September 17, 2018

Episode 43: Dave Weigel / King Crimson

2 hours 21 minutes

Scot and Jeff discuss King Crimson with Dave Weigel, political reporter for the Washington Post.

Introducing the Band:

Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Dave Weigel. He is a political reporter for the Washington Post, writer of the new campaign newsletter, The Trailer, and author of the recent book The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock. Follow him on Twitter @daveweigel.

Dave’s Music Pick: King Crimson:

This week the gang softly sings three lullabies in an ancient tongue on Political Beats as they enter the court of King Crimson, the first true ‘high progressive’ act covered by the podcast. And they couldn’t have a better guest for the journey than the one who joins them today, Dave Weigel (@daveweigel). Dave isn’t just a national politics reporter for the Washington Post, he’s a man who loves prog so much that he recently wrote a book about it called The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock. Buy it!

But first, come join us as we travel through the career of the most fearless, most stubbornly mutagenic progressive act of them all. King Crimson never sold as many albums as its three “major” Seventies prog confreres (Genesis, Yes, and ELP), but they had a more lasting influence on later artists than all of them and have outlasted all comers as a band, still touring and making relevant music to this day in 2018. Since setting the tone for an entire genre of music with their 1969 debut album (and immediately collapsing, something which would become a ongoing theme), Crimson have gone through at least seven different iterations, wild shifts in musical approaches, and have cycled personnel in and out of the group with only one constant: the restlessly visionary guitarist and bandleader Robert Fripp. The gang are men with an aim this week: we somehow manage to get through the entire scope of KC’s majestic career in under 2 & ½ hours, which is frankly a miracle given that this isn’t merely Dave’s favorite band, it’s one of Jeff’s as well. Long live the Crimson King.

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