I'll never forget the first hit that made them popular, Lucky Man. I remember when everyone would be out of the house and I would go into the dining room where my dad had his old stereo. I would unhook the speakers from the console and set them on the floor about four feet apart. I would then lay on the floor with speakers on either side of my head. I would listen to that song over and over. My dad walked in one day and caught me listening on the floor. He never said a word and walked around me without giving any notice to my temporary insanity.
After listening to their first album a thousand times, I remember going over to Jeff Baughn's house with Steve and listening to a new album. Tarkus was the second album and it was great. I was hooked.
Then the opportunity of a lifetime came to Alabama. ELP was including Tuscaloosa in their tour. There was no way we were going to miss the show. The four of us, Steve, Conrad, Jeff and myself all took off for the show. I would have to admit that my mental capacities or abilities at the time was at a level that could not be properly measured. So, needless to say, I was easily impressed. I remember how impressive the coloseum at Tuscaloosa was. While we were nowhere near the stage, the sound system was set up with such huge towers around the arena that we did not miss anything. It was loud, it was great. I remember stumbling down the stairs for a break once, it was amazing I didn't just start to roll over the people.
The end of the show was a climax that I will never forget. The lights went low, the music was loud. On the stage Keith Emerson was on keyboard, the music fast and furious, as it moved around the arena. Louder and louder, faster and faster. The crowd swaying with the music. The stage was dark with the keyboard lighting up and then all of a sudden taking the shape of a butterfly. The song increased in intensity to the point of climax when it ended with large flash explosions and canon work firing at the end. I was lost in space, falling back, totally out of balance as I sat on the back of my seat. Why I didn't fall, I will never know. It was my first rock show, it was the greatest.
As time went on and I followed the band, they continued to create great music. Good albums, good singles and great intrumental themed music. Those times are past, that style of music forever gone. The great bands, like ELP, Yes, The Who....all parts of my past that molded me as a young man. All parts of my past that I shared with my buddies, buddies long gone, on different paths that all lead back to that one path that we all crossed together.
