Source(google.com.pk)
Bbible Black Wallpaper Biography
This article is about the musical group. For the character in novels by Stephen King, see Crimson King.
King Crimson is a rock band, originally founded in 1969 by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles. Typically categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band has in fact incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during its long history, drawing from jazz, classical and experimental music to psychedelic rock, heavy metal, new wave, hard rock, gamelan, folk music, electronica and drum and bass. Originating in England, the band has had a mixture of English and American personnel since 1981.
King Crimson has garnered little radio or music video airplay but gained a large cult following. The band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, is widely regarded as a landmark in progressive rock, while later excursions into even more unconventional territory have been influential on many contemporary musical artists. King Crimson's membership has fluctuated considerably throughout its existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks as full band members. The band developed a greater degree of stability later on in its history, with current (and fifth) frontman Adrian Belew having been a member of King Crimson since 1981 and drummer Bill Bruford staying with the band for nine years of active existence (1973-75, 1981-84 and 1994-97)
Today, King Crimson's early music is considered to owe a lot to the compositional frameworks of jazz innovators like Charles Mingus and John McLaughlin, fused with British pop and classical music. The early 1970s were King Crimson's least stable period, with many personnel changes and disjunctions between studio and live sound as the band explored elements of jazz, funk and chamber classical music. In the mid-'70s the band had a more stable lineup and developed an improvisational sound influenced by hard rock, before breaking up in 1974. The band re-formed with a new line-up in 1981 for three years (this time influenced by New Wave and gamelan music) before breaking up again for around a decade. Following their 1994 reunion (with extra personnel), King Crimson blended aspects of their 1980s and 1970s sound with influences from more recent musical genres such as industrial rock and grunge (the latter itself a genre initially influenced by King Crimson). The band?s efforts to blend additional elements into their music have continued into the 21st century, with more recent developments including drum and bass-styled rhythm loops and extensive use of MIDI and guitar synthesis.
Leadership
Robert Fripp has been the sole consistent member throughout the group?s history and acts as its de-facto leader, having put together several distinct lineups. He has stated that he does not necessarily consider himself the band's leader and instead describes King Crimson as "a way of doing things". Fripp has also noted that he never originally intended to be seen as the head of the group.
However, Fripp has strongly dominated the band?s musical approach and compositional approach since their second album, albeit with other members tending to write the more song-oriented elements, to the point where other members have left the band due to creative frustration ? notably Ian McDonald, Gordon Haskell and Mel Collins. Trey Gunn, who played with the group between 1994 and 2003, has stated that "King Crimson is Robert?s vision. Period."
History
1960s
Prehistory, including Giles, Giles and Fripp (1967-1968)
"The Giles Brothers were looking for a singing organist. I was a non-singing guitar player. After 30 days of recording and playing with them I asked if I got the job or not ? joking like, you know? And Michael Giles rolled a cigarette and said, very slowly, 'Well, let's not be in too much of a hurry to commit ourselves, shall we?' I still don't know if I ever got the job."
?Robert Fripp on signing up with Michael and Peter Giles
In August 1967, drummer Michael Giles and his bass-playing brother Peter, who?d been professional musicians in various jobbing bands since their mid-teens, advertised for a singing organist to join their new project. Robert Fripp ? a guitarist who did not sing ? responded and the trio formed the band Giles, Giles and Fripp All three musicians were originally from the Dorset area.
Based on a format of eccentric pop songs and complex instrumentals, Giles, Giles and Fripp recorded several unsuccessful singles and one album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp. The band hovered on the edge of success, with several radio sessions and a television appearance, but never scored the hit that would have been crucial for a commercial breakthrough. The album was no more of a success than the singles, and was even disparaged by Keith Moon of The Who in a magazine review.
Attempting to expand their sound, the group then recruited the multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald on keyboards, reeds and woodwinds. McDonald brought along his then-girlfriend, the former Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble, whose tenure with the group was brief and ended at the same time as her romantic split with McDonald (she would later resurface in Trader Horne).
More significantly, McDonald brought in lyricist, roadie and art strategist Peter Sinfield, with whom he had been writing songs ? a partnership initiated when McDonald had said to Sinfield, regarding his 1968 band Creation, "Peter, I have to tell you that your band is hopeless, but you write some great words. Would you like to get together on a couple of songs?" One of the first songs McDonald and Sinfield wrote together was "The Court of the Crimson King".
Fripp, meanwhile, had seen the band 1-2-3 (later known as Clouds) at the Marquee. This band would later inspire some of Crimson's penchant for classical melodies and jazz-like improvisationKing Crimson, lineup 1 (1968-1969)
Formation (late 1968-mid-1969)
By this point, Fripp's dissatisfaction with Giles, Giles and Fripp's lack of focus had come to a head. Feeling that he no longer wished to pursue Peter Giles' more whimsical pop style, he recommended his friend Greg Lake, a singer and guitarist, for recruitment into the band, with the suggestion that Lake should replace either Peter Giles or himself. Although Peter Giles would later sardonically describe this as one of Fripp's "cute political moves", he himself had become disillusioned with Giles, Giles and Fripp's failure to break through, and stepped down to be replaced by Lake as the band's bass player, singer and frontman. At this point, the band morphed into what would become King Crimson.
The first incarnation of the band was said to have been "conceived" on 30 November 1968 and first rehearsed on 13 January 1969. The name King Crimson was coined by lyricist Peter Sinfield as a synonym for Beelzebub, prince of demons. According to Fripp, Beelzebub would be an anglicised form of the Arabic phrase "B'il Sabab", meaning "the man with an aim" ? although it literally means "with a cause".
Shortly afterward, the new band purchased a Mellotron (the first example of the band?s persistent involvement with music technology) and began using it to create an original orchestral rock sound which would be an overwhelming influence on the nascent progressive rock movement. At this point, McDonald was King Crimson?s main composer, albeit with significant contributions from Lake and Fripp, while Sinfield not only wrote all the lyrics but designed and operated the band?s revolutionary stage lighting, and was therefore credited with "sounds and visions".
"The Court of the Crimson King" (1969)
37 second sample from King Crimson's "The Court of the Crimson King", demonstrating the sound of the first incarnation of the band, with its classically-influenced style and use of the Mellotron instrument.
King Crimson made their live debut on 9 April 1969, and made a breakthrough by playing the free concert in Hyde Park, London, staged by The Rolling Stones in July 1969 before 650,000 people.
In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)
The first King Crimson album, In the Court of the Crimson King, was released in October on EG Records, described by Fripp as "an instant smash" and "New York's acid album of 1970" ? notwithstanding that Fripp and Giles claim that the band never used psychedelic drugs. The album received public compliments from Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece."
King Crimson?s music drew on a wide range of influences provided by all five group members, including Jimi Hendrix, romantic- and modernist-era classical music, folk, jazz, military music (partially inspired by McDonald?s stint as an army musician), ambient improvisation, Victoriana and British pop. All of this was executed with a precision and complexity previously unheard of in rock music, with Sinfield?s dense and melodramatic lyrics (heavily loaded with dense imagery, allusion and self-conscious poeticisms) completing the package. The sound of the album has been described as setting the "aural antecedent" for alternative rock and grunge, whilst the softer tracks are described as having an "ethereal" and "almost sacred" feel.
It was definitely a break from the blues-based hard rock of the contemporary British and American scenes, presenting a more Europeanised approach which blended antiquity and modernity. Music reviewer Annie Gaffney has written that King Crimson were credited with starting the entire progressive rock movement that was popular in the early 1970s.
