King Crimson

King Crimson stands as the definitive embodiment of progressive rock. Guided by Robert Fripp, a virtuoso on guitar and Mellotron, the band expanded rock’s expressive vocabulary and formal architecture into jazz and classical domains throughout its opening five years, while sidestepping both pop conventions and psychedelic trappings. Without concessions to mainstream expectations and devoid of any obvious humorous tone, the ensemble attracted only a devoted cult following, yet this same restraint produced some of the era’s most durable and critically esteemed progressive recordings.

King Crimson arose from the dissolution of the short-lived trio Giles, Giles & Fripp. Drummer and vocalist Michael Giles, bassist and vocalist Peter Giles, and guitarist Robert Fripp began collaborating in late 1967 after earlier stints in other groups, including Fripp’s time with the League of Gentlemen and the Majestic Dance Orchestra and the Giles brothers’ work with Trendsetters, Ltd. Signed to Deram, the trio cut the single “One in a Million” and started work on the album The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp during summer 1968.

Even before that album was finished the personnel shifted: former Infinity members Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield, both singers and guitarists, joined late in 1968, while vocalist Judy Dyble, previously of the original Fairport Convention, appeared briefly. This configuration taped demos of “I Talk to the Wind” and “Under the Sky,” yet soon fractured; Peter Giles departed in November 1968, and Fripp’s childhood friend Greg Lake, handling vocals and bass, arrived two days afterward. The resulting lineup—Fripp, Lake, McDonald, and Michael Giles—with Sinfield contributing lyrics, operating the light show, and fulfilling additional roles, formally adopted the name King Crimson on January 13, 1969, drawn from Sinfield’s words for “Court of the Crimson King.”

The group made its debut in July 1969 before 650,000 spectators at a free concert in London’s Hyde Park alongside the Rolling Stones; later that month it recorded and produced its first album. In the Court of the Crimson King ranked among the most demanding releases of the nascent progressive movement, yet it resonated widely enough to reach number five in England by November 1969 and climb to number 28 on the American charts four months afterward. At the height of its success the original ensemble dissolved: McDonald and Giles grew dissatisfied with the musical direction and the rigors of touring, and by November both elected to leave, prompting Fripp to offer his own resignation if they would remain. The original configuration gave its final performance in December 1969; Lake, the last to join, declined to continue with replacement musicians and had already been contacted by Keith Emerson of the Nice about forming a new band. He consented to remain only long enough to record vocals for the subsequent album.

Whether another album would follow remained uncertain after Fripp received an invitation to replace Peter Banks in Yes. Nevertheless, the single “Catfood” and the album In the Wake of Poseidon were completed early in 1970. Essentially a Fripp-led revisiting of In the Court of the Crimson King, the record featured Lake on all but one track, Fripp on Mellotron and every guitar part, and the debut of childhood friend Gordon Haskell on “Cadence and Cascade.” In August Fripp assembled a new lineup of himself, Haskell on bass and vocals, saxophonist and flutist Mel Collins (who had appeared on Poseidon), and drummer Andy McCulloch. Augmented by pianist Keith Tippett, Yes vocalist Jon Anderson, oboist and English horn player Robin Miller, cornetist Marc Charig, and trombonist Nick Evans, the ensemble recorded Lizard in fall 1970; Haskell and McCulloch departed shortly after completion, leaving Sinfield to finish production while Fripp recruited replacements.

Ian Wallace joined on drums in December 1970, and after auditions that included Bryan Ferry, Fripp selected Boz Burrell as the new vocalist. The quartet of Fripp, Burrell, Collins, and Wallace began performing in April 1971 and remained active worldwide for the next year. Sinfield exited in December after Fripp requested his departure. Islands reached number 30 in England and number 76 in America; the band might have consolidated its position with another album, yet in April 1972 Wallace, Collins, and Burrell left together to join Alexis Korner in Snape. (Burrell later became bassist for Bad Company.)

King Crimson appeared finished, but in July 1972 Fripp assembled another configuration featuring former Yes drummer Bill Bruford, ex-Family bassist and vocalist John Wetton, violinist and Mellotron player David Cross, and percussionist Jamie Muir. Richard Palmer-James succeeded Sinfield as lyricist without otherwise participating. The group recorded Larks’ Tongues in Aspic and played its first concert in Frankfurt in October 1972. Muir departed by early 1973; as a quartet the band toured England, Europe, and America while Larks’ Tongues reached the English Top 20. In January 1974 King Crimson recorded Starless and Bible Black, becoming the first lineup to complete more than one American tour and more than one album after Muir’s exit.

