Tuesday, January 13, 2009

More musical memories


Following yesterday's post about Focus, I thought it might be worth remembering one of the seminal influences - perhaps the pre-eminent influence - in the progressive rock field.

Almost exactly forty years ago, King Crimson was formed in London. This new band, spearheaded by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles, was to revolutionize the rock world. Any number of luminaries have since acknowledged their debt to King Crimson for changing the way they approached music: groups such as Genesis, Yes, Tool, Nirvana, and Iron Maiden; individual artists such as Mike Oldfield and Kurt Cobain; and many others.

King Crimson never had major commercial success apart from their first album, In The Court Of The Crimson King. However, that one album was such a smashing success that it made their names forever. To this day, they - and particularly Robert Fripp - are acknowledged as among the pioneers, if not the pioneers, of the 'progressive rock' movement. Certainly, if any one group can be said to have been the first to make the jump from traditional rock 'n roll to progressive rock, King Crimson would have a very legitimate claim to that title.

Sadly, the group - some members of which still perform together - is very vigilant about protecting its copyright, so that most of their music videos are absent from sources like YouTube. I think this is a great pity - after all, how is one to introduce their music to newcomers if no samples are available? Still, there's a good recording of their single greatest track, 'The Court Of The Crimson King', from their eponymous first album, on YouTube. Robert Fripp isn't playing in this version, but other members of the group are, and it's very close to the original recording.

So, for your listening pleasure - and for as long as it's available - from their 1969 debut album (albeit a much later live recording), here it is.


The rusted chains of prison moons
Are shattered by the sun.
I walk a road, horizons change
The tournament's begun.
The purple piper plays his tune,
The choir softly sing;
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue,
For the court of the crimson king.

The keeper of the city keys
Put shutters on the dreams.
I wait outside the pilgrim's door
With insufficient schemes.
The black queen chants
the funeral march,
The cracked brass bells will ring;
To summon back the fire witch
To the court of the crimson king.

The gardener plants an evergreen
Whilst trampling on a flower.
I chase the wind of a prism ship
To taste the sweet and sour.
The pattern juggler lifts his hand;
The orchestra begin.
As slowly turns the grinding wheel
In the court of the crimson king.

On soft gray mornings widows cry
The wise men share a joke;
I run to grasp divining signs
To satisfy the hoax.
The yellow jester does not play
But gently pulls the strings
And smiles as the puppets dance
In the court of the crimson king.





History in your ears.

Peter

3 comments:

  1. King Crimson was a staple of my college experience in the early '70s. Right along with Clapton, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin.

    Good memories!

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  2. Beautiful piece of music, but progressive rock it ain't. Lavish instrumentation; flowery lyrics; goes on for ages: This is art rock--a la Moody Blues, Procol Harum and early ELO--but with ten times the craftsmanship.

    Thanks for the link!

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  3. DoctorWho, don't classify the group on the basis of this one track. As I said, there isn't much of their work on YouTube, so I can't give you a decent selection from which to judge. If you listen to even their first album, which is well worth the price of buying it, the progressive rock influences are very clear: and they became more so in subsequent albums, albeit at the cost of commercial success. In many ways, King Crimson were a couple of decades ahead of their time.

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