Rieflin’s passing – which he confronts with formidable stoicism on film – reduced the band to Fripp saxophonist and flautist Mel Collins, who was a pivotal member in the early ‘70s bassist Tony Levin singer-guitarist Jakko Jakszyk and drummers Gavin Harrison, Patrick Mastelotto, and Jeremy Stacey. Until the death in March 2020 of 59-year-old Bill Rieflin, then one of Crimson’s four drummers, the lineup of seven (latterly eight) musicians had been stable since 2014. What emerges is a portrait of a martinet and ascetic – a cold-showerer and four-hours-a-day practicer, no less – whose intolerance of the perceived shortcomings of his bandmates, both musical and personal, led him to berate and eventually oust many of them. It becomes clear very quickly that Fripp has suffered for his art and has made his bandmates suffer, too. He must have gleaned early on that the story’s inherent drama resided in Fripp’s autocratic control of the group. It’s also disconcerting if you labour under the illusion that the people who make the music you love enjoy each other’s company while they’re making it, perhaps forging spiritual bonds.Īssigned to make the film by Robert Fripp, the band’s leader, lead guitarist, and only ever-present member, on the occasion of the 2019 anniversary, Amies shot most of it on the road during a pre-Covid concert tour. Watching Toby Amies’s documentary In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 is an enthralling and often amusing experience.
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