By July 1974 even this relatively stable incarnation began to fracture when Cross left after a New York performance. Reduced to the trio of Fripp, Wetton, and Bruford, the band completed Red that summer with assistance from Cross and former members Mel Collins and Ian McDonald, the latter soon achieving wider recognition as co-founder of Foreigner. Fripp disbanded the group on September 25, 1974, apparently for good. Wetton later passed through Uriah Heep before achieving international success as Asia’s lead singer, while Cross later appeared on the Mellotron compilation The Rime of the Ancient Sampler.

Eleven months after the final concert, the live album USA appeared in June 1975, followed four years later by Fripp’s first solo release, Exposure. In April 1981 Fripp formed Discipline with Bruford, bassist Tony Levin, and guitarist and singer Adrian Belew. By the time the album appeared in October the group had reverted to the name King Crimson, though the record retained the title Discipline. This iteration, possessing a markedly different, angular style, toured and recorded steadily, produced full-length videos, and disbanded after Beat (1982) and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984).

King Crimson remained inactive for roughly a decade while compilations and archival live recordings continued to surface, among them the box sets Frame by Frame, focused primarily on studio material, and The Great Deceiver, documenting 1973–1974 performances. In 1994 Fripp reunited with the Discipline-era musicians and added drummer and percussionist Pat Mastelotto plus bassist, guitarist, and Chapman Stick player Trey Gunn. The EP VROOOM appeared late that year, paving the way for the full return with Thrak in 1995. The album received favorable notices and restored the band as an active touring entity, though a new studio album, ConstruKction of Light, did not arrive until 2000 amid ongoing archival releases. During the intervening five years the members often divided into experimental subgroups known as ProjeKcts to explore new ideas before the next album; in the process drummer Bill Bruford and bassist Tony Levin departed. The live box Heavy ConstruKction, drawn from the European tour supporting ConstruKction of Light, appeared later in 2000. For the band’s 30th anniversary Fripp oversaw remasters of the first 15 years of the catalog, preserving original artwork. In 2001 and 2002 the quartet issued two EPs ahead of The Power to Believe and the live set EleKtrik: Live in Japan in 2003. At year’s end Gunn announced his departure as Tony Levin rejoined; the resulting quartet rehearsed but soon placed the band on hold.

In late 2007 a new lineup was announced with Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison joining Fripp, Belew, Levin, and Mastelotto. Rehearsals in 2008 produced several concerts and a live download, but no further studio material. In 2009 the members pursued separate projects, returning King Crimson to hiatus. During 2010 Fripp collaborated with Jakko Jakszyk, who had performed with other former members in the 21st Century Schizoid Band, on A Scarcity of Miracles, assisted by Levin, Harrison, and Mel Collins. Beginning in 2009, 40th Anniversary Editions of the catalog appeared with new multi-track and surround mixes by Steven Wilson.

Fripp’s legal efforts on behalf of the band reached resolution around this period. In 2012 he declared his retirement from music to attend to legal and personal affairs, yet the retirement proved brief. In 2013 a new King Crimson lineup was announced, expanding the A Scarcity of Miracles personnel with returning drummer Pat Mastelotto and Bill Rieflin, who had previously worked with Fripp in the League of Crafty Guitarists and the Humans, resulting in a three-drummer front line. American and British tours accompanied the 2015 release Live at the Orpheum. Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind, documenting the December 2015 concert in Takamatsu, Japan, with additional selections from that year’s British and Canadian dates, appeared in September 2016 as a three-CD/one-Blu-ray set and a limited three-CD/two-DVD/one-Blu-ray edition. In June 2017 the EP Heroes: Live in Europe 2016 was released, capturing performances in Berlin, Paris, and Vienna; it prominently featured the band’s cover of the David Bowie title track, recorded at Berlin’s Admiralspalast in tribute to the late artist and replicating the sustained guitar tone Fripp had contributed to the original 1977 recording made in the same city. Gordon Haskell, bassist and singer from the Lizard era, died on October 15, 2020, at age 74.