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The Nice — Here Come The Nice: The Immediate Anthology
(Castle CMETD 055, 1970/2000, 3CD)

by Jeff Melton, Published 2003-02-01

Here Come The Nice: The Immediate Anthology Cover art

The decade of the 60s was full of mixed blessings for keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson. On one hand he set the tone for pushing the envelope on Hammond C3 organ while fronting first a quartet, then a trio of musicians including Lee Jackson (bass and vocal) and Brian Davison (drums). Original guitarist David O’List dropped out after the band’s first album and later went onto Roxy Music’s first line-up. His 60s style here works well in contrast with Emerson’s aggressive style on the studio version of “Rondo” as well as on “War and Peace.. Any guitarist could easily become befuddled up against a madman pyro who regularly burned the American flag during live sets as well as stabbed his organ with knives! Upon O’List’s departure, Emerson consolidated his leadership role and literally set the stage for all keyboardists of the day. Disc one includes a sampler section with a BBC DJ and it’s amusing to hear how the group was promoted to the UK radio: “Groups were calling themselves ridiculous names and then later regretting it” (unlike the Nice)! It’s also surprising how well the group fit into the psychedelia of the day with tracks such as “Flower King of Flies” not far removed from the Syd Barrett led Pink Floyd. Disc Three contains nine outtakes and four previously unreleased live tracks. Two live cuts come from Newcastle ‘68 and the other two are from Fairfield’s Hall ‘69 and show how the group really evolved on the U.K. stage. Emerson’s plans for achieving international success where soon realized after dismantling the group by late 1969 in favor of working with Greg Lake in ELP. Now that the trio has recently reformed for a series of European gigs it’s especially engaging to see how well the old material will be dusted off and presented to an oldies rock audience. Overall this Immediate collection is an inexpensive method to review the importance of a seminal British rock influence that fueled the drive to the golden era of progressive rock.

Filed under: Archives, Issue 26, 2000 releases, 1970 recordings

Related artist(s): Keith Emerson, The Nice

 

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