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English progressive rock band From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
King Crimson were an English-based progressive rock band formed in London in 1968. Led by guitarist Robert Fripp,[1][2] they drew inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, blues, industrial, electronic, experimental music and new wave. They exerted a strong influence on the early 1970s progressive rock movement, including on contemporaries such as Yes and Genesis, and continue to inspire subsequent generations of artists across multiple genres.[3] The band has earned a large cult following, especially in the 21st century.[4][5]
King Crimson | |
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Origin | London, England |
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Discography | King Crimson discography |
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Website | dgmlive |
Founded by Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield, the band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969), remains their most commercially successful and influential release.[6] The next two albums, In the Wake of Poseidon and Lizard (both 1970), were recorded during a period of instability in the band's line-up, before a settled line-up of Fripp, Sinfield, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace recorded Islands in 1971. In mid-1972, Fripp disbanded this line-up, recruited new members Bill Bruford (formerly of Yes), John Wetton, David Cross and Jamie Muir, and changed the group's musical approach, drawing from European free improvisation and developing ever more complex compositions. The band reached what some saw as a creative peak on Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973), Starless and Bible Black (1974), and Red (1974). King Crimson disbanded at the end of 1974.
After seven years of inactivity, King Crimson was recreated in 1981 with Fripp, Bruford and new members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin. Drawing influence from African music, gamelan, post-punk and New York minimalism, this band lasted three years, resulting in the trio of albums Discipline (1981), Beat (1982) and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984). Following a decade-long hiatus, they reformed in 1994, adding Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn for a sextet line-up Fripp called "The Double Trio". The double trio participated in another three-year cycle of activity that included the album Thrak (1995). Fripp, Belew, Mastelotto and Gunn reunited in 2000 as a quartet,[7] called "The Double Duo", releasing The Construkction of Light (2000) and The Power to Believe (2003). After another hiatus, the band reformed for a 2008 tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of their 1968 formation, with Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree being added, and Levin returning in place of Gunn.
Following another hiatus (2009–2012), during which Fripp was thought to be retired, King Crimson came together again in 2013, this time as a septet (and, later, octet) with an unusual three-drumkit frontline, and new singer and secondary guitarist Jakko Jakszyk. This version of King Crimson toured from 2014 to 2021. After the band's final show in 2021, Fripp commented that King Crimson had "moved from sound to silence."[8]
In August 1967, brothers Michael and Peter Giles, drummer and singer/bassist respectively and pro musicians in working bands since their mid-teens in Dorset, England, advertised for a "singing organist" to join a group they were forming.[9][10] Fellow Dorset musician Robert Fripp – a guitarist who neither played organ nor sang – responded, and Giles, Giles and Fripp was born. The trio recorded several quirky singles and one eclectic album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp. They hovered on the edge of success, and even made a television appearance, but were never able to make a commercial breakthrough.[9][11][12] Attempting to expand their sound, the three recruited Ian McDonald on keyboards, reeds and woodwinds. McDonald brought along two new participants: his then-girlfriend, former Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble, whose brief tenure with the group ended when the two split,[13][14] and 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 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?"[15] Fripp, meanwhile, saw Clouds at the Marquee Club in London which spurred him to incorporate classically inspired melodies into his writing, and utilise improvisation to find new ideas.[16] No longer interested in Peter Giles' more whimsical pop songs, Fripp recommended that his old friend, fellow guitarist and singer Greg Lake could join to replace either Peter or Fripp himself. Peter Giles later called it one of Fripp's "cute political moves".[14] According to Michael Giles, his brother had become disillusioned with the band's lack of success and departed before Fripp suggested Lake to fill Peter Giles' position as bassist and singer.[17][13]
