Greg Lake

Greg Lake - From The Underground The Official Bootleg - 1998 - Greg Lake Recordings

Greg Lake is best known as a founder of the monumental prog rock bands, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but his musical career spans nearly 35 years -- and this disc is a delightful testament to every stop along his musical journey. Consisting entirely of extremely rare or previously unreleased material, From the Underground contains both studio and live selections from '60s groups the Shame, Shy Limbs, and King Crimson as well as Lake's later work with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Asia, Emerson, Lake & Powell, and his own Greg Lake Band. Perhaps collections such as this too often showcase only an artist's hits or signature pieces, but this disc has more character than that. Rather, From the Underground is an album containing only the extra stuff that usually leads fans to buy box sets -- without all the tracks that fans typically already own. In the end, one is left with the impression that the growth of an important musical figure has been accurately charted. There are some wonderful finds here, and fans of Greg Lake or his various bands will enjoy this disc immensely. © Alan Ticheler, All Music Guide © 2010 Answers Corporation http://www.answers.com/topic/from-the-underground-the-official-bootleg

Greg Lake was King Crimson's lead singer for their first two albums, then an important member of ELP. His solo career has been less successful, and he remains an underrated bass guitarist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer. ELP re-formed in the 1990s and gave Greg a proper setting for his talents. "From the Underground: The Official Bootleg" is a good 13 track compilation of some of Greg Lake's best music. There is some good live tracks here, and the album includes rare tracks from Greg's work with the Greg Lake Band, King Crimson, ELP, Emerson, Lake and Powell, Asia, The Shame, and Shy Limbs. There are many tracks seldom heard on mainstream media. There is more to Greg Lake than "I Believe In Father Christmas". This album demonstrates that. Many of the tracks on the album are from direct sound board recordings (except the Palladium 81 tracks which were audience tapes - but good quality). Even though all the tracks were digitally re-mastered, they date from 1967 to 1994, and include live concert, and TV performances, so don't expect perfect sound quality. ELP's "Works Live" is a great album, and worth tracking down. Listen to Greg's live "Nuclear Attack" album. There is info on his "King Biscuit Flower Hour" in concert album @ GLAKE/KBFH/LIVE

TRACKS / BAND & VENUE / COMPOSERS

1.Touch & Go - Emerson, Lake & Palmer from Wiltern Theater, LA '93 - Keith Emerson, Greg Lake
2.A Man, A City - King Crimson from Fillmore West,San Francisco '69 - Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, Peter Sinfield
3.Don't Go Away Little Girl - The Shame original single 1967 - Keith Emerson, Greg Lake
4.Medley: Still You Turn Me On/ Watching Over You - Greg Lake solo acoustic Florida, 1986 - SYTMO by Keith Emerson, Steve Gould, Greg Lake, & WOY by Greg Lake, Pete Sinfield
5.Daddy - The Greg Lake Band - Albany, NY 1994 WTEN-TV broadcast - Keith Emerson, Greg Lake
6.Retribution Drive - The Greg Lake Band w/ Gary Moore. The Palldium NYC 1981 - Greg Lake, Tommy Eyre, Tony Benyon
7.The Heat Of The Moment - Asia with Greg Lake. Japan 1983 from Asia In Asia MTV broadcast - Greg Lake, Keith Olsen
8.The Score - Emerson, Lake & Powell, Lakeland, Florida , 1986 - Benyon, Tommy Eyre, Greg Lake
9.Love - Shy Limbs original single 1968 - Geoffrey Downes, Greg Lake
10.Affairs Of The Heart - Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jones Beach, NY 92 - Geoffrey Downes, Greg Lake
11.Learning To Fly - Emerson, Lake & Powell, Lakeland, Florida, 1986 - Keith Emerson, Steve Gould, Greg Lake
12.Lucky Man - Greg Lake solo acoustic California Jam, 1973 - Greg Lake
13.21st. Century Schizoid Man - The Greg Lake Band w/ Gary Moore. The Palldium NYC 1981 - Greg Lake, Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Ian McDonald, Peter Sinfield

MUSICIANS

Greg Lake - Bass, Guitars, Vocals : - With
The Shame
Shy Limbs
King Crimson
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Asia
Emerson, Lake and Powell
The Greg Lake Band

