One of the big music business stories today is that Pink Floyd ended their disputes with EMI and signed a new deal to keep their catalogue with the beleaguered label. However, another '70s rock group - the prog-rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer - recently jumped from one label to another, and the first fruits of their new partnership are about to be released.
ELP inked a worldwide deal with Sony in March - having initially signed with Island/Manticore in the U.K. and Cotillion/Atlantic in the U.S. (parts of their back catalogue have been reissued and expanded in various territories by Universal, Rhino and even Shout! Factory, who released last year's A Time and a Place box set) - and the first two phases of this campaign involve a new compilation - The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer, to be released in the U.K. next week - and straight reissues of the band's first four studio LPs and two live albums (in total, that's Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970), Tarkus (1971), Pictures at an Exhibition (1971), Trilogy (1972), Brain Salad Surgery (1973) and Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends...Ladies and Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1974)).
Music pundits like to pontificate on how the bottom will drop out of the music industry as more and more artists will assume control of their own masters. But if ELP (or Paul McCartney, or Queen) is any indication (all three bands having switched from one major to another), the labels aren't in as dire straits as they seem - reissue-wise, at least.
After the jump, the track list for The Essential ELP.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Sony Music U.K., 2011)
Disc 1
- Fanfare for the Common Man
- Still... You Turn Me On
- Hoedown
- Black Moon (Single Edit)
- Tarkus
- Jerusalem
- Tiger in a Spotlight
- Better Days
- From the Beginning
- Knife-Edge
- Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, Part 1)
- I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake
Disc 2
- Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, Part 2)
- Nutrocker (Edit) (Live @ Newcastle City Hall, 1971)
- Peter Gunn (Live @ Olympic Stadium, Montreal, 1977)
- All I Want is You
- Brain Salad Surgery
- Take a Pebble
- C'est La Vie - Greg Lake
- Lucky Man
- Affairs of the Heart
- Canario
- Pirates
- Pictures At an Exhibition: The Great Gates of Kiev (Live @ Newcastle City Hall, 1971)
- Honky Tonk Train Blues - Keith Emerson
- The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits - Carl Palmer
Disc 1, Track 1 and Disc 2, Tracks 7, 11 and 14 from Works Volume 1 (Atlantic, 1977)
Disc 1, Tracks 2, 6 and 11 and Disc 2, Track 1 from Brain Salad Surgery (Manticore (U.K.)/Atlantic (U.S.), 1973)
Disc 1, Tracks 3 and 9 from Trilogy (Island (U.K.)/Cotillion (U.S.), 1972)
Disc 1, Tracks 4 and 8 and Disc 2, Track 9 from Black Moon (Victory, 1992)
Disc 1, Track 5 from Tarkus (Island (U.K.)/Cotillion (U.S.), 1971)
Disc 1, Track 7 and Disc 2, Tracks 5 and 13 from Works Volume 2 (Atlantic, 1977)
Disc 1, Track 10 and Disc 2, Tracks 6 and 8 from Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Island (U.K.)/Cotillion (U.S.), 1970)
Disc 1, Track 12 from Manticore (U.K.)/Atlantic (U.S.) single, 1974. Alternate versions released on Works Volume 2 and The Return of The Manticore (Victory, 1993).
Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 12 from Pictures At an Exhibition (Island (U.K.)/Cotillion (U.S.), 1971)
Disc 2, Track 3 from Emerson, Lake & Palmer In Concert (Atlantic, 1979)
Disc 2, Tracks 4 and 10 from Love Beach (Atlantic, 1978)
ELP & Queen always owned their masters. And, at some point in the 1980's, in renegotiations with EMI, Paul McCartney got ownership of his back catalogue. Also, Pink Floyd own their recordings from "Wish You Were Here" onwards(EMI own the Pink Floyd recordings from 1967-73).
Incidentally, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has indicated recently that the group is working on an archival project, but says that there are not many unreleased Pink Floyd songs. Obviously whether such a collection could include both EMI-owned & Pink Floyd-owned tracks hinged on whether the group re-signed with EMI.
As for the ELP reissues, these bare bones, no bonus tracks reissues constitute a drastic step backwards from the Sanctuary & Universal Music reissues, which had bonus tracks(where available). Sony Music previously said that their reissues would include previously unreleased material, and now we get these pointless "no frills" reissues. Who on earth is going to buy them? These releases will only turn the previous UK reissues into collectors items.
It's odd that they include solo material, but nothing from Emerson, Lake, and Powell....
It may be difficult to get Cozy Powell to sign up to the same deal, as he passed away a few years back.... maybe his estate are proving difficult to negotiate with.