Tarkus

''Tarkus'' is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in June 1971 on Island Records and on Cotillion Records (Atlantic) in August in the U.S. Following their 1970 European tour, the group returned to Advision Studios in London, in January 1971, to prepare material for a follow-up. Side one has the seven-part "Tarkus", with a collection of shorter tracks on side two.

''Tarkus'' went to number one in the UK Albums Chart, peaked at number 9 in the US, and reached number 12 in Canada on two occasions totalling 4 weeks.

Background and recording

After their debut live gigs in August 1970, the band toured across the UK and Europe for the rest of the year, during which their debut album, ''Emerson, Lake & Palmer'', was released. While on tour, Emerson found that he and Palmer were exploring more complex rhythmic ideas. He took patterns that Palmer was playing on his practise drum pads and found that they complemented runs that he had developed on the piano, and used this as a basis for material on ''Tarkus''. The group approached the album by having a centrepiece track in order to establish a concept, but a definite story or idea for it had not been discussed at this stage.

The group paused touring commitments in December 1970 and set the following month aside to record. As with their debut, the band recorded at Advision Studios in London with Lake handling the production duties and Eddy Offord returning as engineer. Early into the sessions Emerson presented the basis of the title track to Lake and Palmer; Lake was less than enthusiastic with its direction and threatened to leave the group. A subsequent meeting amongst the band and their management convinced Lake to stay, and he went on to contribute to the track and most of the other songs on the album including the lyrics, for which he used the artwork as inspiration. The band could only work out "Tarkus" during the January 1971 studio sessions, so they booked further time at Adivsion in February to work on side two, for which they had no material prepared.

Songs

Side one

Side one is occupied by the 20-minute "title track which has seven sections. It was written by Emerson, with Lake credited for "Battlefield" and contributions to "Stones of Years" and "Mass". It is a conceptual piece in which its narrative remains ambiguous and open to interpretation, but the artwork depicts the Tarkus character in the form of an armadillo tank hybrid who is born and loses a fight with a manticore, which concludes with the appearance of an aquatic version of Tarkus named Aquatarkus. Lake said the song is about "the futility of conflict, expressed in this context in terms of soldiers and war — but it's broader than that. The words are about revolution, the revolution that's gone, that has happened. Where has it got anybody? Nowhere." He added that the songs concern "the hypocrisy of it all" and the closing march "a joke".

Emerson wrote the first musical ideas for "Tarkus" from a 10/8 rhythm that Palmer had played on his practice drum pad backstage at a gig. He composed the entire piece in six days on his upright piano at his London apartment, and wrote the score on manuscript. After the band rehearsed it for six days, they put it to tape; Emerson said once Lake and Palmer had mastered the 5/4 and 10/8 rhythms, "everything else flowed." Emerson transposed "a fleeting run of one bar" from the Allegro of Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 to bridge a transition between two parts of "Eruption". The section is played in a 5/4 time signature which was a "frustrating" meter for Lake to play. The group would not record a longer track in the studio until 1973, with the 29-minute "Karn Evil 9".

Side two

Side two features six songs unrelated to the conceptual title track. "Jeremy Bender" is a rendition of the Stephen Foster song "Oh! Susanna" and Emerson's performance was influenced by Floyd Cramer, one of his favourite pianists. It came about when Emerson was playing the song's chord progressions on a honky-tonk piano and incorporated some fifth root chords, which the band liked. "Bitches Crystal" originated from the idea of playing a boogie-woogie part in a 6/8 time signature, with Emerson naming Dave Brubeck as an influence to his playing on it. The band had a firm idea on the direction of the track early on, although some parts were difficult for the group to put down. Lake was not a fan of Brubeck as Emerson was, but Palmer was into Brubeck's drummer Joe Morello and Emerson noticed his style of drumming in Palmer's performance.

"The Only Way (Hymn)" contains themes from "Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540" and " Prelude and Fugue VI, BWV 851" by Bach, and features Emerson on the pipe organ at St Mark's Church in Finchley, north London which was put down using a mobile recording facility. Lake wrote the lyrics after the music was recorded; Emerson and Palmer considered the religious implication in the line: "Can you believe God makes you breathe, why did he lose six million Jews?" was a bit too strong, but they went along with it. "Infinite Space (Conclusion)" features Emerson playing a 7ft Bechstein grand piano, and came about from the band's decision to follow the profound lyrics on "The Only Way" with a laid-back piece.

Emerson said Led Zeppelin were a loose inspiration for "A Time and a Place", and was listening to the band a lot at the time. He recalled the track being put down in about three takes. Although not credited, the music to "Are You Ready, Eddy?" was largely inspired by Bobby Troup's 1956 song "The Girl Can't Help It". Its title was a phrase the band yelled out to Offord when they were ready to record. Palmer is heard saying "They've only go' 'am or cheese!", which is what an elderly lady at Advision said to the band when they sent her round to a nearby sandwich shop and announce what they had available. Emerson said Palmer could mimic her mix of Greek and cockney accents "wonderfully", and recalled the confusion from some American fans who could not understand what it was about. The track was "an impromptu jam" and a one-off take, and played in celebration of completing work on ''Tarkus''.

