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King Crimson
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King Crimson are an English progressive rock band founded by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles in 1969.
They have typically been categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, although they incorporate diverse influences ranging from jazz, classical and experimental music to psychedelic, New Wave, hard rock, gamelan and folk music. King Crimson have garnered little radio or music video airplay, but gained a large cult following. Their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, is widely regarded as a landmark in progressive rock.
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Encyclopedia
King Crimson are an English progressive rock band founded by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles in 1969.
They have typically been categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, although they incorporate diverse influences ranging from jazz, classical and experimental music to psychedelic, New Wave, hard rock, gamelan and folk music. King Crimson have garnered little radio or music video airplay, but gained a large cult following. Their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, is widely regarded as a landmark in progressive rock. Their later excursions into even more unconventional territory have been influential on many contemporary musical artists.
Throughout the early-1970s, King Crimson's membership fluctuated as the band explored elements of jazz and funk. Today, its early music seems to owe a lot to the compositional frameworks of jazz innovators, like Charles Mingus. As the band developed an improvisational sound influenced by hard rock, the band's personnel became more stable in the mid-1970s, before breaking up in 1974. The band re-formed in 1981 for three years, influenced by New Wave and gamelan music, before breaking up again for around a decade. Following their 1994 reunion, King Crimson blended aspects of their 1980s and 1970s sound with influences from more recent musical genres, a synthesis which has continued into the 21st century.
King Crimson's membership has fluctuated considerably throughout their existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks as full band members. Fripp, the only constant member of King Crimson, has arranged several distinct lineups, but has stated that he does not necessarily consider himself the band's leader. He describes King Crimson as "a way of doing things", and notes that he never originally intended to be seen as the head of the group.
History
1960s
In August 1967, drummer Michael Giles and his brother and bassist, Peter, advertised for a singing organist. Robert Fripp, a guitarist who did not sing, responded. The trio of Giles, Giles and Fripp was formed and they recorded one album together, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp. Fripp said of the encounter: "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."
The initial band was changing, however, as their debut record had not been particularly successful, even being eschewed by Keith Moon of The Who in a magazine review. Fripp had seen the band 1-2-3 (later known as Clouds) at the Marquee, which inspired some of Crimson's penchant for classical melodies and jazz-like improvisation. The first musician to be added to their new line-up was the multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald on keyboards, reeds and woodwinds. McDonald had been writing songs with lyricist Peter Sinfield who also joined the new group which briefly included Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble. McDonald had said to Peter in 1968 of 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?" One of the first songs McDonald and Sinfield wrote together was "In the Court of the Crimson King". Fripp's childhood friend, singer-guitarist Greg Lake, was recruited by the others, and replaced Peter Giles on bass, also singing for the band. Thus, the first incarnation of the band was "conceived" on 30 November 1968 and first rehearsed on 13 January 1969. Shortly afterward they purchased a mellotron and began using it to create an original orchestral rock sound.
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").
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. 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 guitarist, calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece." 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. Music reviewer Annie Gaffney wrote that they were credited with starting the entire progressive rock movement that was popular in the early 1970s.
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. Personal tensions within the band eventually reached a limit, however, and the original line-up played their last show together in San Francisco at the Fillmore West on 16 December 1969. Ian McDonald and Michael Giles left King Crimson to pursue solo work, recording the McDonald and Giles studio album in 1970.
1970s
King Crimson's line-up changed repeatedly in the years immediately following the breakup of the original band. The remaining trio of Fripp, Sinfield, and Lake, persevered for a short while, releasing the single "Cat Food/Groon" in early 1970. During this time, material was being developed for King Crimson's second album, In the Wake of Poseidon, often seen as being very similar to the band's debut album. Lake departed in early 1970 to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer, although he still agreed to sing on the second album since the band hadn't found a replacement vocalist. Woodwind player Mel Collins took part in the recording sessions, singer Gordon Haskell took vocals on one song, and bassist Peter Giles of Giles, Giles & Fripp appeared on several tracks. Elton John was considered as a singer for the album. Haskell took over singing in addition to playing bass for the band's third album, Lizard, which had heavy jazz and classical influences and is described as being an "acquired taste". Andy McCulloch played drums for the album, with Jon Anderson of Yes performing vocals on one song. Haskell and McCulloch left King Crimson before Lizard was released.
