Elegy (The Nice album)

Elegy
Live album by The Nice
Released	April 1971
Recorded	19–20 December 1969
Venue	Fillmore East, New York City
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	39:27
Label	UK: Charisma CAS 1030 US: Mercury SR 61324 France, Germany: Philips
Producer	The Nice
The Nice chronology
Five Bridges (1970) Elegy (1971) Autumn '67 – Spring '68 (1972)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
George Starostin's Only Solitaire	8/15[2]

Elegy was the final official album release by The Nice, Keith Emerson having since moved on to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Lee Jackson to Jackson Heights and Brian Davison to Every Which Way. It consists of live versions of songs from earlier releases, a studio take of a Tchaikovsky piece ("Pathetique") that had been released live on the previous album and a previously unheard cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages". Released a year after The Nice's final show in March 1970 in an attempt to capitalize on ELP's burgeoning success, the album achieved number 5 in the UK album chart.^[3]

"Hang on to a Dream" and "America" were recorded live at Fillmore East, New York during the group's 1969 tour. It was during this tour that The Nice shared a bill with King Crimson, which led to Keith Emerson and Greg Lake hooking up to form a new band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. "Hang On To A Dream" features extensive use of Emerson striking the interior piano strings, while "America" closes with several minutes of Hammond organ feedback. The two studio outtakes, "My Back Pages" and "Third Movement, Pathetique" had been recorded in 1969; "My Back Pages" featured a section which would be requoted on ELP's "Blues Variations" while a live orchestrated version of "Pathetique" had already seen release on Five Bridges.