First lineup disintegrates (mid-to-late 1969)
After playing shows in England, the band embarked on a tour of the United States, performing alongside many contemporary popular musicians and musical groups, and "astounding audiences and critics" with their original sound.
However, creative tensions were developing within the band. Michael Giles and Ian McDonald, still striving to cope with King Crimson?s rapid success and the realities of life on the road, became uneasy with the band?s direction. Although he was neither the dominant composer in the band nor the frontman, Fripp was very much the band?s driving force and spokesman, leading King Crimson into progressively darker and more intense musical areas. McDonald and Giles, now favouring a lighter and more romantic style of music, were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with their position.
To Fripp?s horror, both McDonald and Giles resigned from the band during the California tour. In order to salvage what he saw as the most important elements of King Crimson, Fripp offered to resign himself. McDonald and Giles apparently declared that the band was ?more (him) than them? and that they should therefore be the ones to leave.
The original line-up played their last show together in San Francisco at the Fillmore West on 16 December 1969. Live recordings of the original King Crimson?s concerts were eventually released twenty-seven years later in 1996 as the double/quadruple live album Epitaph.
Ian McDonald and Michael Giles then formally left King Crimson to pursue solo work, recording the semi-successful McDonald and Giles studio album in 1970 before dissolving their partnership. McDonald would later resurface in Foreigner while Giles became a session drummer.
1970s
The "interregnum"
From the start of 1970 until mid-1971, King Crimson remained in a state of flux with fluctuating line-ups, thwarted tour plans and difficulties in finding a satisfactory musical direction. This period has subsequently been referred to as the "interregnum" - a nickname implying that the "King" (King Crimson) was not properly in place during this time. In retrospect, this interruption in career momentum can also be seen as the reason why King Crimson never attained the commercial heights of Genesis, Yes or Emerson, Lake & Palmer (all bands that had been profoundly influenced by King Crimson?s initial work).
In The Wake Of Poseidon (1970)
Greg Lake was the next member to leave, departing in early 1970 after being approached by Keith Emerson to join what would become Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This left Fripp as the only remaining musician in the band, taking on part of the keyboard-playing role in addition to guitar. To compensate, Sinfield increased his own creative role and began developing his interest in synthesizers for use on subsequent records.
Lake agreed to sing on the recordings for the band's developing second album In the Wake of Poseidon (negotiating to receive King Crimson's PA equipment as payment). Eventually, he ended up singing on the band's early 1970 single "Cat Food/Groon" and on all but one of the album?s vocal tracks. The exception was "Cadence And Cascade", which was sung by Fripp's old schoolfriend and teenage bandmate Gordon Haskell. At one point, the band considered hiring the then-unknown Elton John (on spec) to be the album's singer, but decided against it. Other former members and associates returned - as session players only - for the Poseidon recordings, with all bass parts being handled by Peter Giles and Michael Giles performing the drumming. Mel Collins (formerly of the band Cirkus) contributed saxophones and flute. Another key performer was jazz pianist Keith Tippett, who became an integral part of King Crimson's sound for the next few records (although Fripp offered him full band membership, Tippett preferred to remain as a studio collaborator and only performed live with the band once).
In the Wake of Poseidon was moderately well received on release, but was criticised as sounding very similar in both style and content to the band's debut album, to the point where it seemed like an imitation. With the album on sale, Fripp and Sinfield remained in the awkward position of having King Crimson material and releases available, but not having a band to play it. In considerable desperation, Fripp persuaded Gordon Haskell to join permanently as singer and bass player, and recruited drummer Andy McCulloch, another Dorset musician moving in the West London progressive rock circle, who'd previously been a member of Shy Limbs and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Mel Collins was also retained as a full band member.
Lizard (1970)
Both Haskell and McCulloch joined King Crimson in time to participate in the recording sessions for the band's third album, Lizard, but had no say in the writing of the material. Fripp and Sinfield, now effectively equal artistic partners, had written the entire album themselves and had also brought in a squad of jazz musicians to help record it - Keith Tippett, cornet player Marc Charig, trombonist Nick Evans and oboe player Robin Miller. Jon Anderson of Yes was also brought in to perform vocals on one song ("Prince Rupert Awakes") which Fripp and Sinfield considered to be outside Haskell?s range and style.
Lizard featured much stronger avant-garde jazz and chamber-classical influences than previous albums, as well as Sinfield?s upfront experiments with processing and distorting sound through the VCS3 synthesizer. It also featured Sinfield?s most complex set of allusive lyrics to date, including a coded song about the break-up of the Beatles, with almost the entire second side taken up by a predominantly instrumental chamber suite describing a mediaeval battle and its outcome. The album is still described as being an "acquired taste".
Lizard was definitely not to the taste of the more rhythm-and-blues orientated Haskell and McCulloch, who did not enjoy the sessions and rapidly became disillusioned. Growing tensions came to a head when Haskell quit the band acrimoniously prior to the release of the album. He had realised that not only would he have no creative input for the foreseeable future, and would be playing material that he had no sympathy for, but would be required to sing through distortion and electronic effects. McCulloch also quit immediately afterwards: he would join Arthur Brown's band and would become the drummer for Greenslade in 1972.
King Crimson, lineup 2 (1971-1972)
Building a new live band (early-mid 1971)
Fripp and Sinfield returned to the arduous process of auditioning new members. Ian Wallace ? a former bandmate of Jon Anderson - became the new drummer and was soon joined by singer Raymond "Boz" Burrell, who?d previously worked with his own band Boz People, released a few obscure solo singles and at one point had been tipped to replace Roger Daltrey in The Who. Boz was chosen over other auditionees including Bryan Ferry and even King Crimson?s then-manager John Gaydon.
Bassist-singer John Wetton (ex Mogul Thrash) was invited to join the group in mid-1971 but he declined, accepting a place in Family instead, although he kept in touch with Fripp. Rick Kemp was eventually selected as the new bass player but turned the band down at the last minute. Once again faced with limited choices, Fripp taught Boz to play the bass rather than start the search all over again. Boz had not played bass before, but had played enough occasional rhythm guitar to make learning the instrument easier.
In 1971, King Crimson undertook their first tour since 1969 with the new line-up. The concerts were well received, but the drug-free and intellectually-inclined Fripp began to find himself at odds with the more rock-and-roll lifestyle and musical inclinations of the other members and began to withdraw socially from his colleagues. The tension spread to the rest of the band, but the band completed the tour intact.
Islands (late 1971)
Later in the year King Crimson recorded and released a new album, Islands. The band's warmest-sounding record to date, it was strongly influenced by Miles Davis? orchestral collaborations with Gil Evans and had a loose thematic connection with Homer?s Odyssey. It also showed signs of a stylistic divergence between Sinfield (who favoured the softer and more textural jazz-folk approach) and Fripp (who was becoming more drawn to the harsher instrumental style exemplified by the Mellotron-and-banjo-technique-guitar piece ?Sailor?s Tale?). Islands also featured the band?s one-and-only experiment with a string ensemble (?Prelude: Song Of The Gulls?) and the raunchy rhythm-and-blues-inspired ?Ladies Of The Road? - by far the closest representation of the band?s live style, and probably the only track which the whole band liked. A hint of trouble to come came when one unnamed member of the band allegedly described some of the more delicate and meditative parts of Islands as ?airy-fairy shit?.
