1982 noticed the primary of two collaborative albums between The Police guitarist Andy Summers and King Crimson legend Robert Fripp. 

I Advance Masked – which was adopted two years later in 1984 by Bewitched – ultimately made the US Billboard charts, however the challenge was initially met with scepticism by some near the 2 guitarists.

In an interview within the new print version of Prog journal, Summers and Fripp look again on how the challenge got here to be, and the way it enabled every of them to discover new musical territory.

“Working inside King Crimson, my musical focus turned more and more outlined and specialised,” Fripp says. “So what made Summers and Fripp work is that Andy was extra capable of transfer to me than I used to be to him.”

Summers concurs that the challenge labored as a result of he and Fripp had been “disparate” guitar gamers.

“My greatest affect was jazz,” he says. “Rising up, I used to be listening to folks like Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell and Jimmy Raney. And I performed classical guitar for years, so I used to be very schooled in harmonics.

“Robert and I are very disparate gamers. He ain’t gonna play the blues with you. He’s actually good at enjoying these [sorts] of polyrhythmic strains. I’d by no means heard anyone else play fairly like that. So I regarded his multi-rhythmic strains because the bones of the skeleton, and my perform was to placed on the flesh.”

Regardless of the pair’s budding musical chemistry, label executives weren’t anticipating large issues from an instrumental guitar album.

“A&M, who the Police had been promoting trillions of data for, didn’t need me to do it in any respect,” Summers reveals. “However they didn’t wish to piss me off, as a result of I had an excessive amount of energy at that time.

“Robert and I had been each well-known guitar gamers in our respective teams, so I assumed there’d be lots of curiosity in it. Then it went into the High 60 within the US Billboard charts, so I used to be proper all alongside. It was an actual type of fuck-you to the report firm.”

Take heed to I Advance Masked’s title monitor under:

In different information, Robert Fripp suffered a latest coronary heart assault whereas on tour in Italy. Whereas on the mend, in traditional Fripp fashion, he humorously quipped: “I used to be in A&E not figuring out what was occurring – and an orderly got here alongside and shaved my balls!”