Tag: King Crimson

1969: A Blast from the Past

On By kruekuttIn folk rock, hard rock, Pink Floyd, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, punk rockLeave a comment

“Well it’s 1969 OK all across the USA
It’s another year for me and you
                                      Another year with nothing to do”  — 1969, The Stooges

I was 7 going on 8 in 1969.  But my brother was ten years older — and Detroit was a prime location to explore rock as it turned psychedelic, then progressive, still with plenty of punk attitude.  Our cousin from Lansing was about the same age as my brother — so they did a fair amount of concertgoing together.

The other day, out of the blue I got a letter from our cousin, reproduced below with my random thoughts interspersed:

Dear Cousin Rick,

I’m sending along a copy of the program from the festival I attended in the south of England summer of 1969.  I thought you might it interesting.

plumpton festival program(Hmmm … The 9th National Jazz and Blues Festival.  Waitaminute: Pink Floyd?  King Crimson?  Peter Hammill performing solo before the first Van Der Graaf Generator album? Yes?  The Who?  Keith Emerson with The Nice?  Not to mention Soft Machine and Pentangle?  And he was there? Doggone straight I find it interesting.  Please continue, cousin!)

I’d seen both The Who and The Nice at the Grande Ballroom in the spring before.  The Who played the entire Tommy opera both times.  The Nice as I remember had some kind of revolving organ at the Grande.  At the Plumpton fest they closed the show on Sunday backed by a large orchestra.  At the final song the stage opened and a regiment of bagpipers marched off the stage and into the crowd.  Those were heady times.

isle of wight 1969There’s also a copy of the Isle of Wight festival flier which I missed as it was the weekend which we were heading home.  Such fond memories.

(Bob Dylan & The Band?  The Moody Blues?  More from King Crimson, The Who and Pentangle?  Stop torturing me, cousin!!!  Actually, no — please continue as I wrestle with envy and wish Doctor Who’s TARDIS was real.)

The day we arrived in London the Rolling Stones played in Hyde Park celebrating the life of Brian Jones who had just passed.  Couldn’t quite get there but almost.  (Another King Crimson show!!)

I’d like to hear more about your music blogging/reviews.    P.S.  We didn’t arrive at the fest until Saturday so we missed all the Friday acts.  Booo!

Fortunately, the sounds of the Plumpton Festival aren’t completely lost in the mists of time; I plan to direct my cousin to Soft Machine’s and Pink Floyd’s sets online, and send him a copy of King Crimson’s set.

detroit rr revival 1969And talking with my brother later, I heard the story of how he and my cousin somehow got permission to go to the 1969 Detroit Rock’n’Roll Revival (with the MC5, Chuck Berry, Dr. John, The “Psychedelic” Stooges and many more acts) the night before my sister’s wedding.  Maybe I should rethink missing Yes’ 50th Anniversary Tour when it hits Grand Rapids.  Not to mention Wayne Kramer’s MC50 Kick Out the Jams 50th Anniversary Tour and Soft Machine’s world tour coming to Progtoberfest IV …

— Rick Krueger

King Crimson, Live in Vienna: Rick’s Quick Takes

On By kruekuttIn progressive rock1 Comment

What a surprise: another high-quality, take-no-prisoners live album from the current King Crimson.  Recorded at Vienna’s Museumsquartier Halle E on December 1, 2016, it’s a worthy successor to 2015’s Live in Toronto and Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind.  In fact, it pales only in comparison to 2017’s brilliant Official Bootleg: Live in Chicago (although I’m definitely biased in favor of that show).  Which is the main reason its release was postponed from last fall until now.

The biggest change for Crimson 2016 was adding British studio whiz Jeremy Stacey on drums and keyboards, temporarily replacing Bill Rieflin.  Stacey (with credits including Squackett, Steven Wilson, and Roger Daltrey’s upcoming album) fit in so well that Crimson became an eight-headed beast in 2017, as Rieflin returned to play full-time keyboards.  Stacey is inspired here, providing plenty of meaty thwack to complement Gavin Harrison’s stylish elegance and Pat Mastelotto’s anarchic onslaught, all immediately evident in the opening “Hell Hounds of Krim” and consistently displayed throughout the evening.

