Every time i feel the music in movement…King Crimson appears!!! King Crimson is only a way to do things.

(Robert Fripp)

Robert Fripp: guitars, mellotron, Mike Giles, Ian Wallace, Andy McCulloch, Bill Bruford, Pat Mastelotto, Bill Rieflin (drums), Peter Giles, Tony Levin, and Trey Gunn (bass, stick) Greg Lake, Boz Burrell, John Wetton, Gordon Haskell (vocals, bass), Ian McDonald, Mel Collins (sax, flute, mellotron), David Cross: violin; Jamie Muir: percussion; Adrian Belew: guitars; Jakko Jakszyk: vocals; Pete Sinfield: guitars; Richard Palmer-James: lyrics.

King Crimson is the creature and creation of one genius, Robert Fripp, composer, bandleader, and only constant denominator in the articulated story of this band, which he simply defines "a way of doing things".

In The Court of the Crimson King, October 12th, 1969: this is the true birth certificate of the progressive genre. An epic, fabulous, majestic, grotesque, romantic, and visionary album—in one word, stunning. Although important influences can be traced (The Beatles, The Moody Blues, improvisation and jazz, Holst, Bartòk, Gurdjieff, De Hartmann, the symphonic poem, Steve Reich's iterative music, etc.), this is the turning point that still holds an ascendant over whoever ventures into any kind of art-rock composition, defining a new style that, with its dark and tenebrous shades, gives a clean cut to the hopes of the smiley hippie generation, and it finally marks the moment when European rock conquered American sovereignty. An esoteric and progressive portrait defined also by the apocalyptic cover and the first-ever use of the mellotron combined with Peter Sinfeld's alchemic lyrics and a structure that recalls the scheme of a symphonic concert.

Their success was passed on from mouth to mouth after their appearance as the opening band in the famous Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park on July 5, 1969. The true debut was an eccentric psychedelic work called The Cheerful Insanity of Giles-Giles-Fripp, then the 1969 triumph and, a year later, a photocopy of the latter, In the wake of Poseidon, but still valuable and inspired. 1970 Lizard is a more complex progressive-jazz classical blend, with Tippett's collaboration and Fripp's orchestral direction inspired by the best Gil Evans and Miles Davis. A first phase ends with the Airy Islands, which mix with maturity European intellectual traditions into the electronic language.

In '73, Fripp creates a second incarnation of the band with three mysterious metal albums that redefine art rock and launch a signal into the future: with violinist David Cross, insane drummer Jamie Muir, and two gigantic Bill Bruford and the late John Wetton (died in January 2017) and elaborates a stripped-to-the bone style in which he inserts the pictorial Hendrix-ian guitar playing on Bartòk's quartet for arcs and Stravinskji's barbarisms.

Alongside another handful of parallel projects with Eno, Gabriel, Bowie, and also his Sufi and Frippetronics research, Fripp molds his third Crimson-ian Golem: it is the dawn of the 1980s when new wave triumphs and King Crimson go back to geometric and tight rhythms publishing Discipline, a web of sounds embellished by the ironic refinement of the guitar insertions.

Ten years go by, and the fourth epiphany materializes as a double trio recording the claustrophobic Thrak, a new King Crimson for a new millennium. They issue good-level albums, a never-ending flow of live performances, mini albums, and experimental operations like ProjeKcts. Contextually, McDonald, Collins and the Giles brothers reform the very first King Crimson (without Fripp and Lake) under the name of the 21st Century Schizoid Band, devoting themselves to a pure and simple revival of ‘another way of doing things’ compared to Fripp's projects. All of this convinces old Bob Fripp to renovate his ‘court’ once more with a new lineup engaging Collins, Jakszyk, Levin, and three drummers (!) starting with a triumphal tour in 2014 and playing a repertoire that covers all the different ages of this extraordinary band with great satisfaction of their audience.

