Customer Reviews

In the Court of King Crimson

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent book, carefully researched and, with the exception of scattered and persistent typos, an enjoyable read. Sid Smith has done an outstanding job of making the story of King Crimson inclusive, with plenty of background information on the many talented and singular musicians who found themselves a part of one of the longest running experiments in rock. It also comes across as a very fair book, in that many of these musicians seem to have more of a voice on these pages than they had in the band.

The indices include a comprehensive discography and gig list. Combined with the 30th anniversary reissues and the King Crimson Collectors Club CDs, a thoroughly documented record of Crimson is readily at hand. We get a good ration of quotes, dates, pictures and descriptions, but we don't get a whole lot closer to the music.

Instead, the reader is brought face to face with the story of the personalities, the business and money issues, the touring, the deadlines, the feeling of elation and exhaustion happening all around the music. The story revealed is one of almost random action and reaction, opportunities lost and flat-out short-sightedness on the part of just about everyone in and around Fripp's experiment. I say Fripp's experiment because, following the departure of McDonald and Giles, the notion that King Crimson was a band in the traditional sense of the word no longer applies.

Despite frequent quotes from Fripp explaining or justifying his rejection of the contributions of others -- or his rejection of others entirely -- by saying that their ideas weren't "Crimson enough", we are never told what "Crimson" is, was, or will be. In light of Fripp's persistence in sticking with this codified response, we can only assume that what is "Crimson" is obviously flexible enough allow some pretty questionable music to be mixed in with some unquestionably remarkable music, as along as Robert is in charge. Readers are left to conclude, given the comparatively small and at times scatter-shot nature of the King Crimson catalog, that perhaps Fripp didn't know what "Crimson enough" meant either. (I say small because, when compared to other groups and musicians pushing 30, once you take away the live releases King Crimson's studio work looks a little skinny. Especially next to, say 47 albums of original work by Peter Hammill.)

Mr. Smith provides us with thoughtful and accurate descriptions of each recorded piece, partly illuminated by details of the recording process and the nearly always strained relationships between whomever the current line-up happened to be. But they are only descriptions. What is lacking is any access to or speculation regarding the thinking behind the music. We are not made privy to the impetus behind a piece as powerful as "Epitaph" or as artificial and strained as the medieval "Lizard". The idea for "Lark's Tongues" is mentioned as arriving before the recording of "Islands", but we don't learn what that idea happened to be. We're only told it was "an idea". The absence of such an orientation to the writing -- to really take on the music rather than simply describe it -- is a flaw because, more than any well-known band, Crimson seemed to offer listeners a genuine aesthetic. An aesthetic that sadly remains unarticulated, at least by verbal or written language. And perhaps the book's approach is a practical one, since it is safe to assume that most readers will be more concerned with human flaws rather than the hard work of creating flawless music.

So, we are left where we begin. With the music. Books like this one deal exceedingly well with the events and the documents, but they do not reach to the heart of the music. That King Crimson's music continues to provide us with glimpses of a fierce intelligence leaves us to conclude that the people that make the music insist that the understanding we seek is available only through listening. And, rightly, that the music is all that really matters.

If you have an interest in King Crimson or "progressive rock," then this is essential reading. Sid Smith's book focuses on the formation and dissolution of the different King Crimsons and the production and recording of their different albums. The most important thing about the book is that Smith interviewed many Crimson members and associated personnel and friends (such as sound engineers and "significant others"). As a result, the book contains a wealth of fascinating historical information that is not available anywhere else. The book casts light on why Crimson members made certain decisions, about both their music and their careers. Just about every chapter contains a track-by-track treatment of a Crimson album, preceded by extensive discussions of the relations between the band members (and their management), the circumstances of the recording sessions, and the general reception of the band's work. Many photographs are included that have never before been available to the public.

Smith finds something worthwhile to say in almost every entry of the track-by-track sections. Retrospective evaluations of particular tracks, by Crimson's own members (gained in interviews) and Smith himself, are helpful in tracing the general development of the band. More importantly, Smith gives us glimpses behind the scenes. We find out, for example, how Ian MacDonald's lovely romance with Charlotte Bates served as the inspiration for Suite in C (from the MacDonald and Giles album, which Smith rightly considers as a King Crimson album); and how Fripp recorded the amazing guitar solo on "Sailor's Tale." We also find out how the great final masterpiece of the 1970s Crimson, "Starless," came together from disparate pieces, including a haunting song by Wetton that was initially rejected by the band; how the "the Howler" went from being a heavy instrumental live to a vocal piece on the Beat album (this had been a mystery to me for years); and how the 1990s Crimson digitally knit together "Heaven and Earth" from a number of experimental sessions.

