- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: John Blake; New edition edition (Jan 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1844540537
- ISBN-13: 978-1844540532
- Product Dimensions: 19.9 x 12.9 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 222 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #389,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
One expects a rock n’ roll memoir to be full of sound and fury, signifying nothing if not the inflamed passions, tortured egos, precipitous climb and calamitous descent of its subjects. Emerson, composer and keyboardist for the Nice and, later, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, gives readers all this: from flag-burnings to overeager groupies, from musical mishaps to drunken, drug-addled excesses, as well as a host of backstage celebrity interactions. (Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, Rod Stewart and a wonderfully catty portrait of Leonard Bernstein as a supercilious old perv are just a few that dot the book’s landscape.) Wildly theatrical onstage, Emerson played Norman Bates to his organs and keyboards, hacking away at them with knives and swords, often leaving them ruined and smoldering in his wake. The problem is that, as narrator to his own life, Emerson seems too, well, nice to rev the engine needed to drive such a book properly. He pulls back when he should barrel full-speed, and his writing lacks the killer incisiveness of his keyboard play. Slow to start, often clumsily overwritten and self-serving, Emerson’s memoir shows little sense of the narrative arc of the author’s life, and so the book trudges on in a litany of events, happenings and episodes that ultimately don’t add up to more than a series of pictures at an exhibition. Emerson seems too self-absorbed to be an acute observer of others, neither does he appear reflective enough to cast light on the shadows of his own life. Fans of Emerson’s bands will relish the scenester details anyway, but others may find themselves wishing he could write with the same brilliant abandon that he applied to his music.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
""Unputdownable! A hysterical, intriguing, and important musical memoir."
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Title Says It All,
By Mark D Burgh "Music, Writing, Art, Film, Hist... (Fort Smith, AR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Pictures of an Exhibitionist: From the Nice to Emerson Lake and Palmer - The True Story of the Man Who Changed the Sound of Rock (Hardcover)
Like the other reviewers here, I was and am a big ELP fan. As soon I heard Keith Emerson's playing, I was dumb-struck by his virtuosity and musical vision, one that, alas, did not play out too well over the years. I eagerly awaited this book, mainly because I wanted to hear what Keith Emerson had to say about his music. There's a scene in "Spinal Tap" when David St. Hubbins is playing a beautiful piano piece and Rob Reiner asks him what the music is called . St. Hubbins replies "Lift my Love Pump." Well, I think that might sum up this book, and I can't say I wasn't warned by the title. There are virtues here, however. Emerson has a breezy, conversational writing style that goes down easy, and he doesn't write a self-serving book in the least. The first part of the book, from his childhood to his breaking up the Nice is the best part, funny, and heartwarming. It struck me how much Emerson loved Lee Jackson and Brian Davidson, and the affection for his once and future bandmates mixed well with the stories. I often found myself laughing out loud. The ELP and after sections are troubled. It's clear Emerson never liked Lake, and had a brotherly and patronizing attitude towards Palmer. But love between bandmates doesn't necessarily make great music, however, after reading this book and listening to the ELP oveure, I finally sensed the coldness that so many critics complained about. The descent into drugs, the sadness of an abortion caused by miscommunication, the wrecking of Emerson's hand and the subsequent operations all make the second half of the book more than a bit sad. Emerson might have toned his words for this part of the book, but it continues in a breakneck and breezy manner, giving the impression (false I'm sure) that Emerson didn't care about these things. My biggest complaint, however, is that he hardly discusses the music at all. I would have put up with hijinx and lines of coke with Bonzo better if he had talked about composing Tarkus more. Still, for a proghead and synthfool like me, Pics of Ex is worth reading, even if the God of the Moog diminishes himself.
4.0 out of 5 stars
sex, drugs and concertos in F minor....,
By Crystal '63 (northern CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pictures of an Exhibitionist (Paperback)
Emo's autobio is a good, not great, immensely candid look at a bygone era (one thinks) of 70s rock and roll. What's remarkable about Keith is his versatility as a musician. His dedication to his craft and knowledge of other musical genres is admirable and I found it interesting how a self-proclaimed "loner" transformed himself into a flamboyant stage performer. I enjoyed his absence of hubris. What is less interesting and should've been edited are the many, Austin Poweresque phallic references and potty humor. There are many notable omissions that could have proved insightful but were, for unknown reasons, not mentioned or barely touched upon. That said, this is still a book for anyone interested in the music biz of yore.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Pictures of an Exhibitionist: From the Nice to Emerson Lake and Palmer - The True Story of the Man Who Changed the Sound of Rock (Hardcover)
First, I am a huge ELP/Keith Emerson fan. I've been looking forward to this book for years. In the mean time, I've read some outstanding books on Keith and ELP by Martyn Hanson, Hang on to a Dream: The Story of the Nice; and George Forrester, Emerson, Lake and Palmer : The Show That Never Ends. Then I got Keith's book. Rather disappointing. Not well written at all. I guess Keith felt he needed to put out a "tell all" type book full of drugs stories, alchohol and sex stories. My image of him as a person has been tarnished, but he is still a great musician and composer. Unfortunatly, the book was put out in haste, the pacing is poor, the style inconsistant. His childhood days are interesting and a couple of funny stories, but that's all. Stick to music Keith; how about a CD set on rare, underground or retrospective music? Get the other two books I mentioned in this review, don't bother with this one.
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