Classical Composer Reacts to Tarkus (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) | The Daily Doug (Episode 147) 

It’s scandalous that ELP have never been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Their music and musicianship and the fact that they were not afraid to push the boundaries should never be forgotten.

I so miss my dear friend Keith. Having tech'd for him for 7 years, I can tell you that one of the high points of my life was sitting next to Keith as he rehearsed Tarkus for the Manticore tour in 2010. He played the whole thing, there, in front of me. it was...

I've been listing to TARKUS for over FIFTY YEARS and it STILL moves me emotionally to a high degree. There's nothing like it and there will NEVER be ANYTHING like it EVER again. Anyone who considers themselves a real music fan should listen to this. It's absolutely mind-blowing! The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should close down - they'll induct anyone with a hit single or two (like AERODOG) but bands like ELP and the Moody Blues get denied. Screw them!

I think that Tarkus is the quintessence of progressive rock. it is everything one wants from this musical genre.

Karn Evil 9, All three impressions. It's another long one that is an incredible classic masterpiece by ELP.

Fifty years ago, on this day, Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Tarkus" was released. An Emerson Lake & Palmer Appreciation Group member, Robin Binford reminded us of Keith's account of the birth of "Tarkus" in his autobiography, The Pictures of an Exhibitionist. It's too good not to share....: CREATING TARKUS ACCORDING TO KEITH EMERSON from Pictures of an Exhibitionist Carl and I would often test each other's sightreading abilities writing out complicated rhythms in odd time signatures. One day, he came into my dressing room and drummed out a pattern on his practice pad. 'What time signature's this then?' 'It's either 10/8 or 5/4,' I said, 'but Frank Zappa would refer to them all as one.' By coincidence, Carl's drum pattern happened to fit a left-hand ostinato figure I was working on, and I made a note to pursue that direction as soon as the tour was over. About a month later, the idea had some semblance of form, albeit a strange one, and I rang Greg up. 'Can you come over? There's something I want to play you on the piano. I'm rather excited about it. It doesn't appear to have either a time or key signature.' An hour later, the doorbell rang, and I led Greg into my music room. 'I've been working on this piece since Carl played me a rather obscure drum pattern. I've got this image of us creating a vast 'sheet of sound' that defies conventional structures. There doesn't appear to be one set time signature or a key signature, but the total effect played by the three of us could be very prolific.' I suddenly realised that my words were not having the slightest effect; I might just as well have tried explaining the concept of 'Origami Wall Plugging' to a fish. I turned awkwardly and began hammering away at the piano. When I'd finished, I turned back to see Greg still staring blankly at me. 'Well?' I asked. 'I think if you want to play that kind of music, you should play it on your solo album.' I was ... well, I wasn't yet ready to do a solo album, but now that he mentioned it ... 'But I want us to play it. I know it sounds complicated, but it'll have a tremendous effect with all three of us playing it together,' I pleaded. 'I'm really not interested in that sort of thing,' he said turning and walking out. I was straight on the phone to John Gaydon. 'That's it!' I said, 'the band's finished!' I went on to relay the events of the last hour 'But you can't split up now, not over something so petty, surely!' 'Yes, I can. I'm sorry, I just cannot go on working with such a negative attitude. The first album was hard enough." 'Look, let's all get together for a meeting tomorrow and discuss this sensibly,' and with that, John hung up. I phoned Carl next. 'Do you remember that I 10/8, 5/4 drum pattern you played some time ago?' 'Ah? Oh yeah' 'Well, I've written a piece of music over it.' 'Great!' 'Well, not so great. I just played it to Greg, who (lady refuses to have anything to do with it. 'How can he do that without even trying It? I mean ... 1 haven't heard it yet ... don't my opinions count?' 'Exactly. I'm sorry, Carl, I don't think I can continue with the band. John wants us to have a meeting tomorrow, but I don't hold much hope.' The following evening, I arrived at John's residence and walked into an atmosphere that had the consistency of cold porridge on soggy toast. David Enthoven, Carl and Greg had obviously been talking at great length prior to my arrival and, by the looks on their faces, hadn't got very far. 'What is It about this piece you've written that's so important?' John asked me compassionately. 'It's everything I've always wanted to play, and with this band's capabilities, we'll blow every other band clean off the stand playing it. But perhaps Greg is right; perhaps it's the right time to start my solo album.' 'It's just not commercial,' countered Greg. I detected a certain pleading in his voice. I offered. 'Was the unison line in 20th Century Schizoid Man" commercial? No! But it was King Crimson's biggest hit.' 'But that had a song.' 'What's to say that this piece shouldn't go into a song?' 'By the time you've got through playing all that esoteric rubbish, you won't have a fuckin' audience,' Greg implored. David intervened. 'Greg, what's the harm in at least trying it?' 'Yeah,' said Carl. 'I haven't even heard the piece yet. It might be complete crap, but I think we should give maestro here the benefit of the doubt.' 'Believe me,' said Greg, 'This is not the right direction for the next album! 'What is, Greg? Have you written anything for it yet?' said John. 'No, but . . . ' 'So what's to lose? At least give it a try In Advision Studios tomorrow,' 'I'll tell you what's to lose,' said Greg, 'wasting studio time, recording crap. That's what's to fuckin' lose!' 'You'll be paying for it anyway because it's too late to cancel the booking.' said David. That settled it! The next afternoon. Eddie Offord hung back in the control room. He'd sensed there was enough static in the air to drive all his 16 tracks. Greg selected the appropriate 48 soft graphite pencil from his collection of many and opened his newly acquired manuscript book. 'What are the notes?' he asked rather sulkily. This wasn't quite the attitude one wanted when embarking upon a voyage in the dark, gripping to the sides of a ship that was so obviously sinking. Some holes had to be filled. 'F...B flat...E flat...B flat...A flat...E flat...' 'Wait! Let me learn that bit first.' Greg practiced it up to speed, jotting the notes down as he went. I ignored the fact that, as he wrote his part do in big capital letters above the staves of the manuscript paper, he could just as easily have written it out on blank legal foolscap. But at least it gave the appearance and importance that this was proper music he was writing. The next bits were learned in much the same fashion. Two days later, a complete transformation had taken place, and we were ready to start recording. Gone was the dark cloud of doubt as Greg threw himself wholeheartedly into a piece that did not have a name. 'Put some Moog on there and, Carl, a gong here?' I was relieved. I didn't care who wore the producer's cap; my madcap composition was going further than I could have hoped for. The first song that I hoped Greg would sing came quickly. But I feared the changes might upset the further developments. It was the B fiat, E flat. G triad holding over a C root that changed suddenly to a C sharp that gave me the most concern in its acceptability. I needn't have worried. My vocal squawkings of the song over the same chords were enough to encourage. We were on a roll, and, as a result, the entire Tarkus album was recorded in only two weeks! By way of celebration, we jammed an impromptu rock number 'Are You Ready, Eddie?', named after our engineer Eddie Offord and his 16 tracks.