Artwork

The album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve and features artwork by Scottish artist William Neal, whose armadillo has since became an iconic image in progressive rock. Neal was involved with the London-based CCS Associates which typically produced art for reggae albums but occasionally they were given other records to work on, which was the case with ''Tarkus''. Neal recalled: "On one of my drawings, there was a small doodle at the bottom of the page. This was of an armadillo with tank tracks on it but it was just an idea that wasn't really going anywhere." Emerson liked it and suggested it be developed "into more of a cartoon story", as he had written the music to "Tarkus" and thought it fit with the imagery.

Emerson said, "To everyone, it represented what we were doing in that studio. The next day on my drive up from Sussex the imagery of the armadillo kept hitting me. It had to have a name. Something guttural. It had to begin with the letter 'T' and end with a flourish". Emerson acknowledged that Tarka from ''Tarka the Otter'' may have been an inspiration, "but this armadillo needed a science fiction kind of name that represented Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in reverse. Some of the species caused by radiation", at which point he came up with the word "Tarkus". The gatefold presents eleven panels that illustrate the events of the title track. It begins with an erupting volcano, below which Tarkus emerges from an egg. Tarkus then faces a number of cybernetic creatures, culminating in a battle against the manticore. The manticore stings Tarkus's eye, and Tarkus retreats bleeding into a river.

Release

''Tarkus'' was released on 14 June 1971 in the UK on Island Records, appearing two months later in the US by Atlantic Records' subsidiary label Cotillion Records. It is one of only two ELP studio albums to reach the Top 10 in the United States, making it to (''Trilogy'', the following year, got to ), while in Britain it is their only number-one album. Additionally, ''Tarkus'' spent a total of 17 weeks in the UK Albums Chart. In Japan the album was released on Atlantic Records. Later vinyl reissues were on the Manticore label.

''Tarkus'' was certified gold in the United States shortly after its release on 26 August 1971.

Reception

Although it is now considered a quintessential progressive rock album, ''Tarkus'' received generally unfavourable reviews from critics upon its release, such as David Lebin in ''Rolling Stone'' who wrote: "Tarkus records the failure of three performers to become creators. Regardless of how fast and how many styles they can play. Emerson, Lake and Palmer will continue turning out mediocrity like Tarkus until they discover what, if anything, it is that they must say on their own and for themselves."

François Couture, in a retrospective review for AllMusic, said that ''Tarkus'' is "a very solid album, especially to the ears of prog rock fans – no Greg Lake acoustic ballads, no lengthy jazz interludes". Couture concluded, "More accomplished than the trio's first album, but not quite as polished as ''Brain Salad Surgery'', ''Tarkus'' is nevertheless a must-have." Paul Stump's 1997 ''History of Progressive Rock'' praised the album's title track but criticized the "enervatingly portentous lyrics" and the traditional form of the solos (beginning and ending on downbeats, using blues voicings). He also said the two comedy songs ("Jeremy Bender" and "Are you Ready Eddie?") "have aged embarrassingly."

Emerson said that ''Tarkus'' was one of his favourite albums, "not least because the title track has taken on a life of its own".

In 2015, Sean Murphy of ''PopMatters'' ranked ''Tarkus'' the 21st best classic progressive rock album of all time.

Reissues

In 1993, the album was digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio and released by Victory Music in Europe and Rhino Records in North America. This was followed by two remasters by the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in 1994 that are currently out of print.

In August 2012, ''Tarkus'' was reissued by Sony Music and released in a 3 CD pack, containing a stereo mix from the Palmaccio master, a stereo mix in the form of an alternate version of the album, and a 5.1 surround sound mix by Steven Wilson. The set also contains previously unreleased tracks recorded during the sessions.

''Tarkus'' was reissued on record as a 12" picture disc by BMG as part of Record Store Day on 12 June 2021.

Track listing

Original vinyl

2012 Edition

Personnel

Emerson, Lake & Palmer
*Keith Emerson – Hammond organ, pipe organ at St. Mark's Church, piano, celesta, Moog modular synthesizer, Minimoog
* Greg Lake – vocals, bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitar
*Carl Palmer – drums, assorted percussion

Production
*Greg Lake – production for E. G. Records
* Eddy "Are You Ready" Offord – engineer
*William Neal – paintings (C.C.S. Assoc.)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Works cited

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Further reading

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer albums
1971 albums
Cotillion Records albums
Atlantic Records albums
Island Records albums
Albums produced by Greg Lake