The Story of The Nice: Hang on to a Dream Paperback – April 7, 2014

Having played keyboards since I was seven (now 64) and also a journalist, I appreciated the amount of trivia and stories about not only the Nice, but the other bands associated with them at the time. The interrelation of musicians, their roots and playing ability was well covered. This later version has a little input from Keith Emerson but not a lot. When added up with his autobiography, it does answer a number of questions, especially with recording efforts and touring issues. The one thing it really does is remind the reader of the quality of the music they were reaching for and encourage the reader to revisit the collections at a reasonable high volume. I was lucky enough to meet all the ELP members over the years and found them all very personable, especially Carl Palmer, who I still see from time to time.The reading is somewhat tedious but luckily has numerous paragraph breaks to make it easy to stop mid-page. Photographs are very limited. The author does a good job of tying the under-story together. Nice to read of Tom Szakaly's efforts to help out Keith for the High Voltage show.

Not the best of prose, but still quite interesting.

This probably is the only biography of The Nice available at the time I'm writing this, which is the book's main strenght. Hanson clearly made a thorough research to put his work together and finally gave justice to a too-often overlooked chapter in Keith Emerson's carreer (due to the incomparable success of ELP that followed).Hanson's style of writing sounds a bit too 'journalistic' to my tastes at times, and I think it flashes back and forward in time too often (expecially in the first part) but the book is definitely worth reading, if only to get the importance of The Nice in laying the foundation of what would have later been called 'progressive rock'.The essay also briefly covers the years following the demise of the group (Brian Davison's Every Which Way, Jackson Heights, Refugee and, of course, ELP), Emerson's solo career and the 2002-2003 group reunion.First published in 2002, the book was updated for its 2011 reissue to include, inter-alia, a due eulogy to drummer Brian Davison, who passed away April 15th 2008. Keith Emerson's tragic death (March 11th, 2016) has indirectly turned this book into a definitive statement on the matter.

キースの自伝でもNICEに割かれたページはかなりのものがあるが、本人目線とこの本のような第三者目線では、ある事柄に対しても記述のされかたが異なる場合もあり、両方読むことによって理解が深まるものもある。（更に、全く同一の記載もあれば、双方で異なる記述もある）特に、69年後半の「新ヴォーカリスト探し」からNICE解散に至るあたりでは、Leeの気遣いも伺えるし、Brianにしてみれば、そりゃ腹立てるのは当たり前というような経緯も伺え、彼らの音楽面とは別に人間関係の部分も理解できて興味深いものであった。まだ３割程度しか読めていないが、ゆっくり読み進めていきたいと思っている。１～４章の４４ページがNICE以前の各メンバの状況、５～１６章がNICE結成から解散、Five Bridgesリリースまで、１７～２３章はELPやRefugeeなどのその後の各メンバの活動から再結成など2013年までが記載されている。ELPに比べNICEはあまりにも過小評価されているのが残念であり、各種映像やBBC sessionなどを含めて鑑賞することでNICEへの理解がより深まると考えている。70年のMoogやオケとのギグは、明らかに次のステージ（ELP）への準備活動であり、キースは常に前進を続けていた。

I bought the original book back in 2002 and have enjoyed reading this very well written 2nd edition. It isn't just a rehash of the first with a couple of chapters bolted on -it has be en rewritten with new information in many places and some very interesting stories an anecdotes I never knew about. If you are a fan of Keith Emerson, The Nice, the 60s, the roots of Prig Rock then this book is a great read! Highly Recommended

It's clear that Mr Hanson is a big fan of both Keith Emerson and The Nice, he wears it on his sleeve. That always makes for a biased point of view, not a bad thing, rather that than someone who slags of his subject.On the plus side I found it easy to read with some good insights into the formation of the band and the reasons they, sadly, disbanded at the height of their fame. I never took to ELP, I found them too industrial, I should have as I loved The Nice and the first two King Crimson albums, the later dissolved into the Robert Fripp Band which I found too clever for it's own good. So with Emerson and Lake I should have loved them, but I didn't. I loved the Nice and enjoyed this book, if you are a fan you will also enjoy it. I laughed in a lot of places, especially the line from Bazz, 'Three things you don't need on tour, ear ache, tooth ache and Greg Lake', I nearly fell off my chair.On the downside, it could have done with an editor, there are quiet a lot of places where he repeats himself and there are a number of typos and missing words, a small gripe. I was disappointed at the quality of the photographs I know 50 year old snaps are usually less than sharp but when printed on the same paper as the text is it doesn't help. I have come to expect glossy pictures, I suspect the decision not to was purely down to cost. I would also like to have seen a more, 8 pages? I'm sure there are a lot more, especially from the personal collections of the musicians concerned especially as the first edition was written before the sad deaths of Emerson and Davison. It was also a shame that Emerson did not contribute as his side of the story would have been nice to hear (no pun intended).So really a five star read, only docked one for the reasons above.

nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!nice!