As a result, this version of Crimson rocks, loose, limber and hard.  The band opener “Pictures of A City” is riveting; the drumline and Tony Levin lay down a loping, patient groove that the rest of the group rides with grace and power.  Jakko Jakszyk punches out the vocals, Robert Fripp launches face-melting, angular guitar lines, and Mel Collins sketches a steamy, curvaceous sax solo.  When the whole thing shudders to a halt, you realize that breathing would be a good idea — it’s that immersive.

Newer originals like “Suitable Grounds for the Blues” and “Meltdown” prowl and pounce; chunks of 1980s and 1990s Crimson (including a stab at “Indiscipline,” with Jakszyk tentatively scatting Adrian Belew’s lyrics) are stripped down for maximum impact.  But the heart of Live in Vienna is unquestionably the band’s 1970s repertoire; the septet throws everything they’ve got into stately versions of “Dawn Song” and “Epitaph”, sprawling takes on “The Letters” and “Sailors Tale”, an “Easy Money” that nearly disintegrates before it gathers itself and roars back to life, a “Larks Tongues’ in Aspic Part Two” set afire by Collins’ incandescent playing, and of course “Starless”– lyrical, elegaic, edgy and irresistible as ever.

With the encores on a separate disc, David Bowie’s “Heroes” and “21st Century Schizoid Man” (in which Collins quotes Duke Ellington’s “Take the ‘A’ Train”!) are supplemented with a rare take on Starless and Bible Black’s “Fracture.” Recorded in Copenhagen, the 2016 version reimagines Fripp’s original guitar showcase as an ensemble piece — more controlled, but still heady and gutsy.  The album even provides a post-concert comedown, with Fripp’s pre-show Soundscapes enhanced by Collins & Levin solos, a potent chaser to previous sound and fury.

Even at two years’ remove, Live in Vienna ably stakes out where King Crimson is now — committed, in Fripp’s words, to the proposition that “all the music is new, whenever it was written.”  Be ready — the music may not go where you (and sometimes I) think it could, but it definitely goes somewhere special.

— Rick Krueger

 

Second Spring #2: “Part I” by The Fierce and the Dead

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe that I first encountered The Fierce and the Dead almost a full decade ago. They’ve been such a part of my musical life over the past eight years, that it’s actually hard to remember a time when I didn’t listen to them.

As I’ve had the privilege of arguing before, The Fierce and the Dead is, essentially, what might happen if Johnny Marr played with King Crimson.

But, labels.

Who needs them?  Just know that Matt Stevens and co. give theirs hearts, minds, and souls for the world of music.  And, we are all the better for it.

 

 

Past Second Springs:

  1. Kevin McCormick’s “Storm Front.”

 

Inspired by Craig Breaden’s brilliant 104-part Soundstream, I’ve decided to post music that reveals that rock and jazz (and some other forms of music) are not the end of western civilization, but the culmination of western civilization up to this point in time.  A second spring, if you will.

Bill Bruford Tours Again! (Academia, That Is.)

On By kruekuttIn progressive rockLeave a comment

From Bill Bruford’s website:

Further dates have been added to Bill’s series of talks on creativity in music performance … The trip ends appropriately enough in Cleveland, OH, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for this recent inductee. Just to clarify: excepting the R&R HoF, these talks are gently academic in nature and not about Bill or his career per se. He will not be performing, but he is happy to autograph a book and one other item only, should that be requested.