The first incarnation of King Crimson—Fripp, Michael Giles, Lake, McDonald and Sinfield—was formed on 30 November 1968 with rehearsals beginning on 13 January 1969.[13][18] Sinfield coined the band's name in "a moment of pressured panic". Sinfield had already used the term "crimson king" in a set of lyrics before his involvement with Giles, Giles and Fripp. Sinfield insisted that the name wasn't Beelzebub, prince of demons, and that a "crimson king" was any ruler during whose reign there were "societal rumblings" and "sort of the dark forces of the world".[19][20] According to Fripp, King Crimson is a synonym for Beelzebub, which is an anglicised form of the Arabic phrase "B'il Sabab", meaning "the man with an aim", to which he related.[21][22] At this early point, McDonald was the primary composer, with vital contributions from Fripp and Lake, while Sinfield wrote all the lyrics on his own, and also designed and operated the band's unique stage lighting, being credited with "words and illumination" on the album sleeve. Inspired by the Moody Blues, McDonald suggested the group purchase a Mellotron keyboard, and this became a key component of the early Crimson sound.[23] Sinfield described the original Crimson thus: "If it sounded at all popular, it was out. So it had to be complicated, it had to be more expansive chords, it had to have strange influences. If it sounded, like, too simple, we'd make it more complicated, we'd play it in 7/8 or 5/8, just to show off".[24]
King Crimson's first live performance was at the Speakeasy Club in London on 9 April 1969 (with Yes guitarist Peter Banks among the audience).[25] Their big breakthrough came on 5 July 1969 by playing as a support act at the Rolling Stones' free concert in Hyde Park, London before an estimated 500,000 people.[26][13] The debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, was released in October 1969 on Island Records. Fripp would later describe it as having been "an instant smash" and "New York's acid album of 1970" (notwithstanding Fripp and Giles' assertion that the band never used psychedelic drugs).[18] Who guitarist and composer Pete Townshend called the album "an uncanny masterpiece."[27] The album contains Sinfield's gothic lyrics and its sound was described as having "dark and doom-laden visions".[28][29] Its opening track "21st Century Schizoid Man" was described as "proto-metal" and the song's lyrics criticise the military involvement of the United States in Southeast Asia.[3][30] In contrast to the blues-based hard rock of the contemporary British and American scenes, King Crimson presented a more Europeanised approach that blended antiquity and modernity.[31][32] The band's music drew on a wide range of influences provided by all five group members. These elements included classical music, the psychedelic rock spearheaded by Jimi Hendrix, folk, jazz, military music (partially inspired by McDonald's stint as an army musician) and free improvisation.[3][30][32][27]
After playing shows across England, the band toured the US with various pop and rock acts. Their first show was at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. While the band found success and critical acclaim,[33] creative tensions were already developing.[13] Giles and McDonald, still striving to cope with King Crimson's rapid success and the realities of touring life, became uneasy with their musical direction. Although he was neither the dominant composer nor the frontman, Fripp was very much the group's driving force and spokesman, leading them into progressively darker and more intense musical areas. McDonald and Giles, now favouring a lighter and more nuanced romantic style, became increasingly uncomfortable with their position and resigned after the conclusion of the US tour in January 1970.[14] To keep the band together, Fripp offered to resign himself, but McDonald declared that King Crimson was "more (him) than them" and that he and Giles should therefore be the ones to leave.[34] McDonald later said he "was probably not emotionally mature enough to handle it" and made a "rash decision to leave without consulting anyone".[35] The original lineup played their last show at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on 14 December 1969, a little over one year after forming.[18] Live recordings of the band from 1969 were released in 1997 on Epitaph and in 2010 on the In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) box set.
King Crimson spent 1970 in a state of flux with various lineup changes, thwarted tour plans, and difficulties in finding a satisfactory musical direction while Fripp was learning and developing as a songwriter during the writing process of the next three albums.[36] As well as guitar, Fripp took on keyboard duties, while Sinfield expanded his creative role to operating synthesizers.
