THE PROG INTERVIEW CARL PALMER

Carl Palmer is in a very good mood when Prog catches up with him, having just signed off on November’s series of American gigs with his band. Like other groups around the world, Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy had seen dates wiped off the board due to the pandemic. Although the double-vaccinated Palmer is eager to get back on the road, he’s also mindful of how quickly things can change. “If it goes wrong at the end of this year in America it will be two years since we last played,” he says ruefully. However, Palmer isn’t one to dwell on setbacks.

Though Covid and the lockdowns may have skewed his plans, he’s not been listlessly gazing out of the window. Blessed with a ‘can-do’ attitude, and an incredibly strong work ethic – a personality trait that was very useful when he was one-third of progressive music’s first supergroup, Emerson, Lake & Palmer – the drummer has been keeping busy. Aside from continuing to develop his prodigious drum technique, he’s been enjoying his role as executive editor for the mammoth Emerson, Lake & Palmer book. Lavishly illustrated with rare photos and boasting 50,000 words culled from bandmembers’ own accounts and interviews given to the press over the decades, the book is a companion of sorts to the new box set, Out Of This World: Live (1970-1997), which Palmer has also been involved in overseeing.

“I wanted to make sure we were really celebrating the band during this anniversary period and I think this book and these concerts do that. I think they give you a real feeling of what the band was like throughout its timeline when we were working.” In considering the contents of both of these significant archive projects, he reflects on his time in ELP with his customary frankness and