Keith Emerson (1944–2016)
Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944, Todmorden, Yorkshire – 11 March 2016, Santa Monica, California), English keyboardist and composer, co-founder of The Nice and of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). One of the first rock keyboardists to treat the Hammond organ as a full lead instrument — flipped, abused and pyrotechnic — alongside the Moog synthesizer.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-keith-emerson.md]
The Hammond story
- Converted to the organ after hearing jazz organist Jack McDuff perform "Rock Candy"; the Hammond became his instrument of choice from the late 1960s.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-keith-emerson.md]
- His first Hammond was an L-100 model, bought at age 15–16 on hire purchase plus a loan from his grandmother — an instrument he famously abused on stage (knives in the keys, feedback, dragging).^[raw/articles/wikipedia-keith-emerson.md]
- In his Hammond playing he partly recreated the sound of jazz-blues organists; the classic Hammond + Leslie pairing sat at the center of The Nice's and ELP's sound, with the L-100/C-3 played hard through overdriven amps.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-keith-emerson.md]^[raw/articles/hammondorganco-hammond-story.md]
Career milestones
- The Nice (1967–1970): R&B/classical hybrid built on the Hammond; "Rondo" and "America" as organ-led showpieces.
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970–1979, reunions 1991–1998): Brain Salad Surgery (1973) is the landmark Hammond-and-Moog record — see albums/brain-salad-surgery.
- Both Emerson and Greg Lake died in 2016, leaving Carl Palmer as ELP's only surviving member.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-keith-emerson.md]
Related
- jack-mcduff — the jazz organist who turned him on to the Hammond
- albums/brain-salad-surgery — his Hammond/Moog landmark album
- jon-lord — British rock peer making the Hammond heavy