- Richard Fraser
Richard Fraser (sometimes spelled Frazer) was a
roadie and lyricist for the Britishprogressive rock bandEmerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP).He is notable for receiving credit for their 1970 debut album's third track, the hit "Knife Edge" and for his lyrical contributions to "Pictures at an Exhibition". [cite web
url=http://therecordroom.com/Catalog/albumdetails/album2064.html
title=Emerson, Lake, And Palmer / Emerson, Lake, And Palmer
publisher=therecordroom.com
accessdate=2008-04-14
last=
first=] Fraser and bassistGreg Lake wrote the nightmarish lyrics together whileKeith Emerson added some improvisations on theHammond organ . (Lake worked with non-performing lyricists before and after, notablyPeter Sinfield .)Most of the music to "Knife Edge" was "borrowed" from the first movement of
Leoš Janáček 's Sinfonietta (1926), except for the organ solo section, which is a note-for-note quotation of theAllemande of Bach's 1st French Suite in D minor, BWV 812. On the original Cotillion Records USA release of the Emerson, Lake & Palmer LP, Knife Edge was credited entirely to Emerson, Lake and Fraser without any mention of Janáček or Bach; However, on the British Manticore LP re-release, Sinfonietta and Janáček were listed in the album credits, including on the back cover (also listed was "The Barbarian" by Bartók - arranged by Emerson, Lake and Palmer), and Keith Emerson has often mentioned the French Suite quote, including in the 1977 "Keyboard Magazine " interview. Unfortunately, record companies that have re-issued the Emerson, Lake & Palmer LP on Compact Disc, have to this day failed to use the updated information, including from the Manticore LP release's back cover.Greg Lake had this to say about Fraser in
March 1972 :References
*refs
External links
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