Split with Peter Sinfield, temporary band breakup (late 1971)
Following the next tour, Fripp ousted Sinfield , with whom his relationship had deteriorated, claiming musical differences and a loss of faith in his partner?s ideas. Sinfield would go on to release a solo album, Still, featuring all of the current and previous members of King Crimson aside from Fripp, and then reunited with Greg Lake by becoming the principal lyricist for Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Many years later, he would achieve great success writing pop songs for Bucks Fizz.
The remaining band broke up acrimoniously in rehearsals shortly afterwards, due to Fripp?s refusal to incorporate other members? compositions into the band?s repertoire. (He later cited this as ?quality control? and an attempt to ensure that King Crimson was performing the ?right kind? of music.)
The last tour of lineup 2 (early-mid 1972)
The band was persuaded to reform in order to fulfil their 1972 tour commitments, with the intention of disbanding afterwards. Recordings from this tour were later released as the Earthbound live album, noted and criticised for its bootleg-level sound quality and a style which occasionally veered towards funk, with scat singing on the improvised pieces. This was a flagrant sign of the musical rift between Fripp and all three of the other members, the latter of whom were attempting to steer the band back towards a rootsier rhythm-and-blues style in open defiance of Fripp.
Despite these problems, relationships across the band gradually improved during the tour to the point where Collins, Burrell and Wallace offered to continue with the band. However, Fripp had already decided to entirely restructure King Crimson with a new musical direction which he felt was entirely unsuited to the current band, and was already recruiting new members.
After leaving King Crimson, Collins, Wallace and Burrell formed a band called Snape, with British blues guitarist Alexis Korner. Both Wallace and Collins would go on to outstanding session careers (Collins would also have a stint in Camel and Wallace?s final musical project in the late 2000s would be a jazz trio reinventing King Crimson music). In 1973, Burrell became the bass player of Bad Company with whom he enjoyed great success for the rest of the decade. He would subsequently play down any mention of his time with King Crimson.
Having spent a long time being critically overshadowed by the preceding and subsequent lineups of King Crimson, the Islands lineup of the band benefited from positive reappraisal in the mid-2000s following the release of several live archive releases (including the double live set Ladies of the Road and various King Crimson Collectors Club recordings) and reassessments by Fripp and other band members. Fripp would subsequently mend his damaged relationships with Wallace and Collins, although not with Burrell.
King Crimson, lineup 3 (mid-1972-1974)
The third major lineup of King Crimson was radically different from the previous two and the interregnum work, being both the first without saxophone or woodwind and the first to embrace active improvisation as a major musical element
Recruiting (mid-1972)
Fripp?s first new recruit was the free-improvising percussionist Jamie Muir, who had previously worked with Sunship and Derek Bailey. In the first of King Crimson?s ?double drummer? lineups, he was paired with former Yes drummer Bill Bruford, who had chosen to leave the commercially successful Yes at the peak of their early career in favour of the comparatively unstable and unpredictable King Crimson. Fripp also finally secured John Wetton as King Crimson?s singer and bass player, recruiting him directly from Family, and the lineup was completed by David Cross, a relatively unknown violinist who doubled on keyboards (Fripp had encountered Cross through work with music colleges).
With Sinfield gone, the band recruited a new lyricist, Wetton's friend Richard Palmer-James, the former rhythm guitarist for Supertramp). Unlike Sinfield, Palmer-James? contributions to King Crimson were confined to lyrics only. He played no part in artistic, visual or sonic direction, and would never appear on stage with the band, sending his lyrics to Wetton by post from his home in Hamburg.
Larks' Tongues In Aspic and tour (late 1972)
Rehearsals and touring began in late 1972, with the new band?s penchant for improvisation (and Jamie Muir?s startling wild-man stage presence) immediately gaining King Crimson some excited press attention. A new album Larks' Tongues in Aspic was released early the next year. It was the first King Crimson record to demonstrate Fripp?s dominant compositional vision (without either the template of Ian McDonald's songwriting and arrangements or the influence of Sinfield?s elaborate conceptual lyrics and references) and in that sense was the first King Crimson record to escape from the shadow of the debut album.
"Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One" (1973)
30 second sample from King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One", demonstrating the sound of the mid-1970s incarnation of the band. Clearly audible here are the heavy metal influences, complex structure of the music, improvisation and the percussion of Jamie Muir.
Larks' Tongues in Aspic was notable for its revolutionary sound and a use of dynamics that was extreme even by King Crimson standards (exemplified by such pieces as the two-part title track), which was a significant change from what King Crimson had done before, and drew from influences as diverse as Bartok, the free music scene, Vaughan Williams and the embryonic heavy metal sound. Muir?s freewheeling approach to percussion and ?found? instrumentation ? utilising everything from a prepared drumkit to bicycle-horn bulbs, toys, bullroarers, gongs hit with chains, foley-style sound effects and a joke laughing-bag ? permeated the record and revolutionised Bruford?s own approach to percussion. Wetton?s loud, crisp and overdriven playing style provided King Crimson?s most distinctive bass playing to date, while Fripp?s guitar playing had taken on a wiry and aggressive character previously seldom heard in the band?s studio recordings. There were some nods to the past in the band?s continued use of Mellotron, mostly for the melodic ballads, but the band now had more of a small ensemble sound, partly down to Cross? solo violin, and the emphasis was now moving towards the instrumentals.
Departure of Jamie Muir (early 1973)
Following more touring, the group became a quartet in early 1973 when Muir suddenly departed. This was initially thought to have been due to an onstage injury ? a dropped gong landing on his foot during a gig at the Marquee.
Twenty-seven years later it was revealed that Muir had gone through a personal spiritual crisis and had had to immediately withdraw from the band, who themselves had not been told the truth about the situation by their management. Bruford took on additional percussion duties to compensate for the loss of Muir.
Starless And Bible Black - the power quartet (early 1973-early 1974)
Robert Fripp playing with King Crimson, 1974
During the lengthy tour that followed, the remaining members began assembling material for their next album, Starless and Bible Black, released in January 1974, earning them a positive Rolling Stone review. The album built on the achievements of its predecessor, precariously balancing improvised material with careening heavy-metal riffs and songs that recalled both the Beatles? White Album experiments and aspects of Miles Davis electric fusion. Two-thirds of the album was instrumental, including Fripp?s climactic moto perpetuo composition ?Fracture?, the atonal sound painting of the title track and the delicate ?Trio?, a hushed and wistful improvised melody featuring Wetton on bass, Cross on violin, Fripp on flute-Mellotron and Bruford notoriously contributing ?admirable restraint? by having sat with his drumsticks crossed over his chest throughout the piece, understanding that the music did not require him to add anything.
Most of Starless and Bible Black was recorded from live performances, but after careful editing it was presented as another studio album . Careful listening to the album reveals live acoustic dimensions and faded-out applause. Fuller documentation of the quartet?s live work was revealed eighteen years later on 1992?s four-disc live recording The Great Deceiver, and again on 1998?s double live album The Night Watch, which revealed the original source tapes for much of the material on Starless And Bible Black.
By this time, the band was once again beginning to divide into performance factions. Musically, Fripp found himself positioned between Bruford and Wetton, who played with such force and increasing volume that Fripp once compared them to ?a flying brick wall?,) and Cross, whose amplified acoustic violin was increasingly being drowned out by the rhythm section, forcing him to concentrate more on keyboards. An increasingly frustrated Cross began to withdraw musically and personally, with the result that he was voted out of the group following the band's 1974 tour of Europe and America, playing his final performance in Central Park in New York.
