Robert Fripp's Diary

Shania Twain continues to drive

An e-mail from Sister:

email for his orders or enquiries is [email protected] Poster created yesterday. Soon to be displayed on the site.>

Patricia is publishing a cassette pack of commentaries & Q&As at Soundscape performances. This is part of her drive to launch her brother's career as a public speaker.

At the DGM website three co-Diarists have / had concerns to address.

1. Trey Gunn: learning "Red House" while playing it with Eric Johnson & Jerry Marotta (the original Fat Ape On Drums - this is a compliment, by the way). "Red House" was a feature of the G3 tour, although I had the opportunity to learn it beforehand. I doubt that showed.

2. Matt Seattle: what does a committed player do about getting a record career? No doubt, more comments on this later.

3. Sidney Smith the Author: how to explain Giles, Giles & Fripp transforming into King Crimson within a 2-3 month period?

I sent a few comments to Sid, & maybe they'll be of interest to Diary visitors. This is the bulk of the e-mail

What you'll have a hard time figuring out is how Giles, Giles & Fripp became King Crimson. One simplistic approach is to:

1. Give Greg Lake all the credit: that's the additive approach;
2. Blame Peter Giles: the subtractive approach.

I don't believe that KC could have happened either with Peter or without Greg. And I don't believe that Crimson would have happened with Peter + Greg: Peter's own direction, musical & personal, pointed elsewhere, regardless of his exceptional talent. All the other people were present at the end of GG&F during October / November 1968: Ian MacDonald, Michael Giles, RF & Peter Sinfield. Clearly, with Peter (Giles) leaving & Greg arriving (his first 3 days in London sharing my bed at 93a, Brondesbury Road!) the chemistry changed.

But was that all?

Finance had also been agreed with Ian's uncle Angus, although new equipment hadn't been bought. Management had been arranged with David & John of EG, although they hadn't quite swung into action. So was the difference only instrumental / functional?

I appreciate that various of the individuals might feel that their contribution has been underestimated by history & subsequent commentary. One of the "hardships" of being the continuing founder member is that my view is privileged over those of other people. The simplistic approach (which triumphs in magazine precis histories) attributes all creative functions to Fripp, the "bandleader". I note that I have been denying the position & refuting omnipotence for, if not forever, then almost eternity.

In the early period of Crim, say November 1968 - June 1969, all members contributed without reservation & had full commitment (in my personal & subjective opinion). The first Crimson could not have happened without the presence and involvement of each of them. But if you draw up a list of individual contributors & individual contributions, add them all together, you don't, won't and (I suggest) can't arrive at the sum total of King Crimson.

King Crimson has never been the sole outcome of the people playing in the band; not even if you include lyricists, cover designers, managers, agents, record companies, roadies, promoters & enthusiasts (who are also part of the equation). If any of us feel that we played this role, of being Crimson's "good fairy", we are missing the central element: when music really comes to life, it's more accurate to say that the music is creating the musicians than the musicians are creating the music. The "good fairy" was never one person, nor invested in one person on a permanent or ongoing basis. The inexpressibly benevolent creative impulse which we experience through music (inter alia) expressed itself in Crimson through a number of people over time. One of the forms this benevolent impulse took was Crim '69.

If any of the individuals feel that they were themself the King, rather than a courtier, I can appreciate a possible sense of frustration that their contribution has not been fully recognised. But no one individual was the focus of the creative impulse which transformed the feebly GG&F into the astonishing eruption we know as King Crimson. All those within the Crimson orbit were equally privileged to have been involved & to have been enabled to make their contribution.

So, now over to the Sidney Smith. How are you going to explain the transition?>

21.06
Toyah arrived back at lunchtime. We had a fabbo brill wonder pumperama at Air Organic and then, so dozy, went to the nearby park and fell sleep. I chose a park bench. Toyah chose a grass knoll nearby & spotted two mounted policemen checking me out as a vagrant.