The entire story is illustrated on the album jacket. My father was a professional piano player, Keith was his idol. I grew up listening to all the ELP albums and tarkus always stood out to me. One time we went in to the church down the street when no one was there so he could play the house organ and well yeah he played Tarkus.

These three were geniuses, and they unapologetically tapped European classical and folk to create masterpieces like this. Total genius. Rest In Peace, Greg and Keith! ♥️

Keith Emerson's jazz keyboard improvisations were out of sight. What a genius. The things he could do even with a monophonic synth.

The genius of Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer will never be matched. No one else was writing music like this in 1971

The more I listen to Tarkus, the more I am moved by Greg’s incredibly evocative guitar playing on “Battlefield”! The production is also so amazing in how well it has held up after fifty years! It’s another testament to Greg’s genius! Emerson has to be the greatest keyboardist of his generation with his ability to move so deftly from Hammond organ to synthesizers to piano and every other keyboard in between. He also has to be the greatest progressive rock musician, IMO. He was able to play and combine several different genres of music including rock, classical, blues, jazz and even some avant-garde better than any other musician that I have ever heard! True genius! Lastly for me, no one does song ending crescendos better than Emerson! RIP dear Maestro. Oh! I forgot to mention drummer/percussionist extraordinaire, Carl Palmer. I’m from a drummers family and IOM, Carl and Buddy Rich were in a class by themselves above all others. I had the thrill of seeing ELP in concert a dozen or so times. I have never seen performances like it since.

Small fact: EVERY time Keith sat down at a piano or keyboard, he would start playing Eruption. He loved it as much as we do. There IS a Japanese CD of a classical symphony doing a full performance of Tarkus. It is ASTONISHING and as good or better than the ELP version....

