King Crimson - Starless - Live Music - Outstanding!!!
Growing up in L.A., I took for granted the many excellent independent radio stations we had at the time, which kept us much better versed about current bands than friends I had in areas without such ready access. And the stations were pretty good about following the burgeoning field of progressive rock, my personal favorite genre . . . up to a point.
One such instance of L.A. stations (at least the ones I was listening to) monumentally dropping the ball was with British progressive icons King Crimson, headed up by Robert Fripp, leaving me (and doubtless many others) with the strong impression that, after Greg Lake left the band to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer, which quickly became my favorite band, King Crimson had somehow dried up and blown away.
European Steemians are pretty much universally laughing at me right now. ;-)
After meeting Marek, I discovered that nothing could have been further from the truth, and that not only was King Crimson still around, but that they had been consistently releasing one great album after another, which somehow rarely if ever achieved any airplay on American radio.
Not to mention U.S. radio's almost universal ignoring of such European megastars as Marillion, Hawkwind, Mogwai, Dream Theatre, Camel, Green Carnation, Caravan, and literally too many more to mention here. But I digress.
With Marek's best friend, Michał, being one of the ultimate King Crimson fans, and literally a walking encyclopedia regarding the band and their works, I was quickly brought up to speed, and began listening to more and more of their music.
In early 2011, I learned of the upcoming "Three of a Perfect Pair" band camp in Big Indian, NY, near Woodstock, where lucky campers would be hanging out with, and even making music with, three existing members of King Crimson; guitarist Adrian Belew (formerly with Frank Zappa and David Bowie), bassist and Chapman stick player Tony Levin (formerly with Peter Gabriel, and a sought-after session player), and drummer and percussionist Pat Mastellotto (founding member of Mr. Mister, and formerly played with XTC), legendary musicians all.
After discussing it briefly with Marek, I promptly bought tickets, and we prepared for the trip.
Part of Marek's preparation was to scout out every King Crimson album in his possession, which as a former music store owner, was the vast majority they had ever released. And so, as we set off from Florida to upstate New York, we started from the beginning of their discography, with 1969's "In the Court of the Crimson King," and played them chronologically.
I never realized, until that day, just how MANY albums King Crimson has released.
With a few rest and food breaks, we hit the I-95 corridor around Washington DC at around 2 AM, and were promptly mired in a massive traffic jam, courtesy of the never-ending road work in the area (although Marek assures me that it is much better these days).
On this night, however, no problem; although we did have a number of people getting out of their cars and milling abut in the traffic lanes. It had literally been that long since we moved.
But we had just come to 1974's "Red," and the song "Starless," which I believe is the first time I ever heard the song. I was transfixed. It was everything I have always loved about progressive rock; the fusion of classical and jazz with rock, stellar musicianship, richly textured, and expertly executed.
It was love at first listen, all twelve and a half minutes of it, and I played it twice more before we moved on to a different song. I was hooked from the start, and it remains my favorite King Crimson song of all time.
Enjoy.
An interesting bit of side trivia is that all three of the musicians that participated in the band camp have recorded at various times with Steven Wilson. They got to know one another early in the days of Porcupine Tree, when Wilson requested that King Crimson open for them on tour, despite King Crimson being the senior and a much better-known band. Robert Fripp agreed, and the tour was a success.
Wilson also recorded with Robert Fripp, in a sense, as he used Fripp's soundscapes as the basis for some of his recordings for Bass Communion, his solo electronic project, notably on the various versions of the song "Drugged." The thirteen-minute version, on the first Bass Communion album, brings me to tears every time I hear it; truly a thing of beauty.
In the years since, Wilson and the members of King Crimson have become good friends, as well as occasional colleagues, and Fripp chose Wilson to remix the King Crimson back catalogue for their successive 40th anniversary re-releases. His 5:1 surround sound remixes have become something of the stuff of legend.
For purists such as myself, here is the album version of "Starless," from the album "Red," in all its glory. Enjoy.
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Ah, now there you go. Doing what you do best! Great group. Born in LA. There we go again. So was I. But we fled the scene in my 6th year to move to Lake Tahoe. Ages ago. Blessings.
I was 25 before I left, and fled to Tampa Bay, after my dad retired there, but it seemed the best course of action at the time, as I had already been shot at on my way to work.
I wasn't hot on becoming a statistic.