“Karn Evil 9 (Second Impression) by Emerson Lake and Palmer
From the 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery

In honor of Father’s Day, I wanted to post a “father”-themed song. My first thought was “Dear Father,” a single B-side by Yes from 1970, but I couldn’t find any video of it. Next I came up with “Father Cannot Yell” by Can, and I did find an interesting use of it, but again, no actual video of the band. And of course there’s “Honor Thy Father” by Dream Theater, but that just didn’t do it for me, so I didn’t even bother looking it up.

In desperation I just searched on “prog rock father” and the best thing I could come up with was… *shudder* …Greg Lake’s “I Believe in Father Christmas. I was all set to go with it, but then I decided, since I haven’t actually featured ELP at all yet (mainly because I think they’re probably the one band that deserves prog rock’s bad reputation for being self-indulgent, bombastic wankery), I should probably introduce them with something halfway decent. (No, I don’t mean “Love Beach.”)

I really wanted to feature my personal favorite ELP song, “From the Beginning,” but all I could find were live clips from the late ’90s. So, failing that, I at least wanted something that captured the band at its (self-indulgent, bombastic, wanky) peak.

I’m settling for this rousing, vintage performance of what is probably their signature track (unless you count “Nutrocker,” but please, for the love of God, don’t). “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends…” and with 30-minute Carl Palmer drum solos (sorry, make that 30-minute gong solos), that’s truth in advertising.

Incidentally, there’s an intersection of Emerson Ave. and Lake St. here in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, that’s not where Palmer’s Bar is located.