Following McDonald and Giles' departure, Lake, unsure of the band's future without them, began discussions with Keith Emerson of the Nice about possibly forming a new band together. With Fripp and Sinfield planning for recording the second King Crimson album, and Lake's position uncertain, the band's management booked Elton John to sing the material as a session musician, but Fripp decided against this idea after listening to his Empty Sky album.[37] Lake agreed to stay with the band until Emerson had completed remaining commitments with the Nice, at which point he left to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer. On the resulting In the Wake of Poseidon album, Lake provided all the lead vocals except on "Cadence and Cascade", as he left before he was able to complete this track. Fripp's old school friend Gordon Haskell was brought in to provide the vocal on the song.[38][39] The sessions also included Michael and Peter Giles on drums and bass respectively,[38][40] saxophonist Mel Collins (formerly of the band Circus)[41] and jazz pianist Keith Tippett.[42] Upon its release in May 1970, In the Wake of Poseidon reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 31 in the US. It received some criticism from those who thought it sounded too similar to their first album.[43] With no set band to perform the new material, Fripp and Sinfield brought Mel Collins and Gordon Haskell on board (with Haskell doubling as lead vocalist and bassist and Collins quadrupling as saxophonist, flautist, occasional keyboard player, and backing vocalist), and Andy McCulloch joined as drummer.[44][42]
Fripp and Sinfield wrote the third album, Lizard, themselves – with Haskell, Collins and McCulloch having no say in the direction of the material. In addition to the core band, several session musicians contributed to the Lizard recording, including the returning Keith Tippett, who was offered to be a member of the new lineup, but due to other commitments preferred to continue working with the band as an occasional guest musician,[45] and two members of Tippett's band, Mark Charig on cornet, and Nick Evans on trombone. Robin Miller (on oboe and cor anglais) also appeared, while Jon Anderson of Yes was brought in to sing a section of the album's title track, "Prince Rupert Awakes", which Fripp and Sinfield considered to be outside Haskell's natural range and style. Lizard featured stronger jazz and chamber-classical influences than previous albums.[14][42] The album contains Sinfield's "phantasmagorical" lyrics, including "Happy Family" (an allegory of the break-up of the Beatles),[46] and the title track, a suite which took up the entire second side, describing a medieval/mythological battle and its outcome.[47]
Released in December 1970, Lizard reached No. 29 in the UK and No. 113 in the US. Described retrospectively as an "outlier",[46] the album had been made by a group in disagreement over method and taste. The more rhythm-and-blues-oriented Haskell and McCulloch both found the music difficult to relate to, and tedious and confusing to record. Collins disliked how his parts were composed, while both Fripp and Haskell detested Sinfield's lyrics.[44] This lineup of the band did not survive much longer than the Lizard recording sessions. Haskell quit the band acrimoniously during initial tour rehearsals after refusing to sing live with distortion and electronic effects on his voice, and McCulloch departed soon after.[13][14] With Sinfield not being a musician and Fripp having seemingly given up on the band, Collins was left to search for new members.[44]
After a search for a drummer to replace McCulloch, Ian Wallace was secured. Fripp was re-energised by the addition of a new member, and he joined Collins and Wallace to audition singers and bassists. Vocalists who tried out included Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music and even one of the band's managers, John Gaydon.[44][48] The position eventually went to Raymond "Boz" Burrell.[13] John Wetton was invited to join on bass, but declined in order to join Family instead.[49][50] Rick Kemp (later of Steeleye Span) rehearsed with the band, but declined the final offer to formally join.[42] Fripp decided to teach Boz to play bass rather than continue the labored auditions. Though he had not played bass before, Burrell had played enough acoustic guitar to assist him in learning the instrument quickly. Wallace was able to further instruct Burrell in functioning on the instrument in a rhythm section.[51] With a lineup now complete, King Crimson began touring in May 1971, the first time they had played live since the original lineup's last show on 14 December 1969. The concerts were well received, but the musical differences between Fripp and the rest of the group, and the somewhat wilder lifestyles of Collins, Wallace and Burrell, alienated the drug-free Fripp, who began to withdraw socially from his bandmates, creating further tension.[44]
In 1971, the new King Crimson formation recorded Islands. Sinfield, who favoured a softer approach, took lyrical inspiration from Homer's Odyssey, musical inspiration from jazz players like Miles Davis and Ahmad Jamal, and a sun-drenched trip to Ibiza and Formentera.[19][52][53] Islands featured the instrumental "Sailor's Tale", with a droning Mellotron and Fripp's banjo-inspired guitar solo; the raunchy blues-rocker "Ladies of the Road", a tribute to groupies which featured Wallace and Collins singing Beatles-esque backing vocals; and "Song of the Gulls", which was developed from an earlier Fripp instrumental ("Suite No. 1" from Giles, Giles & Fripp's 1968 album[54]), and would be the only time the band would utilize an orchestra.[42][55] Burrell disliked Sinfield's lyrics and one of the band members allegedly called Islands as "an airy-fairy piece of shit".[56][57]
