Product Description

An informative, insightful guide to the secret mechanics that power the mysterious music of King Crimson. It is generously illustrated with photographs and musical notation diagrams. This is a scholastic yet accessible work. Andrew Keeling's credentials as composer and academic are impeccable. He holds a PhD from the University of Manchester and has works published by Faber in the UK and PRB in the USA. His musical compositions have been performed, recorded and broadcast throughout the world. This guide takes you through all the complexities of the music, stripping away layer after layer to reveal the inner workings of the exquisite machinery of harmony, counterpoint and rhythm that, seemingly so effortlessly, go together to make: In The Court Of The Crimson King.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #278252 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 146 pages

Review
The guide is stunning, an exemplary piece of work. It sets a standard in the field. --Robert Fripp

Comprehensive and authoratative --Sid Smith

About the Author
Andrew Keeling's association with King Crimson goes back to 1969 when he first heard In the Court of the Crimson King. He is a composer and musician living in the North of England and has a PhD from the University of Manchester. His orchestrations of Robert Fripp's Soundscapes were performed by the Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam in 2003 and, as a flautist, he has recently formed an improvisation duo with former King Crimson violinist David Cross.

Customer Reviews

An observation on an observation by King Crimson
This is a much overdue little book; no one can deny that 'In the Court of the Crimson King' was a ground breaking album, perhaps overlooked on its release, but certainly had a marked effect on many bands, Genesis, Yes, the list goes on and the thoughts of musician Andrew Keeling makes for an interesting read. Mr. Keeling certainly knows his onions in terms of music and some non-musicians may find some chapters somewhat alienating, but it's nice to have them all the same.

It has present day interviews (albeit, somewhat scant affairs) from some members of the initial King Crimson line up, looks at the period it was made and the background to the 5 songs on the album. If I was to have a critical view of the book, it skims over the use and the background of the mellotron- this is rather unusual, as the mellotron is fairly widely used on this album, infact a more mellotron soaked album is hard to think of, so to not acknowledge it in more detail is to leave a bit of a gap in the book for me. It also uses the phrase zeitgeist rather more frequently than necessary and has a fairly humourless feel to it, but given the subject matter, I think we can expect a lack of belly laughs.

All in all, a good effort, and if you are a fan of In the Court of the Crimson King (or ITCOTCK as Andrew sensibly calls it), then this is well worth investigating. I doubt it will be around in print for too long. I look forward to his thoughts on In the Wake of Poseidon and Larks Tongues in Aspic (we can expect them to be termed ITWOP and LTIA respectively!)