 Now a band in their own right , the Nice expanded their gear , recruiting roadies <unk> Ward and Lemmy , the latter of whom provided Emerson with a Hitler Youth ceremonial dagger to stick into the keys on his Hammond organ . They spent the end of 1967 on a package tour with Jimi Hendrix , Pink Floyd , the Move and Amen Corner . The Floyd 's then leader , Syd Barrett , missed several gigs and O 'List had to stand in for him . The group 's first album was recorded throughout the autumn of 1967 , and in October of that year they recorded their first session for John Peel 's Top Gear . The album included classical and jazz influences including extracts from Leoš Janáček 's Sinfonietta and a rearrangement of Dave Brubeck 's " Blue Rondo a la Turk " renamed as " Rondo " , changing the time signature from the original 9 / 8 to 4 / 4 in the process . The group clashed with producer Oldham in the studio over the length of the track , but eventually won the argument and the full eight minute piece was included on the album . After the album was released , the group realised they had a conflict of interest with Oldham as manager and record company owner , so recruited sports journalist Tony Stratton @-@ Smith to take over management duties . 