Dates are as follows:

  • March 5th: 5.00-6.30 pm. Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • March 8th. 7.00-9.00 pm. Rockheim National Museum of Popular Music, Trondheim, Norway.
  • April 10th: 2.45 pm. University at Albany, NY (uptown campus), Performing Arts Center (PAC) B-78. Visitors should park at one of the two visitor lots. Free admission.
  • April 11th: 3.00 pm. SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY. Fine Arts Center M201, Ravine Parkway, Oneonta. Free admission.
  • April 13th: 4.00 pm. Onondaga Community College, 4585, W Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse NY. Classroom (P110) in the Academic II building. Free admission.
  • April 16th: 4.00 pm. University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY. Baird Recital Hall. Free admission.
  • April 17th: 7.00 pm. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Watkins Hall, School of Music, Theater & Dance. Free admission.
  • April 18th: 11.30 am. Kelvin & Eleanor Smith Foundation Ballroom C, Tinkham Veale University Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH. Free admission.
  • April 18th: 7.00 pm. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland OH. Admission $10.

Continue reading “Bill Bruford Tours Again! (Academia, That Is.)” →

Dr. Bill Bruford’s Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer

On By Time LordIn progressive rock3 Comments

How many of your favorite albums has Bill Bruford played on?

All those amazing early Yes albums (oh man, who can ever forget the way the drums come back in along with Rick Wakeman’s organ solo in “Roundabout”?), plus King Crimson albums like Red and Discipline (to name just two of my favorites), not to mention his insanely great solo work (I will always love “Fainting in Coils” — am I right, Kruekutt?) and, all considered, it is undeniable that if anyone ever deserved 100 honorary doctorates for contributions to progarchy, that man would be Bill Bruford.

But now he’s Dr. Bill Bruford, and he earned the doctorate himself. You can download and read his dissertation (thanks, Internet!) or buy it this year in print because it is being published by the University of Michigan Press.

Congratulations, Dr. Bruford! And welcome to Academy!

Kruekutt’s 2017 Favorites: New Albums & Videos

On By kruekuttIn progressive rock, Rock and Roll2 Comments

by Rick Krueger

After the jump are the new albums and videos from 2017 that grabbed me on first or second listen, then compelled repeated plays.  I’m not gonna rank them except for my Top Favorite, which I’ll save for the very end.  The others are listed alphabetically by artist. (Old school style, that is — last names first where necessary!)  Links to the ones I’ve previously reviewed are embedded in the album titles.

Continue reading “Kruekutt’s 2017 Favorites: New Albums & Videos” →

Progtoberfest: Day 2 Report

On By kruekuttIn blues, jazz, progressive rock, Rock and Roll, The Tangent4 Comments

by Rick Krueger

The sun shone warmly again on the south side of Chicago as Progtoberfest III kicked off its second day.  Taking in the view as I exited the ‘L’, it was amusing and welcoming to see a familiar screaming face painted on the exterior of Reggie’s:

IMG_4097

Hoping to get Alphonso Johnson’s and Chester Thompson’s autographs in the VIP Lounge the night before, I’d struck up a delightful conversation with members of the North Carolina Genesis tribute band ABACAB.  In 2016, festival organizer Kevin Pollack had given them “homework” for this year: to play all of Genesis’ live album Seconds Out on the 40th anniversary of its release.  You could tell the band was nervous (they focus on 1980s Genesis to get bookings, so they had to learn half the album in the past year) but also absolutely thrilled to bring it to the Rock Club stage.  And on Saturday afternoon, they nailed it, to the joy of an enthusiastic, supportive crowd and rave reviews from other acts.  They’re already planning to return to Reggie’s in April as a headliner, and for Progtoberfest IV next October.  Check out why below:

