I love them dearly but, this particular tune mean more than just them or it's original composer quite frankly... it is an anthem for all whom fall under the title it bestows upon US! A magnificent work, timeless, classic and gut wrenching anytime I hear it.

[SPECTRE1961]

ASIA ... is the BEST !

No doubt !!!!

[atgskater14]

and ELP for the win period

[simonhojovii]

this tune is awesome. love elp & asia so much

[mugwamp4]

shit if Copland wasnt enamoured with ELP's version what would he make of this shit tooo fast

listen to the original from symph no 3 its far better

[robelicit]

h3y, i love ELP ((& so many other progressive rock bands like YES + some that aren't called prog, like old-Genesis, Pink Floyd, etc)...BUT the 1 thing that annoys me is exactly what u said: "tooo fast", yeah it's the TEMPO. It WAS done well however MOST of the time when ELP performed it years ago;; but by the 90's, too many concerts & studio performances of "Fanfare" would get the TEMPO-too-fast, it annoys me!! Still-- i hope Copeland felt good that young musicians loved his music;-)

[tobycat11]

It's unfortunate how the point is being missed here. These guys are some of the foremost pioneers and innovators of this genere of music. Looks to me like they are "keeping it alive" here. You might consider they are giving their fans a big bang for the buck by ROCKING THE HOUSE with this version. I saw ELP's sloppy version of this in the 70's, sorry, but this version with Steve is much better than the show I saw in the 70's

[54spiritedwill54]

great

[phanchieta]

still prefer ELP...

[SPECTRE1961]

Geoffrey Downes, is great, really, no doubt!

Emerson did many compliments for him, in  Asia's England tour 2007, ok..?/

[pennyfritz]

Howe IST da Man!

[unstablebobgable]

This is MUCH better than their take on "Roundabout!"

[emmulator]

so sad those new synths cannot make it...and why on earth doesnt downes, emerson or even wakeman manage to get a propoer synth sound now adays without sounding like a cheap casio usd 39.99 at safeway synth

[blormp1]

steve and jeff kick ass here

wetton too and carl ...yeah baby!

[yeshead]

Holy crap -- is Steve Howe using DISTORTION? And OVERDRIVE?

I may faint.

[P0LSET]

Realy great stuf!

[ollie3]

Fanfare! Fanfare!

[manti2112]

muito legal o vídeo, valeu marcotognolo.

[vcoaster]

I never knew that Asia attempted Fanfare. it doesn't stand up to ELP's version.

[yeshead]

But it does provide a glimpse of what ELP might have sounded like had Steve Howe been in the band. He had auditioned to replace Davy O'List in the Nice in '68 so he and Emo knew each other. By the time Emerson and Lake put ELP together Steve was already in Yes, however.

[vcoaster]

I don't think Howe could have made "EHP" work because he didnt have the vocals to support the band.  Although the guitar work would have been better

[yeshead]

I actually wasn't thinking that Steve would have replaced Greg Lake, but that he would have been an addition to the band. ELP had considered adding a guitarist to the lineup in the very beginning but dropped the idea when they couldn't get any of the people they wanted and Greg and Kieth were happy being the featured players anyways.

[vcoaster]

Interesting. I never knew that ELP were considering a quartet.

[yeshead]

For those interested there's a very good biography of ELP recently out by Ed Macan called "Endless Enigma". I'm sure if you Google it you can find out how to get a copy, but I highly recommend it for all ELP fans.

[janto1504]

Never heard about HELP?: Hendrix + ELP?

[OldRunt]

yes...true....hendrix was into it, but they never jammed....talk of it after isle of white, then hendrix died....i never believed it until i read gregg lake talk about it...totally

[billzkx]

Um, would it be called HELP lol

[zortotron]

yo, I once heard that Hendrix was invited into the band and it was actually going to be called HELP. any info on this?

[OldRunt]

yes...true....hendrix was into it, but they never jammed....talk of it after isle of white, then hendrix died....i never believed it until i read gregg lake talk about it...totally

[ToxicLabProductions]

Lake and Hendrix had a few sessions I think.

[ChgoPrdcer]

I love these guys still!

[TasmiaM]

I think that just the fact that this music is still being discussed and critiqued some 20+ years later is a testament to both Keith Emerson and to Geoff Downes. And, let's not forget the original composer. Good music stands the test of time.

[acoronab]

Aaron Copland

[Carlit069]

Steve Howe kick ass here..!

[cv539]

Agree! Steve Howe is one of the best guitarist that ever lived. Saw Asia in concert but they didn't do this ELP song.Bummer.Still a great concert though. Palmer beat the crap out of the drums.