Red (1974)
The remaining trio reconvened to record a new album, which would be called Red. Unknown to the other two, Fripp, increasingly disillusioned with the music business, had been turning his attention to the writings of the mystic George Gurdjieff, and experienced a spiritual crisis-cum-awakening immediately before the band entered the studio. He would later describe his experience as having seemed as if ?the top of my head blew off.? Although most of the album material had been written, the transformed Fripp retreated into himself in the studio and ?withdrew his opinion?, leaving Bruford and Wetton to direct most of the sessions.
In spite of this, Red proved to be one of the strongest and most consistent King Crimson albums to date. It has been described as "an impressive achievement" for a group about to disband, with "intensely dynamic" musical chemistry between the band members that resulted in a record "aggressive and loud enough to strip the wallpaper off your living room wall". Opening with the harsh, tritone-based instrumental which gave the album its name (and which has remained in the band?s live set ever since), the album also featured two relatively short and punchy Wetton-led songs, a last look back at the period with David Cross, ? via the live improvisation ?Providence? from the preceding tour ? and the majestic twelve-minute ?Starless?, which acted, in effect, as a potted musical history of the band from Mellotron-driven ballad grandeur via intense improvisation to savagely structured metallic attack and back again. The album also included guest appearances by former members and collaborators. In addition to Cross?s appearance on ?Providence?, Robin Miller and Marc Charig returned on oboe and cornet for the first time since Islands, and both Mel Collins and Ian McDonald played saxophones on ?Starless? (at one point, duetting with each other via overdubs).
Band "ceases to exist" (late 1974)
With one of their strongest albums ready to promote, King Crimson?s future prospects looked bright, and talks were underway regarding Ian McDonald rejoining the band. However, Fripp - still processing his spiritual crisis - did not want to tour as he felt that the "world was coming to an end" and was in any case becoming discouraged by both the working relationships in the band and by the realities of high-profile rock band activity (which he increasingly saw as overblown and detrimental to both musicians and audience).
Two months before the release of Red, Fripp announced that King Crimson had "ceased to exist" and was "completely over for ever and ever", The group formally disbanded on 25 September 1974. Much later on, it was revealed that Fripp had attempted to interest his managers in a Fripp-free version of King Crimson (consisting of Wetton, Bruford and McDonald) but had been turned down.
USA posthumous live album (1975)
A posthumous live album, USA, documenting this version of King Crimson's final tour of the United States, was released in 1975 to critical acclaim, reviewers calling it "a must" for fans of the band and "insanity you're better off having".
Technical issues with some of the original tapes rendered some of David Cross' violin parts inaudible when mixed in 1974, so Roxy Music?s Eddie Jobson was brought in to provide studio overdubs of violin and keyboards. Further edits were also necessary to allow for the time limitations of a single vinyl album. The album was reissued with two extra tracks, ?Fracture? and ?Starless?, in 2005.
Interim (1975-1980)
Following the assembly of USA, the band went their separate ways. While McDonald joined Foreigner, Wetton would have stints in Roxy Music and Uriah Heep before reuniting with Bruford in UK and eventually becoming frontman for Asia. Before and after his UK stint, Bruford would play with his own jazz-fusion band, also called Bruford, and drummed for Genesis on their first post-Peter Gabriel tour.
Fripp, meanwhile, would toy with the idea of going into the priesthood but would ultimately opt to become a ?small, mobile intelligent unit? and embrace a solo career which saw him move to New York City, where he would collaborate with Brian Eno, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Roches and Daryl Hall among others, as well as further developing his Eno-inspired tape loop system of Frippertronics. He would also make striking guitar contributions to the albums of David Bowie and Peter Gabriel, even joining the latter on tour, and hone his abilities as a producer.
In 1979, Fripp released his first solo album Exposure, sometimes described as "an art-rock Sergeant Pepper". Mixing songs with Frippertronics, and spiky instrumentals with tape cut-ups, the album featured guest performances by assorted Fripp collaborators and contemporaries including Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Darryl Hall, Peter Hammill, Terre Roche and Barry Andrews. Notably for the future, several of the bass parts on the album were played by Peter Gabriel's bass player of choice ? Tony Levin ? who was known as "one of New York City's most sought-after studio musicians". Levin had played bass for Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and many others. Fripp, who'd previously worked with Levin both on Gabriel?s first three albums and on a 1977 tour, considered him to be a ?master? player.
A second solo album, God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners, was released in 1980, blending Frippertronics with New Wave/funk rhythms in a fusion which Fripp referred to as "Discotronics". The album featured contributions from David Byrne, Busta Jones and Paul Duskin.
In 1980, Fripp re-emerged with his ?second-division beat band? The League of Gentlemen, a collaboration with Barry Andrews (XTC, Shriekback), Sara Lee (Gang Of Four, The B-52's) and successive drummers Johnny Toobad and Kevin Wilkinson. Although short-lived, The League Of Gentlemen further developed a dominant Fripp playing style of highly-disciplined and interlocking rhythmic arpeggios, something which he had first pioneered in King Crimson during 1973 (with ?Fracture?) and which would inform his next step.
1980s
King Crimson, lineup 4 (1981-1984)
A band called Discipline (early to late 1981)
By 1981, Fripp had opted to fold The League of Gentlemen in favour of a project that was more artistically and commercially ambitious. At the time, he had no intention of reforming King Crimson. However, his first step was to contact Bill Bruford and ask if he wanted to join a new band, to which Bruford agreed.
Fripp then contacted guitarist and singer Adrian Belew, who had previously worked with David Bowie and Frank Zappa and whom Fripp had met when his then-band Gaga had supported The League of Gentlemen. Belew was, at the time, a major collaborator with Talking Heads both on record and on tour. Fripp had never been in a band with another guitarist before, other than his stint in Peter Gabriel's 1977 touring band, so the decision to seek a second guitarist was indicative of Fripp's desire to create a sound unlike any of his previous work. Belew (who agreed to join the new band following his tour commitments with Talking Heads) would also become the band?s lyricist.
Having decided against selecting Bruford?s colleague Jeff Berlin as bass player (on the grounds that his playing style was ?too busy?), Fripp and Bruford resigned themselves to a long search. To Fripp?s surprise, Tony Levin arrived on the third day of auditions, and completed the band. Fripp confessed that, had he known that Levin was available and interested, he would have selected him as first-choice bass player without auditions. In addition to his bass-playing contributions, Levin introduced the band to the use of the Chapman Stick, a ten-string polyphonic two-handed tapping instrument of the guitar family which had both a bass and treble range and which Levin played in an "utterly original style"
Fripp named the new quartet Discipline, and the band flew to England to rehearse and write. They made their live debut at Moles Club in Bath on April 30, 1981 and went on to tour the UK, supported by The Lounge Lizards.
Discipline becomes King Crimson (late 1981)
"The Sheltering Sky" (1981)
33 second sample from King Crimson's "The Sheltering Sky", demonstrating the sound of the 1980s incarnation of the band. This shows gamelan influences and demonstrates Bruford's use of unusual percussion instruments ? in this case, an African slit drum) ? something which he had been doing since first working with Jamie Muir on the Larks' Tongues in Aspic album. Additionally, Fripp and Belew's use of the guitar synthesiser, a staple of much of their 80s work, can be heard here.
By October 1981, the four members of Discipline had made the collective decision to ditch their original name and to reactivate and use the name of King Crimson.
