King Crimson in 1969
King Crimson were a rock band founded in London in 1968 by a group of musicians from western England. 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 to many contemporary musical artists and have gained a large following, despite garnering little radio or music video airplay.
Though originating in England, King Crimson have had a mixture of English and American personnel since 1981. The band's line-up has persistently altered throughout their existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks. The only musician to appear in every line-up of the band has been founding guitarist Robert Fripp, although drummer Bill Bruford was a member from 1972 to 1998 and guitarist and vocalist Adrian Belew has been a consistent member since 1981.
Links to Peel[]
Although Peel showed support for King Crimson in their early days, especially after their acclaimed first LP, whose release was accompanied by a lavishly-funded band launch which divided the underground rock critics of the time (former friend and associate Mick Farren even disrupted one of their first gigs, at the Speakeasy club[1] ), the DJ was later much more interested in Robert Fripp's other projects, especially frippertronics and Fripp & Eno. He also played the guitarist's work with League Of Gentlemen, who had one Peel session.
Due to Robert Fripp's experimental inclinations, King Crimson never played the kind of commercially successful progressive-rock-by-numbers which Peel came to dislike in the early 1970s, and he continued to play tracks from their LPs as they appeared. But he emphatically did not admire original singer Greg Lake's band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, calling them "a complete waste of time, talent and electricity" and "a band I still regard as probably being the most awful ever, whose stuff was just transcendental in its awfulness".
Sessions[]
Two sessions. "The Court of the Crimson King", "21st Century Schizoid Man" from #1 and "Epitaph" and "Get Thy Bearings" from #2 available on Epitaph. "I Talk To The Wind" and a better sounding version of "21st Century Schizoid Man" from #1 available on In The Court of the Crimson King (40th Anniversary Edition). All tracks also released on The Complete 1969 Recordings.
1. Recorded: 1969-05-06. First Broadcast: 11 May 1969. Repeated: 22 June 1969
- The Court of the Crimson King / 21st Century Schizoid Man / I Talk to the Wind
2. Recorded: 1969-08-19. First Broadcast: 07 September 1969. Repeated: 08 November 1969
- The Court of the Crimson King[2] / Epitaph / Get Thy Bearings
Other Shows Played[]
(Please add more information if known)
- 14 September 1969: 21st Century Schizoid Man (Including "Mirrors") (album - In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson)) Island ILPS 9111
- 01 November 1969: The Court Of The Crimson King (Part One) (7") Island WIP-6071
- 07 February 1970: Cat Food (single) Island WIP 6080
- 28 February 1970: Cat Food (single) Island WIP 6080
- 21 March 1970: Cat Food (single) Island WIP 6080
- 23 January 1971: unknown (sourced from David Cavanagh's Good Night & Good Riddance book)
- 10 August 1976: The Night Watch (album - Starless And Bible Black) Island ILPS 9275
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ Although in his autobiography, Give The Anarchist A Cigarette (London 2002, pp.251-2) he claimed this wasn't deliberate and that he made his peace with Robert Fripp many years later "in the Grass Roots Tavern in New York City".
- ↑ It appears that, for their second session, King Crimson didn't actually record another version of "The Court of the Crimson King" and instead opted to re-utilize the one recorded during their first session, recognizable by its early different lyrics. Although the song is listed on session logs, a page from band member Ian McDonald's diary, dated 19 August, the recording date of the session, indicates that the band only recorded "Epitaph" and "Get Thy Bearings" at Maida Vale.[1]