Background and recording
The opening song "Papillon" (French for "butterfly") had no title when it was written, or even when it was recorded. While listening to the finished mix, the band members decided that the opening Moog flurry sounded like butterfly wings, and named the song after the recently released film Papillon . [4]
"Someday" was written about the breakup of bassist/lead vocalist/guitarist Lee Jackson's marriage. [4]
Keyboardist Patrick Moraz came up with the idea of writing a song about the Grand Canyon and asked Jackson to write lyrics for it. Jackson took books and maps out of the library to research and get inspiration for the lyrics. [4]
The title of the track "Ritt Mickley" originated from Moraz's strong French Swiss accent, when he asked the other band members to play the song again but more "rhythmically". [4] [5]
Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups.
The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band.
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Papillon, papillons, or le papillon may refer to:
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Live in Concert Newcastle City Hall 1974 is a live album by the British progressive rock group Refugee, recorded on 16 June 1974 onto cassette straight from the soundboard. It was released under the Voiceprint Records in 2007. The album includes The Nice song "The Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me", all songs from the debut album and the four-minute "Refugee Jam".
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