King Crimson is a progressive rock group from England formed in 1968/1969 by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles. Though originally an all-British musical group, later members have included a number of Americans, most notably Adrian Belew, and Tony Levin. The name “King Crimson” was coined by Peter Sinfield as a synonym for Beelzebub, prince of demons.
Genres: Progressive rock, jazz fusion, experimental rock, hard rock, new wave
Years active: 1969–1974, 1981–1984, 1994–2009 (hiatus)
Widely recognised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history (including jazz and folk music, classical and experimental music, psychedelic rock, hard rock and heavy metal, New Wave, gamelan, electronica and drum and bass). They have been influential on many contemporary musical artists and have gained a large following, despite garnering little radio or music video airplay.
King Crimson’s debut album was In the Court of the Crimson King. The first major success of the new genre of progressive rock, many bands that would come to dominate ‘prog’ in the 1970s first sought to emulate In the Court of the Crimson King, including Genesis, The Alan Parsons Project, and later Rush.
The lineup of King Crimson has at times changed drastically from album to album. Original lead singer and bassist Greg Lake left the group - as did lyricist Peter Sinfield - and went on to fame with Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1970, replaced by Gordon Haskell, Boz Burrell, and, briefly, Jon Anderson of Yes. Also from Yes came drummer Bill Bruford, who joined King Crimson in 1972 and became one of the more enduring members. For the next three years, Bruford and Fripp were joined by future Asia frontman John Wetton. With comparatively few additional musicians, these mid-1970s albums and performances showed a more raw and stylistically focused - though still improvisational - King Crimson. In 1974 the band split temporarily.
In 1981, bassist Tony Levin and guitarist/singer Adrian Belew joined Fripp and Bruford in a band initially called Discipline. Changing the name back to King Crimson, the four released a trio of studio albums which preserved the classic heavy and improvisational sound, but also embraced 1980s musical influences and technologies.
In 1984 the band split up again, then re-formed in 1994 with former Mr. Mister drummer Pat Mastelotto joining forces with and later replacing Bruford. This lineup included bassist Trey Gunn - playing warr guitar and chapman stick - forming a “double trio” of two guitarists, two bassists and two drummers. In between KC commitments, various combinations of the members convened in different “ProjeKcts”: ProjeKct One, ProjeKct Two, ProjeKct Three, ProjeKct Four, and ProjeKct X, with Robert Fripp describing them as “fraKctals” of the band with the purpose of “research and development”.
2000-2003 saw a new incarnation of King Crimson, without Bruford and Levin, which culminated in the album The Power to Believe and a concert tour. Trey Gunn left the group afterwards, but Fripp and Belew announced that they would meet in 2007 and think about future KC music. Tony Levin agreed to replace Gunn on bass/stick.
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 King Crimson’s fortieth anniversary in 2009. A short time thereafter, on 20th August 2008, DGMLive (a web medium for Fripp to release live recordings) issued a download-only release of the August 7th, 2008 concert in Chicago. The show reveals a drum-centred direction but the set list, consistent with the rest of the tour, contains no new material or extended improvisation. However, many of the pieces from the back catalogue receive 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 has been talk of more King 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.
Despite its many changes, King Crimson has retained a consistent sound and atmosphere, largely as a result of Fripp’s signature guitar work. Though they have not had a commercial success since their first album, the band has one of the most devoted followings of any musical group. Their live albums outnumber studio albums by a wide margin (some of them being “official” bootlegs), and there are more than enough ex-members to fully staff the ‘classic’ KC revival group known as 21st Century Schizoid Band.
Membership:
King Crimson has had 19 musicians pass through its ranks as full band members. Many others have collaborated with the band at various points in lyric-writing, studio recordings, and live performances. Most of the band members had notable musical careers outside the band, to the extent that it has been calculated that there are over fifteen-hundred releases on which members and former members of King Crimson appear.
Leadership:
Robert Fripp has been the sole consistent member of King Crimson throughout the group’s history. 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 because of creative frustration, notably Ian McDonald, Gordon Haskell and Mel Collins).[citation needed] Trey Gunn, who played with the group between 1994 and 2003, has stated that "King Crimson is Robert’s vision. Period."
Members:
King Crimson is currently on hiatus, and the line-up of the band when (or if) they return is unknown. The most recent line-up was:
Robert Fripp — guitars, guitar synthesiser/MIDI guitar, Soundscapes, electric piano, Mellotron, keyboards, allsorts (1969–1974, 1981–1984, 1994–2009)
Adrian Belew — lead vocals, guitars, guitar synthesiser/MIDI guitar, electronic percussion (1981–1984, 1994–2009)
Tony Levin — bass guitars, Chapman Stick, upright bass, synthesiser, backing vocals (1981–1984, 1994–1999, 2003–2009)
Pat Mastelotto — acoustic and electronic drums and percussion (1994–2009)
Gavin Harrison — drums (2007–2009)
Former members:
Peter Sinfield — lyrics, synthesiser (1969–1971)
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)
Mel Collins — saxophones, flute, keyboards (1970–1972)
Gordon Haskell — bass guitar, vocals (1970–1971)
Andy McCulloch — drums (1970–1971)
Boz Burrell — bass guitar, vocals (1971–1972; died 2006)
Ian Wallace — drums, percussion, vocals (1971–1972; died 2007)
Bill Bruford — acoustic and electronic drums and percussion (1972–1974, 1981–1984, 1994–1998)
John Wetton — bass guitar, vocals, occasional electric guitar and piano (1972–1974)
David Cross — violin, viola, flute, mellotron, electric piano, keyboards (1972–1974)
Jamie Muir — percussion, allsorts (1972–1973)
Trey Gunn — Warr guitar, Chapman Stick, baritone guitar, Ashbory silicone-string bass, "talker" (1994–2003)
Additional/guest musicians:
Peter Giles — bass guitar on In the Wake of Poseidon
Keith Tippett — acoustic and electric pianos on In The Wake Of Poseidon, Lizard and Islands
Mark Charig — cornet on Lizard, Islands and Red (from Keith Tippett Sextet and Centipede)
Robin Miller — oboe on Lizard, Islands and Red
Nick Evans — trombone on Lizard and Islands
Jon Anderson — guest lead vocals on Lizard (from Yes)
Rick Kemp — bass guitar, played for two weeks in band prior to recording of 'Islands' and Boz Burrell's hiring
Harry Miller — double bass on Islands
Paulina Lucas — soprano vocals (Islands).
Richard Palmer-James — lyrics (1972–1974)
Eddie Jobson — violin and electric piano studio overdubs on USA
Margaret Belew — source text for "Indiscipline" (on Discipline) and lyrics for "Two Hands" (on Beat). (Margaret Belew was an artist and was also Adrian Belew's wife during the time of King Crimson line-up 4).
Epitaph:
No comments:
Post a Comment