Emerson, Lake & Palmer ‘Welcome Back My Friends’ is Latest in Fan Memories Book Series
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Welcome Back My Friends – A People’s History of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, an oral history of one of the giants of the British progressive rock world, is the latest in the series of fan memories from Spenwood Books. The 352-page softcover book, with stories and photos, is available for pre-order in the U.S./worldwide here and in Canada here, where it will be published on Jan. 27, 2026. It’s available in the U.K. here, where it arrived on Dec. 5, 2025.
The title of the book comes from the lyrics for “Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression,” from 1973’s Brain Salad Surgery. The lyric was then used as the title of the band’s 1974 3-LP live set. As ELP, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer had five Top Ten U.K. albums, including a #1 with 1971’s Tarkus, one of their five straight releases that went top 5 in the U.K. With an estimated 48 million album sales worldwide, including nine RIAA-certified gold albums in the U.S., the prog rock trio were one of the biggest bands of the 1970s.
Famed for the flamboyant stage antics of Emerson on the Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer, and mixing elements of classical and jazz music with symphonic rock, over 100 different ELP concerts are remembered through the memories of 370 fans in this fully authorized history of the band.
Carl Palmer wrote the foreword, with further contributions from Ian Anderson and Cameron Crowe. The title features hundreds of photographs, including previously unpublished images from the archive of renowned photographer Neal Preston.
Keith Emerson, in a photo in the book, by Neal Preston.
The book’s author, Bruce Pegg, is a professional musician, music historian, writer and editor. His other books include 2002’s Brown Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry.
5 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationELP has never even been nominated for the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What a joke.
The so-called rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame is garbage…. I love Dolly Parton, but really?
Caught the flying piano at ELP in Memphis, back in the day. I was high as a kite in that smoke filled coliseum. https://youtu.be/uSm5IQFaTZA?list=RDuSm5IQFaTZA
ELP, Jethro Tull, and dozens more ignored by the HOF. You’re right, it’s a joke.
No doubt Jethro Tull should be in there. What about grand Funk and what’s even more criminal is Three Dog Night they are one of the biggest bands right behind creedence during that time frame.