Lucky Man by donnica59

donnica59 - Lucky Man

donnica59

Aug 03, 2026 11:59am

<ol><li data-list="bullet">Greg Lake started writing this song when he was just 12 years old.</li><li data-list="bullet"> "I was round my friend's house and he had a broken down old guitar," Lake explained on his Songs of a Lifetime tour. </li><li data-list="bullet">"In fact, it only had one string on it.</li><li data-list="bullet"> Luckily, it was the bottom string. </li><li data-list="bullet">With a matchstick, I picked out this tune.</li><li data-list="bullet"> </li><li data-list="bullet">It made me think, you know, perhaps I could play guitar. </li><li data-list="bullet">So it came to Christmas and I said to my mom, 'Do you think there's any chance of me having a guitar for Christmas?' And she said, 'No.' </li><li data-list="bullet">You know, we were pretty poor. So that was it. </li><li data-list="bullet">I just accepted it.</li><li data-list="bullet"> </li><li data-list="bullet">But anyway, Christmas came, and there it was, the guitar. And of course I was thrilled. </li><li data-list="bullet">The first four chords I learned were D, A minor, E minor, and G. With these chords I wrote this little song. </li><li data-list="bullet">It's a kids' song, really. And it was a medieval fantasy, really. And I never wrote it on a piece of paper. I just remembered the words."</li><li data-list="bullet">Arguably Emerson, Lake & Palmer's best known song, this almost did not happen. </li><li data-list="bullet">On the last day of recording their first album, ELP did not have enough material to fulfill their contract requirements of 21 minutes per album side. </li><li data-list="bullet">Greg Lake explained: "Everybody looked round the studio, you know, 'Has anybody got any more material?'</li><li data-list="bullet"> And there was deadly silence. </li><li data-list="bullet">So I said, 'Well, look, you know, I've got this little thing I wrote when I was a kid. </li><li data-list="bullet">And if there's nothing else, maybe that would do.' You know.</li><li data-list="bullet"> </li><li data-list="bullet">So Keith said, 'Well, you play it, then, let's have a listen.' </li><li data-list="bullet">So I played it, and nobody liked it. </li><li data-list="bullet">So I said, 'Yeah, but you know, the thing is we've got nothing else.' Keith said, 'Well, you record it on your own and I'm going to go down the pub.' </li><li data-list="bullet">So off he went down the pub.</li><li data-list="bullet"> </li><li data-list="bullet">So Carl Palmer and I, we recorded the first part together, just drums and acoustic guitar. </li><li data-list="bullet">And it sounded pretty dreadful. </li><li data-list="bullet">But then I put a bass on it and it sounded a bit better. </li><li data-list="bullet">And then I went and put some more guitars on it, and an electric guitar solo. </li><li data-list="bullet">Then I put these harmonies on, these block harmonies. </li><li data-list="bullet">And in the end it sounded pretty good, it sounded like a record."</li></ol>