The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson’s first commercially successful band. The group was formed in 1967 by Emerson, Lee Jackson, David O’List and Ian Hague to back soul singer P. P. Arnold. After replacing Hague with Brian Davison, the group set out on their own, quickly developing a strong live following. The group’s stage performances featured Emerson’s Hammond organ showmanship and abuse of the instrument. Their compositions included radical rearrangements of classical music themes and Bob Dylan songs. The band achieved commercial success with an instrumental rearrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s “America”, following which O’List left the group. The remaining members carried on as a trio, releasing several albums, before Emerson decided to leave the band in early 1970 in order to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The group briefly reformed in 2002 for a series of concerts. The Nice evolved from Gary Farr and the T-Bones, of which keyboardist Keith Emerson and bassist Keith “Lee” Jackson were both members before that band dissolved in early 1967. Emerson then briefly played with the VIPs, who toured the Star-Club in Hamburg, and his playing style became influenced by organist Don Shinn, including standing up to play the instrument and rocking it on stage. Meanwhile, P. P. Arnold, a performer who had achieved greater popularity in the UK than in her native US, was unhappy with her backing band, the Blue Jays, and wanted a replacement.
See for more.
America
Hang On To A Dream
The cry of Eugene
2nd Amendment
Rondo
Karelia Suite Live 1969
Ars Longa Vita Brevis 1968 Full Album
Elegy 1971 Full Album
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