KING CRIMSON - "ELEPHANT TALK" (reaction) 

You can really tell that Robert Fripp was having a great time. He almost even smiled!

Robert Fripp, one of the most underrated guitarists/composers of all time.

Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, and Bill Bruford. Three of my very favorite musicians. Excellent song.

Love this iteration of King Crimson. The depth and breadth of the creativity still astounds me. And don't get me started on the musicianship...

Brouhaha. Balderdash. Ballyhoo! Frame by Frame is the next track on the Discipline album and it is perfect. Belew shines. Peace from Toronto!

Know those crazy guitar-parts from Bowies song Fashion? That`s the same guy sitting playing guitar right here. The one and only Robert Fripp. This was the new King Crimson (with only Fripp and B.Bruford on drums from the last 70s lineup) with this new art rock wave with Talking Heads and Devo type of style. Tony Levin on the stick came from Peter Gabriels band and to top it of Adrian Belew joined them. He started hes careeer with Zappa and then toured with Bowie and Talking Heads. He was a member of KC from 1981 to 2005.

If you want to see Adrian Belew sing try "City of Tiny Lights" by Zappa, he does a great lead vocal on that

They were such an eclectic group, you gotta love the disciplined Fripp in his suit & tie sitting on his stool doing his meticulous picking while Belew was making elephant noises with his guitar, Tony Levin king of bass and Bill Bruford doing his thing on drums. It still miss John Wetton's vocals though from their '70s incarnation.

One of the very best Crimson albums. Check out, from the same album, "Frame by frame" and "Mate kudesai", and anything else, really.

I'm lucky enough to be acquainted with Adrian.I've met him a few times,a very nice guy.

Yes, this is Adrian Belew who played the guitar solo on "Born Under Punches" - he had quite a run he went from playing with Zappa to David Bowie to Talking Heads to King Crimson to Tom Tom Club (I'm sure there's more) - also, the story of him being recruited by David Bowie while still in Zappa's band is funny: "David, trying to be cordial, motioned to me and said, 'Quite a guitar player you have here Frank,'" Belew remembers. "And Frank said, 'F- you, Captain Tom.'"

Fripp and Eno go way back, and I’ve come to think of this version of King Crimson as Fripp’s response to Eno’s version of the Talking Heads. A prog supergroup version of the Heads.

That whole TV show intro is probably what keeps this from being blocked. This song was an opportunity for Belew to use his guitar elephant impression. He especially used his guitar to create animal sounds on his own albums - eg. "Ballet for a Blue Whale", "The Lone Rhinoceros". If you were wondering about Robert Fripp's weird guitar solo sound, and that stand next to Belew with knobs he was twisting, they both had Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer pickups installed in their guitars. Actually this song was fairly straight forward compared to some songs like "Frame By Frame", where each guitar played repeating guitar parts of differing lengths which would line up with each other after a certain number of repetitions.

Fantastic performance! I don't remember ever seeing Fripp smile this much. Usually not at all.

This is probably requested off a tv show because King Crimson block virtually everything

Adrian sings on his own solo records, and in the band "The Bears" (as well as another few places, too). When he got the gig with Fripp when Crimso re-formed after their 1974 break, it was a big deal. Indeed, Tony Levin is playing The Stick, aka Chapman Stick. Good catch!

OMG guys!!! I am old enough to have been very excited about this appearance,loved this show, but also, I taped this on VHS! Great performance, and Adrian is a local kid done well from my low cal. (side note) As an avid NPR listener, whenever I hear an add for "Babble" my brain just runs down, on auto pilot,...Babble, burble, banter, bicker bicker bicker, brouhaha, boulder dash, ballyhoo. Thanks

I love the fact that each verse of this song has words that start with a different letter. A,B,C,D then finally E.

legends: Robert fripp gitar, Bill Bruford drums, Tony Levin bass!

I hope you guys realize that's Bill Bruford on drums. He left Yes about 7 years before this, right after touring the Close To The Edge album (the live performances caught on the Yessongs album and film). During the years between those bands one if his gigs was touring with Genesis as their 2nd drummer, as Peter Gabriel had left Genesis around the same time, and his singing duties precluded Phil Collins from playing drums except on instrumentals.

