Picking back up with the ELP album covers background stories.
I didn't really think that there could be much of a story for Pictures At An Exhibition.
I was wrong.
I've gone 40+ years assuming that the cover was a painted illustration by artist William Neal depicting a gallery of paintings, much in the style of Norman Rockwell's super realism.
After doing a little research, I learned that it is actually a series of large oil paintings by William Neal specially commissioned for the album cover and then hung at the
Hammersmith Town Hall, in London and then photographed by Keith Morris and Nigel Marlow.
The painting for Promenade is supposed to show and an embossed white dove taken from the debut albums artwork but could only be discerned with the naked eye and wasn't able to be photographed. The painting of The Hut of Baba Yaga supposedly depicts the Tarkus armadillo tank in the far background.
A few factoids about PAAE.
The piece was the first thing they ever played live.
ELP originally intended to do a studio recording of their interpretation of Mussorgsky's masterpiece, but decided to spend the studio time recording Tarkus instead. They made the live recording of PAAE intending to make it a giveaway album to go along with Tarkus. Cooler heads prevailed and it was decided to release it as a budget album costing 1.49 pounds. They didn't feel right asking full price for a 24 minute album.
EDIT:
Quite honestly, I accepted that 24 minute stuff from two articles that I read. The CD comes in at 38 minutes according to my Sony CDP-190. The CD has no added content.
There's no freakin' way that my vinyl copy clocks in at 12 minutes per side.
The Sage, Greg Lake's obligatory ballad was actually something that he had written for another album but incorporated seamlessly into PAAE. Can only assume it would have been incorporated into Tarkus.
The recording at Newcastle's Town Hall begins with Emerson manning the Hall's 40 year old pipe organ. Palmers extended drum part after the intro is to allow Emerson time to run down the stairs from the pipe organ and to the stage to join with Lake and Palmer.
Despite being ready for release before Tarkus, the record company refused to issue it, fearing a classical suite would result in poor record sales. They insisted it be released on their classical label instead. ELP threatened to shelf the entire project if that was to be the case. ELP won that battle but Tarkus was still released first.
Atlantic/Cotillion Records, ELP's American label didn't want to release the album at all as they felt there were no singles on it to release for radio play.Their UK label Island Records began importing it to the US and sales were so brisk that Atlantic/Cotillion decided to release it as well in 1972.
Carl Palmer has said that Pictures At An Exhibition was their most difficult piece for him to play. There was nothing to keep rhythm to he said and he basically had to become a fourth lead instrument.
I've always thought that PAAE was released before Tarkus, but clearly I was wrong on that.
Pays to do a little research once in a while.