Last Updated on 25 February 2026 by Massimo M.
In 1970 Emerson, Lake & Palmer released their first self-titled album
Precisely November 20th in 1970 the album was released in the UK.
ELP came from previous experiences with several groups already established in the rock scene. Keith Emerson, great keyboard player, came from Nice, Greg Lake, guitar and bass, came from King Crimson with whom he participated in the creation of In the Court of the Crimson King, which is considered by many to be the starting point of the entire progressive rock movement of the seventies. Finally Carl Palmer on drums and percussion, coming from Atomic Rooster and a rising star in the musical world.
The album immediately highlights the trio’s technical skills, while from a compositional point of view it is one of the first attempts at a union between rock and classical music (one of the characteristics of a certain progressive rock to come) which at the end of the ’60s had among his precursors precisely Keith Emerson with Nice.
The album is mainly a collection of solo songs. Keith Emerson contributes a number of classic numbers , Carl Palmer, newly arrived from Atomic Rooster, performs a great drum solo and Greg Lake performs a couple of folk-inspired ballads.
Also included on this album is the ballad Lucky Man, a song that Lake wrote when he received his first guitar at the age of 12 and which brings the band, rather unexpectedly, into the limelight. In fact, this song, as soon as it was released on the market, immediately went into heavy rotation on the radio in the UK and, again surprisingly, also became a success in the States.
The album immediately highlights the trio’s technical skills and highlights what will be the main characteristic of ELP’s compositions, namely the combination of rock and classical music, which will be a peculiar characteristic of a part of the progressive rock that will arrive shortly and which, at the end of the ’60s, he had Keith Emerson among his precursors with the Nice.
The same year on the Isle of Wight ELP were the protagonists of a great live performance which, together with the success of the single Lucky man, projected them directly into the Olympus of great rockers.
The painting on the cover is by the British artist Nic Dartnell. It was originally intended for the American group Spirit and then sold to ELP. In fact, the head of the bald man on the left of the cover belongs to Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy. The cover depicts a white fluttering bird with a human ear at the bottom left, while the left side of the bird outlines the back of the head of the man to whom the ear belongs.
Track list of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
The Barbarian – (4.35)
Take a Pebble – (12.39)
Knife Edge – (5.10)
The Three Fates – (7.47) che contiene
Clotho
Lachesis
Atropos
Tank – (6.53)
Lucky Man – (4.40)
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