King Crimson lyricist and roadie Peter Sinfield has died aged 80

Peter Sinfield, King Crimson‘s lyricist, live technical wizard and roadie, died Thursday, November 14. He was 80.

Sinfield’s death was confirmed by Discipline Globally Mobilethe record label founded by King Crimson’s Robert Fripp. No cause of death was given, although the statement did note that Sinfield had “had been in declining health for several years.” A DGM representative did not immediately return calls Rolling stone‘s request for comment.

Sinfield played an important role in the formation and early success of King Crimsonwho acted as copywriter and artistic director, but also provided all kinds of practical help. He found the band’s first rehearsal space in a cafe basement in London and even came up with their name.

“I wanted something very arrogant, so that’s why I wanted the ‘King’ in it, Royalty… because it was a very arrogant band,” Sinfield said Rolling stone in 2019. “The music played was so varied and so smart, I wanted the arrogance to be present in the name.” He added that “Crimson” was “exactly the color you would use if you were painting lots of flames, violent images, and strange, violent creatures.”

Sinfield first became involved with the pre-King Crimson group Giles, Giles and Fripp through his friendship with keyboardist Ian McDonald (he helped write the lyrics to two songs, “I Talk to the Wind” and “Under the Sky”, recorded in 1968). He stuck around as the group morphed into King Crimson and was deeply involved in the creation of their groundbreaking debut album, In the court of the Crimson King. In addition to contributing the lyrics to the album’s five songs, Sinfield famously purchased the cover art from his friend, Barry Godber.

In there Rolling stone During the interview, Sinfield recalled early King Crimson rehearsals and the band’s search for “something heavy.” The main riff of “Schizoid man of the 21st century” was “exactly what we were looking for,” he added, going on to explain how he drew on the chaos of the era and the “violent images” of the Vietnam War for the lyrics.

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Sinfield admitted that he had “absolutely no idea” where the word “schizoid” came from, and that he also had “some knowledge of schizophrenia.” But he said the term “seemed to me like another word for a collective of crazy people. And why ’21st century’? Don’t know; it just sounded better than ’20th century’. It sounded just right: a lot of people went crazy…. It’s a prophecy; it is a kind of foresight. And I would definitely post it in the near future. The world was moving that way.”

Sinfield wrote lyrics, commissioned artwork for and co-produced (with Fripp) King Crimson’s next three albums, 1970s In the wake of Poseidon And Lizard and 1971 Islands. He also joined the band on the road, serving as roadie, lighting operator and sound engineer.

During this short period, however, King Crimson’s lineup and sound began to change, and Sinfield’s personality and creative instincts began to clash with Fripp’s. As he said Uncut in 2014, Fripp worked in a “very strict, concrete, disciplined way,” while Sinfield acknowledged that he was not the “most disciplined of people.” Sinfield also wanted to incorporate a “softer, Ahmad Jamal/Miles Davis-esque feel into the music,” while Fripp wanted something harder and heavier.

“In that situation, you start to become disrespectful to your partner,” Sinfield said. “And this was what happened. I started cutting him off, and he legitimately got tired of it, to the point where he said, “One of us has to go, and I’m not leaving.”

After King Crimson, Sinfield was asked to oversee the early days of another budding act, Roxy Music, who produced their first single, ‘Virginia plain’, And self-titled debut album, both of which arrived in 1972. The following year, Sinfield released his first and only solo album, Stillwhile he published a collection of poetry and lyrics in 1974, Under heaven.

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