In an interview, when Rick Wakeman was asked, "What Emerson composition do you wish you'd written?" he answered, "Tarkus."

Rachel Flowers does an amazing cover of Tarkus. Keith gave her permission to use his Moog that was getting worked on by a restorer in CA.

ELP was light years before it's time. Keith Emerson was a wonder to behold in performance. His gear was humongous and Keith was a small fellow so he looked like he was climbing on to his gear from time to time. His talent is undeniable and his compositions were complex and beautiful. And this was in the early 1970's!!

Greg Lake played all string instruments and of course his awesome haunting voice that perfect for the music that King Crimson and E,L,P were doing.

Doug my friend, you are a gift to us music-heads who love the prog rock. I love your enthusiasm and the way you break down these songs structurally. I would rather have one of your videos than 1000 articles or subjective reviews from so-called "music critics". Keep it up my man, I love it!

I can't read music but seeing this makes me even more impressed by Keith Emerson. RIP Keith and Gregg. Two musical geniuses!

Had the pleasure of seeing this performed live shortly after Tarkus was released. The setting was a concert hall where the local symphony and musicals are performed. It was my first of 3 ELP concerts in my lifetime. The audience went wild. The management was not prepared for us young listeners enthusiastic shenanigans. The ushers tried to calm us down. Keith Emerson egged us on and they finally dropped the curtain on the band. What a memorable show!

what a gorgeous voice Greg Lake had

I had the incredible good fortune to record with Keith in 1996. He had just recovered from carpal tunnel surgery and was playing again. Even after the surgery he was simply astounding and was capable of things that many players could not even comprehend. He was also a wonderful person. Big heart and a great sense of humor. What an incredible gift he gave to us and what an incredible loss when he left us. Would love to hear you do Inca Roads by Zappa. Or some Allan Holdsworth. Thanks for the analysis and breakdown!

"There's no beating it." He obviously hasn't seen what Emerson did to those poor organs.

Hey Doug, You commented at approx 35:30 about how the upper staff sounded "programmed" and wondered how it could be played. It was done with a monophonic synthesizer with the 3 oscillators set to 1-4-5 intervals, so one note on the keyboard would play all three notes of that chord. So the upper staff was all one key played with one finger at a time. It's one of the cool things about monophonic synths. Something that most polyphonic synths can't really do.

Doug, I’ve loved this music since I was in my early teens. I don’t understand a word your saying in regards to reading music, but I find it fascinating and can’t stop watching. It’s also great to hear this great music again. Thank you.

My brother was a piano player and he spent hours learning this album by ear in 1971. He could play it perfect after much practice. it is great to see the song still being appreciated today. It blew us all away when it was released.

When Doug said "what chord is that?", even with the full music score at screen, I was like "don't look at me..." 😆

I found this video in running down an ELP rabbit hole. I need to follow you more. Back in college, circa 1972, when I heard Tarkus for the first time, in revolutionized my appreciation of music. I simply didn't realize there was music like this being played. It was stunning. It changed everything. In musical terms that I mostly don't understand, you have explained how this piece could have pierced my consciousness and brought it to a new level that I didn't even know existed. ELP got me interested in things other than the pop rock of the time. I became aware that there was depth to music beyond simply liking lyrics and tones. Heck, I came to appreciate classical music because of ELP. Thank you for your analysis and appreciation of this piece. It cements the feeling from this non-musically-trained guy, when I first heard it: "This is something wonderful."

"Tarkus" along with "Gates of Delirium" by Yes are the 2 greatest Prog masterpieces of all time.

Tarkus is one of the most insane pieces of music I've ever been exposed to. I did not 'get' it the first time, or the first few times. It took a while for me to appreciate it. Keith Emerson was just truly an incredible musician. I love Carl Palmer going ballistic during 'Mass' as Emerson is also doing so. And that massive synth ending. Absolutely crazy, wild piece of music. I'd never heard anything like it, even having already become of fan of prog-era Genesis and Yes. Happy 50 years!

The Gates of Delirium of Yes THE PROGRESSIVE ROCK MASTERPIECE

Manticore was the name of ELPs own record label. ELP were a truly amazing band with incredible talent and musicality. R.I.P Keith and Greg. I really enjoyed watching this video. Many thanks.

You're the only guy I've heard listen to Tarkus in its entirety for the first time, and say "Is that it?" Applause.

