Australian singles chart:
Fanfare for the Common Man entered the Australian singles chart* on 1 August 1977 and peaked at #5. The song was #39 on the Top 100 of 1977.
Album:
The song is on Works Volume I which entered the Australian albums chart* on 11 April 1977 and peaked at #6.
Songwriters:
Aaron Copland, arr. Keith Emerson
Producer:
Greg Lake
Record label of Australian release:
Atlantic
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Songfacts:
This is an adaptation of a classical piece written in 1942 by the American composer Aaron Copland. It was ELP keyboard player Keith Emerson who initiated the idea, transposing the song so the keyboard was the main instrument. According to Greg Lake, the recording came together spontaneously in the studio – as Emerson was playing the piece, Lake came in with a shuffle pattern on bass, and Carl Palmer added his drums. The engineer was rolling tape, and this first time the band played the song through is what made the album.
Aaron Copland’s original classical piece was written in response to America’s entry into the Second World War. It was inspired by a speech given by the US vice president, Henry A. Wallace, referring to the “century of the common man.”
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/emerson-lake-palmer/fanfare-for-the-common-man
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