King Crimson and Musician Talk

I'm taking the plunge. A big plunge. What is this plunge, you're probably not asking. Well, King Crimson, progressive rock stalwart band, has released a series of multi-format box sets of material covering their entire career. These aren't $40, four-CD box sets, either. We're talking many, many discs (CD, DVD, and Blu-ray) and at least a buck-and-a-half for each. Well, most of them, anyway. This onslaught of box sets began in 2012, or earlier, to some, and has continued until a couple of months ago. I'm just now jumping in buying them. It took that long to decide to do it. And there was another factor prodding me to pull these triggers - selling stuff on eBay, which I've been doing pretty well with the last couple of weeks.

About these box sets - so far, there are six. Some would say seven and count the five-CD, one-DVD box of "In the Court of the Crimson King," which came out in 2009. I don't count that one - simply because the additional material in the box doesn't really warrant a purchase. If you have the 40th anniversary CD/DVD package that came out around the same time, and the "Epitaph" set from 1997, I think you've pretty much got it. There might be a few other tidbits, and I'm sure the art and box are top-notch (I saw it once after release but don't remember much about it), but unless you absolutely, absolutely have to have everything from the KC canon, I wouldn't consider that purchase essential. The box is also out of print now and goes for a considerable amount.

The six box sets (in order of release) are "Larks' Tongues in Aspic," "Starless," "The Road to Red," "On (and Off) The Road," "ThrakBox," and "The Sailors' Tales." Each one is a smorgasbord of Crimson studio and live recordings, some with high fidelity, some with fidelity leaving you confused as to what's  going on....but it's all there. These boxes are pretty obviously the last word on King Crimson. They're emptying the vaults. And why not?

So, I've taken the plunge. This morning, I received the "Larks' Tongues" box and the "Starless" and "The Road to Red" boxes are on their way. I'm sure I'll order the others soon enough. Amazon had the "Larks' Tongues" box at a substantial discount, and I got a discount for ordering the two others at ImportCDs. I could have gotten "The Sailors' Tales" at that discount as well, but I also wanted to eat this week. These are going to be the largest recorded music purchases I've ever made, I'm pretty sure. Even Frank Zappa's vault stuff hasn't come up to this amount yet. I also have a feeling I'll never pay this much for music ever again.

For King Crimson and what it stands for, I'll do it. "What it stands for." There's a loaded phrase. There's not enough adventure in music, certainly these days, and not very often "back then." It's tough to find music that's truly inspirational, but maybe I'm just an odd duck in that realm. I'm not a person much impressed by "rock stars." I don't go out of my way to have my picture taken with someone I've admired in music, and I certainly don't try to dress like the more popular of the musicians in my world. I'm lucky if I remember to wear pants. All I've really cared about is music itself, not its sometime attendant "coolness" or whatever fashion stuck to it. As a person who's much shyer than it may seem, I like the fact that I'm communicating with people watching the show, even if what I'm doing just amounts to pounding some drums. What I took from the whole "punk rock revolution" was just the stripping away of any artifice between performer and audience; I love to tease audience members, make eye contact and mess with them, and certainly mess with expected norms in playing. Just as an example of that, in joining the Hickoids, I have an opportunity to play "Take It Easy" by the Eagles Hickoids-style. As someone who does not like the Eagles, that's great, period. I love to fuck that up as much as possible. Conversely, we've recently been doing "China Grove" by the Doobie Brothers. I actually like "China Grove." Not ashamed to admit it. We play it a little faster, but that's about it. I'm pretty sure the other guys in the band hate that song, too. God, I love playing in this band. Come to think of it, that's the best thing about playing in the Hickoids, true adventure. The wide range of stuff we do is a hell of a lot more than the "cowpunk" label the band got after beginning in the 80s. Never a boring moment.

Sometimes, in slower moments, I've wondered a lot about people's taste in music and why it is so limited at times. I feel lucky that I can say I like more music than I dislike. Yes, I dislike the Eagles, but I can admit to liking some of Don Henley's solo stuff. I don't like the Velvet Underground, but that is mostly limited to the early Moe Tucker-on-drums stuff. The songs are fine, it's the way they're played that gets on my nerves. As a drummer looking for inspiration, why would I want to hear someone pound the same one-two beat for an entire song (well, maybe as a joke)? I like to do a little more than that, at least, and I'd like to hear a drummer do more than that, too. I guess I'm not much of a subscriber to the minimalist theory. Minimalism is fine at times, but a lot of times, I'm sure it's because the "artist" couldn't do anymore, anyway. (I'm sure I'm thought of as something of a snob by a lot of my bandmates.)

I play with one fellow now who, I'm pretty sure, bases most of his musical likes on a certain amount of coolness he feels in liking that music. In other words, music made by people with a lot of mythos behind them. I find that odd, and strangely mentally unhealthy. I can safely say I've liked what I've liked because I've liked it and not because I'd get any coolness brownie points from liking said music. Maybe I was just raised to be honest with myself, but then I can't say that's always been the case. With music, maybe. I like a lot of stuff that most of the musicians I run with completely abhor: Steely Dan, Uriah Heep, Rush, for example. But then we'll have a lot of common ground, as well. I've always felt that if you get four guys together who have the same taste in music, you'll end up with a very boring band. Don't let that happen to your band. Don't put that ad on Craigslist that says "Bassist wanted for band. Must like Tool." Get some people who like stuff you hate. Even the Eagles.

Let's have some adventure! I feel inspired....

EDIT: (4/27/2018) I received the sixth of these multi-disc sets today. Went a little haywire this week, but several of these were out of print. Thought I'd better grab them now. Hope I can sell a drum set soon!