Emerson Lake & Palmer - Beyond The Beginning (2005)

This 2-DVD set, with a total of circa 250 minutes of video, is a must-have for fans of the band. I would also recommend it to any progressive rock fan interested in the genre's history, and to those who do not realise (or who doubt) how popular the band was. I'm not going to reel off all the facts and statistics mentioned, but by the time you've watched the documentary and the excerpts from the various concerts you will realise that this band was huge back in the 1970s, and real innovators.
To newcomers to the band or genre, and to those sitting on the fence, I would strongly recommend watching Disc 2 first: there is an hour-long, informative documentary including interviews with the band members, their past and present managers, the band's publicist and even the well-known promoter Harvey Goldsmith ("When they got on stage they were mind-blowing"). You can select sub-titles in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.
Apart from the documentary, Disc 2 has 44 minutes from the California Jam festival in 1974, where the band headlined with Deep Purple to an audience of 350,000 people. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed watching the footage of this concert, especially Keith Emerson's lengthy piano solo (no, I'm not talking about the famous - and brief - piano stunt, which is also shown but was only a gimmick).
After watching Disc 2, you can put in Disc 1 and watch 18 performances over the band's life, ranging from TV studio appearances to videos and concerts, plus a performance of each member of ELP in a previous band. A couple of the very early recordings are historically interesting albeit annoying because TV producers and cameramen in those days felt that it was not sufficient to just show the band playing: it was important to zoom in and out constantly, change shot constantly, superimpose coloured boxes and strips, invert the image, and mess around in other senseless ways. So much so that you cannot see what the band is doing half the time. Thirty-seven years down the line, precisely what is important is to see the band performing, as they were, not stupid visual effects. OK, rant over: there is still plenty of good footage on Disc 1, so do not let me put you off.
The list of ELP tracks is historically diverse (although some are only excerpts): 'Take A Pebble' (German TV, 1970); 'Knife Edge' (Brussels concert, 1971); 'Rondo'/'Pictures at an Exhibition' (snippets from Isle of Wight festival, 1970), 'Rondo' (Brussels concert, 1971); 'Tarkus, Eruption' (snippets from Tokyo concert, 1972); 'Hoedown' (Milan concert, 1973); 'Tank' (snippet from Milan concert, 1973); 'Lucky Man' (California Jam, 1974); 'Karn Evil 9, Third Impression' (California Jam, 1974); 'Toccata' (Aquarius TV show, 1974) [Palmer only, and very good]; 'I Believe In Father Christmas' (Greg Lake's excellent 1975 video); 'Honky Tonk Train Blues' (Oscar Peterson's Piano Party on TV, 1976); 'Fanfare For The Common Man' (1977 video); 'Pirates' (Montreal concert, 1977) [not a piece I like, but it sounds and looks great live with a full orchestra accompanying, making the whole thing very slick]; 'Tiger In A Spotlight' (Pop Rock TV show, 1977); 'Watching Over You' (Memphis concert, 1978); 'Tarkus' (Royal Albert Hall concert, 1992) [boy, the guys look old in this one, and I don't enjoy much the way they turn the piece into a slow, funky, jazzed up number part way through]; 'Touch And Go' (Budapest concert, 1997).
Disc 1 also has "bonus footage": mostly-B&W footage of the band rehearsing in 1973, which is initially boring but then becomes interesting; a short documentary about the album covers, with interviews; a B&W film of the band racing saloon cars with other celebrities at Brands Hatch in 1973; "How It All Began", a new interview with Bob Moog, which I found very interesting (and further proof of how innovatory the band was). And, if that is not enough, three more B&W tracks: 'Fire', performed by THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN (1968 TV performance, suffering from gratuitous, very dated and hugely irritating camera effects) with Carl Palmer; 'America', performed by THE NICE (1968 TV performance, also suffering from the same very dated and irritating camera effects) with Keith Emerson; a snippet of Greg Lake in KING CRIMSON performing '21st Century Schizoid Man' in Hyde Park in 1969 (the sound is superimposed, but the sync with Lake's lips is perfect and the snippet is interesting). ~Progarchives

Tracks:
dvd1:
ELP in Pictures:
1. Take A Pebble (1970, The Beat Club TV show)
2. Knife Edge (1971, Brussels concert)
3. Rondo / Pictures At An Exhibition (1970, montage from Isle of Wight performances)
4. Rondo (1971, Brussels concert)
5. Tarkus - Eruption (1972, Tokyo concert)
6. Hoedown (1973, Milan concert)
7. Tank (1973, Milan concert)
8. Lucky Man (1974, California Jam)
9. Karn Evil 9, 3rd Impression (1974, California Jam)
10. Toccata (1974, Aquarius TV show)
11. I Believe In Father Christmas (1975, promo video)
12. Honky Tonk Train Blues (1976, Oscar Peterson Piano Party TV show)
13. Fanfare For The Common Man (1977, promo video)
14. Pirates (1977, Montreal concert)
15. Tiger In The Spotlight (1977, Pop Rock TV show)
16. Watching Over You (1978, Memphis concert)
17. Tarkus (1992, Royal Albert Hall concert)
18. Touch And Go (1997, Budapest concert)
Promo Videos:
1. America (THE NICE) - 1968 Beat Club TV show
2. Fire (THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN) - 1968 Beat Club TV show
3. 21st Century Schizoid Man (KING CRIMSON) - 1969 Hyde Park concert (edit)
Bonus Footage:
1. ELP in rehearsal 1973
2. "The story of the album covers" documentary
3. ELP at Brands Hatch 1973
4. Interview with Bob Moog

dvd2:
California Jam 1974, 44-minute performance:
1. Toccata
2. Still You Turn Me On
3. Lucky Man
4. Piano improvisations
5. Take A Pebble
6. Karn Evil 9, 1st impression part 2
7. Karn Evil 9, 3rd impression
8. Spinning Piano
9. Great Gates of Kiev
+"Beyond the beginning" documentary

Big thx to rainbow.n