Another former member of King Crimson has passed away: drummer Ian Wallace, who was part of the same Islands-era lineup as the recently departed Boz Burrell. I'll refer you to the post I wrote on Burrell's passing for specifics of that band's trying times and lasting legacy.
Wallace, who succumbed to esophageal cancer on Thursday, provided a deep groove and a marked sense of humor to that particularly strange, underappreciated version of the band. He went on to play with Bob Dylan (Street Legal, At Budokan), Don Henley (I Can't Stand Still, Building the Perfect Beast), Stevie Nicks (Wild Heart), Roy Orbison (Mystery Girl) and many others.
More recently, he replaced founding Crimson drummer Michael Giles in the Crimson alumni group 21st Century Schizoid Band, which is where I finally got to hear him play live at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in 2004. That show was a remarkable experience: a chance to hear King Crimson material that the current version of the band no longer plays -- "21st Century Schizoid Man," "The Court of the Crimson King," "Epitaph," "Cirkus," "Formentara Lady," "Ladies of the Road" -- performed by some of the people who originally created it. The two shows at B.B. King's are boiled down on Pictures of a City, a two-CD live set released last year.
Robert Fripp has posted about Wallace's passing on his diary at DGMLive.com. A longer excerpt from Wallace's own tribute to Burrell has also been posted there, and you can also download free MP3s of Wallace's loony bit of stage patter, "My Hobby," and a burning version of "The Sailor's Tale," both from the band's remarkable Summit Studios show of March 12, 1972. (The full show is available on CD as the ninth volume from the King Crimson Collector's Club.)
Wallace is also remembered on the 21st Century Schizoid Band website, and in a passionate post on the blog of that band's singer-guitarist, Jakko Jakszyk. Original King Crimson lyricist Peter Sinfield has posted a poem dedicated to Wallace. The painful struggle of his final days are candidly recounted by his wife, Margie, on Wallace's own web diary. Condolences to her, and to all whose lives were touched by this musician.
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