Continue reading “Progtoberfest: Day 2 Report” →

soundstreamsunday: “Starless” by King Crimson

On By Craig BreadenIn art rock, jazz rock, progressive rock5 Comments

kingcrimsonKing Crimson appeared in 1969 as an island, on the far side of the bridge joining a tiring psychedelic scene to a studied, if no less freaky (for its age), “progressive” rock.  In its nearly fifty years the group’s membership has drifted in and out through orbits around guitarist Robert Fripp, his steady hand and heart dissolving and reforming Crimson as there is music for it to play.  As Fripp assembled the band’s third incarnation, Crimson was riding a wave of popularity the rewards of which didn’t settle entirely well with him, and in promising a more difficult, rockier terrain he was able to lure drummer Bill Bruford, looking for a similar fresh start, from megaprog juggernaut Yes.  With violinist David Cross and bassist/vocalist John Wetton, the band created three albums in quick succession, ranking among their diverse best.  1974’s Red, the last of the trio, is an able summation of Crimson to that point, before Fripp forcibly retired the band (he would let Crimson lie dormant until a brilliant, left-field return in 1981).  The music is a metallic, abrasive take on contemplating the dying of the light, its mood no doubt reflecting Fripp’s, and his band’s, growing uneasiness.

In its lyric, “Starless” is an extension of the previous album’s title, Starless and Bible Black,  but the resemblance more-or-less ends there.  It has more in common with the grandeur of Crimson’s first record, In the Court of the Crimson King, mellotrons drifting into Fripp’s signature sustained tones, with Wetton’s vocal part an overtly dramatic (such was Wetton’s m.o., but here it works) preamble to a long instrumental passage as heavy a piece of jazz metal fusion as has ever been created.  For all his professorial demeanor and seriousness, Fripp loves a good stoner riff, and the tension he can build around such beasts — harmonic, exploratory — separates him from the pack.  Brainy, yes, but beguiling, gorgeous, devastating.

soundstreamsunday presents one song or live set by an artist each week, and in theory wants to be an infinite linear mix tape where the songs relate and progress as a whole. For the complete playlist, go here: soundstreamsunday archive and playlist, or check related articles by clicking on”soundstreamsunday” in the tags section.

King Crimson, Sailors’ Tales (1970-1972) and Earthbound (Expanded)

On By kruekuttIn progressive rock1 Comment

by Rick Krueger

Autumn is coming; can a Big Box Set o’ King Crimson be far behind?  In recent years, we’ve seen multiple-disc, multiple-format bundles based on Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Red, Starless and Bible Black, and THRAK, along with a package focused on the 1980s albums (Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair).  Each set has yielded an surfeit of riches: the 40th anniversary stereo and surround mixes of the studio albums; album rehearsals, outtakes and alternate mixes; and (for my money, the best part) more live performances, on both audio and video, than you can shake a stick at.

Robert Fripp has called the period covered by Sailors’ Tales (1970-1972) King Crimson’s “interregnum.”  After Ian McDonald, Michael Giles and Greg Lake left the original band, Fripp and lyricist Peter Sinfield struggled to assemble a Crimson that would stay together long enough to record and tour.  In the Wake of Poseidon (1970) mixed players and ideas from the 1969 band with new material and musicians, including stunning saxophone work from Mel Collins.  Lizard  (1971) spun in a more avant-garde direction; the cream of British free jazz players sat in, but vocalist Gordon Haskell quit before the album was even released.  (Is this why Yes’ Jon Anderson sings lead on one track?)  For Islands (1972), a solid line-up finally coalesced: Fripp, Collins, vocalist Boz Burrell (taught to play bass parrot-fashion for touring) and drummer Ian Wallace.  This Crimson proved ferocious live, but as they downplayed the new album’s pastel romanticism in favor of straight-up blues/jazz improv, friction mounted again.  Sinfield was forced out; the remaining quartet fell apart, then did a contractual-obligation US tour (documented on the bargain live album Earthbound), then tried to reform, then broke up for good.

No wonder Fripp basically disowned this era of Crimson for years; it took his 1990s reconciliation with Collins and Wallace, the release of multiple 1971-72 concerts through the King Crimson Collectors’ Club, and Steven Wilson’s revelatory remix of Lizard to ultimately change his mind.  With the current Crimson regularly performing music from all three albums (and Fripp and Collins both tearing up these selections onstage), the time is ripe for the rest of the world to find out why.

