Hello there and welcome to March! It seems like only last week...wait it was only last week wasn't it? What?!! February 14th was the last Tuesday's Musical Note?!!! How can this be? Since May 31, 2012 (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "I'm Alright" (Kenny Loggins)) we've had a standing meeting on Tuesdays to explore the vast musical landscape with tunes from then and now! It seems that we've missed the last 2 weeks! Gasp!!! In the absence of The Notes, it appears the internet continued to function and Singapore continues to visit past Musical Notes, you know, the ones over on the left in the archives, regularly! Thanks, Singapore!!!
We took just a bit of a break the last two weeks to refresh and reflect. It's been 12 years since we started your favorite conversation about music and the mystery of life. And to my knowledge, even through heart surgery, we've never missed a Tuesday, until the last two. We're back now with more music and more musings to get your foot tappin', your head bobbin', and your mind contemplatin'...
It's amazing the perspective, or writer's block, you can gain after taking a couple of weeks off from blogging. There is a freshness that we hope is evident as we meet together this week. It's not a starting over, but with today's Tuesday's Musical Notes, there is a feeling like we are going...From The Beginning...
I confess that until recently I haven't intentionally listened to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. I remember hearing some of their tunes on the radio back in the '70s. You know the era when our only listening device was the transistor radio that only had AM and was about the size of a cell phone...strange how history reinvents itself. Here we are, back to listening to music on a portable device. Sorry, it's my first day back in a while and I got a little distracted...where were we...oh yes ELP!
And now a word from our sponsor...
My interest in ELP has been stimulated lately by a friend's release of a new prog-rock album. The band is Emerald City Council and their debut album is called Motion Carries. It features some incredible musicians, including a guitarist who toured with Carl Palmer. If you like this kind of music, give it a listen on your favorite streaming channels or you can purchase it for your collection at: emeraldcitycouncil.com
Now back to our show...
Emerson, Lake & Palmer combined elements of jazz, classical and rock sounds to solidify progressive rock during the '70s. Their 9 albums from 1970 (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) to 1994 (In The Hot Seat) set a precedent for what progressive rock should be. Their fourth studio album is Trilogy which spawned their highest charting single, today's featured song "From The Beginning". It is said to be Greg Lake's (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) favorite of all of the band's records. The album peaked at #5 on the US Billboard 200, the highest charting record for the band.
"From The Beginning" was released in August of 1972. It peaked at #39 on the Hot 100. It was originally intended to be a part of King Crimson's (Greg Lake's origin band) debut release 1969's In the Court of the Crimson King. "From The Beginning" however was considered not suitable to the album's context by King Crimson's leader Robert Fripp. As an addition to the Emerson, Lake & Palmer record "From The Beginning" showcases the band's musicianship as it opens with Greg Lake's acoustic guitar, adds percussive elements and electric instrumentation provided by Carl Palmer as well as Lake's vocals, and serves up a finale of Keith Emerson's synths.
Lyrically, Lake serves up a manifesto of sorts for the meaning of existence in the form of an apology for his behavior in that existence. There is a feeling of an inability to make a difference as things were going to stay the same regardless of what he tried. It seemed they had been that way...From the Beginning.
Paul doesn't share ELP's conclusions on life as he writes the second portion of the beginning of his letter to the Colossians with a brief history lesson on the Jesus they serve and what He has done for them. Paul hits them full bore with the rescue that Jesus gave them through his life and then backtracks on that life as Jesus is seen as God from the beginning of time. Paul includes imagery that the Colossians and hopefully the folks of our day will understand as he paints a picture of Jesus as God and Redeemer. Interestingly, Paul states that all things were created through Him, for Him and He holds it all together in what we understand as our cosmos and life. Paul continues his imagery by placing Jesus as the head of the body, the church. If you have been redeemed by Jesus, you are a part of His body, the church, in which Jesus, the head, serves as the control system over everything. We can take great comfort in the fact that Jesus has control over everything and we don't. Paul then shows us our separated state and the lengths that Jesus went to have us reunited with Him. Doesn't it feel so good? You may get that one, you may not...
Paul then details how his story is intertwined with that of the believers in Colossae as he tells them of how he has served and in many ways suffered for the Message of Jesus. His goal? To present every person complete in Jesus. What does that mean? Well, friend, it means that after we believe in faith that Jesus died as a substitutionary ransom for our sins, it is on us to every day attempt to become more and more like Him, to complete ourselves by being like Jesus. In other letters, we are challenged to "do the good works ordained for us from the foundations of the world", hmmm...another From the beginning reference. Paul, not to elevate himself because of his works and sufferings, places himself right alongside us as he works to become more like the one who was the "image of the invisible God" who was from the beginning.
Part of those good works is to immerse ourselves in Scripture. Paul speaks from a point of credibility as he touts Jesus as being from the beginning. You see, Paul, before he became the apostle, was a Pharisee who studied the books of Moses, the Law, and knew all about the creation account as he was a devout student of Scripture. When he encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus all of that knowledge was fulfilled in that moment as Paul interacted with the One who holds it all together. Have you had such an encounter? If you have, how is your study of Scripture? There is a great deal of pressure on us when we think we have control over things, but as we realize what Jesus has done for us, we soon realize the relief from that pressure and become more like Jesus as we rely totally on Him.
Paul gives us a brief, but concise, lesson on salvation in these 16 verses. It serves as a primer on who God, Jesus, and in more subtle ways but no less important, the Holy Spirit are. These passages affirm our beliefs and remind us that we have things to do to make much of the name of Jesus in our world and by doing so become more like Him every day. In other words, "...you see it's all clear, you were meant to be here, from the beginning."
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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