Recommended recordings

  • In the Court of the Crimson King (Island, 1969).
  • In the Wake of Poseidon (Island, 1970).
  • Lizard (Island, 1970).
  • Islands (Island, 1971).
  • Earthbound (live, Island, 1972).
  • Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Island, 1973).
  • Starless and Bible Black (Island, 1974).
  • Red (Island, 1974).
  • USA (live, Island, 1975).
  • Discipline (1981).
  • Beat (EG, 1982).
  • Three of a Perfect Pair (EG, 1984).
  • The Great Deceiver (live, Virgin, 1992).
  • Vrooom (DGM, 1994).
  • Thrak (DGM, 1995).
  • The ConstruKction of Light (DGM, 2000).
  • Heavy ConstruKction (live, DGM, 2000).
  • Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (DGM, 2002).
  • The Power to Believe (DGM, 2003).
  • Live at the Orpheum (DGM, 2015).
  • The Reconstrukction of Light (DGM, 2019).
  • Meltdown - Live in Mexico (DGM, 2021).
  • Live in Vienna - 2016 (DGM, 2022).

Robert Fripp (including various collaborations)

One of the most fervent and imaginative minds of prog, innovator, and experimenter as few are found, Robert Fripp was born May 16, 1946, in Wimborne, Minster, southern England. By his own admission, at the beginning he did not have a musical ear or sense of rhythm; he was also left-handed but wanted to play with his right hand, and his shyness prevented him from appearing in public. Yet he still wanted to play the guitar. He took lessons together with another young student, Greg Lake, and for the examination piece he chose Paganini adapted for the guitar, leaving everyone agasp.

His recording career began in 1968 with brothers Peter and Mike Giles. The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp turned out to be quite immature albums, but the songs signed by Fripp showed a glimpse of remarkable ideas and technique. The following year, he began the extraordinary adventure of King Crimson, full of events, beginning one of the most important progressive discographies ever. This did not prevent him from having a close and fruitful series of collaborations, productions, and side projects.

The Van Der Graaf Generator, without a guitarist on a permanent basis, called him for the solos in H to He (1970) and Pawn Hearts (1971). In the same period, he involved 50 musicians from the best of London’s jazz and Canterbury’s Sound Panorama for the huge Centipede project, from which 80 minutes of avant-garde music of great depth were recorded in the album Septober Energy, which he also produced.

In 1972, he starts a collaboration with Brian Eno, already exited from Roxy Music, which will lead to two pillars of avant-garde and experimental music such as No Pussyfooting (1973) and Evening Star (1975). Here the new engraving sound carpet techniques were created with the aid of sequence recording tapes (reel to reel), known as Frippertronics.

Then came a period of total detachment from the music world, which also interrupted King Crimson’s production. After three years of research, he appears alongside David Bowie, and subsequently 1979 brought his first real solo album, Exposure, hovering between experimentalism and song, born from the collaboration with Peter Hammill, Daryl Hall, Peter Gabriel, Michael Walden, and Phil Collins.

The '80s saw him carry out more of his projects and collaborations, such as with The League of Gentlemen, Andy Summers of The Police, Talking Heads, and Toyah Willcox, who will become his wife. Very important and prolific is his work with David Sylvian, but more importantly is the resurrection of the King Crimson project with three new records before another temporary disbandment.

Always in parallel, he continues his soloist works with guitar ensembles such as The League of Crafty Guitarists, still playing with David Sylvian, and, in the '90s, his new technique called Soundscapes will basically replace Frippertronics with the aid of electronics instead of using reel to reel.

New partnerships form with his old friend Brian Eno, leading to the discovery of themes from the ‘70s with Equatorial Stars. Fripp's collaborations continue along with King Crimson albums, his productions, and his solo activities.

Recommended recordings

  • The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp (Giles, Giles & Fripp - 1968, Deram).
  • No Pussyfooting (Fripp & Eno - 1973, EG).
  • Evening Star (Fripp & Eno - 1975, EG).
  • Exposure (1979, EG).
  • God Save the Queen/ Under Heavy Manners (1980, Polydor).
  • The League of Gentlemen (Robert Fripp & The League of Gentlemen - 1981, EG).
  • I Advance Masked (Andy Summers/Robert Fripp - 1982, A&M).
  • God Save the King (1985, EG).
  • The League of Crafty Guitarists Live (Robert Fripp & The League of Crafty Guitarists - 1986, EG).
  • The First Day (David Sylvian & Robert Fripp - 1993, Virgin).
  • Darshan (David Sylvian & Robert Fripp - 1993, Virgin).
  • 1999 Soundscapes: Live in Argentina (1994, DGM).
  • The Equatorial Stars (Fripp & Eno - 2005, Opal).
  • Jakszyk, Fripp, Collins - (A King Crimson ProjeKct) - A Scarcity of Miracles (2011, DGM).