Ars Longa Vita Brevis               

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          UK - (PINK) IMMEDIATE RECORDS - IMSP 020 

FLIP-BACK SEAMS UK FIRST PRINT - 50 YEARS AGO!

RARE and clean...Original 1968 first BRITISH pressing on Andrew (1st Rolling Stones manager) Oldham's IMMEDIATE RECORDS...It's the 2nd album by the Nice an early keyboard progressive psychedelic trio led by the wizard of keys, Keith Emerson....

The first three tracks of this 1968 classic are some of the most wigged-out psychedelic songs ever recorded; these almost universally garner critical praise. By contrast the remainder of the album sees the genesis of Keith Emerson’s bombastic “pomp-rock” style, via cod-classical and bebop jazz; this element of his output has been popularly ridiculed for years. Not that this ever worried him: the Nice always existed on the edge, offering compromises to nobody, even in the band’s name – a “nice” is hippie argot for a person who’s high and happy on marijuana. And, being far and away the most prodigiously talented rock keyboardist ever, arrogance and excess came early and easily to Emerson; the only difference between the Nice and ELP is that the earlier band didn’t sell squillions of albums. The title of this one translates loosely as “life is short but art endures” – perhaps indicative of Keith’s elevated opinion of his own product.

The excellent psych confections “Daddy, Where Did I Come From?”, “Little Arabella” and “Happy Freuds” fall somewhere between Syd Barrett and early Zappa, offering a variety of sophisticated musical backings with ludicrous Alice-in-Wonderland lyrics in which bassist Lee Jackson’s vocal limitations actually contribute to the effect (with the help of a little vari-speed and echo). These lead into what is probably Emerson’s best-ever classical reinterpretation – at nine minutes a little too long to sample here – in which the somber, gorgeous melody of Sibelius’s “Intermezzo” from the Karelia Suite becomes a furious military march overlaid by brilliant Hammond harmonisation and a contrapuntal, partly bowed bass line. The title track, somewhat ingenuously subtitled “Symphony For Group And Orchestra”, actually consists of four very disparate segued pieces, linked only by brief Copland-esque orchestrations in the Prelude, the Coda and between the second and third “movements”; elsewhere, the orchestra is used only sparingly. “Awakening” is the vehicle (this being 1968) for a somewhat underwhelming Brian Davison drumkit solo, while “Realisation” starts with some pretentious poetry from Jackson before dissolving into a clattering bebop-style piano tour-de-force. The orchestra features more strongly in the lilting “Acceptance” a.k.a. “Brandenburger”, in which J S Bach’s delightful theme from the third Brandenburg Concerto is further enlivened by some gloriously bluesy Hammond soloing; it’d be nice to think that old Johann Sebastian would have appreciated this joyous updating of his work. Finally, “Denial” provides a noisy proto-prog instrumental workout for all three musicians before the orchestra reappears for the short coda.

1. Daddy where did I come from (3:43)
2. Little Arabella (4:17)
3. Happy friends (3:27)
4. Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite (8:57)
5. Don Edito el Gruva (0:13)
6. Ars Vita Longa Brevis (18:20)
a: prelude
b: 1st movement: Awakenings
c: 2nd movement: Realisation
d: 3rd movement: acceptance "Brandenburger"
e: 4th movement: Denial
f: Coda-Extension to the big note

CONDITION: The cover: is very fragile and yet a decent "EX" (excellent) keeper copy that would be hard to find any better = it's 50 years of age... well handled overall = having no bends, no split seams, no delete marks, and retains nice colors...hard to find this *nice.*

The vinyl: is all glossy clean, M- should be a very nice up-gade or wonderful first time score! Both UK "Immediate" labels are clean