Robert Fripp | |
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_(53818508938)_(cropped).jpg) Fripp in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1946-05-16)16 May 1946 (age 78) Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | |
| Spouse | |
| Website | dgmlive |
Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of theprogressive rock bandKing Crimson.[2] He has worked extensively as a session musician and collaborator, notably withDavid Bowie,Blondie,Brian Eno,Peter Gabriel,Daryl Hall,the Roches,Talking Heads, andDavid Sylvian. He also composed the startup sound ofWindows Vista, in collaboration withTucker Martine and Steve Ball.[3][4]His discography includes contributions to more than 700 official releases.
His compositions often feature unusualasymmetric rhythms, influenced by classical and folk traditions. His innovations include atape delay system known as "Frippertronics" (superseded in the 1990s by a more sophisticated digital system called "Soundscapes") andNew Standard Tuning.
Fripp is married to English singer and actressToyah Willcox.
Robert Fripp was born inWimborne Minster, a town inDorset,England,[2] the second child of a working-class family. His mother Edith (née Greene; 1914–1993) was from aWelsh mining family; Fripp considers himself to be half Welsh.[5] Her earnings from working at the Bournemouth Records Office allowed his father, Arthur Henry Fripp (1910–1985) to start a business as anestate agent.[6] In 1957, at age eleven, Fripp received a guitar for Christmas from his parents and recalled, "Almost immediately I knew that this guitar was going to be my life".[7] He then took guitar lessons from Kathleen Gartell and Don Strike;[8]Elvis Presley's guitaristScotty Moore inspired Fripp to play rock and roll,[9] moving on to traditional jazz at thirteen and modern jazz at fifteen. Fripp has cited jazz musiciansCharlie Parker andCharles Mingus as musical influences during this time.
In 1961, the fifteen-year-old Fripp joined his first band, the Ravens, which also includedGordon Haskell on bass. After they split in the following year, Fripp concentrated on his O-level studies and joined his father's firm as a junior negotiator. At this point, he intended to studyestate management and, eventually, take over his father's business.[7] However, at seventeen, Fripp decided to become a professional musician. He became the guitarist in the jazz outfit The Douglas Ward Trio, playing in theChewton Glen hotel inNew Milton, followed by a stint in the rock and roll band The League of Gentlemen, which included two former Ravens members.
In 1965, Fripp left the group to attendBournemouth College, where he studied economics, economic history, and political history for his A-levels.[10] In February 1965, Fripp went to see theDuke Ellington Orchestra, an experience which moved him deeply.[9] He subsequently spent three further years playing light jazz in the Majestic Dance Orchestra at Bournemouth's Majestic Hotel (replacingAndy Summers, who had left for London withZoot Money). During this time, Fripp met musicians that he would collaborate with in his career, includingJohn Wetton,Richard Palmer-James, andGreg Lake.[11] At age 21, going back home from college late at night, Fripp tuned on toRadio Luxembourg, where he heard the last moments ofthe Beatles' "A Day in the Life". "Galvanized" by the experience, he went on to listen to the Beatles' 1967 albumSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,Béla Bartók'sstring quartets,Antonín Dvořák'sNew World Symphony,Jimi Hendrix'sAre You Experienced andJohn Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Many years later, Fripp would recall that "although all the dialects are different, the voice was the same... I knew I couldn't say no".[7] As a band leader, Fripp pointed out thatMiles Davis and Duke Ellington inspired him to seek "constant change".[12]
In 1967, Fripp responded to an advertisement placed by Bournemouth-born brothersPeter andMichael Giles, who wanted to work with a singing organist.[7] Though Fripp was not what they sought, his audition with them was a success and the trio relocated to London and becameGiles, Giles and Fripp. Their only studio album,The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp, was released in 1968.[13] Despite the recruitment of two further members – singerJudy Dyble (formerly withFairport Convention and later ofTrader Horne) and multi-instrumentalistIan McDonald – Fripp felt that he was outgrowing the eccentric pop approach favoured by Peter Giles, preferring the more ambitious compositions being written by McDonald, and the band broke up in 1968.