They were 26, 23, and 20 years old when they created and recorded this.

"Pictures at an Exhibition" would be a great album to react to. Classical and progressive, ELP and Mussorgsky. Thanks for the reaction.

I won this album at a carnival in 1971 when I was 10. Been listening to it for 50 years! SUPER FANTASTIC WONDERFUL! I so love your composer's viewpoint. Awesome!

I've been listening to Tarkus since I was 13 (I'm now 64) and I never tire of it. A true masterpiece!! They do a great version of it on Live from the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1997. It's available on DVD and CD and is a magnificent concert!!! Saw their final show at the High Voltage Festival in London, England with my son in 2010.

Did you notice how when Aquatarkus started, the sound was vastly different from the organs and synthesizers and sounded more like it was being played underwater? Very creative!

I love your reaction to the section in Em. "Of course it was by the guitarist"

ELP music is, essentially, classical music played with rock instruments.

A thought about the "Manticore" section--it uses some sort of jig/folk song melodies, as well as parallel 5ths in the harmony. To oppose the idea that this shift signals Tarkus' demise, I believe it's to showcase the contrast between an ancient/mythological creature from a time where an older form of harmony and melody were used (being literally reflected in the music), as opposed to this new creature borne in a time of quartal harmony being a modern creation.

Fun fact: this pearl of rock has been written in six days.

I saw "Tarkus" and was like, "oh, heck yeah!"

Those rolling drones of the organ really hit home the imagery of rolling tank treads. Phenomenal music

Being a long-time metalhead, I always loved ELP, thought they were the heaviest of the orog scene.

Doug, Your cognitive hearing the chords and visualization is amazing.

Am I the only one here that watching the full video without even knowing what's a Music note means 😂 I just enjoy good Music 😁

Not a single wasted note or moment. Relentless, wonderful, so much incredible talent and inventiveness and creativity. Pretentious, probably, but the shivers and the tears I get from it every time I hear it would seem to indicate that it doesn't matter too much. I just wish this was a true reaction video of Doug hearing this remarkable piece for the first time as that would have been something to see.

Every single time I hear this song, I can just about picture Tarkus, its fights and exile. It helps that I also own the LP with the inner gatefold art. What a masterpiece of a song.

It remains an incredible piece of music to this day. Keith was genuinely a genius as a player and composer. His sense of harmonic and melodic development in pieces was nothing short of remarkable. The music to me is 20th Century classical music, meets jazz, played by a rock band.

I've listened toTarkus literally hundreds of times since it first came out...I've performed it and recorded it (well, parts of it after a fashion)...but I've never heard it like this before. I LOVE how you approach it and break it down with the sheet music. I may not even understand everything you're talking about (I think I get most of it) but from now on I will always have a deeper, fuller experience of Tarkus thanks to you. Thank you-I'm a new fan!

Thank so much Doug for the time that you've spent analyzing this piece and sharing it on youtube. I spent an hour and a half with it and found it much more interesting than I had expected. I used to listen to Tarkus when I was 12 years old(!) over 45 years ago, then I went on to other styles of music and became a composer myself. But I never realized how complex (and well developed! ! !) Emerson's music really was! How lucky I was to have listened to this piece dozens of times at that age! I hope that my comments were useful.

Seeing Kieth Emerson live was just amazing..

Greg Lake used bass pedals onstage, so he could add a bass line when playing guitar, or a second bass line when called for. Emerson wasn't the only octopus.

I was really hoping you'd do it this week, and I wasn't dissapointed , great channel Dr. Doug

Keith Emerson is absolutely my favorite Hammond organ player, everyone else sounds tame in comparison. The only other person that could really make a Hammond “rock” was Jon Lord. Sadly both are gone.

Emerson is THE MAN, even classical musicians know it. Karl Evil 9 and Pirates.

“PIRATES”!!!! My favorite ELP large work! Done with full orchestra-you’ll love it! It’s basically a tone poem/cantata. But yeah, you have to check out “Karn”. I saw some other requests for it, and I fully second those requests!!! Love the channel!!!

Doug, you will become a full prog rock fan after you will react to a Plague of the lighthouse keepers by Van Dee Graaf Generator. Awesome song and story

FYI, Doug, ELP performed Tarkus *live* in 1972 (?) in Southern California. It shows up on their album “Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends”. One of the things I love about this rendition is that between Iconoclast and Aquatarkus Keith does a *long* synthesizer improv that lasts about 10 minutes. It is virtuosic. I have never heard anyone else who could squeeze so much musical creativity out ancient synth technology! Mindblowing. Thank you for giving a Friday focus to this fascinating piece!

