IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

With King Crimson on perhaps permanent hiatus, the notoriously interview-shy Robert Fripp does the unthinkable and sits down for a lengthy talk about his musical beginnings, Crimson's history and the guitars with which he's created some of prog-rock's finest moments.

- DAVID MEAD

A ROBERT FRIPP interview has become a rare thing. “That Awful Man,” as he calls himself, has been quite happy to keep journalists at arm’s length. He hasn’t even allowed his guitar collection to be photographed. That includes the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Custom, serial number 9 1986, used on many classic albums by his group King Crimson.

Which is why it strikes us as implausible that we are here at Fripp HQ in the Middle England countryside for a lengthy discussion with Fripp on all things King Crimson, as well as a photoshoot of the instruments behind some of that group’s — and prog rock’s — finest moments.

“I don’t collect guitars,” Fripp cautions as we settle down to talk. “They are merely tools that I use in my work.” However, we note that the ’59 Les Paul Custom appears to be in almost pristine condition. In fact, it’s still shiny even after years on the road. “One careful owner,” he quips with a wry grin.

When it comes to Fripp, where does one begin? Certainly, there is the long, rich history of King Crimson, a group whose evolution over the years has been the result of what seem to be rigorously considered changes on Fripp’s part. There are his own skills as a guitarist, including his use of crosspicking to play some challenging classical pieces with a plectrum, instead of the more conventional fingerstyle crosspicking. For evidence of his crosspicking finesse, one need only listen to the Moto Perpetuo from “Fracture,” on 1974’s Starless and Bible Black. This influence reached into the Crimson repertoire and is apparent in “Peace — A Theme” from 1970’s In the Wake of Poseidon.