Greg Lake wrote the lyrics when he was 12. 

I'm a bit worn and dated myself, so it's sounds great to me.

this is one of those songs that should be above 10.

Wow! That sparks a memory for me. My 'alarm clock' that i made when i went to college consisted of an old electro-mechanical domestic heating timer wired up to a portable cassette deck. I woke up every morning to Black Sabbaths' 'War Pigs' - kinda the same deal - get to the volume before it proper 'kicks in', or wake the whole (student) house. I used that for at least 3 years or so, before the slight grinding noise of the mechanical bits of that old timer eventually got too loud to sleep through.
I haven't given that episode a moments thought in decades! 
Thanks for the memory .

So, when I was in high school you couldn't just go to the store and buy a plug-in timer (or maybe I just didn't have the cash), but I fashioned one from something I found somewhere.  I hooked it up to my parents' console stereo player in the living room with the needle on the end of this song and the volume all the way up.  It was my alarm clock.  As soon as I heard it click on I knew I had just milliseconds to get out there and turn it down or I was in big trouble.  It was very effective.  After a while I got my own record player and moved the contraption into my bedroom with a 300 watt light bulb I got somewhere also plugged into it.  I used other songs too (there was a Blood Sweat and Tears Al Kooper guitar solo, but I can't remember which), but this was one, and it's always fun to hear it again and think of my homemade alarm clock.

this is one of those songs that should be above 10.

Greg's basslines!

Now please play "Take a Pebble"  all the way through while you go to the bathroom or fix tacos or something!

So we were in the 1969  Chevy Impala, stopped at the red light at the base of the hill, about to go to school at Chartiers Valley HS. My older brother, Bill, had upgraded the rear deck speakers. They probably had five inch woofers.

AM radio.

Lucky Man. Sounds cool.

Then those Moog sounds hit. Sounds never before heard in the existence of the known Universe.

We were stunned. The light turned green. People honked, then drove around.

Stunned.

For me, and for Bill, too, I think, that is the context to think about and to evaluate this amazing song.

I used to love this band. Bought many of their albums, saw them in concert. Now, not so much. Times change. Now it just doesn't connect with me.

Beethoven's 5th is a classic but there's too much violin

So, when I was in high school you couldn't just go to the store and buy a plug-in timer (or maybe I just didn't have the cash), but I fashioned one from something I found somewhere.  I hooked it up to my parents' console stereo player in the living room with the needle on the end of this song and the volume all the way up.  It was my alarm clock.  As soon as I heard it click on I knew I had just milliseconds to get out there and turn it down or I was in big trouble.  It was very effective.  After a while I got my own record player and moved the contraption into my bedroom with a 300 watt light bulb I got somewhere also plugged into it.  I used other songs too (there was a Blood Sweat and Tears Al Kooper guitar solo, but I can't remember which), but this was one, and it's always fun to hear it again and think of my homemade alarm clock.

Pretty good song for a twelve year old to write. (Greg Lake)

Many comments on here about the Moog and the drums.  If you're not familiar with this album, give a listen to the song Tank for more great Moog work from Keith and excellent drumming skills by Mr. Palmer.

So we were in the 1969  Chevy Impala, stopped at the red light at the base of the hill, about to go to school at Chartiers Valley HS. My older brother, Bill, had upgraded the rear deck speakers. They probably had five inch woofers.

AM radio.

Lucky Man. Sounds cool.

Then those Moog sounds hit. Sounds never before heard in the existence of the known Universe.

We were stunned. The light turned green. People honked, then drove around.

Stunned.

For me, and for Bill, too, I think, that is the context to think about and to evaluate this amazing song.

So we were in the 1969  Chevy Impala, stopped at the red light at the base of the hill, about to go to school at Chartiers Valley HS. My older brother, Bill, had upgraded the rear deck speakers. They probably had five inch woofers.

Angry_Old_Man wrote:
Classic song with a bit too much synth sauce.



 haresfur wrote:
 

Michelangelo's Last Supper is not bad either except that there's too much paint in it.

understand teh point and agree, but Michelangelo did not paint The Last Supper. It is by da Vinci.

The Moog solo at the end once inspired me to buy my own synthesizer. A bit smaller than the one Mr. Emerson used.

 

I remember buying this song on a 45 single when it came out (yes, I am that old). I had only heard it a couple of times on the radio and loved the sound of that synthesizer. The first time I listened to the single, the 45 started skipping in the middle of the synth part. I might have been a little high at the time and probably sat there listening to the part skipping and playing over and over for several minutes before I realized what was happening. Good times.

Beethoven's 5th is a classic but there's too much violin

Great musicians but overall a very worn and dated sound. 

The Moog solo at the end once inspired me to buy my own synthesizer.
A bit smaller than the one Mr. Emerson used.