BIO

As a singer and instrumentalist, Greg Lake had his greatest success and influence in the progressive rock outfit Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, before that, as a founding member of the original King Crimson. He has also been reasonably popular as a solo artist working in more of a hard rock idiom. As a boy, growing up in a poverty stricken part of the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, he got his first guitar for his 12th birthday, as a gift from his mother, and began taking lessons from a local teacher named Don Strike, one of whose other students was Robert Fripp, who became close friends with Lake. Around the time he was 12 years old, Lake also wrote a folk-style song that played a major part in his future, entitled "Lucky Man." Lake learned to read music and also to play pieces by Paganini, among other classical composers, but his aspirations lay with emulating the sound of his favorite band of the era, Cliff Richard & the Shadows, and their lead guitarist, Hank B. Marvin. Lake passed through a succession of groups, including a local quartet called Unit Four, in which he played guitar and sang. He and Unit Four guitarist David Genes later formed the Time Checks, and, still later — around 1967 — with another Unit Four member, John Dickinson, was a member of a band called the Shame, who cut a single in 1968. He also sang on a record by a band called the Shy Limbs. In 1968, Lake succeeded Mick Taylor as a member of an outfit called the Gods, whose other members included future Uriah Heep founders Ken Hensley (keyboards, vocals) and Lee Kerslake (drums), and it was there that his songwriting first blossomed. He left the Gods just before they began to record, having been approached by his boyhood friend Robert Fripp to join the outfit that he was putting together out of a failed trio called Giles, Giles & Fripp — Lake joined the quintet (Fripp on lead guitar; Ian McDonald on keyboards, saxes, and flute; Michael Giles on drums; and Peter Sinfield as lyricist) as lead singer and bassist. King Crimson proceeded to carve out a name for themselves unique in the history of rock music as the leading progressive rock band of their era. Their first album, In the Court of the Crimson King, became the standard for serious progressive rock albums. Lake, along with the others, was suddenly a star. That first lineup of the band only lasted a year — by December of 1969, Giles and McDonald were tired of touring and opted out, and Lake refused to continue working with the group, although he stayed around long enough to sing on the second King Crimson album, In the Wake of Poseidon (1970). At the suggestion of Tony Stratton-Smith, Lake was approached by keyboard player Keith Emerson, who was in the process of putting together a new group after three years with his current band, the Nice. The latter group's main fault was its lack of a real lead singer, and Emerson saw in Lake — whose voice had dominated In the Court of the Crimson King — the solution to that problem. The two eventually recruited drummer Carl Palmer and formed progressive rock's first supergroup, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who were a success from their self-titled first album, released in 1970, which closed with Lake's old song "Lucky Man." The latter became one of the group's few successful singles, one of their rare attempts to compete on AM radio — it also turned Lake into one of the most familiar voices in progressive rock, rivaling such figures as the Moody Blues' Justin Hayward. Lake's production experience as a member of King Crimson (who had produced their own debut album) also served ELP in good stead, and his songwriting became the creative nucleus for the group's first three studio albums. ELP dominated the charts and the field of progressive rock right up until 1977, by which time the entire genre of "art rock" was beginning to lose popularity. The stresses between the trio members caused them to split up after a tour in 1979, and Lake embarked on a solo career. Lake organized a new band with ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore on lead guitar, Rory Gallagher alumnus Ted McKenna on drums, and ex-Joe Cocker/Gerry Rafferty keyboard player Tommy Eyre, and recorded Lake's first solo album, Greg Lake (1981). The sound on that record was very different from ELP, as it was dominated by guitars, rather than keyboards, and featured Lake singing in a harder, more aggressive style. On tour he covered material going back to the King Crimson days, but he also regaled audiences with pumping versions of the new songs. A second album, Manoeuvres, followed in 1983, but by that time the creative and commercial bloom was off the rose, and Lake took his first break from music. He appeared in 1985 as the lead singer of Asia during that group's tour, but he didn't remain with the band. In 1986, he re-teamed with Emerson and drummer Cozy Powell as Emerson, Lake & Powell, and recorded an album for Mercury Records, which was followed by a world tour. After a stint with ex-Asia member Geoff Downes and King Crimson drummer Michael Giles in a group called Ride the Tiger, Lake re-teamed with Emerson and Palmer for a film that was never finished, which led to their first new album in 13 years, Black Moon (1992). During the mid- and late '90s, Lake continued to work with Emerson and Palmer, while pursuing his solo work as well. The latter included a 1994 tour of the United States. He had also done a considerable amount of charitable work on behalf of missing children, and his song "Daddy," written in response to one such case, which ended tragically, achieved national exposure as a theme for a television series devoted to the plight of missing children.