Yep !! Adrian Belew

Adrian Belew was "discovered" by Frank Zappa in a bar in Texas. Toured with him for a year and a half (1977-1978) before his services was procured by David Bowie for whom he toured between 1978-1979. He then recorded and later toured with Talking Heads during their Fear Of Music Tour (1979-1980). He then was approached by Robert Fripp who was forming a band that initially was named Discipline but after two or three live appearances was rechristened King Crimson. As a member of King Crimson, Belew stayed from 1981-2013. In between different KC projects Belew began his solo career as well as doing studio work with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Clubs, Laurie Anderson; among other artists.

All musicians here are masters of their craft, and in their prime, making this one of the greatest supergroup lineups of all time.. Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford on drums, and Tony Levin on bass.. unbelievable! Discipline, Beat, and Three Of a Perfect Pair are 3 amazing albums they released..

From that album as a musician myself, "Indiscipline" is the most intriguing

Oh man I remember seeing this back when it originally aired. Seeing King Crimson on television is like a unicorn sighting. I saw KC in the 90s and could not believe the sounds I heard coming from Adrian Belew's guitar. What a great memory. Thanks for checking this out.

Sweet👍. Yup, King Crimson, Talking Heads, TheThe, Big Audio Dynamite and B52s was my mid 80s. Until someone said 'hey, listen to this Joe's Garage thing😀

Oh man - that was frickin' awesome. I had never heard that one or seen that live performance. Sounds like a cross between Talking Heads and Primus.

Yes!! Adrian Belew

Tony Levin has played with everyone!!! From all the super groups to totally unknowns! He is a god!!!

For those that aren't familiar with Fridays, it was an SNL clone that ran on ABC for three seasons starting in 1983. Larry David, Rich Hall, and Michael Richards were among the cast members. Their musical guests were generally edgier and more adventurous than SNL's (which then were practically avant garde compared to what SNL features today).

Discipline! Never saw this before, thank you.

Love King Crimson, one of my fav groups. Tony Levin is brilliant on the Chapman stick. Adrian Belew, ex zappa on guitar and vocals and the awesome Robert Fripp on guitar, one of my fav guitarists. He's also married to Toyah Wilcox, who i mentioned on your own video earlier

So cool to see some more Adrian Belew (pink suite singer playing strat) on the channel, He's easily in the top 10 of my favorite musicians. He is a guitar tone genius and a wonderful songwriter. Most of his older solo work is very easy to get into, he wrote a lot of 'pop' music that reminds me a lot of what The Beatles might have written. Some of his great solo work that I love is: Lone Rhinoceros 1967 Men In Helicopters Birds Big Blue Sun One Of Those Days Coconuts The War In The Gulf Between Us Looking For A U.F.O.

love this track, love this album, never seen this live version before. incredible! thanks so much, y'all!

I don't see any love given to Bill Bruford, thus far in the comments. One of my top 5 rock drummers. Yes, Belew playing in country band, gets seen and stolen by Zappa. Gets seen and stolen by Bowie. Then Talking Heads. Then Crimson, simultaneous with solo albums. He actually has a voice that sounds like John Lennon's, when he sings softly. This is the third "relevant" incarnation of Crimson. West African rhythm painting the scapes, much like Talking Heads around '79-'81. Then there were other King Crimsons, after this. Well worth exploring.

Adrian is the second guitarist onstage with FZ on the live Muffin Man vid you all watched. Got his start with Frank

Tony Levin on the Chapman Stick, Robert Fripp on the other lead guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, and yes of course the amazing Adrian Belew on guitar and vocals. This is probably my favorite incarnation of King Crimson but several other configurations are also excellent. I just got to see the current version at the Greek Theater in LA a few weeks ago (Tony Levin and Fripp are in this version along with several others but sadly no Bruford or Belew. This version has three (count 'em) drummers! Excellent show with pristine sound but it was a bit short (two opening acts). If you get the opportunity, see them before they call it quits.

Yep, AB. I almost went to see him a couple years back. I've watched this performance dozens of times. To me, this is the most interesting era of KC.

Fuck yes what a groove... Bolderdash!!! Great channel great music Keep well

Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair, and THRAK were all early to mid 80s albums that featured this line-up. When you get to Indiscipline you'll see the current line-up.

That's Robert Fripp's guitar line on Talking Heads "I Zimbra" on the "Fear Of Music" album. You guys would def dig the KC stuff. I'm more of an 80's fan (also with Zappa), but that's a never ending debate amongst fans.. Cool stuff. Love your reactions ! I'll be seeing the current incarnation of Fripp's KC in a few weeks. If you guys can get tix, the show is amazing. They'll be up your way after here in Philly I believe.

Opening up the King Crimson box is like opening up the Zappa or Tool box. Have fun.