Thus, Sailors’ Tales.  As spelled out in the DGM press release:

  • 3 CDs feature Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp stereo mixes of In The Wake Of Poseidon, Lizard and Islands plus additional tracks.
  • 6 CDs feature the Islands line-up’s early concerts from Germany (new to CD) and the UK (1971).
  • 9 CDs feature live recordings (several new to CD and/or previously unreleased in any format) from the 1972 US tour, including a new stereo mix of Summit Studios and an expanded Earthbound.
  • 3 CDs feature auditions for the Islands band and two further, as yet, unidentified concerts from 1972 (all previously unreleased).
  • 3 Blu-Ray discs contain the main studio albums in 5.1 Surround Sound, recent stereo editions mixed by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp, 30th anniversary masters of the original stereo albums mixes (all in 24/96 hi-res), plus extensive additional material with each disc also featuring a complete alternate album and a further selection of additional, related studio/live material in hi-res.
    • The Lizard Blu-Ray also contains the audition material from CDs 19/20.
    • The Islands Blu-Ray also contains the following concerts in stereo: Zoom Club (4 shows), Marquee Club, Plymouth, Glasgow, Detroit all from 1971.
  • A 4th, Earthbound Tour Blu-Ray disc features an expanded version of the original album, Summit Studios gig in Stereo and Quadraphonic (newly mixed), the “Schizoid Men” sequence from the Ladies of the Road album, 2 newly discovered concerts in hi-res stereo and every existing soundboard concert recording from the 1972 US tour: Wilmington, NYC (2 shows), Chicago (2 tracks only), Detroit, Jacksonville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Peoria, Indianapolis & Denver (2 shows).
  • 2 DVDs feature the expanded Earthbound, Summit Studios, “Schizoid Men,” New York 1972 and the recently discovered live concerts.
  • Presented in a 12” box with booklet, memorabilia, a further downloadable concert, and sleeve-notes by Sid Smith, Jakko Jakszyk and David Singleton.

Too much?  The budget option is a new CD/DVD edition of Earthbound, expanded from 5 to 12 tracks as on Sailors’ Tales, with the DVD also containing Summit Studios and “Schizoid Men.”

Both Sailors’ Tales and Earthbound are available for preorder from DGM and Burning Shed.  Release date is Friday, November 3 — my birthday.  Hmm … anybody feeling especially generous?

earthbound

Rick’s Quick Takes: King Crimson Live in Vienna Chicago!

On By kruekuttIn progressive rockLeave a comment

by Rick Krueger

From today’s online diary by King Crimson impresario David Singleton:

We have long been planning a release of the show in Vienna from November 1st last year – a highlight of the 2016 European tour, where Jeremy [Stacey] first took over the keyboard/drummer role and the band introduced Cirkus, Dawn Song and Indiscipline. Robert [Fripp] and I mixed this show with Chris Porter during the first half of the year, and it sits there, raring to go…

After the recent excitements in North America, it seemed, however, much more exciting and appropriate to release an official bootleg of the new 8-piece in full flight. There was a huge transformation in the band, which began in Chicago in June and came of age with the first show in Mexico in July. After the show at the Chicago Theater on 28th June, Tony Levin described it online as simply “one of our best” and Robert sent me a simple email saying “if we are looking for a KC live; Chicago was exceptional”. It was a wonderful setlist featuring Neurotica, Radical Action III, Cirkus, The Lizard Suite, Fallen Angel, Islands and Indiscipline alongside more established favourites.

So this autumn’s release for the US and Europe will be a two CD set of “Live in Chicago”, accompanied by T-Lev’s wonderful photographs (and one or two of my own, as even he struggles with being on stage and in the audience at the same time).

Three reactions:

  1. YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!  This makes two live Crimson shows I’ve attended that have been officially released.  The first one was in 2008, available as a DGM download here.
  2. For some reason, the 2017 Chicago Theater show got a really good review here.
  3. Is it vain to compile a discography of live albums where you were in the audience?  Oh, it is.  Well, never mind, then …