[dertrommler2112]

Man this song is fun to play on the drums!! But I play the original version from ELP's Works album. No offense to the guys in Asia especially since Carl Palmer originally played this for ELP, but the ELP version is better. But to each their own. ROCK ON!!

[JackBlair2]

It's great to see a bunch of Brit guys doing totally American music. America rules! It's an American world!

[TonyNewman]

What are you talking about? This was Emerson Lake and Palmer's original song, and they're British!

[TasmiaM]

Fanfare for the Common Man is one of the most recognizable pieces of 20th Century American classical music. One of composer Aaron Copland's most popular works, the fanfare is a short piece scored for brass and percussion written in 1942.

[TonyNewman]

I see. Nevertheless, this IS and adaption of the ELP version. Geoff Downes attempts (poorly) to emulate Emerson and Palmer is in the drum seat.

[scoobes11]

I'm not a keyboardist, but I can say Geoff sounds awesome!

[konan64]

this video stops that it was in the theater Chile telethon bacan Carl to palmer is the best thing

[SOSOAWESOME]

great

[Stogie41]

I saw this show recently in Florida, loved it, this tune was the highlight for me, keyboardist did an exceptional job at the show I was at

[anonymusum]

The keyboarder is awful, nearly every second note is wrong, his technique is poor and the worst thing: he didn´t understand the harmonies and voicings. Really awful - like an amateur.

[fireguye4]

awful? are you nuts? That was one of the most perfect versions I have ever heard. I saw them in New york and they were, without a doubt. completly amazing. dude you must be on crack.

[anonymusum]

You are obviously no musician. Just listen to ELP´s Fanfare carefully and compare it with this crap - according to the keyboard work. Or ask a good musician - he will tell. I didn´t mean to insult anybody, I was just shocked about the fact, that there is a so called super group producing such lousy keyboard playing - in relation to the original of course. If you were here I would play and explain it to you.

[fireguye4]

1st of all i am a musician. been a drummer for 22 years. the recording of this particular video is of shit quality, hence the bad sound. Its also almost 30 years later.when a band emulates another band, you try to sound as much like the original.But, if you change it up a little bit, its all the more interesting. are you a musician? if you are, then u know what i,m talking about

[TonyNewman]

Sorry fireguye4, but I have to agree with anonymusum on this one. Geoff Downes is a decent keyboardist (his work on Yes' Drama was great) but he can't hope to match Emerson, and this does sound pretty weak. He could have tried harder to rehearse and improve, but as is this attempt failed.

[fireguye4]

he wasnt trying to sound like keith emerson.

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. nobody plays like keith emerson if you listen to the lp version it was done almost the same. you have to remember that was done inb 1971. this is 2007. you want to be as close as possible, but not an exact match. he probably put his own mix into it. it was fucking awesome. i,m sure keith emerson isnt going to give a rats ass about it. i dont doubt your musical ability, but cmon bro, its still awesome

[black7min]

compared to their gig in italy, last august,

this is better. however far far away from an

EL&P performance. it simply has no colour nor

power. Palmer was great, thought

ps: this piece was released in 1977, Works I

[FChopin]

This cover was the best part of the show¡¡

[petecellar]

Wow, Steve Howe 0wns!!

[MauClap]

muchas gracias por subirlo! excelente steve howe

[steadfastcoward]

awesome

[Julian1961]

Not bad...although notice how it takes Geoff Downes AND Steve Howe to replace Keith Emmerson!!

[Jelperman]

Uh, Steve Howe's guitar licks are his own addition. He's not trying to copy Emerson's keyboard.

[Julian1961]

What I meant was, Keith doesn't need any additional licks to fill his sound...HE DA MAN!!!!! :-D

[Jelperman]

Well they had to find SOMETHING for Howe to do during the song.

[pablo9031]

I have just one thing to say, Is Steve Howe!!!! he is no even going to try to copy anything from Emerson

[Andrew72287]

Well, the original song had no guitars in it, and when ELP performed live Greg Lake did bass. There was never any guitar in the song. So Howe put in the licks just so he had something to do during the song.

Though Keith Emerson is awesome.

[Julian1961]

I think it proves Keith's point...guitars are superfluous when you've got a rhythm section like Carl Palmer and Greg Lake! :-)

[Andrew72287]

Well, Lake played guitar with ELP too. :P

I'm not doubting Keith's ability, but here it's not that they couldn't re-create what Keith did at least on the studio version, it's just that...well if Howe didn't add the licks he wouldn't be doing anything. :P

[Julian1961]

Some would say he isn't actually doing anything...well, not in the sense of adding anything anyway! :-p

[Greensmurf]

Amazing cover, thanks for posting this. its great

[etgiroux]

They seem better live then ever...wow...thanks for posting.