‘You needed to be original’: Greg Lake compares this era to the one that sparked King Crimson

King Crimson’s initial incarnation, sparked by a childhood musical connection between Greg Lake and Robert Fripp, was predicated on trying something new — indicative, Lake says, of an era when standing out was the goal, rather than fitting in.

“We formed this band, and we decided it had to be original,” Lake tells Gibson Guitar. “In those days, the currency was originality. You needed to be original. These days, it’s more like you have to be the same — to fit into some market concept, you know. Then, the idea was: You needed to be different.”

And different, they were. From groundbreaking song structure, to an iconic debut cover image, to their fantastical narratives, King Crimson was like nothing that had come before.

The basic underpinning for all of this experimentation, Lake says, would be unique, as well — at least for the times. King Crimson built off a distinctly European musical foundation of classical, folk and medieval influences.

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