starless and bible black

King Crimson explored the darkness with the chaotic free jazz noise, delicate atonal ambience, and heavy fractured funk of these (mostly) extemporized virtuoso performances.  During the tour for their mystical masterpiece 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic', the group recorded improvised pieces that would form the basis of 'Starless and Bible Black'.  The album features the lineup of Robert Fripp on guitar, mellotron, electric piano, and other "devices";  John Wetton on bass and vocals;  Bill Bruford on drums and percussion;  and David Cross on violin, viola, mellotron, and electric piano.   Most of the live tracks were recorded in November 1973 at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam with studio tracks and overdubs done at AIR Studios in London.  

Fripp expressed at the time:     "What we do live is maybe just say, 'Bill, you just start playing, and we'll follow you.' But since this band isn't very sensitive or interested in listening to everyone playing, the improvisation in the band at the moment is extremely limited and more concerned with individuals showing off than in developing any kind of community improvisation ... If you listen to King Crimson's records you realize that the guitar playing has always been one of the smallest things that the band does. One of the reasons for that is I've always been more happy in developing the other musicians; developing them as players. So I guess my function has been more of a general organizer of the situation. However, at the moment I'm more interested in playing guitar, and I find it most frustrating that I can't make the other players in the band take as much interest in my playing as I do in theirs." 

During the ensuing tour, Cross would leave the group in frustration as he was drowned out by the thunderous rhythm section:   "I had quite different perspectives on music than Bill or John and felt very much in tune with Robert’s rhythmic and tonal ideas. Bill particularly went to great lengths to help me understand what he was doing. Socially, Robert didn’t drink and kept himself to himself so I probably spent more down time with Bill and John, particularly John, who enjoyed a party ... There was less and less room for musical doubt, ambiguity, vulnerability; the more sensitive expressions that had been sustainable at the beginning of the band were not there at the end. There was also less humour. On the other hand Bill and John achieved an incredibly powerful and imaginative coalition; they couldn’t understand why their front line didn’t want to constantly wail over the top it."  





http://www.king-crimson.com/






"The Great Deceiver"  



"Lament"  

King Crimson - Lament from Leo Lopes 108 on Vimeo.






"The Mincer" 







"Fracture" 


King Crimson - Fracture by perostoppogno







'Starless and Bible Black'
full album:



Side A
1. "The Great Deceiver" John Wetton, Robert Fripp, Richard Palmer-James 4:02
2. "Lament" Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James 4:00
3. "We'll Let You Know" (instrumental) David Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bill Bruford 3:46
4. "The Night Watch" Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James 4:37
5. "Trio" (instrumental) Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford 5:41
6. "The Mincer" Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, Palmer-James 4:10
Side B
7. "Starless and Bible Black" (instrumental)Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford 9:11
8. "Fracture" (instrumental) Fripp 11:14