Peace, the dreamy song that repeats in three variations on the second album, was created in 1968. Robert Fripp was not a prolific composer at the time and becoming the sole musical contributor left him with one obvious choice – use as many pieces of music that were created and rehearsed in the past but were left off the first album. From a songwriting perspective the biggest loss was Ian McDonald, who wrote two of that album’s best compositions, I Talk To The Wind and the album’s title track, The Court of the Crimson King. Their immediate future was unclear, but they came through a difficult period with their next three albums, of which In The Wake Of Poseidon was the first.įripp and Sinfield’s first task was to cobble together enough material for the second album, not an easy task given the critical contributions the departing members made in the first album. Luckily Robert Fripp declined the offers, and together with Pete Sinfield decided to continue the band concept. Had he opted for one of these options, the King Crimson story would have ended right there, leaving us with a single album for the ages. Another offer came from Aynsley Dunbar’s Blue Whale. The tipping point could have been an offer for the guitar position in Yes, who were left with no guitar player when Peter Banks was asked to leave the band. Robert Fripp’s Journal, 3 January 1970, reads: “The American tour was such a total experience of plasticity that Ian and Mike now feel that getting their feelings across on records is more important than performing to audiences.” Reeds and keyboard player Ian McDonald and drummer Michael Giles found road life and the sudden success too overwhelming and wanted to continue on their own. Greg Lake connected with Keith Emerson during the last performance of the US tour at the Fillmore West and they decided to form a new band. Aside from lyricist and conceptualist Pete Sinfield, three quarters of the musicians in the band wanted out.
The US tour proved to have a seismic impact on the future of the band. The previous six months brought hectic activity for the band, with the second half of 1969 being consumed with the recording and releasing of their dbut album In The Court Of The Crimson King, constant live performances throughout the UK during the summer and fall including the historic July 5th show at the Hyde Park Festival headlined by the Rolling Stones, and a first tour of the US in November and December.
The beginning of 1970 found King Crimson in a precarious state.
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