Drummer Ian Wallace and vocalist Boz Burrell were selected for the new band, among others who were unsuccessful, including Bryan Ferry and Rick Kemp. The group began planning live shows, but were thwarted again when their chosen bassist abruptly left. Faced with limited choices, Fripp taught Burrell to play the bass rather than start the search all over again (despite Boz not having played an instrument before, he apparently picked it up quite quickly). 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.
In 1971 King Crimson undertook their first tour since 1969 with the new line-up, and that year the band released a new album, Islands, which is noted for its heavy Mellotron sound. At the end of that year, King Crimson parted ways with long-time member and lyricist Peter Sinfield, who then reunited with Greg Lake in becoming the primary lyricist for Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The remaining members undertook a tour of the United States the following year, 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 sound close in style to funk, with scat singing on the improvised pieces. Shortly after the Earthbound tour, Collins, Wallace and Burrell left King Crimson to form a band called Snape, with British blues guitarist Alexis Korner. Burrell would later become the bassist of Bad Company.
Once again, Fripp began the task of looking for new members. These included improvising percussionist Jamie Muir; vocalist and bassist John Wetton, formerly of the band Family and a college acquaintance of Fripp; violin, viola and keyboard player David Cross; and 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. With Sinfield gone, the band recruited a new lyricist, Wetton's friend Richard Palmer-James.
Rehearsals and touring began in late 1972 and the album Larks' Tongues in Aspic was released early the next year. The album was noted for its revolutionary sound (exemplified by such pieces as the title track in its two parts), which was a significant change from what King Crimson had done before, and had influences from the heavy metal sound that was in its infancy. Muir left the group in early 1973 following an on-stage injury. 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. Most of the album was recorded from live performances, although in many respects it was treated as just another studio album with the live factor dismissed.
During the band's 1974 tour of Europe and America, David Cross left the group after a performance in Central Park in New York, and left the remaining trio to record a new album, Red. The record included guest appearances by musicians from previous albums: Robin Miller on oboe; Marc Charig on cornet; former King Crimson member Mel Collins on soprano saxophone; David Cross on the live track "Providence"; and Ian McDonald, from the original incarnation of the band, made a guest appearance on alto saxophone. Red 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". McDonald had plans to rejoin as a full-time member of King Crimson while Fripp, increasingly disillusioned with the music business, was turning his attention to the writings of the mystic George Gurdjieff, and did not want to tour as he felt that the "world was coming to an end". The Red line-up never toured, and two months before the album's release Fripp announced that King Crimson had "ceased to exist" and was "completely over for ever and ever", and the group disbanded on 25 September 1974. 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 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.
1980s
Early in 1981, Fripp considered forming a new group, with no intention of reforming King Crimson; however, a step that led to this was contacting Bill Bruford to ask if he wanted to join the new band. Bruford agreed and the pair recruited Tony Levin, who had been a session musician for John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Peter Gabriel, and others. Besides being a bass player, Levin brought a new sound with the use of the Chapman Stick, described as an "utterly original style" created by "one of New York City's most sought-after studio musicians". Fripp also contacted guitarist Adrian Belew, who was on tour with Talking Heads and had previously worked with David Bowie and Frank Zappa. Fripp had never been in a band with another guitarist before so the decision to seek a second guitarist was indicative of Fripp's desire to create a sound unlike previous incarnations of King Crimson. Belew, who also became the band's singer and lyricist, joined following his tour with Talking Heads. The four played live in the first half of 1981 using the name Discipline, supported by The Lounge Lizards.
By October 1981, the band had begun using the name King Crimson. The group released a trilogy of albums: Discipline in 1981, Beat in 1982, and Three of a Perfect Pair in 1984. Beat marked the first King Crimson album to have been recorded with the same band lineup as the album preceding it, was the first King Crimson album not to have been produced by a member of the group, and was named for the beat generation and its writings. This theme was reflected in the music with song titles such as "Neal and Jack and Me" and "The Howler", with Belew even being asked by Fripp to read Keroauc's novel On the Road.
This version of King Crimson bore some resemblance to New Wave music, which can be attributed in part to the work of both Belew and Fripp with Talking Heads and David Bowie, Levin's work with Peter Gabriel, and Fripp's solo album Exposure and side project League of Gentlemen. With this new band, described by J. D. Considine in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide as having a "jaw-dropping technique" of "knottily rhythmic, harmonically demanding workouts", 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. After Three of a Perfect Pair, King Crimson disbanded for around a decade, during which time Fripp formed the record label Discipline Global Mobile for King Crimson and related projects, besides starting the Guitar Craft music school in 1985.