Of course, the book leaves some questions unanswered. King Crimson is a unique band that is still working. It seems too difficult now to set the band's accomplishment in the broader context of popular music or avant-guard rock. The evaluations of particular tracks seem incomplete without a detailed discussion of Crimson's music and how it compares with other efforts. On the whole, Smith wisely avoids such a large project. If and when music lovers become interested in such questions, then Sid Smith's account will be a necessary touchstone. For the moment, we can enjoy this excellently written and engaging book, which tells us a great deal about the making of an important band.

Sid Smith has written an absorbing and fascinating linear history of the drive of King Crimson from its dual inception in GG&F and the McDonald-Sinfield partnership through the ConstruKction of Light. While claiming not to be a musicological analysis, his discussions about the music itself take this book far away from the fanzine type of writing in many a band or popstar bio. He is inclusive and thorough in his research and was trusted by present and former members of the court enough for them to present their forthright observations of their service to the king. And in the end, who is the king? It is not Fripp. Fripp is certainly the Prime Minister for the moment, although the heir apparent has presented his credentials. King Crimson is and is not what it is that moves the spirit of all of these earnest young men, many with facial hair and glasses, to commit themselves to the Heideggerian tasks of clearing the ground for Music to take them into its confidence. Even when failure, calamity and heartbreak result, it has come with passion. Each member in each phase has stood up and recognized the shadows on the wall for what they are and elected to make their ways to the source of the light. They have gone out to the garden to greet the Future. Some retreat, some go beyond, some become extraordinary gardiners.
There may yet be a musicological analysis, perhaps from Fripp or Bruford or a Lewis Porter, whose remarkable tome on Coltrane quite lucidly shows the structure of the music being very much a part of that ineffable presence Coltrane came face to face with. But in this book, Smith charts the artistic and personal commitments that the King demanded and exacted from its participants.
It is quite clear that once he stood up from the rest of the crowd and sensed that there was something else besides the ephemera before him, Fripp's course in life could go only in search of this light. He is by no means a benevolent Yoda, but his heart has always been in the right place, and so in the pursuit of the Ideal, he has wrought a milieu in which only the pure of heart prevail. Parsifal with an axe and a jones for Bartok and Hendrix.
However, inasmuch as the King could not have carried on without his dedicated minister, so too Fripp could not have pursued his mission without the remarkable contributions of each and all. There are essential dialectics throughout: with McDonald and Giles, with Bruford and Wetton, with Belew and Gunn and Levin, among others. There are sacrifices and conversions of the soul with Cross and Muir. Locked horns, business failures, dope and disappointment each assault the Court, yet the King and Fripp remain loyal to each other. It is quite a read, and well worth the time to go slowly and mull the contents. My only criticism of the physical book is that it seems no one ran spellcheck or proofread the punctuation.
Perhaps you'll draw some conclusions, for whatever conclusions might be worth, such as:
1. Drummer who best got along with Fripp: Ian Wallace
2. Vocalist who least had a clue what the lyrics were about: Gordon Haskell
3. Best pinch hit vocalist: Jon Anderson
4. Bassist who hated every minute of Crimson: Boz Burrell
5. Drummer who least got along with Fripp: well, that would be telling
6. Reed player who seems to rattle Fripp the most: Ian McDonald
7. Worst lyricist: Sinfield. After the first record, it all got a bit arch, and Haskell was right.
8. Best lyricist: Palmer-James and Belew.
9. Perfect foil for the Prime Minister: see number 5.
10. Heir apparent: Trey Gunn.

At different points in the history of this band, the question has been raised whether or not Crim could be Frippless. Possibly during the Wetton-Bruford-McDonald summit at "RED" time. Now, on the evidence of what is on record, another clearing is about to be becoming. But that's likely another book or two away yet.

Robert Fripp has some sort of passive/agressive thing going on. It seems that whenever he encounters conflict with his band he splits the band or threatens to leave. Perhaps part of it has to do with his initial discomfort as "leader". Regardless, this makes for compelling reading in Sid Smith's fine book on the Crimson King. Journeying from 1969 to the present incarnation of Crimson, Smith assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each incarnation with candor. He's also managed to track down and interview just about every member of the band past and present.

