Something of a treat for John Wetton fans. Common practice within the King Crimson rehearsal room was that Fripp would play a motif or a theme to which the others would come up with their own approaches and responses that would perhaps help develop the idea further.
A more collective approach, it’s not without its risks. Sometimes it doesn’t work and in one or two cases it’s led players into a creative cut de sac. However, in this instance faced with the fast lines Fripp was offering, Wetton’s response was this deep, funk-laden response, bouncing and skimming off the guitar parts and the groove laid down by Bruford.
Wetton had several passes at this part and this is Take 16. Heard in isolation, it’s a little disorientating but it shows just how individual and imaginative John’s playing was. In what is already a busy piece of music, what do you do to add weight and dynamics without getting in way of way? This extract shows John’s approach to solving that particular question.