1990s and 2000s
King Crimson reformed as a sextet in 1994, after numerous possible line-ups were considered, consisting of the 1980s band, but with Warr Guitar player Trey Gunn and drummer Pat Mastelotto added. This "double trio" formation released the EP Vrooom in 1994, followed by the studio album Thrak in 1995, and the challenging avantgarde live album Thrakattak in 1996. The new King Crimson sound featured elements of the interlocking guitars on Discipline and the heavy rock feel of Red. The album Thrak was described as having "jazz-scented rock structures, characterised by noisy, angular, exquisite guitar interplay" and an "athletic, ever-inventive rhythm section", whilst being in tune with the sound of alternative rock musicians in the mid-1990s. However, the grandiose project of having King Crimson with six band members did not last for long. In mid-1997 the band came to a compositional impasse and, rather than split up, decided to work in smaller "sub-groups" called ProjeKcts. This enabled the group to continue developing musical ideas and searching for Crimson's next direction without the hassle and expense of convening all six members at once.
ProjeKcts One, Two, Three, and Four were each a splinter group (a "fraKctalisation", according to Fripp) of King Crimson. They toured throughout the US, UK and Japan, and released various recordings demonstrating the improvisational musical high wire act that the constituent musicians are able to produce. These recordings, similar to the Thrakattak album, were described by music critic Considine as "frequently astonishing" but lacking in melody, and thus difficult for the casual listener. The DGM record company also founded the King Crimson Collector's Club in 1998, a service that regularly releases live recordings from concerts throughout the band's career, many of which are now available for download online.
By the time the ProjeKcts were complete, Bruford and Levin had ceased to be involved with King Crimson for the time being, leaving to work with Earthworks and Peter Gabriel/Seal respectively. Belew, Fripp, Gunn, and Mastelotto remained, releasing the studio album The ConstruKction of Light (2000), accompanied by the album Heaven and Earth released under the name ProjeKct X in the same year. The ConstruKction of Light was criticized for lacking new ideas, as was Heaven and Earth. The band toured around this time, and played shows opening for the band Tool in 2001, during which their lead singer Maynard James Keenan humorously commented: "For me, being on stage with King
Crimson is like Lenny Kravitz playing with Led Zeppelin, or
Britney Spears onstage with Debbie Gibson."
The band continued their activity throughout the decade. In 2002 the EP Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With was released, and in 2003 the studio album The Power to Believe came out with the band touring in support of it. In late November 2003, Trey Gunn announced his departure. Levin would become the active bassist of King Crimson again, with the group of him, Fripp, Belew and Mastelotto convening for rehearsals in early 2004. However, nothing followed on from this and the band went inactive again.
The new ProjeKct Six, consisting only of Fripp and Belew, toured in 2006 playing four shows in the northeastern United States opening for Porcupine Tree. One of these shows was postponed due to the sudden death of Adrian Belew's long-time friend and engineer, Ken Latchney.
A new King Crimson line-up was announced in late 2007 and scheduled for rehearsals in 2008, consisting of Fripp, Belew, Mastelotto, Levin and Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree. In August 2008 the band set out on a brief four-city tour in preparation for the group's 40th Anniversary in 2009. A short time thereafter, on August 20, 2008, DGMLive issued a download-only release of the August 7th, 2008 concert in Chicago. The show reveals a drum-centric direction but the setlist, consistent with the rest of the tour, contains no new material or extended improvisation. However, many of the pieces from the back catalogue receive striking new arrangements, most notably the renditions of "Neurotica," "Sleepless," and "Level Five," all of which are given percussion-heavy overhauls, presumably to highlight the return to the dual-drummer format. More recordings from the New York shows are scheduled for download soon as well. There had been talk of more Crimson shows in 2009, but nothing definite has arisen yet.
In 2008, Steven Wilson began remixing the studio catalogue into 5.1 Surround Sound for possible future release.
21st Century Schizoid Band and other spin-offs
The 2000s also saw the reunion of former King Crimson members from the band's first four albums. The 21st Century Schizoid Band, toured and played material from the band's earliest period. Of note, former member Boz Burrell died on 21 September 2006 following a heart attack, and five months later, former member Ian Wallace died of oesophageal cancer on 22 February 2007.
