Relive The Legacy of Emerson, Lake & Palmer With 1970’s ‘Knife Edge’ Performance

Emerson, Lake & Palmer went full force with their debut studio album – so much that they’re credited to be one of the frontrunners of the progressive rock genre. To label them as prog-rock heroes isn’t exaggerating; without their talents and creativity, the progressive rock wouldn’t be monolithic in the world of music.

The band’s formation also was iconic: when Keith Emerson of The Nice and Greg Lake of King Crimson met on the road, Emerson’s hopes of forming a new band sparked even brighter when Lake expressed his desire of wanting to leave King Crimson. But the pair didn’t make a move yet until 1970 when The Nice officially disbanded; the two then looked for a drummer. Upon Emerson’s manager’s suggestion, Carl Palmer came into the picture but was quite hesitant to proceed since he was just starting to make his name under the band Atomic Rooster. Later on, Palmer gave in and the rest is history.

The video below shows one of the earliest videos of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, under the German TV music show, Beat Club. The band performed “Knife-Edge,” the final track from the album’s side one. It was loosely based on the first movement of Leoš Janáček’s orchestral piece Sinfonietta (1926), a classic song thanks to Keith Emerson, who loved to incorporate classical remnants into the music that ELP became known for. And as for the performance, consider it as one of ELP’s sizzling performances ever.

Take a look at the band’s performance below.