King Crimson

 

King Crimson was a rock band founded in Dorset, England in 1969. The band has been labeled as a progressive rock group (prog-rock) but included influences and instrumentation from jazz, folk music, classical and experimental music, psychedelic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, new wave, gamelan, and electronica.

The band has been influential on many contemporary musical artists and has a cult following despite the fact that they had little radio or music video airplay.

Founded by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield, the band initially focused on a dramatic sound layered with Mellotron.

The band's lineup centered on guitarist Robert Fripp, but has changed over the years with 18 musicians and two lyricists. The debut lineup of the band was influential (and well-received by critics) but short-lived, lasting for just over one year. The band was later fronted by Adrian Belew.

In the Court of the Crimson King (subtitled An Observation by King Crimson) is their debut studio album released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records. The album is one of the earliest and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band combined the musical influences that rock music was founded upon with elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music. The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 28 on the US Billboard 200, where it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Barry Godber, a computer programmer friend of Sinfield's, painted the design for the iconic first album cover (shown above). He used his own face, viewed through a mirror, as the model. Godber died shortly after the album's release and it was his only album cover. The original painting is now owned by Robert Fripp.

Several sources (including the band website at http://www.elephant-talk.com) give the band's name origin as coming from the original lyricist Peter Sinfield. Sinfield says, "The name King Crimson was mine. I wanted something like Led Zeppelin, something with a bit of power to it. Anything better than Giles, Giles, and Fripp. King Crimson had arrogance to it."

King Crimson can be considered a synonym for Beelzebub, the prince of demons, which is an anglicized form of the Arabic phrase B'il Sabab. Fripp has said that the Arabic means "the man with an aim" but it literally means "with a cause".

A more common etymology of "Beelzebub" is that it is Hebrew for "Lord of the Flies." In John Milton's Paradise Lost, Beelzebub was Satan's chief lieutenant among the fallen angels. He is often portrayed as a red (crimson) figure and is the King of the Underworld.

ALBUMS

• In the Court of the Crimson King
• In the Wake of Poseidon
• Islands: 40th Anniversary Series
• Red 30th Anniversary Edition Remastered
• Lizard (CD + DVD Audio)
• Larks Tongues in Aspic - 30th Anniversary Edition Remastered

Lynyrd Skynyrd

 Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band, formed in Jacksonville, Florida in the summer of 1964. A group of teenagers, Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington, formed the band and called it "The Noble Five."

The band went through a number of name changes and some personnel changes and were known as "My Backyard" and "The Swampers."

The group won a local Battle of the Bands contest in 1968 and got the opening slot on several Southeast shows for the California-based psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock.

In 1970, Van Zant wanted a new name for the band, and after trying out "One Percent" and "The Noble Five," they settled on "Leonard Skinnerd."

The name was taken from a physical-education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School named Leonard Skinner. Skinner was known for being harsh on boys with long hair. Before they released their first album, they changed the spelling to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The band became prominent in 1973 with the hit song "Free Bird", which received national airplay, eventually reaching #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It has become a rock and roll anthem today.

They achieved worldwide recognition before three members and one road crew member died in an airplane crash in 1977.

The band reformed in 1987 for a reunion tour with lead singer Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother Johnny as the front man. Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to tour and record. Of its original members, only Gary Rossington remained with the band as of 2010. 

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

• Lynyrd Skynyrd - All Time Greatest Hits
• Collector's Edition Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
• Lynyrd Skynyrd
• The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd 
• God & Guns
• Second Helping
• Nuthin' Fancy
• Sweet Home Alabama: The Rockpalast Collection
• Street Survivors
• Gimme Back My Bullets 

3 Musketeers

The 3 Musketeers candy bar was the third brand produced and manufactured by M&M/Mars. It was introduced in 1932. The candy's name played off the popular The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) novel by Alexandre Dumas which had many film and TV adaptations.The candy's name came from the fact that originally it had three pieces in one package: chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. Rising costs and restrictions on sugar during World War II caused the company to eliminate the less popular vanilla and strawberry pieces.

But why were the Three Musketeers called musketeers when they spent all their time using swords? The French word mousquetaire originally referred to an infantryman with a musket. Over time, the word changed its meaning, lost the connection with the weapon, and referred to a much grander person.

At five cents, it was marketed as one of the largest chocolate bars available - one that could be shared by friends. 3 Musketeers was advertised on television on the 1950s-era Howdy Doody Show, along with a song that Buffalo Bob Smith encouraged children to sing.

In the mid-late 1990s, the bar's advertisements featured three men dressed as the legendary Three Musketeers to market the "45% less fat" campaign. The product's original slogan ("Big on Chocolate!") was expanded in these advertisements to "Big on Chocolate, Not on Fat!"

Most recently, the bar has been pitched to women with the tagline that it is a "Nice, Light Snack" which features "45% less fat" than other chocolate bars.

In Europe, the 3 Musketeers brand name was used for the French version of the Curly Wurly candy bar in the 1970s and 1980s. More Euro-confusion comes from the The Milky Way bar (also from the Mars confectionery company). The American version of the Milky Way bar is made of chocolate-malt nougat topped with caramel and covered with milk chocolate. It is very similar to the Mars bar sold in other countries. But the Milky Way bar sold outside the U.S. (UK, for example) is not topped with caramel and is therefore similar to the American 3 Musketeers bar.