Bbible Black Wallpaper Biography
This article is about the musical group. For the character in novels by Stephen King, see Crimson King.
King Crimson is a rock band, originally founded in 1969 by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles. Typically categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band has in fact incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during its long history, drawing from jazz, classical and experimental music to psychedelic rock, heavy metal, new wave, hard rock, gamelan, folk music, electronica and drum and bass. Originating in England, the band has had a mixture of English and American personnel since 1981.
King Crimson has garnered little radio or music video airplay but gained a large cult following. The band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, is widely regarded as a landmark in progressive rock, while later excursions into even more unconventional territory have been influential on many contemporary musical artists. King Crimson's membership has fluctuated considerably throughout its existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks as full band members. The band developed a greater degree of stability later on in its history, with current (and fifth) frontman Adrian Belew having been a member of King Crimson since 1981 and drummer Bill Bruford staying with the band for nine years of active existence (1973-75, 1981-84 and 1994-97)
Today, King Crimson's early music is considered to owe a lot to the compositional frameworks of jazz innovators like Charles Mingus and John McLaughlin, fused with British pop and classical music. The early 1970s were King Crimson's least stable period, with many personnel changes and disjunctions between studio and live sound as the band explored elements of jazz, funk and chamber classical music. In the mid-'70s the band had a more stable lineup and developed an improvisational sound influenced by hard rock, before breaking up in 1974. The band re-formed with a new line-up in 1981 for three years (this time influenced by New Wave and gamelan music) before breaking up again for around a decade. Following their 1994 reunion (with extra personnel), King Crimson blended aspects of their 1980s and 1970s sound with influences from more recent musical genres such as industrial rock and grunge (the latter itself a genre initially influenced by King Crimson). The band?s efforts to blend additional elements into their music have continued into the 21st century, with more recent developments including drum and bass-styled rhythm loops and extensive use of MIDI and guitar synthesis.
Leadership
Robert Fripp has been the sole consistent member throughout the group?s history and acts as its de-facto leader, having put together several distinct lineups. He has stated that he does not necessarily consider himself the band's leader and instead describes King Crimson as "a way of doing things". Fripp has also noted that he never originally intended to be seen as the head of the group.
However, Fripp has strongly dominated the band?s musical approach and compositional approach since their second album, albeit with other members tending to write the more song-oriented elements, to the point where other members have left the band due to creative frustration ? notably Ian McDonald, Gordon Haskell and Mel Collins. Trey Gunn, who played with the group between 1994 and 2003, has stated that "King Crimson is Robert?s vision. Period."
History
1960s
Prehistory, including Giles, Giles and Fripp (1967-1968)
"The Giles Brothers were looking for a singing organist. I was a non-singing guitar player. After 30 days of recording and playing with them I asked if I got the job or not ? joking like, you know? And Michael Giles rolled a cigarette and said, very slowly, 'Well, let's not be in too much of a hurry to commit ourselves, shall we?' I still don't know if I ever got the job."
?Robert Fripp on signing up with Michael and Peter Giles
In August 1967, drummer Michael Giles and his bass-playing brother Peter, who?d been professional musicians in various jobbing bands since their mid-teens, advertised for a singing organist to join their new project. Robert Fripp ? a guitarist who did not sing ? responded and the trio formed the band Giles, Giles and Fripp All three musicians were originally from the Dorset area.
Based on a format of eccentric pop songs and complex instrumentals, Giles, Giles and Fripp recorded several unsuccessful singles and one album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp. The band hovered on the edge of success, with several radio sessions and a television appearance, but never scored the hit that would have been crucial for a commercial breakthrough. The album was no more of a success than the singles, and was even disparaged by Keith Moon of The Who in a magazine review.
Attempting to expand their sound, the group then recruited the multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald on keyboards, reeds and woodwinds. McDonald brought along his then-girlfriend, the former Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble, whose tenure with the group was brief and ended at the same time as her romantic split with McDonald (she would later resurface in Trader Horne).
More significantly, McDonald brought in lyricist, roadie and art strategist Peter Sinfield, with whom he had been writing songs ? a partnership initiated when McDonald had said to Sinfield, regarding his 1968 band Creation, "Peter, I have to tell you that your band is hopeless, but you write some great words. Would you like to get together on a couple of songs?" One of the first songs McDonald and Sinfield wrote together was "The Court of the Crimson King".
Fripp, meanwhile, had seen the band 1-2-3 (later known as Clouds) at the Marquee. This band would later inspire some of Crimson's penchant for classical melodies and jazz-like improvisationKing Crimson, lineup 1 (1968-1969)
Formation (late 1968-mid-1969)
By this point, Fripp's dissatisfaction with Giles, Giles and Fripp's lack of focus had come to a head. Feeling that he no longer wished to pursue Peter Giles' more whimsical pop style, he recommended his friend Greg Lake, a singer and guitarist, for recruitment into the band, with the suggestion that Lake should replace either Peter Giles or himself. Although Peter Giles would later sardonically describe this as one of Fripp's "cute political moves", he himself had become disillusioned with Giles, Giles and Fripp's failure to break through, and stepped down to be replaced by Lake as the band's bass player, singer and frontman. At this point, the band morphed into what would become King Crimson.
The first incarnation of the band was said to have been "conceived" on 30 November 1968 and first rehearsed on 13 January 1969. The name King Crimson was coined by lyricist Peter Sinfield as a synonym for Beelzebub, prince of demons. According to Fripp, Beelzebub would be an anglicised form of the Arabic phrase "B'il Sabab", meaning "the man with an aim" ? although it literally means "with a cause".
Shortly afterward, the new band purchased a Mellotron (the first example of the band?s persistent involvement with music technology) and began using it to create an original orchestral rock sound which would be an overwhelming influence on the nascent progressive rock movement. At this point, McDonald was King Crimson?s main composer, albeit with significant contributions from Lake and Fripp, while Sinfield not only wrote all the lyrics but designed and operated the band?s revolutionary stage lighting, and was therefore credited with "sounds and visions".
"The Court of the Crimson King" (1969)
37 second sample from King Crimson's "The Court of the Crimson King", demonstrating the sound of the first incarnation of the band, with its classically-influenced style and use of the Mellotron instrument.
King Crimson made their live debut on 9 April 1969, and made a breakthrough by playing the free concert in Hyde Park, London, staged by The Rolling Stones in July 1969 before 650,000 people.
In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)
The first King Crimson album, In the Court of the Crimson King, was released in October on EG Records, described by Fripp as "an instant smash" and "New York's acid album of 1970" ? notwithstanding that Fripp and Giles claim that the band never used psychedelic drugs. The album received public compliments from Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece."
King Crimson?s music drew on a wide range of influences provided by all five group members, including Jimi Hendrix, romantic- and modernist-era classical music, folk, jazz, military music (partially inspired by McDonald?s stint as an army musician), ambient improvisation, Victoriana and British pop. All of this was executed with a precision and complexity previously unheard of in rock music, with Sinfield?s dense and melodramatic lyrics (heavily loaded with dense imagery, allusion and self-conscious poeticisms) completing the package. The sound of the album has been described as setting the "aural antecedent" for alternative rock and grunge, whilst the softer tracks are described as having an "ethereal" and "almost sacred" feel.
It was definitely a break from the blues-based hard rock of the contemporary British and American scenes, presenting a more Europeanised approach which blended antiquity and modernity. Music reviewer Annie Gaffney has written that King Crimson were credited with starting the entire progressive rock movement that was popular in the early 1970s.
