Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England) is
a guitarist, record producer and a composer, perhaps best known for being the guitarist for, and only constant member of King Crimson. His work, spanning four decades, encompasses a variety of musical styles. He is married to
Toyah Willcox. Fripp was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest
Guitarists of All Time.
Biography
Early career
Fripp's earliest professional work began in 1967, when he responded to an ad looking for a singing organist for a band being
formed by bassist Peter Giles and drummer Michael
Giles. Though unsuccessful as a live act, Giles, Giles and Fripp did
manage to release two singles, as well as an album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp.
Early King Crimson
A page from
Melody Maker announcing Mike Giles and Ian McDonald leaving the group. Robert Fripp is below left in the main
picture; a single-column image of him appears underneath.
Following the band's breakup, Fripp, along with drummer Michael Giles, made plans for the formation of King Crimson in 1968,
with Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield and Ian McDonald. Their first album, In the
Court of the Crimson King, was released in late 1969, to mixed critical reviews. Due to
musical differences with Giles and McDonald, King Crimson broke up shortly after the release of the first album, to be re-formed
again several times over the years. Initially, Fripp had offered to leave the group; however Giles and McDonald felt that King
Crimson was his. To date, Robert Fripp has remained the only consistent member of the band. Crimson went through a number of
line-ups before Fripp disbanded the group for the first time in 1974.
Side projects and collaborations
During King Crimson's less active periods, Fripp has pursued a number of side-projects. He worked with Keith Tippett (and others who appeared on King Crimson records) on projects far from rock music, producing
Septober Energy in 1971 and Ovary Lodge in 1973. During this period he also worked with Van der Graaf Generator, playing on the 1970 album H to He, Who Am the Only One, and in 1971, on Pawn
Hearts. Collaborating with Brian Eno, he recorded No
Pussyfooting in 1972 and Evening Star in 1974. These two albums
featured experimentation with several novel musical techniques, including a tape delay system
utilizing dual reel to reel Revox tape machines that would come to play a central role in Fripp's later work. This system came to
be known as "Frippertronics". Fripp and Eno also played several live shows in Europe in
1975.
Fripp spent some time away from the music industry in the later 1970s, during which he cultivated an interest in the teachings
of Gurdjieff via J.G. Bennett (studies which
would later be influential in his work with Guitar Craft). He returned to musical work as a
studio guitarist on Peter Gabriel's first self-titled album in 1976, released the following year. Fripp toured with Gabriel to support
the album, but remained in the wings and used the pseudonym "Dusty Rhodes". [1]
In 1977, Fripp received a phone call from Eno, who was working on David Bowie's album
"Heroes". Fripp agreed to play guitar for the album, a move which initiated a
series of collaborations with other musicians. Fripp soon contributed his musical and production talents to Peter Gabriel's
second album, and collaborated with Daryl
Hall on Sacred Songs. During this period, Fripp began working on solo
material, with contributions from poet/lyricist Joanna Walton and several other musicians,
including Eno, Gabriel, and Hall, as well as Peter Hammill, Jerry Marotta, Phil Collins, Tony Levin and Terre Roche. This material eventually became his first
solo album, Exposure, released in 1979, followed by the
Frippertronics tour in the same year. While living in New York, Fripp contributed to albums and live performances by
Blondie and Talking Heads (Fear of Music), and produced The Roches' first album, which
featured several of Fripp's characteristic guitar solos. A second creative session with David
Bowie produced distinctive guitar parts on Scary Monsters (and
Super Creeps) (1980).
Fripp's collaboration with bassist Busta Jones, drummer Paul
Duskin, and vocals by David Byrne (Byrne credited as Absalm el Habib)
produced God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners in the following year. He simultaneously assembled what he called a
"second-division touring new wave instrumental dance band" under the name League of
Gentlemen, with bassist Sara Lee, keyboardist Barry Andrews and drummer Johnny Toobad (later replaced by
Kevin Wilkinson) . The LOG toured for the duration of 1980.
In the early 1990s Fripp contributed guitar/soundscapes to Lifeforms (1994) by
The Future Sound of London and Cydonia (released 2001) by The Orb, as well as
FFWD, a collaborative effort with the latter's members. In addition, Fripp worked with Brian Eno
co-writing and supplying guitar to two tracks for a CD-ROM project released in 1994 entitled Headcandy created by Chris Juul and Doug Jipson. Eno thought the visual aspects of the disc (video feedback
effects) were very disappointing upon completion, and regretted participation. Fortunately, the music stands its ground
independently. During this period, Fripp also contributed to albums by No-Man (a band featuring
Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson) and
The Beloved (1994's Flowermouth and 1996's X,
respectively).
King Crimson again
1981 saw the formation of King Crimson's fourth incarnation, along with Adrian Belew,
Bill Bruford, and Tony Levin. The group was
conceptualized under the name "Discipline," but it came to Fripp's attention that the members thought the name King Crimson was
more appropriate. For Fripp, King Crimson had always been a way of doing things, rather than a particular group of musicians, and
the group felt that their music captured that methodology. After releasing three albums, this new King Crimson broke up in
1984.
