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Birthday of...Robert Fripp!


G Mac

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It's a Happy 73rd Birthday to Robert Fripp! One of my favorite guitarists not only for his longevity in the music business but also for his unforgiving originality. As the founder of the band King Crimson he has made potent music since the late 60's. Many others have benefitted from being in his band...Greg Lake(from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer), John Wetton( from U.K. and Asia), Boz Burrell(from Bad Company), and Ian McDonald(from Foreigner)! He was also a guest on projects by Brian Eno, David Bowie, Blondie, Andy Summers, and Peter Gabriel. He also provided music for a version of the Windows operating system. He is a true innovator of guitar! He has also been the president of the Gurdjieff Society; an unusual philosophical discipline. I would say that, all in all, he is one of the most creative, intellectual, and ground breaking guitarists of the modern era. If you are not familiar with his work, you must check it out! Fair warning, however; it is not everyone's cup of tea. Rather than put up a King Crimson cut, I thought it would be of interest to give you a taste of "Frippertronics" from the TV show Midnight Special in 1979. As always, I hope you find it enjoyable! May he celebrate many more birthdays!

 

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I did. See post #3.

 

Yeah, I caught that. Kudos. But I was referring to the G Mac OP.

 

Fripp and Belew together were the shizz... probably the most innovative and creative pair of musicians since Bird and Diz (not forgetting Lennon and McCartney or Zappa and Vai).

 

Hhmmm. That might make for a good thread.

Edited by zigzag
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Fripp fan here, also. Can't believe you mentioned members of King Crimson without mentioning Adrian Belew.

 

Honestly, it just slipped my mind. The Discipline group is probably my favorite incarnation of the band...I own the vinyl(bought as each one was released) and the C.D.'s(which I purchased from DGM Live) of all three records. Actually, Adrian is one of my favorite guitarists. "Twang Bar King" is an excellent record as is his first solo release "Lone Rhino". Also, check his work with Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Tom Club, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson and others. I saw Adrian with The Bears in the '90's but, have never seen King Crimson. I got to see the League of Crafty Guitarists, though. It was a very interesting show. While we're at it, let's mention Bill Bruford and Tony Levin both of whom have done a few cool things. Peace!

Edited by G Mac
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I don't think Mr. Belew made much of an impression on me during the Zappa tour days BUT he was tremendous during the Discipline Tour.

He reminded me of someone's favorite uncle at a family reunion, bouncing around all over the place.

 

Robert Fripp just sat in a chair but at least he was facing the audience.

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Fripp is one of those geniuses that are as rare as hens teeth, innovative, creative influential, He is all of that, but much much more, He has stayed true to his own vision, uncompromising fluidity, always seeking the next level, but that level isn’t defined by producers or the record labels, in that way, I place him in the rarefied atmospheric realm of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Monk.Musicians who defined their music but were never defined or restricted by it.

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Fripp is one of those geniuses that are as rare as hens teeth, innovative, creative influential, He is all of that, but much much more, He has stayed true to his own vision, uncompromising fluidity, always seeking the next level, but that level isn’t defined by producers or the record labels, in that way, I place him in the rarefied atmospheric realm of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Monk.Musicians who defined their music but were never defined or restricted by it.

 

Nice appraisal. I think I agree.

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Damn Larks Tounges'. Those were great albums with Wetton on vocal and bass.

 

Larks Tongues was easily the best King Crimson album in my opinion, but Red is a close contender for 2nd place followed by Starless & Bible Black...and the live album USA is a good listen too. The early albums were very patchy and stuff like Islands wasn't great really. I've only heard a bit of their later albums, but they sound pretty good. It's a great shame the lineup of Fripp, Bruford, Wetton, Cross and Muir didn't last much longer.

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