BIO (WIKI)

Gregory Stuart Lake (born 10 November 1947) is an English bass guitarist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer, best known as a founding member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Born in Poole, Dorset, England, Lake was interested in music at a young age, and wrote what would become one of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's biggest hits, "Lucky Man", when he was still at school. In 1968, Lake was a member of a band called The Gods along with future members of Uriah Heep. Lake left the band in summer 1968 before they released their debut album. Lake went on to form King Crimson with an old school friend, Robert Fripp. As both Fripp and Lake were primarily guitarists, Lake switched to playing bass guitar. For King Crimson's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, Lake also contributed as songwriter and singer. The album was originally to be produced by Tony Clarke who was then the producer for the Moody Blues. However, after the first day Clarke walked out as he had difficulty understanding what the band were trying to create. Lake assumed the role of producer. Although the album credits the whole band as producers, it was primarily Lake who produced it. King Crimson went on a North American tour with The Nice, who were on their farewell tour. It was after this tour in April 1970 that Lake left the band to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer along with Keith Emerson from The Nice on keyboards and Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster on drums and percussion. Despite his official departure from King Crimson, Lake agreed to help with the completion of King Crimson's second album In the Wake of Poseidon. ELP were hugely successful in the 1970s (with album sales totalling over thirty million), and significantly contributed to the evolution of progressive rock. Lake contributed to many of ELP's songs but was particularly noticeable for his guitar-oriented and soulful tunes such as "C'est la vie" (Works Volume I), "Still... You Turn Me On" (Brain Salad Surgery) and "The Sage" ("Pictures at an Exhibition"). Lake became popularly known for his UK Christmas number two single, "I Believe in Father Christmas" in 1975 which was later included on the ELP album Works Volume II. In 1973, Lake founded the Manticore label and signed some very talented musicians such as Italy's PFM and Banco and King Crimson/Emerson, Lake & Palmer lyricist Pete Sinfield. After the break-up of ELP, Lake toured briefly with the group Asia in 1983 as a temporary replacement for John Wetton, as well as releasing two solo albums and conducting a tour in the early 1980s. The albums were Greg Lake (1981) and Manoeuvres (1983), both of which featured ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore and, even though the latter is more sophisticated, saw Lake playing straight rock. In 1986 he, Emerson and Cozy Powell released the album "Emerson, Lake and Powell" -- basically an ELP reunion with Powell replacing Palmer who was then drumming in the band Asia. Emerson, Lake & Palmer subsequently reunited in the early 1990s and played the progressive rock circuit, especially in outdoor summer concerts, and released two new studio albums. In 1998, the members of ELP had a rather acrimonious falling-out and Lake left the band. Keith Emerson's 2004 memoirs "Pictures of an Exhibitionist" give an unflattering portrait of Lake, and not surprisingly Lake has said that he will never reunite with ELP in the future. He has not been especially visible on the music scene since then, though he did tour as a member of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band in 2001. In late 2003 he played bass on The Who's "Real Good Looking Boy". On 22 October 2005 Lake began touring the UK with a brand new "Greg Lake Band", to positive reviews. The band comprised David Arch on keyboards, Florian Opahle on guitar, Trevor Barry on bass, and Brett Morgan on drums. A double DVD was released by Warner Bros/Classic Pictures early 2006, with Greg Lake in full form, his voice now deeper and louder than before[. The Greg Lake Band was ready for a new tour on September 2006 with rumours of a new album in the pipeline, although this tour was cancelled at the last minute due to "management troubles"Lake performed "Karn Evil 9" with the Trans Siberian Orchestra at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island, New York on December 20, 2006, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ on December 21, 2006 and at the Quicken Loans Arena, aka the Q in Cleveland Ohio, on December 30, 2007 at the end of both the 3:00pm and 7:30pm shows. Lake played "Lucky Man" with Jethro Tull at their show at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 28 May, 2008.