MGV - From the Beginning LIVE

[GMaq]

Another live MGV Video from our recent gig at the Donnybrook 513.. Many years ago early on in MGV history Peter brought me the 'Trilogy' album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer and said "have a listen, especially to From the Beginning...". I was younger and dumber and pretty infatuated with the Blues and my fragile underdeveloped walnut music brain wasn't ready at all for Prog or ELP, I listened and didn't really get it. Fast forward many years and MGV had taken a break for a while and gotten back together with a plan to play a more acoustic show and between the embrace of acoustic music and finally developing a brain that could process Prog 'From the Beginning' resurfaced in my mind and we tried it out at rehearsal. Without a Moog synthesizer we were going to have to improvise and although I loved the recording and structure of the song I wasn't crazy about the herky-jerky groove so it felt better for us to play it with a more linear groove and Dan adapted some of the Palmer ideas into a more bedrock beat. While working on it I got the idea to use my Delay pedal with its reverse Delay setting and it took things in a psychedelic direction and that seemed to stick. So credit for this choice goes to Peter, it's one of my favourite tunes to play now, the chords are huge and spacious and Pete lights up like a Christmas tree as you can see and hear..

Thanks for reading and watching, the Video is here:
https://youtu.be/FOXc2bdn6sM

Best, Glen

[sunrat]

Damn good stuff again @GMaq !
Seems like every cover you do makes me dig up the original to rediscover. You certainly do justice to this one.

Next up, can you do a Yes song? Maybe need to transpose Jon Anderson's vocal down a few tones though.

[GMaq]

Damn good stuff again @GMaq !
Seems like every cover you do makes me dig up the original to rediscover. You certainly do justice to this one.

Next up, can you do a Yes song? Maybe need to transpose Jon Anderson's vocal down a few tones though.

Haha, I'm not a great singer by any stretch but I've been fortunate to have a range from baritone well into tenor, the biggest problem isn't my voice for Yes though... I'd be lucky to pluck the opening harmonic for Roundabout properly and it would all be downhill from there...

[j_e_f_f_g]

How about one of my favorite Yes tunes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9_5kd4b5fU

[sunrat]

How about one of my favorite Yes tunes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9_5kd4b5fU

I'm sure we all aspire to playing as well as Steve Howe. None of us will get there though.
Link not available btw. Try:
Sound Chaser (2003 Remaster)

Personally I'd give my right arm to be able to play like Molly Tuttle or Tommy Emmanuel (oh, wait... ):
White Freight Liner Blues | Collaborations | Tommy Emmanuel & Molly Tuttle

[Rainmak3r]

Once more I'm unfamiliar with the original song, but I loved your version!

[j_e_f_f_g]

ELP did some impressive work on Brain Salad Surgery. But while technically proficient, these three musicians aren't always the most sophisticated and insightful when it comes to creative ideas. Greg Lake, in particular, writes some really dreadful, insipid "love ballads", which I consider "From the Beginning" to be an example (although not his most egregious offense).

This is the band that actually made an album called "Love Beach". The cover shows the 3 of them standing under a palm tree, dressed as if they were headed to some tropical "Studio 54" to disco the night away. These are the actual lyrics to a song Greg Lake wrote for this album called "Taste of my Love". I kid you not.

Code: Select all

Oh, you look so hungry, woman
How come you strayed in here
With your eyes so bright
On this long hot night

Could it be for a taste of my love

Down on your knees
With your face to the wall
Saying please, please, please
My friend said I should call
Well, I do feel lonely, woman
And to tell the truth
I could use some company
So come closer to me

Help yourself to a taste of my love

Call up room service
Order peaches and cream
I like my dessert first
If you know what I mean

Yeah, taste it, taste it, taste it
Around the maze of pleasure
To the gates of pain
You're driving me insane

Take all you need from the taste of my love

I want to love you
Like nobody ever loved you
Get on my stallion
And we'll ride

I want to hold you
And enfold you beyond reason
I want to dynamite your mind
With love tonight

The album is ever bit as pathetically dumb as thsoe lyrics would suggest.

[Rainmak3r]

ELP did some impressive work on Brain Salad Surgery. But while technically proficient, these three musicians aren't always the most sophisticated and insightful when it comes to creative ideas. Greg Lake, in particular, writes some really dreadful, insipid "love ballads", which I consider "From the Beginning" to be an example (although not his most egregious offense).

I'd argue that it's all a matter of taste
Asia had one of the most impressive lineup of musicians at the time (Palmer being one of them), and they also mostly published albums that many consider cheesy and loveydovey: despite that, they're still one of my favourite band of the 80s, and I still remember the first moment when I bought the vinyl for Alpha in a store (mesmerized by the cover picture) and loving every single moment of music in there!

[GMaq]

@j_e_f_f_g

I think extended listening to Prog would show that in many cases (with notable exceptions) lyrics were often that space between various solos and a necessity to get played on the radio. Numerous are the Prog bands (Camel comes to mind instantly) with pass-with-a-push vocalists. How many talented bands get success, money, yes men entourages and copious amounts of cocaine/heroin and time isolated in their own ivory towers? This is always a recipe for unthinkably bad albums with regrettably horrible lyrics. I can't disagree Lake was no master with a lyric at his best but the atmospheric wonderful sounds and song structure of From the Beginning made this a forgivable offense to me.

@Rainmak3r
I saw the original Asia tour in support of that album! My neighbour's Mom drove us 100 miles to Toronto, it was epic!

[psyocean]

Nice song! Its good - you play alive together!

[j_e_f_f_g]

you play alive together!

Of course they play alive. They aren't that old.

[Rainmak3r]

@Rainmak3r
I saw the original Asia tour in support of that album! My neighbour's Mom drove us 100 miles to Toronto, it was epic!

You lucky man!!

[folderol]

Been a while since I've been in this forum section - too much to do - too little time
Very much enjoying this