Fanfare for the Common Man

Aaron Copland wrote the fanfare in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and conductor Eugene Goossens, who premiered it on 12 March 1943. Emerson had already used Copland's Hoedown on Trilogy in 1972. For Works Volume 1 he arranged the fanfare for the trio, with Emerson on a Yamaha GX-1 synthesizer, as one of two group pieces on side four beside Pirates.

Emerson sought Copland's permission. Copland found the version appealing but was puzzled by the solo section set between two fairly straightforward renditions of his piece. An edited version was released as a single in May 1977 and reached two in the UK, the band's highest-charting single there.