Love your analysis. I started learning classical piano at age 4, and took lessons from a Korean Buddhist refugee woman from Panmunjon for 14 years. She taught me so much about the quality of music of all genres. I introduced her to ELP via Works Vol I. With Emerson's First Piano Concerto. Her reaction (that I will never forget) was "He's not terribly original, but his approach to playing, and his technical proficiency is beyond almost anyone I've heard." That's comparing him to Horowitz, Van Cliburn, Serkin, Glenn Gould, and other monsters of classical piano in the 20th century. But I'm going to use your analysis of his use of 4ths as constantly leading to another idea, increasing tension, or releasing it, in my improvisation. Thank you!

Having the sheet makes the analysis richer and pretty more didactic. I've been listening to this song for years and never realized the use of fourths. This is a real class, people would pay for it, or pass in a hard test in order to have it for free at a college! Thank you, Doug!

"Take a Pebble" by ELP in its original 1st album full version, has some of the most incredible piano playing and superb drums and bass playing....

Im no musician, but I really enjoyed this breakdown. Been listening to Tarkus since it came out and hearing it again now only enforces how incredible this music is. Even far more after listening to the more modern music of today, often which is written and recorded in a single day.

R.i.p. Greg Lake and Keith Emerson, two great musician. You are missed.

The Endless Enigma by ELP would be wonderful! Great channel and so much fun to share music with someone who can appreciate the thoughts and decisions that went Into the compositions. Thank you for these wonderful Friday videos!

I have been listening to and playing this music for almost 30 years - I have a master's degree in classical guitar and music ed, so watching the sheet music has DEFINITELY enhanced my enjoyment of this piece that I have loved for so long. Excellent analysis sir, you do a great job! Emerson's quotes from composers like Bartok and Janacek and others in his pieces are rewarding finds for the hunters out there - pick anything you like to do next you can't really go wrong (in the first 5 or so albums at least, before they really cheez it up)

I too am a recent convert to Doug's channel (just showed up on my feed). Absolutely amazing! I love having a classical-music maven dissecting boomer rock for me.

And Doug you make these even more enjoyable! You are a very talented person . Really enjoy your analyzations.

Also try ELP's album - Pictures at an Exhibition based fairly closely on Mussorgsky's suite

HE DOES PLAY several keyboard simultaneously... FInd a concert of them playing..

Sueño cumplido, después de casi medio siglo. Analizar con un músico de tomo y lomo; y con pentagrama en mano, cada parte de esta sorprendente pieza. Ojala en estuviese disponible en español. Congratulations , thanks.

I once met Greg Lake about 17 years ago. He was such a nice man and very warm and friendly.

Hello everyone. Progressive rock is in my opinion the best thing that rock has given since its inception.... Doug would be great if you could review songs from these bands: Yes, Genesis, ELP, Jethro, Floyd, Camel, King Crimson, Mike Oldfield, Alan Parsons, Wakeman, Asia, Premiata Formeria Marconi, Focus, Marillion, Moody Blues, Arena, Pendragon, Rush, ELO, Supertramp, UK.... greatings from buenos aires...

In "The Battlefield: where Greg Lake is soloing on electric guitar between verses- that mellow baseline/progression reminds me of something Pink Floyd would do later on on "DSOTM". Even the bluesy B.B. King guitar licks are classic David Gilmour.

My brain still triggers all the 8-track breaks. 😳

I love this piece. Emerson is definately my favorite keyboard player of the Prog era and then some. Tarkus really shows his brilliance as a composer and major keyboardist / improviser. Greg Lake and Carl Palmer are not to be overlooked as well. I've played Eruption, and as a keyboard player, I could tell you; it took some serious practice to get it down and understand it. An ELP suggestion for you would be from their third album, Trilogy. The songs Trilogy, The Endless Enigma and Abbaddons Bolero are great works.

One of the most amazing groups of all time.

OMG, NOW I understand why I love this music since 35 years! Thanks Doug! I first heard this piece 35 years ago. I was very young, a kid really. This music captivated me. It was totally out of place and still is today. This is super interesting to actually understand the way how chords and harmonics are "engineered" to make me feel what I felt for the last 35 years.