Released in December 1971, Islands charted at No. 30 in the UK and No. 76 in the US. Following a tour of the United States in December 1971, Fripp informed Sinfield that he could no longer work with him, and asked him to leave the band.[19][52][58][59] In January 1972, the remaining band broke up acrimoniously in rehearsals, owing partially to Fripp's refusal to play a composition by Collins.[44] He later cited this as "quality control", with the idea that King Crimson would perform the "right" kind of music.[14]
In order to fulfil touring contracts in the United States in 1972, King Crimson reformed with the intention of disbanding immediately after the tour.[44] Recordings from various North American dates between January and February 1972 were released as Earthbound in June of that year. The album was noted for its playing style that occasionally veered towards funk, and Burrell's scat singing on the improvised pieces, but was criticised for its sub-par sound quality.[60][61] Further, better-quality, live recordings from this era would be released in 2002 as Ladies of the Road and in 2017 on the Sailors' Tales (1970–1972) box set. By this time, the musical rift between Fripp and the rest of the band had grown very wide. Wallace, Burrell and Collins favoured improvised blues and funk. Fripp would later describe the 1971–1972 lineup as more of a jam band than an "improvising" band, an opinion with which Wallace disagreed. Personal relations actually improved during the tour to the point where most of the band decided to continue on, however Fripp opted to part company with the other three, restructuring King Crimson with new musicians, as he felt the other members wouldn't be fully engaged in the musical direction he had in mind.[56]
"It was going to be an interesting ride when ... I wasn't given a setlist when I joined the band, more a reading list. Ouspensky, J. G. Bennett, Gurdjieff and Castaneda were all hot. Wicca, personality changes, low-level magic, pyromancy – all this from the magus in the court of the Crimson King. This was going to be more than three chords and a pint of Guinness."
The next incarnation of King Crimson was radically different from the previous configurations. Fripp's four new recruits were free-improvising percussionist Jamie Muir, drummer Bill Bruford, who left Yes at a commercial peak in their career in favour of the "darker" Crimson,[63] bassist and vocalist John Wetton (who left Family), and violinist, keyboardist and flautist David Cross, whom Fripp had met when he was invited to a rehearsal of Waves, a band Cross was working in.[13][64] Most of the musical compositions were collaborations between Fripp and Wetton, who each composed segments independently and fitted together those which they found compatible.[65] With Sinfield gone, the band recruited Wetton's friend Richard Palmer-James (from the original Supertramp) as their new lyricist.[13] Unlike Sinfield, Palmer-James was not an official member of King Crimson, playing no part in artistic decisions, visual ideas, or sonic directions; his sole contributions to the group were his lyrics, sent via mail from his home in Germany.[66][67] Following a period of rehearsals, King Crimson resumed touring on 13 October 1972 at the Zoom Club in Frankfurt,[68] with the band's penchant for improvisation (and Muir's startling stage presence) gaining them renewed press attention.[64]
In January and February 1973, King Crimson recorded Larks' Tongues in Aspic in London which was released that March.[69] The band's new sound was exemplified by the album's two-part title track – a significant change from what King Crimson had done before, the piece emphasised the sharp instrumental interplay of the band, and drew influence from modern classical music, noisy free improv, and even heavy metal riffing. The record displayed Muir's unusual approach to percussion, which included a self-modified drum kit, assorted toys, a bullroarer,[70] mbira, gongs, balloons, thunder sheet and chains. On stage, Muir also employed unpredictable, manic movements, bizarre clothing, and fake blood capsules (occasionally spit or applied to the head), becoming the sole example of such theatrical stage activity in the band's long history.[71][49][72][73] The album reached No. 20 in the UK and No. 61 in the US. After a period of further touring, Muir departed in 1973, quitting the music industry altogether. Muir told King Crimson's management that he had decided a musician's life was not for him, and he had chosen to join a Scottish Buddhist monastery. He offered to serve a period of notice which the management declined. Instead of reiterating Muir's decision, the management informed the band and the public that Muir had sustained an onstage injury caused by a gong landing on his foot.[74][49][64]
