Welcome to the latest of our Curated By…editions, in which our cover artist tells us about how they got to where they are today, and what they listened to on the way. They tell us about their influences, their favourite records, and their most revelatory live experiences. They’ll introduce some selections from Uncut’s archive of interviews, and tell us more about themselves – and about their life in music.
- BUY NOW: Curated By… King Crimson
In this issue, we welcome King Crimson to the editorial office. When the band first split in 1974, they kept their fanbase interested with a compilation called The Young Person’s Guide To King Crimson. It was a compendiously annotated double album which spoke not only to the wealth of music the band had recorded in just five years, but also to the care with which they had charted their progress, and their readiness to explain what they’d been up to.
Here, King Crimson members past and present give us something similar. If the band’s music can sometimes seem forbidding, the players themselves are most approachable. In a series of all-new interviews, they’ve opened up to tell us about their evolving relationship with that music – a 30 page album by album trip through their recorded history, from In The Court Of The Crimson King to The Power To Believe. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the gripping Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, meanwhile, we’ve dwelled on that period in particular, and spoken at length to Bill Bruford, to office temp-turned-Robert-Fripp-jam-session-participant-turned-King-Crimson-violinist David Cross, and to lyricist Richard Palmer-James.
Robert Fripp has himself kept a watchful eye on things throughout, breaking off from rehearsals (“rocking out with my wife”, in preparation for his upcoming string of “Sunday Lunch” festival appearances) to answer questions about the band he directed for over 50 years. Seeking to spice things up editorially, he encouraged a more “off the wall” approach to questioning and so we’ve made his suggestion a feature of the magazine. Inside, the members of the band answer 50 questions about the band that might not otherwise have sprung to mind.
The band also lean into the “Curation” part of this assignment. Robert himself introduces an archive feature in which Uncut’s John Lewis enjoys a wide-ranging conversation with John McLaughlin. Other members of King Crimson also make entertaining selections. Some are probably already known and revered among Crimson fans, like Peter Gabriel (chosen by Tony Levin), or Kate Bush (Jakko Jakszyk). Some, like Earth, Wind & Fire (Gavin Harrison) may open up some new horizons.
What else? We’ve asked the band to face down their Wikipedia entries, and we can tell you that Jakko Jakszyk has a story to tell you about The Nolan Sisters and Whitney Houston which you’re going to want to hear.
Enjoy the magazine.