While I don't always agree with his critical comments about the various albums, line ups and songs, Smith's writing makes for a compelling and informed argument. Each incarnation of the band has produced notable and exceptional music but the most stable line ups (Fripp-Wetton-Cross-Brufford/Fripp-Belew-Levin-Brufford) are, of course, afforded the most space. Both have been the most powerful and consistent line ups in terms of the quality of music. They're also as different as can possibly be.He doesn't short the other line ups. The original line up gets plenty of space despite the fact that they only recorded one album. Smith also briefly focuses on their respective solo careers and other bands. The most interesting and conflicted of the line ups was the Fripp-Burrell-Collins-Wallace version that recorded Islands and Earthbound. There was an earthiness and blues/jazz element in this edition that was missing from later versions of the band. Smith manages to highlight the creative conflict that both created some enduring music (particularly on the Live in Jacksonville and Live at Summit Studios as well as Earthbound). Fripp was little more than a sideman in his own band at the end but it was a band that could create quite a noise!

The Fripp-Wetton-Cross-Brufford line up produced three studio albums (Cross left during recording of material for the last album)and one live album during their life time. This edition of KC had a distinctive European flavor to its prog rock sound. Cross violin helped accentuate this aspect of Crim. The band's most compelling albums (Lark's Tongue in Aspic and Red)were created in the fire of creativity and the burned out embers of the band's decline. Smith manages to give us an inside view of the conflicts, egos and critical press that created and destroyed the band.

The final line up (before the 7 year itch compelled Fripp to reform KC again)was originally going to be called Discipline. Smith displays a good understanding of what made this version tick. He also lays out the pressures that became its undoing (the conflict between Fripp & Belew over creative control and between Fripp & Brufford over "timekeeping"). He doesn't shy away from discussing the controversies about KC 80; he discusses the influence of Talking Heads (Belew was a member briefly during Remain in Light and toured with both David Bowie and Frank Zappa. It should be noted, however, that TH were also influenced by KC's 70's line up)and does acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with Fripp (he had Adrian Belew re-record the vocal to Cadence and Cascade and Tony Levin redo the bass part on a track from Lizard to "erase" former member Gordon Haskall from the band's history).

Fripp does get the last word but that's because it's his band (which he would deny). Nevertheless, Smith provides a fair balance assessment of the band from glory days to the aftermath of their implosion. A fine book for KC fans to read that gives a unique perspective of the band.

I think that Robert Fripp is more than entitled to his view of the History of the Crimson King but I am confused as to why Sid Smith would feel the need to write this rather ordinary book when we already have Fripp's diary on his Discipline Global Mobile website.
I began Mr Smiths book with enthusiasm and finished it feeling that yet again a "rock Book " had failed to ignite my interest or engage my emotions.
In the preface to his book Sid writes" I've always been fascinated by histories, the movements and interactions of individuals and their impact on events large and small,it's a way of making sense of the world after it's happened".
The individuals in this particular history never seem to come to life and the interactions between those individuals are painted in such broad strokes as to be almost pointless.
One of the most interesting and intriguing aspects of King Crimson history is of course the changing line ups of the band,but Sid skims over these and any other "delicate" issues or simply repeats " the gospel according to Fripp".
Let's face it ,the only people who will buy this book are fans of the band and they already have access to almost all the information here via websites and CD liner notes.A history should offer it's readers a far deeper understanding of the subject than this.
Whether right or wrong conjecture adds interest to a history.For example some readers may be interested to know that there is a variety of cider apple called Crimson King which has been around for a lot longer than this band. Did a certain Peter Sinfield perhaps overindulge in the demon scrumpy one evening or do we just accept the [weak] Beelzebub story forever?.
I can see that Sid has put a lot of time and effort into this book (and I can certainly admire his even attempting to write it) but in trying to avoid offending anyone(and always giving Mr Fripp the last word) he has created a sterile approximation of a history.

For anyone having some degree of fascination with the many permutations of the band called King Crimson, this little volume will be rewarding.

The book is at its best in chronicling the band's evolution. So many personnel changes occurred that the band became characterized as 'a workshop' under the direction of guitarist Robert Fripp, an idea which shortchanged many of the musicians involved.

