Former drummer Bill Bruford revealed his favorite line-up in King Crimson while talking about his music career in a conversation with Classic Album Review.
Formed in 1968 in London, King Crimson combined many kinds of genres like jazz, heavy metal, classical, and new wave. They were one of the enormous influences on the early progressive rock movement in the 1970s. King Crimson became a cult band at that time. The band’s 1969 debut album ‘In the Court of the Crimson King‘ was created by mixing classical, jazz, and experimental music. According to many, it is the band’s most internationally successful album.
Drummer Bill Bruford started to record and tour with King Crimson in the 1970s. The musician parted ways with the group and spent time with the band he formed for a while. Bruford returned to King Crimson in the 1980s for three years. Later on, he played with the band again between 1994 and 1997.
Bill Bruford revealed that his favorite line-up in King Crimson was the first one in a recent conversation. As Bruford stated, the band’s first album is still incredible and is considered the first progressive rock album. Bill Bruford also said it was an excellent experience to play with Tony Levin, Adrian Belew, and Robert Fripp in the 1980s. They were creating a piece of music addressed to the whole world.
About his favorite line-up, Bruford said:
“Maybe the first one that I wasn’t on because I think there was a fantastic impetus in that first album. A bit like close to edge goes on selling as many today as the day it was born. It’s a huge resonance, and some even labeled it as the first progressive rock record. So I think that was great. But for me, personally, I was a great fan of the 1980s, which was great fun to play with two Americans, Tony Levin and Adrian Belew and Robert, and I thought that we had a nifty little combo there. It was a very exciting time.
In the early ’80s, lots of new things were going on. There was the roman guitar synthesizer, Chapman stick, symbols, and electronic drums. All kinds of things talk about what people used to know as village music which is now known as world music. People like Weather Report were beginning to bring world music into jazz. People like King Crimson were beginning to bring world music into rock. So great time I enjoyed a lot.”
You can watch the entire conversation below.