During this period Fripp made two records with his old friend Andy Summers of
the Police. On I Advance Masked, Fripp and Summers played all the instruments.
Bewitched was more dominated by Summers, who produced the record and collaborated with other musicians in addition to
Fripp.
In 1982 Fripp produced and played guitar on the Keep On Doing album by The Roches.
Similar to his previous guesting on David Bowie's Scary Monsters (which also boasted Pete
Townshend and Chuck Hammer on infinite sustain guitar), the "skysaw" guitar style
which characterized this period of Fripp's pedagogy is featured alongside the sisters' songs and harmony.
Guitar Craft
Fripp was offered a teaching position at the American Society for Continuous Education (ASCE)
in Claymont Court, West Virginia in 1984. He had been involved with the ASCE since 1978,
eventually serving on its board of directors, and had long been considering the idea of teaching guitar. His course,
Guitar Craft, was begun in 1985, one of the results of which was a performance group,
"The League of Crafty Guitarists," which has released several albums. In 1986, he released
the first of two collaborations with his wife, Toyah Willcox. The members of the
California Guitar Trio are former members of The League of Crafty Guitarists, and
Gitbox Rebellion includes several former Guitar Craft students. The California Guitar Trio has
also toured with King Crimson.
Soundscapes
Fripp returned to recording solo in 1994, using an updated version of the Frippertronics technique that employed digital
technology instead of tapes to create loops. Fripp released a number of records that he called "Soundscapes," including 1999, Radiophonics, A Blessing of Tears,
That Which Passes, November Suite, and The Gates of Paradise. (Pie Jesu consists of material compiled
from A Blessing of Tears and The Gates of Paradise.) On the Soundscapes recordings, the inner workings of the music
are not as clearly laid bare as they are on Let the Power Fall, perhaps due to the greater possibilities offered by the
new technology.
Sylvian / Fripp
Fripp's collaborations with David Sylvian feature some of his most exuberant guitar
playing. Fripp contributed to Sylvian's twenty minute track "Steel Cathedrals" from his Alchemy - An Index Of
Possibilities album of 1985. Then Fripp performed on several tracks from Sylvian's 1986 release, Gone To Earth.
At some point in late 1991, Fripp had asked Sylvian to become the vocalist for the reforming King Crimson. Sylvian declined
the invitation, but proposed a possible collaboration between the two that would eventually become a tour of Japan and Italy in
the spring of 1992. In July of 1993, Sylvian and Fripp released the collaborative effort The First Day. Other contributors
were soon-to-be King Crimson member Trey Gunn on stick
and nearly-was King Crimson member Jerry Marotta on drums. When the group toured to promote the CD, future King Crimson member
Pat Mastelotto took over the drumming spot. The live document Damage was released
in 1994, as was the joint venture, Redemption - Approaching Silence, which featured Sylvian's ambient sound sculptures
(Approaching Silence) accompanying Fripp reading his own text (Redemption).
King Crimson redux
In late 1994, Fripp re-formed the 1981 lineup of King Crimson for its fifth incarnation, adding Trey Gunn and drummer Pat Mastelotto in a configuration known as the
"double trio". This lineup released Thrak in 1995.
From 1997 to 1999, and again in 2006, the band King Crimson "fraKctalised" into five sub-groups known as ProjeKcts.
2000 saw the release of a studio album, The ConstruKction of Light,
from a sixth lineup of King Crimson (Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey
Gunn, Pat Mastelotto) with The Power to
Believe following in 2003.
In March of 2004, a seventh lineup had been formulated and practiced with Tony Levin
returning to replace Trey Gunn. This permutation of King Crimson has yet to release an album
or perform live. A likely "fortieth anniversary lineup" has been discussed as well. Members of this lineup and more precise
formation dates have yet to be officially announced.
Recent work
During 2004, Fripp toured with Joe Satriani and
Steve Vai as the guitar trio G3.
Robert Fripp worked at Microsoft's studios to record new sounds and atmospheres for
Windows Vista.[2][3]
In late 2005 and early 2006, Fripp joined Bill Rieflin's improvisational Slow Music
project, along with guitarist Peter Buck, Fred Chalenor (acoustic bass), Matt Chamberlain (drum kit) and Hector Zazou (electronics). This
collective of musicians toured the west coast in May of 2006.
In October 2006, ProjeKct Six (Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew) played at select venues on the east coast of the U.S.[1], opening for Porcupine Tree.
Fripp has contributed soundscapes to two songs for Porcupine Tree's
Fear of a Blank Planet. He is featured on the tracks "Way Out Of Here" and
"Nil Recurring", the second of which will be released in September 2007 as part of the "Nil Recurring" EP.
Guitar technique
Fripp began playing guitar at the age of eleven.[4] He
says he was tone-deaf with no sense of rhythm when he started.[5] His comment on dealing with the obstacle is "Music so wishes to be heard that it sometimes calls on
unlikely characters to give it voice".
Being taught guitar basics by his teacher Don Strike, it was the time when he developed the technique of crosspicking, which would later become a significant technique taught in Guitar Craft.
In 1984, Fripp began using the New Standard Tuning, which would also become the
official tuning of Guitar Craft.
Discography
Notes
References
External links
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