Almost immediately, Fripp, McDonald and Michael Giles formed the first lineup of King Crimson in mid-1968, recruiting Fripp's old Bournemouth College friendGreg Lake as lead singer and bassist and McDonald's writing partnerPeter Sinfield as lyricist, light show designer and general creative consultant. King Crimson's debut album,In the Court of the Crimson King, was released in late 1969 to great success: drawing on rock, jazz and European folk/classical music ideas, it is now regarded as one of the most influential albums in the history ofprogressive rock.[14] The band was tipped for stardom, but, due to growing musical differences between Fripp on one side and Giles and McDonald on the other, broke up after its first American tour in 1970. A despondent Fripp offered to leave if it would allow King Crimson to survive; however, Giles and McDonald had independently decided that the band's music was "more Fripp's than theirs" and that it would be better if they were the ones to leave.
During the recording of the band's second albumIn the Wake of Poseidon, Greg Lake departed to formEmerson, Lake and Palmer withKeith Emerson ofthe Nice andCarl Palmer ofAtomic Rooster. King Crimson issued two more albums,Lizard andIslands, with Fripp and Sinfield the only constants in a regularly changing lineup variously including Gordon Haskell, woodwind playerMel Collins, drummersAndy McCulloch andIan Wallace and futureBad Company bassistBoz Burrell, in addition to a palette of guest players. Fripp was listed as the sole composer of the band's music during this time, which built on the first album's blueprint but progressed further intojazz-rock andfree jazz while also taking form from Sinfield's esoteric lyrical and mythological concepts.
In 1971, Fripp ousted Sinfield and took overde facto leadership of King Crimson (although he has always formally rejected the label, preferring to describe his role as "quality control" or "a kind of glue"). From this point onwards, Fripp would be the only constant member of the band, which in turn would be defined primarily by his compositional and conceptual ideas. With avant-garde percussionistJamie Muir, violinistDavid Cross, formerFamily bassist and singerJohn Wetton and formerYes drummerBill Bruford now in the ranks, King Crimson produced three more albums of innovative and increasinglyexperimental rock, shedding members as they progressed: beginning withLarks' Tongues in Aspic, progressing withStarless and Bible Black after Muir's departure and culminating inRed after Cross was fired. Fripp formally disbanded the group in 1974, in what eventually turned out to be merely the first in a regular series of long hiatuses and further transformations.[15]
Fripp pursued side projects during King Crimson's less active periods. He worked withKeith Tippett (and others who appeared on King Crimson records) on projects far from rock music, playing with and producingCentipede'sSeptober Energy in 1971 andOvary Lodge in 1973. During this period he also worked withVan der Graaf Generator, playing on their albumsH to He, Who Am the Only One andPawn Hearts. He producedMatching Mole'sMatching Mole's Little Red Record in 1972.[16] Prior to forming theLarks-era KC, he collaborated on a spoken-word album with a woman he described as "a witch", but the resultingRobert Fripp & Walli Elmlark: The Cosmic Children of Rock was never officially released.[17][18]
WithBrian Eno, Fripp recorded(No Pussyfooting) in 1972, andEvening Star in 1974. These experimented with several avant-garde musical techniques that were new to rock. On "The Heavenly Music Corporation" from No Pussyfooting, Fripp used adelay system using two modifiedRevox A77 reel-to-reel tape machines. The technique went on to play a central role in Fripp's later work, and became known as "Frippertronics".[19]
In 1973, Fripp performed the guitar solo on "Baby's on Fire" from Eno's solo albumHere Come the Warm Jets. In 1975, Fripp and Eno played live shows in Europe, and Fripp also contributed guitar solos to Eno's 1975 albumAnother Green World.[20]
