Bill Bruford on Union, Crimson '92, Earthworks Mk. I and much more

[Innerviews]

Bill Bruford revisited on Innerviews: I just posted a new version of my 1992 Bruford interview, with lots of period photos. Earthworks featuring Django Bates and Iain Ballamy was still intact. The Yes Union band was crumbling. King Crimson had announced Jerry Marotta was its drummer for a forthcoming reunion (as it turned out, Bruford did end up in the lineup). Electronic drums remained misunderstood. It yielded some very interesting, enlightening, witty commentary. There is some absolutely brilliant discussion on the imbalance between rock stars and jazz musicians too.

As for me, this took place during my early college years. I still couldn't believe the interview was happening, as it was happening. I ended up traveling across town in a van with Bill to a hotel to do the interview, during which we talked about the state of the music industry and what he then saw as the decline of record stores (and that was in 1992!). I was still capable of being starstruck then, but I somehow maintained my composure. Reading back, it remains very interesting, to say the least. This is one of my favorites.

Enjoy.....

http://innerviews.org/inner/bruford.html

[ScottAM]

Thanks, it's a great read after a couple of decades have passed. Must have been thrilling to interview Bill at that young age. He always tells it like he sees it, including the reasons for being in Yes again, his feelings about Squire, etc... His comments about Fripp toward the end of the interview are a good chuckle, too. As an American, I don't feel I really "get" Bill in terms of seeing the world as he does, but I sure get a kick out of listening to him!

Peace,
Scott

[Innerviews]

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a BIG moment for me. Thought I was nervous as f--- I sort of proved to myself that I *can* handle doing this. :-)

[grego]

Great interview, thanks for sharing!

[trurl]

Excellent!

[aith01]

Yes, thanks very much for posting that! It was an enlightening read.

And now I'm inspired to go check out Earthworks, as for some reason I haven't yet!

[arabicadabra]

Stunning comments on Squire - and funny. Thanks for sharing.

[JJ88]

Very good archival interview- good questions and remarkably honest answers.

[martiprog]

Good old Bruford. Definitely a man who speaks his mind - and I like that! Great interview, even after 2 decades have passed. I guess we know a few guys who won't feature on his xmas card list yet again this year.

[Zeuhlmate]

Read his autobiography: http://www.theguardian.com/books/200...bruford-review

[gallen1964]

Terrific interview. Very forward thinking to where he is now too. I love Chris Squire but almost every note of The Fish is choreographed as previously and I guess that isn't where BB ever wants to be.

[Dedatolo]

it's fair to say that there was another interview some years later where Anil remembered Bill the "harsh" words on Belew and he said "you caught me on a bad day...", I believe there is a strong bond between the two.

[happytheman]

Gotta love Bill.... Great interview..

[GuitarGeek]

Terrific interview. Very forward thinking to where he is now too. I love Chris Squire but almost every note of The Fish is choreographed as previously and I guess that isn't where BB ever wants to be.

That's because Bruford is basically a jazz musician, or at least, he comes from the jazz tradition of playing the music differently every time. I've got some of the unedited footage that was used in the Yesyears video back in the early 90's, including one of his interviews (specifically the one where he talks about Yes lifting the theme music from The Big Country and The Big Valley). There's a point where he mentions that he considers himself a jazz musician, but keeps getting dragged back into "the world of rock n roll" (or however he phrased it) for financial purposes, I guess much for the reasons described in this interview.

Anyhow, the point is, I think he's always preferred the jazz attitude that you should be able to improvise and change the music around and be free to do something different than what's on the record. And of course, if you're a drummer, you need a bass player with a similar attitude, and obviously, Squire ain't the guy.

I remember one time Bruford saying one of the reasons he left Yes was he "was tired of waiting around for Chris Squire". There's one story about how when they were recording Close To The Edge, Squire and Eddie Offord were having a conversation about what the bass should sound like, I guess about EQ or whatever. Bruford's sitting on the couch in the control room and falls asleep. By Bill's estimation, he woke up something like an hour later, and Chris and Eddie were still talking about bass EQ.

And then there's all the stories about Squire constantly being late for gigs, recording sessions, rehearsals. Supposedly, the reason they call him The Fish is because his excuse was always "I was taking a bath".

[zravkapt]

I remember one time Bruford saying one of the reasons he left Yes was he "was tired of waiting around for Chris Squire". There's one story about how when they were recording Close To The Edge, Squire and Eddie Offord were having a conversation about what the bass should sound like, I guess about EQ or whatever. Bruford's sitting on the couch in the control room and falls asleep. By Bill's estimation, he woke up something like an hour later, and Chris and Eddie were still talking about bass EQ.

