Uncle G’s FUN Music Reviews: Emerson, Lake, & Palmer – Live At The Mar Y Sol Festival ’72 (2012)

Date Published: 14 June 2012

Uncle G’s FUN Music Reviews
Spotlight: Emerson, Lake, & Palmer – Live At The Mar Y Sol Festival ’72 (2011 Shout Factory)

By Gary “Uncle G” Brown
American Correspondent – Classic Rock Radio (UK)

Last year (2011) Shout Factory released a sound board recording of ELP from a show performed in 1972. My research tells me this concert was a few months before the release of Trilogy.

Seeing the CD there with all the other ELP recordings surprised the hell out of me. Here I was walking the CD aisle in Fry’s (Houston Texas) last week, and in the corner of my eye, I noticed this. Picked it up so I could read the details. The next time it left my hand was when I got into the car. Purchased for a reasonable price.

The CD’s called; ELP – Live At The Mar Y Sol Festival ’72. It reads; Recorded live on April 2, 1972 at The Mar Y Sol Festival, Vega Baja, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

ELP’s act was part of a HUGE three-day rock concert. Reading the list of acts that also played there just blows my mind; Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Allman Brothers, Dr. John, and Fleetwood Mac — just to name a few. Plus imagine being able to see ELP. All this in 1972. Now where did my time machine go? Last night I was smoking pot with Jimi Hendrix. Kidding aside, I can only imagine how cool it would have been to be there. But what about the flip side to these festivals we all hear about? All those people outside for three straight days; smelly, sweaty, and with bad breath galore. And let’s not forget to mention; drunk, stoned, and wired from getting no sleep. The older I get, the less appealing it all becomes.

The Scan: This cracks me up. The booklet (check out the scan – top of this webpage) includes a reprint of a poster for the event. The price of admission was fifteen dollars, When purchased, you were warned that the ticket, and I quote: “did not include travel arrangements.” Think they had a sense of humor here, or that they were dead serious? To Puerto Rico…right. I mean really. Who on Earth would think that? “OK, I purchased my $15.00 ticket. So when’s the limo going to arrive to take me to the airport? I only like traveling first class”

Good news! From what I can tell, this CD contains their whole set. These guys are smoking hot. Really in their prime. This is an EXCELLENT live CD !!! I would strongly recommend adding ELP – Live At The Mar Y Sol Festival to YOUR CD collection if you haven’t done so already. Has already received many repeated plays in this household, and I predict will get many more. A real treat!

Rating: Using the one to five Star Rating System, whereas one star means it blows chunks, to five stars which means it’s perfectly alright to spend your hard-earned cash on, your favorite “Uncle G” rates Emerson, Lake, & Palmer – Live At The Mar Y Sol Festival 72 … 5 stars! For reasons already stated.

UPDATE 2015: Just announced, a limited-deluxe edition of Trilogy containing three discs, the original album (remastered), an alternative mixes disc, and a surround sound DVD audio disc produced by Jakki Jakszyk is to be released Worldwide, on June 9th. For more detailed information, please check out the following link; official ELP merchandise page:

http://elp.merchnow.com/products/201612/trilogy-deluxe-edition-3cd

End of Article

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