Greg Lake

Gregory Stuart "Greg" Lake (10 November 1947 – 6 December 2016), was an English singer, musician, songwriter and producer.

He was a singer and bassist for King Crimson before becoming the bassist, guitarist, singer and lyricist for Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He also recorded as a solo artist, scoring a major hit single in 1975 with "I Believe in Father Christmas".

Biography

Greg Lake was born in Bournemouth, Dorset, and first learned to play guitar aged 12. He formed a friendship at school with Robert Fripp, who solicited him as a member of the first King Crimson line-up which had formed out of Giles, Giles and Fripp. Lake was primarily a guitarist, but agreed to switch to bass at Fripp's request.[3] Lake had some involvement in writing the lyrics for King Crimson's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, although Peter Sinfield was the primary lyricist. Lake also ended up producing the album after their contracted producer, Tony Clarke, walked away from the project.

In The Court of the Crimson King, released in 1969 was an immediate commercial and critical success for King Crimson. Lake stayed with King Crimson for only about a year; the group's first US tour featured shows with The Nice, during which Lake struck up a friendship with the Nice's keyboardist Keith Emerson. Lake and Emerson eventually teamed up and brought in the drummer from the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster, Carl Palmer—forming the progressive rock 'supergroup' Emerson Lake & Palmer (ELP). Lake contributed acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, lyrics, vocals and production work to the band. ELP lasted throughout the 1970s, before splitting at the end of the decade. The group reformed for a number of years in the mid-1990s before permanently disbanding.

Despite this, at Fripp's request, Lake sang on King Crimson's second album, In the Wake of Poseidon, and appeared as well with a pick-up version of King Crimson on the British TV show Top of the Pops.

Greg Lake, with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Toronto, Canada 3 February 1978

Solo work

In 1975, Lake achieved solo chart success when his single, "I Believe in Father Christmas", reached number two on the UK singles chart. It has become a Yuletide perennial.

Lake subsequently joined Asia, briefly replacing fellow King Crimson alumnus John Wetton, and then co-formed Emerson, Lake & Powell.

In 2005, Lake toured Germany and the United Kingdom with his "Greg Lake Band" which included David Arch, Florian Opahle, Trevor Barry on bass, and Brett Morgan.

Lake performed "Karn Evil 9" with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at several shows. At the album Night Castle (2009) he was a special guest and played guitar on "Nutrocker".

In 2010, he toured with Keith Emerson, from which came the live album Live from Manticore Hall. In 2012, Greg Lake toured England, The United States and Italy with the "Songs Of A Lifetime" show. He played a career retrospective, along with select covers, for small audiences.

On 25 July 2010, Lake joined Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer for what was to be the final live concert by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, at the High Voltage rock festival, in Victoria Park, London.

In late June 2013 Lake was invited to star at Genoa's Poetry Festival where he performed a reading of "Pirates", a drama piece in music he wrote with Peter Sinfield, then performed some of his classic songs.

On 9 January 2016 he was awarded by the very first Honorary Degree in Music and lyrics composition by Conservatorio Nicolini in Piacenza, Italy. This was the first time ever a Conservatorio gave a Honoris Causa award.

Death

Lake died on 6 December 2016 after battling cancer.

Discography

Solo

• Greg Lake with Gary Moore (1981) US #62; UK No. 62
• Manoeuvres with Gary Moore (1983) US No. 209
• Ride the Tiger with Geoff Downes (2015)

Live albums

• King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Greg Lake in Concert (aka Nuclear Attack/Live/In Concert)with Gary Moore (1995)
• Greg Lake (2007)
• Songs of a Lifetime (2013)
• Live from Manticore Hall with Keith Emerson (2014)

Compilations

• The Greg Lake Retrospective: From The Beginning (1997)
• From The Underground: The Official Bootleg (1998)
• From The Underground 2 : Deeper Into The Mine : An Official Greg Lake Bootleg (2003)

Singles

• I Believe in Father Christmas (1975)
• C'est La Vie (1977)
• Watching Over You (1977)
• Love You Too Much (1981)
• Let Me Love You Once (1981)
• It Hurts/Retribution Drive (1982)
• Famous Last Words (1983)

DVDs

• Greg Lake: Live In Concert (2006)
• Welcome Backstage (2006)

with the Shame: singles

• Don't Go Away Little Girl/Dreams Don't Bother Me (1967)

with Shy Limbs: singles

• Reputation/Love (1968; side B only)

with King Crimson

• In the Court of the Crimson King (October 1969); US No. 28 UK No. 5
• In the Wake of Poseidon (May 1970); US No. 31 UK No. 4
• Epitaph (1997)

with Asia

• Enso Kai (2001), Recorded live at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on 6 December 1983.

with Emerson, Lake and Powell

• Emerson, Lake & Powell (1986)
• The Sprocket Sessions (2003(An Official Bootleg), 2010(Reissue))
• Live in Concert (2003(An Official Bootleg), 2010(Reissue))
• Live in Concert & More... (2012), 2CDs Contains 2 previously released official bootlegs, Live in Concert and The Sprocket Sessions