First lineup disintegrates (mid-to-late 1969)
After playing shows in England, the band embarked on a tour of the United States, performing alongside many contemporary popular musicians and musical groups, and "astounding audiences and critics" with their original sound.
However, creative tensions were developing within the band. Michael Giles and Ian McDonald, still striving to cope with King Crimson?s rapid success and the realities of life on the road, became uneasy with the band?s direction. Although he was neither the dominant composer in the band nor the frontman, Fripp was very much the band?s driving force and spokesman, leading King Crimson into progressively darker and more intense musical areas. McDonald and Giles, now favouring a lighter and more romantic style of music, were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with their position.
To Fripp?s horror, both McDonald and Giles resigned from the band during the California tour. In order to salvage what he saw as the most important elements of King Crimson, Fripp offered to resign himself. McDonald and Giles apparently declared that the band was ?more (him) than them? and that they should therefore be the ones to leave.
The original line-up played their last show together in San Francisco at the Fillmore West on 16 December 1969. Live recordings of the original King Crimson?s concerts were eventually released twenty-seven years later in 1996 as the double/quadruple live album Epitaph.
Ian McDonald and Michael Giles then formally left King Crimson to pursue solo work, recording the semi-successful McDonald and Giles studio album in 1970 before dissolving their partnership. McDonald would later resurface in Foreigner while Giles became a session drummer.
1970s
The "interregnum"
From the start of 1970 until mid-1971, King Crimson remained in a state of flux with fluctuating line-ups, thwarted tour plans and difficulties in finding a satisfactory musical direction. This period has subsequently been referred to as the "interregnum" - a nickname implying that the "King" (King Crimson) was not properly in place during this time. In retrospect, this interruption in career momentum can also be seen as the reason why King Crimson never attained the commercial heights of Genesis, Yes or Emerson, Lake & Palmer (all bands that had been profoundly influenced by King Crimson?s initial work).
In The Wake Of Poseidon (1970)
Greg Lake was the next member to leave, departing in early 1970 after being approached by Keith Emerson to join what would become Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This left Fripp as the only remaining musician in the band, taking on part of the keyboard-playing role in addition to guitar. To compensate, Sinfield increased his own creative role and began developing his interest in synthesizers for use on subsequent records.
Lake agreed to sing on the recordings for the band's developing second album In the Wake of Poseidon (negotiating to receive King Crimson's PA equipment as payment). Eventually, he ended up singing on the band's early 1970 single "Cat Food/Groon" and on all but one of the album?s vocal tracks. The exception was "Cadence And Cascade", which was sung by Fripp's old schoolfriend and teenage bandmate Gordon Haskell. At one point, the band considered hiring the then-unknown Elton John (on spec) to be the album's singer, but decided against it. Other former members and associates returned - as session players only - for the Poseidon recordings, with all bass parts being handled by Peter Giles and Michael Giles performing the drumming. Mel Collins (formerly of the band Cirkus) contributed saxophones and flute. Another key performer was jazz pianist Keith Tippett, who became an integral part of King Crimson's sound for the next few records (although Fripp offered him full band membership, Tippett preferred to remain as a studio collaborator and only performed live with the band once).
In the Wake of Poseidon was moderately well received on release, but was criticised as sounding very similar in both style and content to the band's debut album, to the point where it seemed like an imitation. With the album on sale, Fripp and Sinfield remained in the awkward position of having King Crimson material and releases available, but not having a band to play it. In considerable desperation, Fripp persuaded Gordon Haskell to join permanently as singer and bass player, and recruited drummer Andy McCulloch, another Dorset musician moving in the West London progressive rock circle, who'd previously been a member of Shy Limbs and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Mel Collins was also retained as a full band member.
Lizard (1970)
Both Haskell and McCulloch joined King Crimson in time to participate in the recording sessions for the band's third album, Lizard, but had no say in the writing of the material. Fripp and Sinfield, now effectively equal artistic partners, had written the entire album themselves and had also brought in a squad of jazz musicians to help record it - Keith Tippett, cornet player Marc Charig, trombonist Nick Evans and oboe player Robin Miller. Jon Anderson of Yes was also brought in to perform vocals on one song ("Prince Rupert Awakes") which Fripp and Sinfield considered to be outside Haskell?s range and style.
Lizard featured much stronger avant-garde jazz and chamber-classical influences than previous albums, as well as Sinfield?s upfront experiments with processing and distorting sound through the VCS3 synthesizer. It also featured Sinfield?s most complex set of allusive lyrics to date, including a coded song about the break-up of the Beatles, with almost the entire second side taken up by a predominantly instrumental chamber suite describing a mediaeval battle and its outcome. The album is still described as being an "acquired taste".
Lizard was definitely not to the taste of the more rhythm-and-blues orientated Haskell and McCulloch, who did not enjoy the sessions and rapidly became disillusioned. Growing tensions came to a head when Haskell quit the band acrimoniously prior to the release of the album. He had realised that not only would he have no creative input for the foreseeable future, and would be playing material that he had no sympathy for, but would be required to sing through distortion and electronic effects. McCulloch also quit immediately afterwards: he would join Arthur Brown's band and would become the drummer for Greenslade in 1972.
King Crimson, lineup 2 (1971-1972)
Building a new live band (early-mid 1971)
Fripp and Sinfield returned to the arduous process of auditioning new members. Ian Wallace ? a former bandmate of Jon Anderson - became the new drummer and was soon joined by singer Raymond "Boz" Burrell, who?d previously worked with his own band Boz People, released a few obscure solo singles and at one point had been tipped to replace Roger Daltrey in The Who. Boz was chosen over other auditionees including Bryan Ferry and even King Crimson?s then-manager John Gaydon.
Bassist-singer John Wetton (ex Mogul Thrash) was invited to join the group in mid-1971 but he declined, accepting a place in Family instead, although he kept in touch with Fripp. Rick Kemp was eventually selected as the new bass player but turned the band down at the last minute. Once again faced with limited choices, Fripp taught Boz to play the bass rather than start the search all over again. Boz had not played bass before, but had played enough occasional rhythm guitar to make learning the instrument easier.
In 1971, King Crimson undertook their first tour since 1969 with the new line-up. The concerts were well received, but the drug-free and intellectually-inclined Fripp began to find himself at odds with the more rock-and-roll lifestyle and musical inclinations of the other members and began to withdraw socially from his colleagues. The tension spread to the rest of the band, but the band completed the tour intact.
Islands (late 1971)
Later in the year King Crimson recorded and released a new album, Islands. The band's warmest-sounding record to date, it was strongly influenced by Miles Davis? orchestral collaborations with Gil Evans and had a loose thematic connection with Homer?s Odyssey. It also showed signs of a stylistic divergence between Sinfield (who favoured the softer and more textural jazz-folk approach) and Fripp (who was becoming more drawn to the harsher instrumental style exemplified by the Mellotron-and-banjo-technique-guitar piece ?Sailor?s Tale?). Islands also featured the band?s one-and-only experiment with a string ensemble (?Prelude: Song Of The Gulls?) and the raunchy rhythm-and-blues-inspired ?Ladies Of The Road? - by far the closest representation of the band?s live style, and probably the only track which the whole band liked. A hint of trouble to come came when one unnamed member of the band allegedly described some of the more delicate and meditative parts of Islands as ?airy-fairy shit?.