This needs to be remastered into hi-fi quality; we need to hear EVERYTHING of this masterpiece

That's Adrian Belew on vocals & guitar who is another Zappa alum (City Of Tiny Lights) ✌❤🤘

One of my favorite tunes by later King Crimson 😎

Very excited to see them again this coming week. I had the pleasure of seeing this incarnation of Crimson at the time. Great clip - they even got a smile out of Fripp - the ultimate backseat driver of rock and roll.

Yes, it's Belew in the pink suit. Tony Levin on the Chapman Stick. Fripp on the far right looking like an accountant. Bill Bruford on the drums. I fortunately got to see this same "Discipline" tour with the reformed King Crimson at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. It was a small venue, so no problem seeing absolutely everything from about 15 feet away.

Adrian indeed (Heads, Bowie, Zappa, Crimson) - Bill Bruford (Yes, UK, Crimson, Gong) - Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, Liquid Tension exp [Dream Theater offspring] - Robert Fripp (KC)

What a voice on Dinosaur. !!! Happy with what you have to be happy with and the whole eyes wide open .

Right on the Adrian Belew and the Chapman Stick comments. The glue of King Crimson is the black suited gentleman Robert Fripp. I see from the other comments that they pointed out Bill Bruford (you could set your watch to his precision drumming), Tony Levin who has appeared either on tour or in the studio with Peter Gabriel, musician.

This is full of legends. I've seen the drummer Burford many times. He is on at least 1/2 of the Yessongs live album

Love her comment about the level these gentlemen had taken their instrument playing too! I’ve played the Chapman Stick for 23 year’s now and it was refreshing to hear someone KNOW it’s name AND you also knew it predated the Warr guitar. 😅 Great job - both of you!

40 years plus ago, King Crimson was 20 years ahead of their time. Fripp was sitting there playing a Roland Synth Guitar, Levin was playing a 10 string Chapman Stick ( he played bass and stick for Peter Gabriel) (Levin met Fripp working for Gabriel) Bruford was one of the first drummers to play Simmons Electronic Drums and he was the drummer for Yes and he was one of the original Genesis drummers and thus was introduced to Fripp via Gabriel who was the original Genesis singer. Belew in this song was on an old Strat but also played a Roland setup. He was introduced to Fripp via David Bowie who Fripp played for and did Bowie's production. If you want to see and hear what King Crimson became, I suggest,,,, King Crimson - Indiscipline - Live in Mexico City (here on YT)

Wow-great song! Was just listing to Discipline today

Yes that was Adrian Belew. He also toured with Zappa on sheik yourbouti.which was also around this time. He sang city of tiny lights, tryin to grow a chin and others.

OMG! Whatever that was, it was amazing.

I watched this and looked forward to Fridays. So many years ago, wow.

It's Adrian Belew allrigth! The 2nd guitar rocking hard on your F.Z. Muffing Man live Reaction. K. Crimson had a bunch of line-ups along the years, each one defining a singular musical and sound experiences. PLS REACT TO old LARKS' TONGUE IN ASPIC - PART TWO

I turn 65 tomorrow. Glad to see KC lighting up some youngsters. The talent on that stage has DNA that goes MILES...

Love the Belew solo after double talk. That is a literal screaming guitar.

From this lineup came the origins of math Rock. It also inspired bands like Primus and Tool.

I remember going nuts listening to this song/Album. So funky & elegant .... Like nothing I had ever heard before! Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, Bill Buford and Adrian Belew...what a fantastic band!

The "Discipline" era KC might be the most musically talented quartet to ever record. Recorded 3 albums and they added two other musicians for THRAK.

This era of King Crimson, especially this particular track is the prog eqivlant of taking you to the middle of the deepest ocean and just dumping you there whether you can swim or not. Definitely an aquired taste for many people. Took me time to work up to more extreme progressive music like this but my god are there some gems from this era Crimson.

I think the show told Fripp to smile. Not something he would typically do on stage. I'm glad there was a video by KC that wouldn't get blocked. Also, you might want to check out Belew's playing with Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" has some really cool guitar work.

Adrian sing the song City of Tiny Lights in Franks band

Tony Levin on Chapman Stik, It is Belew on Elephent Sounds and Robert Fripp on the founding guitar as a note Fripp used an elbow and toured with Talking Heads on Stop Making Sense

Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp (guitars) , Tony Levin (bass, Chapman-stick), Bill Bruford (drums) .... this album was pretty revolutionary. This song though is kinda like Talking Heads; but maybe nice to check out more of the album "Discipline"

Adrian Belew, up front guitarist and vocals, and FZ alumni {-

Fridays, I remember that show, pretty funny

It's funny to picture the audience... expecting to hear "music"... then they get blasted with this. Not something they would soon forget I'm sure. peace.

