B-side "Living Sin" Label Cotillion 45-44158 Producer(s) Greg Lake | Released August 1972 Writer(s) Greg Lake | |
Length 3:48 (single version)
4:14 (album version) | ||
"From the Beginning" is a song written by Greg Lake and performed by the progressive rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released on their 1972 album Trilogy. It is driven by an acoustic guitar line with layers of electric guitar (both rhythm and lead), electric bass guitar, and sung by Lake, with some backing on drums (played by Carl Palmer with tympani mallets and without cymbals), and with a distinctive closing synthesizer solo from Keith Emerson, accompanied by overdubbed synthesizer sounds. It hit #39 in the US and was their highest charting single and has since enjoyed success in several different radio formats. In 2002 the song was sampled by singer Amerie on the track "Got To Be There" from her debut album All I Have with Greg Lake receiving a songwriting credit.
The song was covered by the heavy metal band Dokken and Czech folk rock band Marsyas, albeit under a different name (Studená koupel) with a Czech version of the lyrics.