I remember reading an interview with Bruford where he said (paraphrasing here): "In Yes everyone would sit around and vote whether the bass should be in G or not; with Crimson there was less talking and more playing."

[Paulrus]

I remember reading an interview with Bruford where he said (paraphrasing here): "In Yes everyone would sit around and vote whether the bass should be in G or not; with Crimson there was less talking and more playing."

To take the other side, while it's easy for Bill to bash Chris and co. for taking a long time to come up with the arrangements they did, I don't recall King Crimson ever producing a "Close to the Edge" either. Not that one band is better than the other -- they're just different. I wish Bill would sometimes look at it that way. Yes was obviously not his cup of tea in the long run, but he also never really gives credit to the fact that perhaps it required that kind of painstaking effort and attention to detail to produce what few bands outside of Yes have managed to deliver over the years.

[Dave (in MA)]

Interesting. This was after it was known that the '90s Crim was getting together, but before Bruford horned his way back in. From BB's Timeline

1993 A life-line appears, once again, in the shape of Robert Fripp, talking, very conditionally, about a new King Crimson. This is something Bill feels he needs, and the urgency of his December letter to Fripp, flattering, and accepting of all conditions, communicates that need to his old partner. Accordingly, a K.C. of some description will meet in the New Year at Bill’s house.
1994 As part of the pre-nuptial agreement with Fripp, Bill renounces both EG Management, whom he promises to leave, and any pretence towards artistic democracy in the group, and Crimson, now a “double trio”, duly de-camps to Woodstock, New York, to record an E.P., “Vroom”.
...
In November, the full scale “Thrak” is recorded at Real World, back in the UK. An abysmal headphone mix tests the musicians’ professionalism, but the CD gets made

[No Pride]

Good interview, I liked it!

Read his autobiography

I liked that too! Among other things, it's almost a handbook for the professional musician. He's a real straight shooter; what's not to like?!

[schizoidman]

Great interview. Thanks! Been a BB fan since Fragile was released. The Bruford's Earthworks double live CD "Footloose and Fancy Free" is great. One of the few albums to get a 5 star review from Downbeat when it was first released. Check it out :-)

[GuitarGeek]

Interesting. This was after it was known that the '90s Crim was getting together, but before Bruford horned his way back in. From BB's Timeline

From what I recall at the time it was first announced, the double trio was originally to have I think Jerry Marotta and Pat Mastelletto on drums. I might be wrong about Pat, but I do remember that when I first saw it mentioned in, I think, Rolling Stone, Bill was the only member of the 80's quartet not given as the "new" lineup.

I think retrospectively, Fripp has said that the reason Bruford wasn't involved initially was because Bill was still managed by EG (with whom Fripp was in the middle of a massive legal dispute). I think the day that Bill's contract with EG was the day he officially became part of the double trio.

[GuitarGeek]

I don't recall King Crimson ever producing a "Close to the Edge" either.

Meaning what? An intricately written piece of music with indecipherable lyrics? I would say things like Larks Tongues I and II, Fracture (well, it's an instrumental, so there are no lyrics) and Starless come pretty close. And then there's things like Lizard, and the longer pieces on Islands...

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

Meaning what? An intricately written piece of music with indecipherable lyrics? I would say things like Larks Tongues I and II, Fracture (well, it's an instrumental, so there are no lyrics) and Starless come pretty close. And then there's things like Lizard, and the longer pieces on Islands...

definitely!

I don't get all the drooling over CTTE really... there are so many better Prog epics out there. For me, CTTE is just slightly above average stuff... but then, one man's trash I guess

[calyx]

For all its formal magnificence, I think the music on "Close To The Edge" ultimately rises to excellence because these five musicians/artists came together in perfect harmony and mastery of their art to create a whole that was much bigger than the sum of its parts. It's a rare occurrence when all five members are equally indispensible to the success of an artistic endeavour, and this is such a case, to a much greater degree than any other Yes album imho, although parts of "Fragile" (esp. "Heart Of The Sunrise") had come close.

[Dave (in MA)]

From what I recall at the time it was first announced, the double trio was originally to have I think Jerry Marotta and Pat Mastelletto on drums.

My recollection was that the whole double trio thing was a Fripp concoction once Bruford had convinced Fripp to bring him back into KC.

[elliottnow]

While Bill disliked the process of creating CTTE, he certainly has praised the outcome, repeatedly, over the years.