I saw King Crimson in 1983. With this lineup. One of the best shows we ever saw

I love all King Crimson lineups, but this is my favourite from my favourite period in time. And yes, Michael Richards and Larry David were on the show. Larry had a crazy bald-fro. DEVO's performance on this show was also stellar. I recommend it; it's on RU-vid.

You are correct sir. That is Adrian belew! Along with Robert Fripp the Crimson King himself. Tony Levin on Chapman Stick and the incomparable bill bruford on drums

King Crimson where and still are an amazing Band. They play with a new line up these days. This line up is Tony Levin on Bass ,Robert Fripp Guitar, Bill Bruford , and yes Adrian is on Guitar. This Band was very Experimental and very innovating. This is why Frank Zappa and the calibre of Frank Zappa’s musicianship would grab Adrian Belew as a guitarist. Tony Levin Has been playing bass with Peter Gabriel for years as well as many others. Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford Have stayed quiet and done their own sort of projects. Adrian Belew is a monster he has played with Talking Heads Frank Zappa and many others has he’s own Power Trio and soon as he strums that guitar you know it’s him . Very unique. Love the Band.

Olius of Sunhillow by Jon Anderson from Yes

Awesome.

This performance on the short lived Fridays is classic! Crimson also did Thela Hun Ginjeet on the show which is as fantastic as this performance of Elephant Talk. Adrian Belew...yep! Tony Levin playing a Chapman Stick....yep! Michael Richards on Fridays....yep!

Adrian Belew was in King Crimson, Talking Heads, Zappa's band, David Bowie's band, and Peter Gabriel's band. As well as hi own solo projects! And more! I would love to here more reactions to King Crimson w/ Adrian Belew in the early 21st century incarnations. Thanks you guys

King Crimson had been the pioneers of avante garde progressive rock for over a decade by then, so it kind of made sense to have someone like Adrian ( Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson) fronting the band in their 80s line-up. As we all know, the real mad scientist behind their strange, dissonant sound is Robert Fripp, the gentleman who looks like an anthropology professor, sitting in the far corner, He plays like a patient Karate master, cutting hard shapes and angles on the fretboard and using the exact right amount of energy to split the board, Lol...he played on several David Bowie and Peter Gabriel releases.( go figure) and can be counted on to always deliver something new.

Four (at least at that time) masters. Bill Bruford, (Yes/Genesis), Tony Levin (1000 Long Players he can be heard on, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Paul Simon, etc), Adrian Belew (Zappa, Bowie Talking Heads...) and the master mind/composer Robert Fripp (he is in fact King Crimson, played in Bowie albums with Perter Gabriel etc). And it's fucking 40 years ago, I was 17 then and they blew me away!

Adrian Belew does an outstanding job with David Bowie in a 1977 video of "Stay".

I watched your music video earlier. I love it.

Adrian Belew rules!!! More Zappa and Crimson!!! Thanks for your videos, guys. Hi from Argentina.

Adrian Belew on vox/guitar. He played with David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, King Crimson and more. He and Tony Levin, who has done extensive work with Peter Gabriel as well, are musical giants that are unsung...except for the proof in the pudding of their music. So great to see you get into this. The last song King Crimson put out in their earlier incarnations was "Starless" from their "Red" album, 1974. WE WAITED SEVEN YEARS AND KING CRIMSON REFORMED! With Bruford, Belew, and Levin. Stunning line-up. The ALSO did this number, which was the first time I got to hear what the new King Crimson sounded like, on Saturday Night Live, back in Dec. '81. Belew also did a lot of solo albums. And, when he played with Zappa he played with Steve Vai. Imagine: Zappa/Vai/Belew. I got to see that band line-up live at Pauly Pavilion, UCLA. Adrian Belew was wearing a hardhat with a red flashing light like an old cop-car would have on top. A year or two later I saw King Crimson for their advance tour of the album "Beat". It was absolute HEAVEN for those of us who grew up with the earlier incarnations of King Crimson! Blessings. Oh...almost forgot. Emmit Chapman invented the Chapman Stick that Tony Levin has made the best use of by any musician. The guy has played with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson for years. Many others too. I saw Emmit Chapman do a concert showing off his Chapman Stick. The crowd was yelling out "play Birds of Fire, maaan!", a Mahavishnu Orchestra song you must get to some day. But he played the most haunting and incredible version of "Waltzing Matilda". Captivating. Second Blessings.