Split with Peter Sinfield, temporary band breakup (late 1971)
Following the next tour, Fripp ousted Sinfield , with whom his relationship had deteriorated, claiming musical differences and a loss of faith in his partner?s ideas. Sinfield would go on to release a solo album, Still, featuring all of the current and previous members of King Crimson aside from Fripp, and then reunited with Greg Lake by becoming the principal lyricist for Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Many years later, he would achieve great success writing pop songs for Bucks Fizz.
The remaining band broke up acrimoniously in rehearsals shortly afterwards, due to Fripp?s refusal to incorporate other members? compositions into the band?s repertoire. (He later cited this as ?quality control? and an attempt to ensure that King Crimson was performing the ?right kind? of music.)
The last tour of lineup 2 (early-mid 1972)
The band was persuaded to reform in order to fulfil their 1972 tour commitments, with the intention of disbanding afterwards. Recordings from this tour were later released as the Earthbound live album, noted and criticised for its bootleg-level sound quality and a style which occasionally veered towards funk, with scat singing on the improvised pieces. This was a flagrant sign of the musical rift between Fripp and all three of the other members, the latter of whom were attempting to steer the band back towards a rootsier rhythm-and-blues style in open defiance of Fripp.
Despite these problems, relationships across the band gradually improved during the tour to the point where Collins, Burrell and Wallace offered to continue with the band. However, Fripp had already decided to entirely restructure King Crimson with a new musical direction which he felt was entirely unsuited to the current band, and was already recruiting new members.
After leaving King Crimson, Collins, Wallace and Burrell formed a band called Snape, with British blues guitarist Alexis Korner. Both Wallace and Collins would go on to outstanding session careers (Collins would also have a stint in Camel and Wallace?s final musical project in the late 2000s would be a jazz trio reinventing King Crimson music). In 1973, Burrell became the bass player of Bad Company with whom he enjoyed great success for the rest of the decade. He would subsequently play down any mention of his time with King Crimson.
Having spent a long time being critically overshadowed by the preceding and subsequent lineups of King Crimson, the Islands lineup of the band benefited from positive reappraisal in the mid-2000s following the release of several live archive releases (including the double live set Ladies of the Road and various King Crimson Collectors Club recordings) and reassessments by Fripp and other band members. Fripp would subsequently mend his damaged relationships with Wallace and Collins, although not with Burrell.
King Crimson, lineup 3 (mid-1972-1974)
The third major lineup of King Crimson was radically different from the previous two and the interregnum work, being both the first without saxophone or woodwind and the first to embrace active improvisation as a major musical element
Recruiting (mid-1972)
Fripp?s first new recruit was the free-improvising percussionist Jamie Muir, who had previously worked with Sunship and Derek Bailey. In the first of King Crimson?s ?double drummer? lineups, he was paired with former Yes drummer Bill Bruford, who had chosen to leave the commercially successful Yes at the peak of their early career in favour of the comparatively unstable and unpredictable King Crimson. Fripp also finally secured John Wetton as King Crimson?s singer and bass player, recruiting him directly from Family, and the lineup was completed by David Cross, a relatively unknown violinist who doubled on keyboards (Fripp had encountered Cross through work with music colleges).
With Sinfield gone, the band recruited a new lyricist, Wetton's friend Richard Palmer-James, the former rhythm guitarist for Supertramp). Unlike Sinfield, Palmer-James? contributions to King Crimson were confined to lyrics only. He played no part in artistic, visual or sonic direction, and would never appear on stage with the band, sending his lyrics to Wetton by post from his home in Hamburg.
Larks' Tongues In Aspic and tour (late 1972)
Rehearsals and touring began in late 1972, with the new band?s penchant for improvisation (and Jamie Muir?s startling wild-man stage presence) immediately gaining King Crimson some excited press attention. A new album Larks' Tongues in Aspic was released early the next year. It was the first King Crimson record to demonstrate Fripp?s dominant compositional vision (without either the template of Ian McDonald's songwriting and arrangements or the influence of Sinfield?s elaborate conceptual lyrics and references) and in that sense was the first King Crimson record to escape from the shadow of the debut album.
"Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One" (1973)
30 second sample from King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One", demonstrating the sound of the mid-1970s incarnation of the band. Clearly audible here are the heavy metal influences, complex structure of the music, improvisation and the percussion of Jamie Muir.
Larks' Tongues in Aspic was notable for its revolutionary sound and a use of dynamics that was extreme even by King Crimson standards (exemplified by such pieces as the two-part title track), which was a significant change from what King Crimson had done before, and drew from influences as diverse as Bartok, the free music scene, Vaughan Williams and the embryonic heavy metal sound. Muir?s freewheeling approach to percussion and ?found? instrumentation ? utilising everything from a prepared drumkit to bicycle-horn bulbs, toys, bullroarers, gongs hit with chains, foley-style sound effects and a joke laughing-bag ? permeated the record and revolutionised Bruford?s own approach to percussion. Wetton?s loud, crisp and overdriven playing style provided King Crimson?s most distinctive bass playing to date, while Fripp?s guitar playing had taken on a wiry and aggressive character previously seldom heard in the band?s studio recordings. There were some nods to the past in the band?s continued use of Mellotron, mostly for the melodic ballads, but the band now had more of a small ensemble sound, partly down to Cross? solo violin, and the emphasis was now moving towards the instrumentals.
Departure of Jamie Muir (early 1973)
Following more touring, the group became a quartet in early 1973 when Muir suddenly departed. This was initially thought to have been due to an onstage injury ? a dropped gong landing on his foot during a gig at the Marquee.
Twenty-seven years later it was revealed that Muir had gone through a personal spiritual crisis and had had to immediately withdraw from the band, who themselves had not been told the truth about the situation by their management. Bruford took on additional percussion duties to compensate for the loss of Muir.
Starless And Bible Black - the power quartet (early 1973-early 1974)
Robert Fripp playing with King Crimson, 1974
During the lengthy tour that followed, the remaining members began assembling material for their next album, Starless and Bible Black, released in January 1974, earning them a positive Rolling Stone review. The album built on the achievements of its predecessor, precariously balancing improvised material with careening heavy-metal riffs and songs that recalled both the Beatles? White Album experiments and aspects of Miles Davis electric fusion. Two-thirds of the album was instrumental, including Fripp?s climactic moto perpetuo composition ?Fracture?, the atonal sound painting of the title track and the delicate ?Trio?, a hushed and wistful improvised melody featuring Wetton on bass, Cross on violin, Fripp on flute-Mellotron and Bruford notoriously contributing ?admirable restraint? by having sat with his drumsticks crossed over his chest throughout the piece, understanding that the music did not require him to add anything.
Most of Starless and Bible Black was recorded from live performances, but after careful editing it was presented as another studio album . Careful listening to the album reveals live acoustic dimensions and faded-out applause. Fuller documentation of the quartet?s live work was revealed eighteen years later on 1992?s four-disc live recording The Great Deceiver, and again on 1998?s double live album The Night Watch, which revealed the original source tapes for much of the material on Starless And Bible Black.
By this time, the band was once again beginning to divide into performance factions. Musically, Fripp found himself positioned between Bruford and Wetton, who played with such force and increasing volume that Fripp once compared them to ?a flying brick wall?,) and Cross, whose amplified acoustic violin was increasingly being drowned out by the rhythm section, forcing him to concentrate more on keyboards. An increasingly frustrated Cross began to withdraw musically and personally, with the result that he was voted out of the group following the band's 1974 tour of Europe and America, playing his final performance in Central Park in New York.
