=-> Quoting MICHAEL DOYLE to STUART DUBOIS:
 MD> Fripp also claims "to have found Greg Lake sweeping up in a washroom,
 MD> and singing."  He liked his voice, and also claims to have taught him
 MD> "everything he knows about the guitar & bass."
   Hmmm... where did these quotes come from?  That's interesting because
 Greg Lake was a fairly accomplished acoustic guitarist and singer when
 he joined King Crimson.  They liked his voice, but they needed a bass
 player.  Since Fripp was the incumbent - a founding member and a better
 guitarist - Greg Lake played bass.  I don't know if he had played bass
 before, but even if he hadn't, I'm sure he could probably find his way
 around on it.  Quite possibly Fripp helped him - they did after all,
 share a flat together for a while in 1969.
   A couple of years later Fripp certainly taught Boz Burrell how to
 play bass, but I would have thought that Greg Lake had a better natural
 grasp of the instrument to start with.  Hmmmm....
 MD> Perhaps the anal retentive needed to be surrounded by puppets?  Hence
 MD> the title "In the Court of the Crimson King"?
   Well, first of all I'd agree that Robert Fripp is certainly a powerful
 personality, but I honestly don't think he was out to surround himself 
 with puppets.  He was far more concerned with making great music.
   As an example, in Dec. 1969, Mike Giles and Ian McDonald announced 
 their decision to leave the group partly because they wanted to go in 
 a different musical direction and they didn't feel it was possible
 within the context of King Crimson.  Robert Fripp has said that he 
 believed in the band itself, and particularly in the strength of the
 other musicians to such an extent that he offered to leave instead if
 it would keep the group together!
   Secondly, as for the name, it was actually lyricist Pete Sinfield who
 coined the term, `King Crimson'.  He was apparently trying to invent a
 synonym for `Beelzebub' - the devil.  It does not refer to Fripp at all.  
 The title of that song (and first album), refers to the court of Satan.
   Thirdly, I'm not quite sure why you would refer to Fripp as an `anal
 retentive'.  That's a pretty derogatory term that's usually reserved
 for people who are uptight in the extreme.  I don't see Fripp as being
 that uptight.  Certainly he's a bit eccentric and an awkward person to
 work with.  However, I think that `anal retentive' is both innaccurate
 and too negative a term for a man who has created some amazing music,
 and inspired a number of other incredible musicians to great heights 
 of creativity!
 MD> Anywho, I think Fripp grew much as a person throughout the 70's &
 MD> 80's; got the control-freak think under control .
   Hmmm.... I don't see him as a control freak either.  I think he's
 very interested and concerned with the whole process of creating great
 music and as I said, that's bound to make him difficult to work with.
 But I don't see him as a `control freak'.  He simply wants to create
 for himself, the right environment and conditions for making the best
 music possible.
   Cheers,
            Martin
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