More King Crimson. Good review

"Adrian Belew reinvented the guitar" - Frank Zappa

She could not look more bored while watching Crimson’s performance. Please don’t tell me she liked it!!

Ok... I'm going to brag a little bit here... I have to...In 2004 I organized a 45 hour long improvisation here in Italy (150 musicians alternating instruments but the musical flow never stopping... not even for one second...)...and I paid Tony Levin to come and play during the 45 hours. (My good friend Willie Oteri had just made an album with Tony and we lucked out...he was available and he loves Italy) ...anyways...yeah...that guy playing the stick...the guy that worked for John Lennon ,Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Liquid Tension Experiment, King Crimson, Cindy Lauper... and I think maybe even Yes...he also worked for little ol' ME...for 45 hours. At one point during my show he played sitting cross-legged...it was at the end of a 5 and a half hour run that he did playing during the 45 hours... a magical moment that I will never forget. NOTE: I don't talk very much about this, and I wouldn't blame people for thinking this is a fantasy I created... I googled it. (45 hours tony levin padova) and I found this quote that I acually didn't know existed until just now...T. L.: I’ve got a lot of projects that want to be done, but time only permits me to work on a few. (And sometimes these few take far longer than I would wish.) As I write this, I’m hard at work on a solo album, this one will feature lyrics and singing in addition to bass playing, and it’s taking me a lot longer to write and record than any of my previous albums. I’m midway through volume two of Crimson Chronicles - a photo journal of my years in King Crimson. I have a rough plan for another book, which I’d like to get done in the next few years. And, there’s even a half finished painting of my father (he passed away last year) on an easel in my studio, waiting for my attention for the hard part - finishing it off. The main obstacle to my finishing these things, and more, is that when I get called for an interesting tour or record playing the bass, it always takes precedence over what I’ve been working on. I guess that’s because playing the bass with other musicians is my favorite thing to do. (Recently, though I was intensely working on my music, I couldn’t resist taking a break to travel to Italy and participate in a 45 hour non-stop jam session in Padova!)

Dig the album. Peace on earth.

Aside from the Da Da, I believe Primus was heavily influenced by Zappa and the music of King Crimson. I'm looking forward to "seeing" Sight After Dark react to Primus songs like Tommy the Cat and Wynona's Big Brown Beaver. The bass player, Les Claypool, is incredible.

Their Discipline album is great.

From the 1980s Fripp/Belew/Levin/Bruford incarnation of KC, I recommend 'Frame by Frame,' 'Indiscipline,' 'The Sheltering Sky,' 'Neal and Jack and Me,' 'Sartori in Tangier,' 'Waiting Man,' 'Nuages (That Which Passes, Passes Like Clouds),' and especially 'Industry,' a dark instrumental that seems to be musically describing the growth of industry, more and more factories polluting the sky. Also, 'Entry of the Crims,' a live instrumental with them walking on stage--major guitar WAILING by Belew and Fripp! Not to be missed!

Now, that's music, everything else is ... small talk

Check out his solo work "Oh Daddy" for one and his collaboration with David Bowie "Pretty Pink Rose".

You should check out, "Walking On Air", remastered "Cat Food", "Starless and Bible Black", "Indiscipline" live in Mexico.

Adrian Belew's solo album, "Lone Rhinoceros", is completely excellent. Its first single had a weird, early video, called "Big Electric Cat", and it abso-lutely groooooves.

You are playing all my favorite bands. Great jobb. Have you done anything of Leprous. If not i can recomend Running low (the official video)🤘

Fripp played on some of the Talking Heads LPs

Here are the lyrics: Talk, it's only talk Arguments, agreements, advice, answers Articulate announcements It's only talk Talk, it's only talk Babble, burble, banter, bicker, bicker, bicker Brouhaha, balderdash, ballyhoo It's only talk Backtalk Talk, talk, talk, it's only talk Comments, clichés, commentary, controversy Chatter, chit-chat, chit-chat, chit-chat Conversation, contradiction, criticism It's only talk Cheap talk Talk, it's all rhetoric Debates, discussions These are words with a D this time Dialogue, duologue, diatribe Dissention, declamation Double-talk, double-talk Talk, it's all talk Too much talk Small talk Talk that trash Expressions, editorials, explanations, exclamations, exaggerations It's all talk Elephant talk, elephant talk, elephant talk