Red (1974)
The remaining trio reconvened to record a new album, which would be called Red. Unknown to the other two, Fripp, increasingly disillusioned with the music business, had been turning his attention to the writings of the mystic George Gurdjieff, and experienced a spiritual crisis-cum-awakening immediately before the band entered the studio. He would later describe his experience as having seemed as if ?the top of my head blew off.? Although most of the album material had been written, the transformed Fripp retreated into himself in the studio and ?withdrew his opinion?, leaving Bruford and Wetton to direct most of the sessions.
In spite of this, Red proved to be one of the strongest and most consistent King Crimson albums to date. It has been described as "an impressive achievement" for a group about to disband, with "intensely dynamic" musical chemistry between the band members that resulted in a record "aggressive and loud enough to strip the wallpaper off your living room wall". Opening with the harsh, tritone-based instrumental which gave the album its name (and which has remained in the band?s live set ever since), the album also featured two relatively short and punchy Wetton-led songs, a last look back at the period with David Cross, ? via the live improvisation ?Providence? from the preceding tour ? and the majestic twelve-minute ?Starless?, which acted, in effect, as a potted musical history of the band from Mellotron-driven ballad grandeur via intense improvisation to savagely structured metallic attack and back again. The album also included guest appearances by former members and collaborators. In addition to Cross?s appearance on ?Providence?, Robin Miller and Marc Charig returned on oboe and cornet for the first time since Islands, and both Mel Collins and Ian McDonald played saxophones on ?Starless? (at one point, duetting with each other via overdubs).
Band "ceases to exist" (late 1974)
With one of their strongest albums ready to promote, King Crimson?s future prospects looked bright, and talks were underway regarding Ian McDonald rejoining the band. However, Fripp - still processing his spiritual crisis - did not want to tour as he felt that the "world was coming to an end" and was in any case becoming discouraged by both the working relationships in the band and by the realities of high-profile rock band activity (which he increasingly saw as overblown and detrimental to both musicians and audience).
Two months before the release of Red, Fripp announced that King Crimson had "ceased to exist" and was "completely over for ever and ever", The group formally disbanded on 25 September 1974. Much later on, it was revealed that Fripp had attempted to interest his managers in a Fripp-free version of King Crimson (consisting of Wetton, Bruford and McDonald) but had been turned down.
USA posthumous live album (1975)
A posthumous live album, USA, documenting this version of King Crimson's final tour of the United States, was released in 1975 to critical acclaim, reviewers calling it "a must" for fans of the band and "insanity you're better off having".
Technical issues with some of the original tapes rendered some of David Cross' violin parts inaudible when mixed in 1974, so Roxy Music?s Eddie Jobson was brought in to provide studio overdubs of violin and keyboards. Further edits were also necessary to allow for the time limitations of a single vinyl album. The album was reissued with two extra tracks, ?Fracture? and ?Starless?, in 2005.
Interim (1975-1980)
Following the assembly of USA, the band went their separate ways. While McDonald joined Foreigner, Wetton would have stints in Roxy Music and Uriah Heep before reuniting with Bruford in UK and eventually becoming frontman for Asia. Before and after his UK stint, Bruford would play with his own jazz-fusion band, also called Bruford, and drummed for Genesis on their first post-Peter Gabriel tour.
Fripp, meanwhile, would toy with the idea of going into the priesthood but would ultimately opt to become a ?small, mobile intelligent unit? and embrace a solo career which saw him move to New York City, where he would collaborate with Brian Eno, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Roches and Daryl Hall among others, as well as further developing his Eno-inspired tape loop system of Frippertronics. He would also make striking guitar contributions to the albums of David Bowie and Peter Gabriel, even joining the latter on tour, and hone his abilities as a producer.
In 1979, Fripp released his first solo album Exposure, sometimes described as "an art-rock Sergeant Pepper". Mixing songs with Frippertronics, and spiky instrumentals with tape cut-ups, the album featured guest performances by assorted Fripp collaborators and contemporaries including Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Darryl Hall, Peter Hammill, Terre Roche and Barry Andrews. Notably for the future, several of the bass parts on the album were played by Peter Gabriel's bass player of choice ? Tony Levin ? who was known as "one of New York City's most sought-after studio musicians". Levin had played bass for Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and many others. Fripp, who'd previously worked with Levin both on Gabriel?s first three albums and on a 1977 tour, considered him to be a ?master? player.
A second solo album, God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners, was released in 1980, blending Frippertronics with New Wave/funk rhythms in a fusion which Fripp referred to as "Discotronics". The album featured contributions from David Byrne, Busta Jones and Paul Duskin.
In 1980, Fripp re-emerged with his ?second-division beat band? The League of Gentlemen, a collaboration with Barry Andrews (XTC, Shriekback), Sara Lee (Gang Of Four, The B-52's) and successive drummers Johnny Toobad and Kevin Wilkinson. Although short-lived, The League Of Gentlemen further developed a dominant Fripp playing style of highly-disciplined and interlocking rhythmic arpeggios, something which he had first pioneered in King Crimson during 1973 (with ?Fracture?) and which would inform his next step.
1980s
King Crimson, lineup 4 (1981-1984)
A band called Discipline (early to late 1981)
By 1981, Fripp had opted to fold The League of Gentlemen in favour of a project that was more artistically and commercially ambitious. At the time, he had no intention of reforming King Crimson. However, his first step was to contact Bill Bruford and ask if he wanted to join a new band, to which Bruford agreed.
Fripp then contacted guitarist and singer Adrian Belew, who had previously worked with David Bowie and Frank Zappa and whom Fripp had met when his then-band Gaga had supported The League of Gentlemen. Belew was, at the time, a major collaborator with Talking Heads both on record and on tour. Fripp had never been in a band with another guitarist before, other than his stint in Peter Gabriel's 1977 touring band, so the decision to seek a second guitarist was indicative of Fripp's desire to create a sound unlike any of his previous work. Belew (who agreed to join the new band following his tour commitments with Talking Heads) would also become the band?s lyricist.
Having decided against selecting Bruford?s colleague Jeff Berlin as bass player (on the grounds that his playing style was ?too busy?), Fripp and Bruford resigned themselves to a long search. To Fripp?s surprise, Tony Levin arrived on the third day of auditions, and completed the band. Fripp confessed that, had he known that Levin was available and interested, he would have selected him as first-choice bass player without auditions. In addition to his bass-playing contributions, Levin introduced the band to the use of the Chapman Stick, a ten-string polyphonic two-handed tapping instrument of the guitar family which had both a bass and treble range and which Levin played in an "utterly original style"
Fripp named the new quartet Discipline, and the band flew to England to rehearse and write. They made their live debut at Moles Club in Bath on April 30, 1981 and went on to tour the UK, supported by The Lounge Lizards.
Discipline becomes King Crimson (late 1981)
"The Sheltering Sky" (1981)
33 second sample from King Crimson's "The Sheltering Sky", demonstrating the sound of the 1980s incarnation of the band. This shows gamelan influences and demonstrates Bruford's use of unusual percussion instruments ? in this case, an African slit drum) ? something which he had been doing since first working with Jamie Muir on the Larks' Tongues in Aspic album. Additionally, Fripp and Belew's use of the guitar synthesiser, a staple of much of their 80s work, can be heard here.
By October 1981, the four members of Discipline had made the collective decision to ditch their original name and to reactivate and use the name of King Crimson.
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
Bbible Black Wallpaper
No comments:
Post a Comment