In August 2008, a line-up called Crimson Project with Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Eddie Jobson and Eric Slick (from the Adrian Belew Power Trio) played a short set at a Russian festival.
Musical Style
Fripp has described King Crimson as "a way of doing things", among other quotes he has used to describe the project throughout the decades with many changes in membership, configuration, and instrumentation.
Influences
The music of King Crimson was initially grounded to some extent in the rock of the 1960s, especially the acid rock and psychedelic rock movements, as the band played Donovan's "Get Thy Bearings", and were known to play The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" in their rehearsals. However, unlike the rock bands that had come before them, King Crimson largely stripped away the blues-based foundations of rock music and replaced these with influences from classical composers. The first incarnation of King Crimson played the Mars section of Gustav Holst's suite The Planets as a regular part of their live set. The influence of Béla Bartók has also been noted by Fripp. As a result of this influence, In the Court of the Crimson King is frequently viewed as the nominal starting point of the symphonic rock or progressive rock movements. King Crimson also initially displayed heavy jazz influences, most obvious on the well-known track "21st Century Schizoid Man". King Crimson's music from 1981 onwards shows an influence of gamelan music, and late 20th century classical composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley.
Musical themes
While the group constantly creates new sounds and new pieces, several themes have remained constant from the earliest versions of the band to the present. The most obvious of these themes is composition by the use of a gradually building rhythmic motif. The Holst piece Mars that the original King Crimson played is a clear example of this, with its complex pulse in 5/4 time over which strings and winds, or mellotron in the case of King Crimson, play a skirling melody. This piece evolved into "The Devil's Triangle", based on variations of the central theme of Mars, split into three parts which were increasingly removed from the original Mars, on the In the Wake of Poseidon album. It was followed by many other forms, from "The Talking Drum" in 1973 (on Larks' Tongues in Aspic), "Industry" in 1984 (on Three of a Perfect Pair) all the way to "Dangerous Curves" in 2003 (on The Power to Believe).
A second recurring theme is an instrumental piece, often embedded as a break in a song, in which the band plays a passage of considerable rhythmic and polyrhythmic complexity. One of King Crimson's best-known songs, 21st Century Schizoid Man, is an early example. The series of pieces collectively titled Larks' Tongues in Aspic, as well as pieces of similar intent, such as "Thrak" and "Level Five", go deeper into polyrhythmic complexity, delving into rhythms that wander into and out of general synchronisation with each other, yet through polyrhythmic synchronisation all 'finish' together. These polyrhythms are abundant in the band's 1980s work, which contained gamelan-like rhythmic layers and continual staccato patterns overlaying each other.
Another theme is the composition of difficult passages for individual instruments, especially Fripp's guitar, notably during "Fracture" on Starless and Bible Black. Other themes includes pieces with a loud, aggressive sound not unlike heavy metal music, and the juxtaposition of ornate tunes and ballads with unusual, often dissonant noises.
Improvisation
From the beginning, King Crimson performances featured improvisations. These improvisations can be embedded into loosely-composed pieces such as "Moonchild" or "Thrak", and even "very structured pieces". Most of the band's performances over the years have included at least one stand-alone improvisation where the band simply started playing and took the music wherever it went, sometimes including passages of restrained silence (as with Bill Bruford's contribution to the improvised "Trio"). The earliest example of an unambiguously improvising King Crimson on record is the spacious, oft-criticised extended middle-section of "Moonchild" from In the Court of the Crimson King, in which the composed parts act as bookends to the improvisation.
What differentiates King Crimson's approach from most other jazz and rock groups is that Crimson's improvisation avoids the notion of one soloist at a time taking centre stage while the rest of the band lays back and plays along with established rhythm and chord changes. Rather, King Crimson improvisation is a group affair, a kind of organic music-making process in which each member of the band is able to make creative decisions and contributions as the music is being played. Individual soloing is largely eschewed; each musician is to listen to each other and to the group sound, to be able to react creatively within the group dynamic. David Cross described the process in this manner: "We're so different from each other that one night someone in the band will play something that the rest of us have never heard before and you just have to listen for a second. Then you react to his statement, usually in a different way than they would expect. It's the improvisation that makes the group amazing for me. You know, taking chances. There is no format really in which we fall into. We discover things while improvising and if they're really basically good ideas we try and work them in as new numbers, all the while keeping the improvisation thing alive and continually expanding." With this approach, Fripp stresses the "magic" metaphor; to him, when group improvisation of this sort really clicks, it is white magic.