Fripp started what was intended as a permanent sabbatical from his musical career in 1975, during which he studied atJ. G. Bennett's International Academy for Continuous Education, becoming interested in the mystical and philosophical ideas of Bennett's teacherGeorge Gurdjieff. He returned to musical work the following year as a session guitarist onPeter Gabriel'sdebut solo album, released in 1977. Fripp toured with Gabriel to support the album, but used the pseudonym "Dusty Rhodes" and concealed himself on stage.[21]
Fripp also produced and played on Gabriel'ssecond album in 1978. "Robert is particularly skilful at keeping things fresh, and I like that a lot," Gabriel enthused. "I was very interested in Robert's experimental side; that corresponded exactly to what I wanted to do on this second record… There are two(Fripp) solos: one on 'On the Air' and the other on 'White Shadow'. And then he plays on 'Exposure'. He gives the colour to this piece, being fifty per cent responsible for its construction. And he also plays classical guitar here and there. He's a musician I admire a lot, because he's one of the only ones to mix discipline and madness with so much talent."[22]
In 1977, Fripp played onDavid Bowie's album"Heroes" at Eno's invitation. Fripp soon collaborated withDaryl Hall onSacred Songs.[23]
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 (including the latter's partner, John Oates), as well asPeter Hammill,Jerry Marotta,Phil Collins,Tony Levin andTerre Roche. This material eventually became his first solo album,Exposure, released in 1979, followed by theFrippertronics tour in the same year.[24]
While living in New York, Fripp contributed to albums and live performances byBlondie (Parallel Lines) andTalking Heads (Fear of Music), and producedThe Roches' first and third albums, which featured several of Fripp's characteristic guitar solos. A second set of sessions with Bowie producedScary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and he collaborated with Gabriel again onhis third solo album. With Blondie, Fripp appeared live on stage at the Hammersmith Odeon on 12 January 1980, participating in a cover version of Bowie's"'Heroes'".
In 1980, Fripp would releaseGod Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners, a project that saw two different musical approaches to Frippertronics on one LP. The "A" side of the record, titled "God Save the Queen" attempted what Fripp referred to as "pure Frippertronics" which is "where Frippertronics is used alone."[25] The "B" side of the record, titled "Under Heavy Manners" featured a collaboration with bassistBusta Jones, drummer Paul Duskin, andDavid Byrne of Talking Heads (as Absalm el Habib).[26] The sounds of this side of the record featured what Fripp called "Discotronics" which was defined as "that musical experience resulting at the interstice of Frippertronics and disco."[27]
Concurrent to this, Fripp would assemble what he called a "second-division touring new wave instrumental dance band"[28] under the nameLeague of Gentlemen, with bassistSara Lee, keyboardistBarry Andrews and drummerJohnny Elichaoff (credited as "Johnny Toobad"). Elichaoff was later replaced by Kevin Wilkinson. The LOG toured for the duration of 1980.
In 1985 he produced the albumJourney to Inaccessible Places by classical pianistElan Sicroff, released on theEditions E.G. label.[29]
1981 saw the formation of a new King Crimson lineup, reuniting Fripp with Bruford and opening a new partnership with two American musicians: bassist/Chapman Stick playerTony Levin (who had played with Fripp onExposure and in the first Peter Gabriel touring band) andAdrian Belew, a singer and guitarist who had previously played with Bowie, Talking Heads andFrank Zappa. Although the band had been conceptualised under the name Discipline, it came to Fripp's attention that the other 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. With the more pop-inspired Belew as main songwriter (complementing Fripp as main instrumental composer) the band took on a new style incorporating influences from Indonesiangamelan,new wave, andclassical minimalism,[30] with both guitarists experimenting extensively with guitar synthesizers.[31] After releasing three albums (Discipline,Beat andThree of a Perfect Pair), Fripp dissolved the band in 1984.
During this period Fripp made two albums withAndy Summers ofThe Police. OnI Advance Masked, Fripp and Summers played all the instruments.Bewitched was dominated more by Summers, who produced the record and collaborated with other musicians in addition to Fripp.