With Muir gone, the remaining members reconvened in January 1974 to produce Starless and Bible Black, released in March 1974, which earned them a positive Rolling Stone review.[75][76] Though most of the album was recorded live during the band's late 1973 tour, the recordings were carefully edited and overdubbed to sound like a studio record, with "The Great Deceiver", "Lament" and the second half of "The Night Watch" the only tracks recorded entirely in the studio.[77][78] The album reached No. 28 in the UK and No. 64 in the US. Following the album's release, the band began to divide once more, this time over performance. 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 consistently being drowned out by the rhythm section, leading him to concentrate more on Mellotron and an overdriven electric piano. An increasingly frustrated Cross began to withdraw both musically and personally, with the result being that he was voted out of the group following the band's 1974 tour of Europe and America.[14][79]
In July 1974, Fripp, Bruford, and Wetton began recording Red.[13] Before recording began, Fripp, now increasingly disillusioned with the music industry, turned his attention to the works of English mystic J.G. Bennett and had a spiritual experience in which "the top of my head blew off".[80] Most of the album had been developed during live improvisations before Fripp retreated into himself and "withdrew his opinion", leaving Bruford and Wetton to direct the recording sessions. The album contains one live track, "Providence", recorded on 30 June 1974 with Cross playing violin. Several guest musicians (including former members Ian McDonald and Mel Collins) contributed to the album.[81][82] Released on 6 October 1974,[83] Red went to No. 45 in the UK and No. 66 in the US. AllMusic called it "an impressive achievement" for a group about to disband,[84] with "intensely dynamic" musical chemistry between the band members.[85]
Two months before the release of Red, King Crimson's future looked bright (with talks regarding founder member Ian McDonald rejoining the group). However, Fripp wished not to tour as he felt increasingly disenchanted by the group and the music industry. He also felt the world was going to drastically change by 1981 and that he had to prepare for it.[86][81] Despite a band meeting while touring the US in which Fripp expressed a desire to end the band,[87] the group did not formally disband until 25 September 1974 and later Fripp announced that King Crimson had "ceased to exist" and was "completely over for ever and ever".[13][88] It was later revealed that Fripp had attempted to replace himself with McDonald and Steve Hackett of Genesis, but this idea was rejected by the managers.[89][90] Following the band's disbanding, the live album USA was released in May 1975, formed of recordings from their 1974 North American tour. It received some positive reviews,[61] including "a must" for fans of the band and "insanity you're better off having".[91][92] Issues with the tapes rendered some of Cross' playing inaudible, so Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music was hired to perform violin and keyboard overdubs in a studio; further edits were also made to allow the music to fit on a single LP.[93] More live recordings from the 1972–1974 era would be issued as The Night Watch in 1997, and as part of the box sets The Great Deceiver (1992), Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1972–1973) (2012), The Road to Red (1974), and Starless (1973–1974) (both 2014). Between 1975 and 1981, King Crimson were completely inactive.
In the late autumn of 1980, having spent several years on spiritual pursuits and then gradually returning to music (playing guitar for David Bowie, Peter Gabriel and Daryl Hall, pursuing an experimental solo career, leading instrumental new wave band The League of Gentlemen), Fripp decided to form a new "first division" rock group, but had no intentions of it being King Crimson.[94] Having recruited Bill Bruford as drummer, Fripp asked singer and guitarist Adrian Belew to join,[95] the first time Fripp would actively seek collaboration with another guitarist in a band and therefore indicative of Fripp's desire to create something unlike any of his previous work.[96] After touring with Talking Heads, Belew agreed to join and also become the band's lyricist. Bruford's suggestion of his bassist Jeff Berlin was rejected as Fripp thought his playing was "too busy",[97] so auditions were held in New York: on the third day, Fripp left after roughly three auditions, only to return several hours later with Tony Levin (who got the job after playing a single chorus of "Red").[62] Fripp later confessed that, had he known that Levin (whom Fripp had played with in Peter Gabriel's group) was available and interested, he would have selected him without holding auditions. Fripp named the new quartet Discipline, and they went to England to rehearse and write new material. They made their live debut at Moles Club in Bath, Somerset on 30 April 1981, and completed a short tour supported by the Lounge Lizards.[98][99][100] By October 1981, the band had opted to change their name to King Crimson.[13]
In 1981, King Crimson recorded Discipline with producer Rhett Davies who had previously worked with Belew on Talking Heads' Remain in Light and with Fripp on Brian Eno's Another Green World and Before and After Science. The album displayed a very different version of the band, with newer influences including post-punk, new wave, funk, minimalism, pointillism, world music and African percussion.[101][102][103][104] With a sound described in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide as having a "jaw-dropping technique" of "knottily rhythmic, harmonically demanding workouts".[85] The title track "Discipline" was described as a postminimalist rock song.[105] Fripp intended to create the sound of a "rock gamelan", with an interlocking rhythmic quality to the paired guitars that he found similar to Indonesian gamelan ensembles.