Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon

The Nice with keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson (later to be a founding member of Emerson Lake & Palmer) at the helm was one of the most adventurous bands of the British psychedelic scene. Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon is a 2 CD collection consisting of live recordings from 1967- 70 concerts, TV, and radio appearances and the first complete overview of the live history of The Nice, covering the bands entire lifespan and all the tracks have been newly re-mastered. The first Volume The Quartet documents the band s quartet phase and features a re-invention of Dylan s She Belongs To Me , acid-fantasy lyricism of Flower King of Flies , surprisingly never recorded covers of The Byrds Get To You and Frank Zappa s Lumpy Gravy and the bands biggest charting single a bold radical reinvention of Bernstein s America . The second Volume The Trio documents the band s trio phase (minus a lead guitarist) finds Emerson as a front man unleashing particularly proto ELP pieces Intermezzo Karelia Suite and Pathetique a choral arrangement of Tim Hardin s Hang On To A Dream, a pych-soaked take on Dave Brubeck s Rondo , Sonny Rollins jazz classic St Thomas featuring a surprise guest, the renowned U.K. troubadour Roy Harper on vocals and the ambitious Five Bridges Suite . Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon also features cover artwork designed by illustrator William Stout, internationally renowned as one of the first rock n roll bootleg cover artists. In Keith Emerson s own words I hope you will enjoy listening to these unique recordings as I do .