Early groups, Arthur Brown, and Atomic Rooster Palmer began taking drum lessons as a young boy. He took lessons with Britain's best-known classical percussionist of the twentieth century,
James Blades. His first band, formed with others from the Midlands area, was originally known as the King Bees, but changed its name to the Craig. In 1966, the band made its first record, "I Must Be Mad", with flip side "Suspense", produced by
Larry Page. At this time, Palmer also did his first session work, playing on the song "Love Light" by the Chants, a group from Liverpool. Later in 1966, he was then invited to join
Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds. Drachen Theaker was the original drummer for
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, founded by
Arthur Brown. Theaker abruptly left the band during a U.S. tour in 1969. Palmer was quickly recruited as a replacement and became a permanent band member.
Vincent Crane was the keyboard player with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and both he and Palmer left that group in the summer of 1969 to strike out musically on their own as
Atomic Rooster, a trio formed with vocalist/bassist
Nick Graham. Palmer reports that Brown himself had "gone missing on a commune on Long Island" and that this was a deciding factor in forming the new band. There were several personnel changes in the band, and their first album was released in early 1970. Meanwhile, Palmer received a call from
Keith Emerson to audition for a new group and left Atomic Rooster in the summer of 1970.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer Palmer met up with two other young English musicians,
Greg Lake and
Keith Emerson. Emerson had most recently been a member of
The Nice, and Lake was in
King Crimson, and both wanted to further expand their musical creativity. After discussions with
Jimi Hendrix and
Mitch Mitchell about forming a group fell apart, they auditioned several drummers, and felt an "immediate chemistry" with Palmer, and by the summer of 1970 they had formed a band. In naming the new group, the trio chose their last names alphabetically –
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also shortened to ELP. The band was nominated at the
1972 Grammy Awards for
Best New Artist. They developed a sound that merged
art rock,
jazz,
electronica,
pop rock and classical music and found fans within their peers and the public alike. The band has been the most successful of Palmer's career, and he remained with ELP until they first disbanded in 1979. Palmer rejoined ELP when they reformed in 1992 for
Black Moon,
In the Hot Seat, a
box set, as well as several DVDs and the subsequent tours. In 1998, the trio split. A one-off ELP performance at the 2010 High Voltage Festival celebrated the 40th anniversary of forming the band. Following the deaths of Emerson and Lake in 2016, Palmer is the only surviving member of ELP.
Asia Following the first break-up of ELP in 1980, Palmer formed PM with Texas blues rock guitarist
John Nitzinger for one album before joining
John Wetton and
Steve Howe in early 1981, who had been brought together to form a new super-group. They were later joined by
Geoff Downes to form
Asia. The group was nominated at the
25th Annual Grammy Awards for
Best New Artist, making them the second and last progressive rock band to achieve this feat. Palmer became only the second artist to be nominated twice for this award, after
David Crosby. Palmer left Asia in 1991 to join the ELP reunion. After several personnel changes the four founding members of Asia including Palmer reunited in 2006. Palmer has been reunited with the original line-up of Asia since 2006. They celebrated their 25th anniversary, and have since released four new studio albums,
Phoenix, in 2008,
Omega in 2010, XXX (30) in 2012, and
Gravitas in 2014. A live album and DVD from the 2006 reunion tour, entitled
Fantasia was released by
Eagle Rock Records.
Production credits The jazz trio
Back Door toured with ELP circa 1974, and Palmer began to collaborate with them, producing their fourth album,
Activate (1976). Two of the members of the group, saxophonist
Ron Aspery and bassist
Colin Hodgkinson, co-wrote the song "Bullfrog" with Palmer, also playing (uncredited) on the song, which appears on
Works Volume 2.
Other projects Palmer played drums on "Mount Teidi" on
Five Miles Out (1982) by
Mike Oldfield. Another Oldfield track he performed on, "Ready Mix", remained unreleased until 2001. Palmer has performed various drum clinics across Europe and the United States. Highlights of Palmer's live drum solo over the years have included the use of both gongs and tambourines, and also his ability to extract himself from his T-shirt while playing complex double bass drum patterns; the latter leaving him stripped to the waist to play the final part of his show. The removal of his shirt was a major 'attraction' in Palmer's drum solos during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. On recent tours, however, his shirt has remained on throughout his performances. Palmer is a patron of the British Classic Rock Society, which promotes progressive rock concerts. In 2001, Palmer formed his own band, initially known as Palmer and then the Carl Palmer Band, featuring guitarist Shaun Baxter and bassist Dave Marks. They were replaced by Paul Bielatowicz and Stuart Clayton, and later by Simon Fitzpatrick, performing instrumental versions of ELP songs as Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy. In 2017, following Emerson and Lake's deaths, the trio embarked on the Emerson, Lake & Palmer Lives On! World Tour. In November 2019, Palmer held the Carl Palmer's Prog Rock Camp at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. In 2019, Palmer performed with Asia and ELP Legacy during The Royal Affair Tour, headlined by
Yes. In 2021, Palmer returned to performing following the COVID pandemic to promote the Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy Tour celebrating ELP's 50th anniversary. In addition to Palmer, the band features Paul Bielatowicz on guitar and vocals; and Simon Fitzpatrick on bass and Chapman stick. ==Influences==