In 1982 Fripp produced and played guitar onKeep On Doing by the Roches.[32]Village Voice rock criticRobert Christgau wrote that the album "sounds so good I'm beginning to believe Robert Fripp was put on earth to produce the Roches."[33]
Fripp was offered a teaching position at the American Society for Continuous Education (ASCE) at Claymont Court inCharles Town, 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 through ideas derived from Bennett and Gurdjieff. His course, Guitar Craft, was begun in 1985, an offshoot 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 theCalifornia Guitar Trio are former members of The League of Crafty Guitarists and have also toured with King Crimson. Fripp is the patron of theGuitar Circle of Europe, which was founded in 2007,[35] and of theSeattle Circle Guitar School, which was founded in 2010.[36]
In February 2009, Fripp recommended that Guitar Craft cease to exist on its 25th anniversary in 2010.[37]
On 1 September 2022 Fripp publishedThe Guitar Circle, a book of writings concerning Guitar Craft.[38]
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Fripp returned to recording solo in 1994, using an updated version of the Frippertronics technique that creates loops employing digital technology instead of analogue tapes. Fripp has released a number of records that he called "soundscapes", including1999,Radiophonics,A Blessing of Tears,That Which Passes,November Suite,The Gates of Paradise,Love Cannot Bear andAt the End of Time, as well as numerous download-only live recordings. (The samplerPie Jesu consists of material compiled fromA Blessing of Tears andThe Gates of Paradise.)
Fripp's collaborations withDavid Sylvian feature some of his most exuberant guitar playing. Fripp contributed to Sylvian's twenty-minute track "Steel Cathedrals" from hisAlchemy: An Index of Possibilities album of 1985. Then Fripp performed on several tracks from Sylvian's 1986 release,Gone to Earth.
In late 1991, Fripp had asked Sylvian to join a re-forming King Crimson as a vocalist.[39] 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.
Also in 1991, Fripp released an album with the project Sunday All Over The World, also featuring his wife Toyah Willcox, former League of Crafty Guitarists memberTrey Gunn on Chapman Stick, and drummer Paul Beavis. The prior name of this band was Fripp Fripp, and they toured as such in 1988. They renamed to SAOTW, and toured again as SAOTW, in 1989.[40]
In July 1993, Sylvian and Fripp released the collaborative effortThe First Day. Other contributors were soon-to-be King Crimson memberTrey Gunn onChapman Stick and Jerry Marotta (who, like Sylvian, almost became a member of King Crimson) on drums. When the group toured to promote the CD, future King Crimson memberPat Mastelotto took over the drumming spot. The live documentDamage 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).[39]
During the early and mid-1990s Fripp contributed guitar/soundscapes toLifeforms (1994) bythe Future Sound of London andCydonia (released 2001) bythe Orb, as well asFFWD, 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 entitledHeadcandy 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. During this period, Fripp also contributed to albums byNo-Man andthe Beloved (1994'sFlowermouth and 1996'sX, respectively). He also contributed soundscapes and guitar to two albums by the UK bandIona: 1993'sBeyond These Shores and 1996'sJourney into the Morn.
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In late 1994, Fripp re-formed King Crimson for its fifth incarnation, adding Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto to the 1980s quartet in a configuration known as a "double trio". This line-up released theVROOOM EP in 1994 and theTHRAK album the following year.
Though musically and relatively commercially successful, the double-trio King Crimson proved difficult to sustain in the long-term. From 1997 to 1999, the band "fraKctalised" into five experimental instrumental sub-groups known asProjeKcts. By 1998 Bruford had quit the band altogether: in 2000, Fripp, Belew, Gunn and Mastelotto reunited as a four-piece King Crimson. This lineup produced twoindustrial metal-influenced studio albums,the construKction of light in 2000 andThe Power to Believe in 2003.