First time I heard ANY ELP was at their concert when I was 17, the first song being Tarkus. It made an impression that I can still re-feel today.

My Dad sat me down and put this on the record player when I was about 8. He handed me the cover which I stared at while it played. Later I discovered tripping. Very little difference as it turns out. ELP, pure genius.

The truest "Aquatarkus" has to be the extended improv from Welcome Back My Friends-- .

I listened to "Tarkus" this week, too. I hadn't listened to it for a couple of years. Emerson was intense. Really excellent Set playing by Carl Palmer.

My all time favourite ELP tune. I have listened to it thosand of times for 50 years. I never get tired of it.

Beyond awesomeness.. so much to put together.. so thanks for this !! Such chops.. !! Such a deep talent !! Such an effort !! Such respect !! (Great job)..

I just discover this song like one week ago and after watching the score I can't explain how this makes me feel, It's just a masterpiece, ELP did a great great job, I must listen to them more. Good video and analysis Doug! A greeting from a 17 years old Argentinian ;)

Seeing Tarkus live was a blast - the second ELP concert I saw. From the first, "Take a Pebble" was a beautiful piece I've loved from the beginning. It takes a journey in just over 12 minutes. Their music got bigger and bigger through the years, but this was a lovely gem.

As an old rocker still doing this music sometimes, ELP always gets a "Wow, what was that?" Beautiful.

I keep coming back to this! Phenomenal piece of work.

Fun fact: the band's label was 'Manticore records'.

ELP was my biggest inspiration to become a musician. All three members have made such an impact on my life words cannot describe how thankful I am that I discovered them

Man,I so enjoy hearing the music from my youth explaining how complicated and fun it is to play and listen to, and watching someone hearing it for the first time

I first heard this 40 years ago and I've been looking for exactly this explanation of what's going on - thank you!

When this album was released Tarkus ELP.. I was about 14 years old ran to the local record store 1812 overture to be exact.. and bought the album blindly without ever hearing it.. the price for this vinyl when first released on crotillion was $2.99 no tax.. had discovered ELP as they had released their first album which is referred to as the dove.. and it always bought all of their music without ever hearing it first.. if you can believe it and it's true crotillion was released in Europe first for these guys.. so as ELP released their first album the dove in Europe in late 1968.. a friend from London sent me three copies on vinyl.. how to off the presses and had yet to be released in the United States for approximately 8 months.. big local radio FM to be exact to play these pieces.. but they said they could not because the album had yet to be released in the United States.. fell in love with Keith Emerson's pieces and recolorations of this works from day one.. their first album the dove had a little something special on it which was called tank.. which featured Carl Palmer on percussion OMG one of the most fantastic pieces I had ever heard at the ripe old age of 14.. wore out copy after copy after copy listening to tank.. over the years up through 1974 whenever the band played in concert live whether it be Florida New York Chicago even Dallas Texas we all gathered as many people as we could fit in a car a van of Volkswagen and drove to those locations to see them play.. the thing is is that they could never and we're never able to reproduce tank as it is heard on the first album the dove album in the same way that it was originally published on the vinyls.. the band themselves though produced phenomenal live performances featuring Keith Emerson on keyboards and knives Carl Palmer was a wizard on percussion and fast really fast and accurate, Greg lake on acoustic guitar was top notch acoustic rock and head of voice that would Pierce.. oh those days are missed so much when concerts were $3.50 $4.50 and $5.50 per ticket at each performance no matter where you were in the United States.. if you look hard enough you will find some really fine live unpublished recordings in certain places on the internet.. enjoy devour and repeat.

Gentle Giant: any song by them would be worth it.

Thank you, great piece and wonderful to read along with the score and to hear your insights

Doug, I'm not musically trained but enjoyed your presentation of Tarkus so much. I have listened to this piece so many time and have been able to see it performed by ELP on four occasions. Your views and explanations have made it all the more enjoyable. Thank you so much.

That was utterly breathtaking. I sat down at my keyboard and played that last bit with your help! I have loved that since I bought that record in the 70s! Thank you Doug!

Hey Doug: Thick as a Brick by the wonderful Jethro Tull. What do tou think that sound?

It's great fun and very instructive to read along with the performance, and your insights are fascinating. Thank you.

My goodness … thank you for doing this … brilliant insights … totally genius composition and totally genius commentary! Great joy!