Elegy
	Produced by The Nice
	Released on 1971
	UK CHART POSITION #5
	Find it at GEMM
SR-61324 cover [high resolution scan]

B y 1970, The Nice had splintered into ELP, Refugee and Every Which Way, yet another example of a supergroup coming unstuck despite their success (see Cream, Traffic, CS&N and King Crimson for more of the same). Clearly, being a progressive rock fan at the turn of the 70s was a precarious business, fallen idols even amid rising fortunes. In the ephemeral career of a circa 1970 prog band, music labels could be forgiven for releasing at least one posthumous product to capitalize on the band’s buzz before they became yesterday’s news (see Goodbye, Last Exit, 4-Way Street, U.S.A.). Elegy is that posthumous product: a collection of leftover live and live-in-the-studio songs that reprise some of their longer works. Honestly, the album adds nothing to The Nice canon, unless you consider a playful interpretation of Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages” essential. (And maybe you do...) The live version of “Hang On To A Dream” is mumbled, muddled, interesting only for an unorthodox solo in which Emerson pops his piano top and starts playing the actual strings. The studio version of Pathetique’s 3rd Movement is solid but they already scratched that ilyich on Bridges, and Elegy marks at least the third time they’ve visited “America.” Better to seek out the first four albums, probably in their original order, and view this as a supplemental odds-and-ends release. It was (The) Nice while it lasted, but you don’t need to hang on to the dream this long. (ELPkaboo: the band seems to have stolen a page from “My Back Pages” for “Jeremy Bender.”)

SR-61324 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. HANG ON TO A DREAM    (Tim Hardin)    12:43
2. MY BACK PAGES    (Bob Dylan)    9:12
3. 3RD MOVEMENT, PATHÉTIQUE SYMPHONY    (P.I. Tchaikovsky, arr. by The Nice)    7:05
4. AMERICA    (Bernstein/Sondheim, arr. by Keith Emerson/Lee Jackson/Brian Davison)    10:27
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
   
5. DIAMOND-HARD BLUE APPLES OF THE MOON
6. DAWN
7. TANTALISING MAGGIE
8. CRY OF EUGENE
9. DADDY WHERE DID I COME FROM
10. AZIRIAL

CREDITS

BRIAN DAVISON -- drums & percussion
KEITH EMERSON -- keyboards
LEE JACKSON -- bass & vocals
Dave Hentschel -- engineer, mixing
Malcolm Toft -- engineer, mixing
Eddie Kramer -- engineer
Hipgnosis -- cover design & photos

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