Gunn departed at the end of 2003. Although Levin immediately returned to replace him, another hiatus followed until King Crimson reappeared in 2007 with the addition ofPorcupine Tree drummerGavin Harrison. This version of the band toured the eastern United States in 2008, reassessing the 1981-2003 back catalogue and introducing lengthy duets between the two drummers. No new original material was recorded by this line-up, and in 2010, Fripp announced that King Crimson were on another indefinite hiatus.[41]
In 2004, Fripp toured withJoe Satriani andSteve Vai as part of theirG3 series. He also worked atMicrosoft's studios to record the startup sound forWindows Vista. Fripp designed the soundscape and composed the melody, whileTucker Martine created the rhythm and Microsoft's Steve Ball added the harmonies and created the final arrangement.[42][43]
this interesting factoid: in addition to 200 million Vista users with the 4 note splash, an extract from the Soundscapes' Vista sessions is estimated to strike up 91% of 32 trillion times on the new MS Mail programme this year. So, one of the planet's least popular music forms will also be the planet's most sounded in 2008. This has to be some kind of a record.
In late 2005 and early 2006, Fripp joinedR.E.M./Nine Inch Nails drummerBill Rieflin's improvisational Slow Music project, along with R.E.M. guitaristPeter Buck, bassistFred Chalenor, session drummerMatt Chamberlain andHector Zazou on electronics. This collective of musicians toured the west coast of America in May 2006.
In 2006 Fripp contributed his composition "At The End Of Time" to the Artists for Charity albumGuitarists 4 the Kids, produced by Slang Productions, to assistWorld Vision Canada in helping underprivileged children.[45] Throughout 2006, Fripp performed many solo concerts of soundscapes in intimate settings in churches around England and Estonia.[46] In October 2006, ProjeKct Six (Fripp and Adrian Belew) played at select venues on the east coast of the U.S.,[47] opening for Porcupine Tree. In the same year, Fripp contributed to two songs fromPorcupine Tree'sFear of a Blank Planet ("Way Out of Here" and "Nil Recurring"). Fripp also sporadically performed as an opening act for Porcupine Tree on various tours from 2006 through 2009.
In 2008, Fripp collaborated withTheo Travis on an album of guitar and flute-or-saxophone duets called 'Thread', and the duo played a brief English tour in 2009 (repeating the collaboration with theFollow album in 2012). Also in 2009, Fripp played a concert with the bandthe Humans (which consists of his wifeToyah Willcox,Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong), appeared onJudy Dyble'sTalking With Strangers (along with Pat Mastelotto and others) and played on two tracks onJakko Jakszyk's albumThe Bruised Romantic Glee Club. In 2010, Fripp contributed a guitar solo to an extended version of the song 'Heathen Child' byGrinderman, released as a B-side on the 'Super Heathen Child' single.
In 2021, the ambient/electronica album Leviathan was released. Fripp produced it and played guitar, in collaboration with BritishEDM DuoThe Grid.[citation needed]
In May 2011, Jakko Jakszyk, Robert Fripp and Mel Collins releasedA Scarcity of Miracles: A King Crimson ProjeKct on the Panegyric label. The album also featured contributions by Tony Levin and Gavin Harrison, leading to speculation that the project was a dry run for a new King Crimson lineup.
In an interview published 3 August 2012, Fripp stated that he had retired from working as a professional musician, citing long-standing differences withUniversal Music Group and stating that working within the music industry had become "a joyless exercise in futility".[48][49] This retirement proved to be short-lived, only lasting as long as it took to come to a settlement with UMG.
In his online diary entry for 6 September 2013, Fripp announced the return of King Crimson as a seven-piece unit with "four Englishmen and three Americans". The new lineup was Fripp, Levin, both Mastelotto and Harrison on drums, returning 1970s band member Mel Collins and two new members:Jakko Jakszyk as singer and second guitarist, and Bill Rieflin as a third drummer.[50] This version of the band went on tour in 2014 and 2015 with a setlist reworking and reconfiguring the band's 1960s and 1970s material (plus songs fromA Scarcity of Miracles and new compositions). In early 2016, it was announced that formerLemon Trees/Noel Gallagher drummer Jeremy Stacey would substitute for Rieflin on that year's tour while the latter was on sabbatical. King Crimson continued touring as a seven- or eight-piece unit with Stacey as a permanent member on drums and keyboards, plus Rieflin (when available) on keyboards and "fairy dusting" until 2021. Rieflin last played with Crimson in 2018; he died 24 March 2020.[51]
During the early years of King Crimson (1968–74), Fripp used twoGibson Les Paul guitars from 1957 and 1959. The '57 guitar featured three humbucker pick-ups (with one volume control on the pickguard controlling the middle pick-up). In the band's 1980s era, he favoured Roland GR-303 & GR-808 guitars for both straight guitar and synth control. In subsequent years, Fripp has used customized Les Paul-style guitars byTokai, 48th St Custom, andFernandes.