 

So we were in the 1969  Chevy Impala, stopped at the red light at the base of the hill, about to go to school at Chartiers Valley HS. My older brother, Bill, had upgraded the rear deck speakers. They probably had five inch woofers.

AM radio.

Lucky Man. Sounds cool.

Then those Moog sounds hit. Sounds never before heard in the existence of the known Universe.

We were stunned. The light turned green. People honked, then drove around.

Stunned.

For me, and for Bill, too, I think, that is the context to think about and to evaluate this amazing song.

So, when I was in high school you couldn't just go to the store and buy a plug-in timer (or maybe I just didn't have the cash), but I fashioned one from something I found somewhere.  I hooked it up to my parents' console stereo player in the living room with the needle on the end of this song and the volume all the way up.  It was my alarm clock.  As soon as I heard it click on I knew I had just milliseconds to get out there and turn it down or I was in big trouble.  It was very effective.  After a while I got my own record player and moved the contraption into my bedroom with a 300 watt light bulb I got somewhere also plugged into it.  I used other songs too (there was a Blood Sweat and Tears Al Kooper guitar solo, but I can't remember which), but this was one, and it's always fun to hear it again and think of my homemade alarm clock.

Angry_Old_Man wrote:
Classic song with a bit too much synth sauce.



 haresfur wrote:
 

Michelangelo's Last Supper is not bad either except that there's too much paint in it.

Beethoven's 5th is a classic but there's too much violin

Genius , I used to do stuff like that as well. 

Classic song with a bit too much synth sauce. 

Genius , I used to do stuff like that as well. 

This.is.bad.

So, when I was in high school you couldn't just go to the store and buy a plug-in timer (or maybe I just didn't have the cash), but I fashioned one from something I found somewhere.  I hooked it up to my parents' console stereo player in the living room with the needle on the end of this song and the volume all the way up.  It was my alarm clock.  As soon as I heard it click on I knew I had just milliseconds to get out there and turn it down or I was in big trouble.  It was very effective.  After a while I got my own record player and moved the contraption into my bedroom with a 300 watt light bulb I got somewhere also plugged into it.  I used other songs too (there was a Blood Sweat and Tears Al Kooper guitar solo, but I can't remember which), but this was one, and it's always fun to hear it again and think of my homemade alarm clock.

Monster in it's day. Still quite enjoyable.
Greg and Ian Anderson performing his Father Christmas (youtube) is awesome.
Have always enjoyed Greg's work.

My local classic rock station always morphs this into 'Tom Sawyer' by Rush. It works magnificently.

Here's how big they were...Headlining over Black Sabbath, EWF, and the fuckin' Eagles, man.

Here's how big they were...Headlining over Black Sabbath, EWF, and the fuckin' Eagles, man.

So, when I was in high school you couldn't just go to the store and buy a plug-in timer (or maybe I just didn't have the cash), but I fashioned one from something I found somewhere.  I hooked it up to my parents' console stereo player in the living room with the needle on the end of this song and the volume all the way up.  It was my alarm clock.  As soon as I heard it click on I knew I had just milliseconds to get out there and turn it down or I was in big trouble.  It was very effective.  After a while I got my own record player and moved the contraption into my bedroom with a 300 watt light bulb I got somewhere also plugged into it.  I used other songs too (there was a Blood Sweat and Tears Al Kooper guitar solo, but I can't remember which), but this was one, and it's always fun to hear it again and think of my homemade alarm clock.

[The analog moog is] just not mixed loud enough; you can barely hear it at the end.

Almost impossible to convey how huge this song was at the time.

I remember buying this song on a 45 single when it came out (yes, I am that old). I had only heard it a couple of times on the radio and loved the sound of that synthesizer. The first time I listened to the single, the 45 started skipping in the middle of the synth part. I might have been a little high at the time and probably sat there listening to the part skipping and playing over and over for several minutes before I realized what was happening. Good times.

In case you didn't know, that's an analog Moog synthesizer.

        

Did ELP spend an afternoon with the Ramones at some point?

Classic song with a bit too much synth sauce. 

Classic song with a bit too much synth sauce. 

I was just a young teen when this song came to be.  I could see the lyrics come to life in my minds eye.  I'm a lucky man to have experienced this song in such a profound way !

2016, what a brutal year.
I echo greenbuilding's thoughts below.
R.I.P. Greg Lake.

Quite. The keyboards player was Keith Emerson, who was a classically-trained pianist and knew his stuff. The sounds sound pretty dated these days when you get synthesisers for peanuts, but back in the 70s synths were very new, very expensive and very, very big (ELP at one point needed three articulated lorries to cart their stuff around), so this was pioneering stuff.

It's nice that Greg Lake's songs remain in circulation. The ELP stuff (and I write as a die-hard fan at the time) has dated terribly and makes me wince to listen to it, but Lake's songs and singing were simple and still haven't reached their 'play by' date.