Unlike most rock improvisation or jamming, these sessions are rarely jazz or blues-based. They vary so much in sound that King Crimson has been able to release several albums consisting entirely of improvised music, such as the Thrakattak album. Occasionally, particular improvised pieces will be performed in different forms at different shows, becoming more and more refined and eventually appearing on official studio releases (the most recent example being "Power to Believe III", which originally existed as the stage improvisation "Deception of the Thrush", a piece played onstage for a long time before appearing on record).
Influence on other bands
King Crimson have been influential both on the early 1970s progressive rock movement and numerous contemporary artists. Bands such as Genesis and Yes were influenced by the band's initial style of symphonic mellotron rock. Tool are widely held to have been heavily influenced by King Crimson, with their vocalist Maynard James Keenan even joking on a tour with them that "Now you know who we ripped off. Just don't tell anyone, especially the members of King Crimson". Nirvana are known to have been influenced by King Crimson as a result of Kurt Cobain having mentioned the importance of the Red album to him. The band Porcupine Tree is influenced by King Crimson, and as with Tool, King Crimson (in the form of ProjeKct Six) has been the support band at their shows. The angular, dissonant guitar patterns associated with Fripp’s distinctive approach are also evident in the music of Thrash-Metal pioneers Voivod, especially in the band’s mid-period work. Voivod also did a cover of "21st Century Schizoid Man" on their 1997 recording Phobos. Iron Maiden members credit the band as a reference for them. Mudvayne has also cited King Crimson as an influence.
Membership
King Crimson has had 18 musicians pass through its ranks as full band members. Many others have collaborated with the band at various points in lyric-writing, the studio and in live performance. Most of the musicians who have been members of King Crimson had notable musical careers outside the band, to the extent that it has been calculated that there are over a thousand releases on which members and former members of King Crimson appear. In a 2007 interview drummer Pat Mastelotto reported that the 2008 line-up of King Crimson would include another band member to join him on the drums, later named as Gavin Harrison of the band Porcupine Tree, making him the first British band member to join King Crimson since 1972.
Current band
Former members
- Greg Lake — bass guitar, vocals and tambourine (1969–1970)
- Michael Giles — drums, vocals (1969–1970)
- Ian McDonald — saxophone, clarinet, flute, mellotron, vibes, vocals (1969; 1974)
- Peter Sinfield — lyrics, synthesizer (1969–1971)
- Mel Collins — saxophone, flute, vocals, mellotron (1970–1972; 1974)
- Gordon Haskell — bass guitar, vocals (1970)
- Andy McCulloch — drums (1970)
- Rick Kemp - bass guitar (1971)
- Boz Burrell — bass guitar, vocals (1971–1972)
- Ian Wallace — drums, percussion, vocals (1971–1972)
- John Wetton — bass guitar, vocals (1972–1974)
- Jamie Muir — percussion, allsorts (1972–1973)
- Bill Bruford — drums, percussion (1972–1998)
- David Cross — violin, viola, flute, mellotron, electric piano, keyboards (1972–1974)
- Richard Palmer-James — lyrics (1972–1974)
- Trey Gunn — Warr guitar, Chapman stick (1994–2003)
Additional and guest musicians
Peter Giles, brother of Michael Giles and a member of Giles, Giles & Fripp, played bass on King Crimson's second album In the Wake of Poseidon, whilst Greg Lake only did vocals on the album. The band's jazz-influenced sound on the albums Lizard and Islands is largely the responsibility of the guest musicians who played with them around this time. They included Keith Tippett on piano and several musicians involved in his jazz sextet, such as Mark Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone and Harry Miller on double bass, as well as classical musicians Robin Miller on oboe and Paulina Lucas on vocals. Jon Anderson of the band Yes was also responsible for the lead vocals on the opening movement of the title track of the Lizard album. In early 1975 Eddie Jobson overdubbed new violin and electric piano parts on some tracks of the USA album. Some of the musicians who played with the band on Lizard re-surfaced to contribute to the Red album. Whilst not a performing musician, Adrian Belew's then-wife Margaret wrote the lyrics to the song "Indiscipline" from the Discipline album in 1981 and the "Two Hands" from Beat in 1982.
Discography
External links
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