A signature model named for the guitarist (Crimson Guitars Robert Fripp Signature)[52] featuresFernandes Sustainer and MIDI pickups with a Les Paul-style body. A significant difference from the Gibson Les Paul is that the signature model is built using adeep set neck tenon rather than a traditional set neck.
Fripp recommended that Guitar Craft students adopt theOvation 1867 Legendsteel-string acoustic guitar.[53][54] "Fripp liked the way the Ovation 1867 fitted against his body, which made it possible for him to assume the right-arm picking position he had developed using electric guitars over the years; on deeper-bodied guitars, the Frippian arm position is impossible without uncomfortable contortions", according to Tamm.[53] While the 1867 Legend is no longer manufactured, it influenced the design of the Guitar Craft Pro Model of Guitar Craft Guitars, which has been endorsed by Fripp.[55]
Fripp began playing guitar at the age of eleven.[56] When he started, he wastone deaf and had no rhythmic sense, weaknesses which led him later to comment that "Music so wishes to be heard that it sometimes calls on unlikely characters to give it voice."[57] He was also naturally left-handed but opted to play the guitar right-handed.[58]
While being taught guitar basics by his teacher Don Strike,[59][60] Fripp began to develop the technique ofcrosspicking, which became one of his specialities.[59] Fripp teaches crosspicking to his students in Guitar Craft.[61]
In 1985, Fripp began using a tuning he called "New Standard Tuning"[62] (C2-G2-D3-A3-E4-G4), which would also become popularised in Guitar Craft.[63]
Fripp's guitar technique, unlike most rock guitarists of his era, is not blues-based but rather influenced byavant-garde jazz andEuropean classical music. He combines rapidalternate picking and crosspicking with motifs employingwhole-tone ordiminished pitch structures and extendedsixteenth-note patterns inmoto perpetuo.[62]
Rather than stand when performing, he seats himself on a stool (unusual for a performer in rock music), and by doing so was called in a May 1974 issue ofGuitar Player "the guitarist who sits on stage".[64]
Fripp married singer and actressToyah Willcox on 16 May 1986 inPoole.[65] From December 1987 until July 1999 they lived at and renovatedReddish House, the former home ofCecil Beaton, in the village ofBroad Chalke in Wiltshire.[66][67]
Fripp previously lived at Thornhill Cottage, Holt, Dorset (1971–1980) and Fernhill House,Witchampton (1980–1987).[68] After Reddish House, the couple lived atEvershot Old Mansion (1999–2001). They then moved to their present home inPershore, Worcestershire.[68][69] The couple have no children and have arranged their will so as to leave their assets to the establishment of a musical educational trust for children.[70]
Fripp is the patron of the Seattle Circle Guitar School in the United States and the Shallal Dance Theatre inPenzance.[36] He also has had engagements as amotivational speaker, often at events with his sister Patricia,[71] who is akeynote speaker and speech coach.[72]
Alfie Fripp, the last of the "39ers", shot down by theLuftwaffe and then held in 12 different POW camps duringWorld War II, was his uncle.[73]
Fripp is apescetarian.[74]Nevill Drury details inMusic for Inner Space: Techniques for Meditation & Visualisation that Fripp was interested in theHermetic Qabalah,Wicca,German Renaissance philosopherParacelsus, andGeorge Gurdjieff viaJ. G. Bennett.[75]
During theCOVID-19 lockdowns, Fripp and Willcox uploaded many short, humorous videos toYouTube,[76] usually covers of well-known songs, and mostly titledToyah and Robert's Sunday Lunch. According to rock and metal news websiteMetalSucks, their stories about these covers were extremely popular; their cover ofMetallica's "Enter Sandman" was the site's sixth-most popular story that year.[77] The duo toured the UK in 2023, performing theSunday Lunch songs in concert.[78]
Asteroid81947 Fripp, discovered byMarc Buie atCerro Tololo in 2000, was named in his honour.[79] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 18 May 2019 (M.P.C. 114955).[80]