Author Sid Smith is scrupulously fair to all the players involved in King Crimson. Grievances are not glossed over, and they are not presented in 'the official Fripp version.'

Of course, Fripp himself remains an enigma, and questions about this unquestionably great guitarist remain. King Crimson has again and again proved that Fripp is at his best when challenged by good players, rather than when he is just noodling around with tape loops. Why did he never "broaden his horizons" by interacting with people in the 'Downtown Scene' or by working in a different idiom besides 'Rock'?

If there is any knock on this book, it would be that the track by track descriptions of the albums are at times a little too florid. The compilers of the "Rock Snob's Dictionary' may have mined this book for fodder--yes, the ugly cliched phrase 'coruscating guitar solo' does raise its head.

In the Court of King Crimson comes in a nice glossy jacket with a beautiful design scheme. It looks like it would not be out of place in the 'Occult' section of your local bookstore.

Sid Smith has done a wonderful job in pieces together the story of King Crimson - a band that was as disjointed and frayed as perhaps any other in rock history. He does some nice track by track commentary of all King Crimson's studio songs, albeit he does seem to be trying a little hard to sound like Robert Fripp in the process...

The other thing you'll take away from this book is amazement that Robert Fripp didn't get punched in the face more often than he did. He is rock's malcontent - an ageless talent with a five-year old's emotional level. But, as long as he keeps playing his guitar, we can overlook the rest!

There are lots of great quotes from all the major players, great stories from the road, and everything else you'd expect in a top-notch rock biography. A good purchase!

Not just because I'm a huge Crimson fan,I believe that this may well be THE BEST book on a rock band ever written. A challenging effort for an author,as documented in the preface with Robert Fripp's feelings/reservations about Smith's project. The fact that every Crimson era had so many personnel changes as well as a totally revamped sound and approach turns it into a book about half a dozen separate bands.I like the in depth track by track commentary on each album; as a working,recording musician I can especially appreciate this insight and found myself going back to these records to listen for different instruments and recording techniques that were described.We also get to know something about some of the most obscure Crimson members/sidemen(especially Lizard/Islands era,my favorite and maybe the most obscure and dark time for Crimson) and what they've done since their stint in Crimson. Also the collection of photos,almost all never seen by fans before,some of them Fripp and the Giles brother's pre Crimson days(as well as Gordon Haskell,Ian Wallace) are a real revelation too.

Light reading for Crimson fans, of which author Smith is certainly one. He provides many colorful adjectives but little in the way of musical analysis; any detailed info comes from interviews with the KC members. What the reader gets is mostly the overal Crim story, with some trivia and background from the recordings.

There are some incongruities and non sequiturs in the text; one suspects that significant chunks of prosal connective tissue were cut from Smith's original manuscript. And thus some of the comments from (ex-)members come without context, and we're still left wondering about how, when, and exactly why Bruford quit/was dismissed from KC, among other things.

Also, Smith's tendency to lengthily quote email (!) from KC members - right down to every punctuation mark and grammatical liberty - is an impersonal touch and does not make for great reading. As the "middle man" in the email flurries of Fripp, Sinfield, and Bruford, Smith does not quite reconcile or even set up the conflicting views of these musicians. Again, this may have something to do with the editing. But for several sections of the book, I was reading with eyebrows raised, wondering if certain questions were even being asked, let alone answered.

Nevertheless, these gripes are outweighed by the fact that this Crimson biography simply exists. Smith obviously has a lot of love for his subject, and Crimsonites will find it enjoyable, if light.

As a huge Crimson fan, I was very excited to learn that this book was written and that I would have this opportunity to learn more of the band's history. In no way, was I ever disappointed!
Sid Smith, a long-time fan of KC himself, did an excellent research. His book tells us about the concieval and evolution of the band and includes numerous quotes from the band's past and current members as well as from people close to the musicians. Since KC history was never smooth, it is amazing how Sid Smith could actually capture the spirit of each incarnation of the band and how he could objectively present often differing views.
He also presents an excellent track by track account and interpretation of KC studio albums.
The book is written in objective, but eloquent manner and is very hard to be put down once a reader opens it. I definitely felt completely absorbed by its narrative.
Full of interesting information and interpretation, this biography offers us an objective view of the most intriguing and original musical band. A must have for any Crimson fan!