King Crimson: Track by Track [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

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.

I really don't agree with any criticism of this book be it minor or major. I think that Smith did a tremendous job. He covers each era of the band in sufficient depth to understand the characters involved and the work they did. He benefits from Robert Fripp's detailed and (as always) well-thought out analysis of each phase of the band, but takes care to present the views of other members where they diverge from Fripp's. I did get a feeling from this book that all members had been heard from, and that I now posessed an understanding of each phase of this band. Really a great job of researching and writing.

And, the band has made a load of great music, which makes this a great book to read.

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.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

4.0 out of 5 stars vous êtes in the court
Avec ce livre je suis plongé dans les plus petits détails que Fripp et ses musiciens ont pu vivre au cours des années de King Crimson ainsi que les groupes... Read more

Published on Dec 26 2003 by Gilles C.

4.0 out of 5 stars It wasn't Easy Money for KC
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. Read more

Published on Oct 26 2002 by WTDK

3.0 out of 5 stars The surface story
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... Read more

Published on Sep 5 2002 by yawuh2002

3.0 out of 5 stars More Frippology
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... Read more

Published on Sep 3 2002 by William Wood

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Best Rock Books I've Read !!!
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. Read more

Published on July 31 2002 by JOHN SPOKUS

4.0 out of 5 stars A trip into Fripp's mind, and much more
Sid Smith has done a fine job in chronicling the history of one of rock's most inventive and intelligent bands. Read more

Published on July 25 2002 by Shran

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece!
King Crimson is one of progressive music's all-time most important bands, and it is gratifying to see a book of such high quality as Sid Smith's book is. Read more

Published on Jun 7 2002 by Jamesy

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb writing, well researched and clearly written
This is simply the best book I have read on progressive rock since Armando Gallo's, "I Know What I Like" - Sid's book is a wonderful account of all things Crimson. Read more

Published on April 15 2002 by Greg Graves

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and illuminating
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... Read more

Published on Mar 15 2002 by Alwyn Tower

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for every Crimson fan
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. Read more

Published on Mar 9 2002 by Liza Sher

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!