Fripp is ranked 62nd onRolling Stone magazine's 2011 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, having been ranked 42nd byDavid Fricke on its 2003 list.[81][82] Tied withAndrés Segovia, he is ranked 47th onGibson's Top 50 guitarists of all time.[83]
In 1992, Fripp and producer/online content developer David Singleton co-foundedDiscipline Global Mobile (DGM) as anindependent music label. DGM releases music by Fripp, KC, related acts, and other artists in CDs and in downloadable files. A 1998Billboard profile stated that DGM had ten staff-members inSalisbury (England) and Los Angeles (USA). DGM has an aim "to be a model of ethical business in an industry founded on exploitation, oiled by deceit, riven with theft and fueled by greed."[84] DGM insists that its artists retain all copyrights; consequently, even DGM's "knotwork" corporate-logo(pictured above) is owned by its designer, Steve Ball;[85][86] the "knotwork" logo appeared earlier on the cover of later versions of theDiscipline album. DGM's aims were called "exemplary" by BillMartin (1997), who wrote that "Fripp has done something very important for the possibilities of experimental music" in creating DGM, which "has played a major role in creating favorable conditions for" King Crimson.[87]
DGM publishes an on-line diary by Fripp, who often comments on performances and on relations with fans. A moderated forum allows fans to ask questions or to leave comments. Together, Fripp's diary and the fan forum display delayed dialogs in which Fripp and fans discuss diary-entries and forum-postings.[88]
In 2009, Fripp released a statement claiming thatEMI & Sanctuary Universal had uploaded music to various music stores without his consent, stating "NONE of these downloads were licensed, authorised or legitimised. that is, every single download of any KC track represents copyright violation. or, to use one syllable instead of seven, theft."[89]
In 2011, Fripp complained that the streaming serviceGrooveshark continued to stream his music despite his having delivered repeatedtakedown notices. Fripp and Grooveshark's correspondence was published byDigital Music News[90][91][92] and in his diaries, which appear on the website of Discipline Global Mobile.[88][93]
Fripp's published exchange was included in a suit against Grooveshark byUniversal Music Group, which was filed in November 2011.[90][94] UMG cited internal documents revealing that Grooveshark employees uploaded thousands of illegal copies of UMG-owned recordings.[94] Fripp had previous experience protecting his music in litigation with music companies.[95]
Fripp has stated that he believes "Unauthorised streaming or MP3 giveaways – it amounts to the same thing – copyright theft."[96]
Fripp has been extremely active as a recording musician and a producer. He has contributed to more than 700 official releases. The Robert Fripp Discography Summary, compiled by John Relph, also lists 120 compilations and 315 unauthorised releases (such asbootlegs). This means that more than 1100 releases (including both official and unofficial ones, as well as both studio and live recordings) can be found with Fripp participating. Studio releases are listed here.
Indeed, such an analysis can explain why new post-progressive artists (e.g. Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp)
Nowadays I accept that, properly put, I am a fishetarian...
Robert Fripp's official website -robertfripp.com (2024)
Discipline Global Mobile (DGM) -DGM Live is a small, mobile, independent music company that aspires to Intelligence. Founded by Robert Fripp and David Singleton in 1992, its website is the home of all RF music, tour dates, diaries, news, as well as King Crimson's, among other related artists, groups, and initiatives.
Guitar Craft & The Guitar Circle -Home Robert Fripp describes his work as Founder of Guitar Craft, and director of the associated seminars on four continents since 1985, as his 'proper work in life'. The GC website is the online home of the living history of GC, news, GC Aphorisms, and RF writings, including new yet unpublished ones.
