Founded by guitarist Robert Fripp, during its first five years
of existence KING CRIMSON stretched both the language and structure of rock
into realms of jazz and classical music, all the while avoiding pop and
psychedelic sensibilities; the absence of mainstream compromises ultimately
doomed the group to nothing more than a large cult following, but made their
albums among the most enduring and respectable of the progressive rock era.
King Crimson originally grew out of the remnants of an unsuccessful trio
called GILES, GILES & FRIPP. The trio recorded their album, The
Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles &
Fripp, during the summer of 1968. Even as the album was in the
works, however, the group's line-up was changing: Ian McDonald and
Peter Sinfield joined late in 1968. This line-up recorded demos of
"I Talk to the Wind" and "Under the Sky": Peter Giles exited
the scene in November of 1968, and Fripp's childhood friend, vocalist/bassist
Greg Lake, joined two days later.
The new roster of Fripp, Lake, McDonald, and Michael Giles - with Sinfield
writing their lyrics - officially became King Crimson on January 13, 1969,
deriving the name from Sinfield's lyrics for the song "Court of the Crimson
King". In July of 1969, the group debuted in front of 650,000 people
at a free concert in London's Hyde Park on a bill with the Rolling Stones;
later that month King Crimson Released their first album In
The Court Of The Crimson King was one of the most challenging albums
of the entire fledgling progressive rock movement, but somehow it caught
the public's collective ear at the right moment and hit n° 5 in England.
At the peak of the LP's success the band broke up: McDonald and Giles decided
to leave. Greg Lake soon decided to leave Crimson as well, but agreed to
stay long enough to record vocals for the next album. Finally, a new album
(In
the Wake of Poseidon) were recorded early in 1970: essentially a Fripp-dominated
retake of In the Court of the Crimson King, Lake sang on all but one of
the songs, Fripp played mellotron and guitars, and a new singer, Gordon
Haskell, debuted on "Cadence and Cascade". Fripp spent the month
of August rehearsing a new King Crimson line-up, consisting of himself,
Haskell (bass, vocals), saxman/flautist Mel Collins, and Andy McCullough
(drums). This group, augmented by pianist Keith Tippett, guest vocalist
Jon Anderson of Yes, and oboist/English horn virtuoso Marc Charig, recorded
the next Crimson album, Lizard,
in the fall of 1970, but Haskell and McCullough both walked out soon after
it was finished.
In December of 1970, Ian Wallace joined on drums, and after auditioning
several aspiring singers Fripp chose Boz Burrell as the group's new vocalist.
The latest Crimson line-up emerged on stage in April of 1971. Sinfield split
in December. Their new album is Islands.
The band broke up in April of 1972. But in July of 1972 Fripp put together
a new band consisting of drummer Bill Bruford, John Wetton
on bass and vocals, David Cross on violin and mellotron, and Jamie
Muir on percussion. This group recorded their debut album, Larks'
Tongues in Aspic. Muir was out of the line-up in 1973. In January of
1974, King Crimson cut a new album, Starless and
Bible Black. In July of 1974 exited. With King Crimson reduced
to a trio, one more album, Red,
was completed that summer with help from Cross, Mel Collins and Ian McDonald.
Fripp disbanded the group on September 25, 1974. In June of 1975 a live
album called USA was issued, followed four years later by Fripp's first
solo album, Exposure.
Finally, in April of 1981, Fripp formed a new group with Bruford, bassist
Tony Levin, and guitarist/singer Adrian Belew. By the time
their album was released in October of that year: the album was titled Discipline.
This band toured and recorded regularly over the years. They splintered
after two more albums, 1982's Beat
and 1984's Three
of a Perfect Pair. King Crimson remained silent for about a decade.
Finally, in 1994, Fripp reunited with the Discipline-era lineup, augmenting
the group with drummer/percussionist Pat Mastelotto and bassist/guitarist/Chapman
Stick player Trey Gunn.
The EP VROOOM
appeared late that year, setting the stage for a full-fledged comeback with
1995's Thrak.
The album earned generally good reviews and re-established Crimson as a
viable touring concern, although it took until 2000 for the band to come
up with a new studio album (ConstruKction
of Light) amidst a continuing stream of archive-clearing collections.
In the five years between Thrak and ConstruKction of Light, the members
of Crimson often fragmented the band into experimental subgroups dubbed
ProjeKcts. The idea was to mix things up a bit and generate fresh musical
ideas prior to the forthcoming album; in the meantime, drummer Bill Bruford
and bassist Tony Levin left the band. Culled from the supporting European
tour, the live box Heavy
ConstruKction was released later in 2000.
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