DEFINE THIS MAN WITH JUST ONE WORD.
Fripp has recounted his encounter with Jimi Hendrix multiple times. He claims Hendrix was “jumping up and down at his table, saying “This is the best band in the world!”” when he saw King Crimson on May 14, 1969, at the Revolution club in London. “Shake my left hand, man, it’s nearer to my heart,” Hendrix stated to Fripp after the performance, “dressed in white with his right arm in a sling.” But there’s a problem with this tale. On May 14, 1969, Jimi Hendrix was not in the UK. He was in New York City and had jammed at the Record Plant all day. Currently, I believe that
Hendrix and Fripp never ever met, and Fripp deliberately made the entire story up to seem nice. The most cynical explanation is this one, although it contradicts a lot of our knowledge about Fripp. Lying through his teeth is not one of his many flaws. Generally speaking, over the years, his candor with fellow musicians and the media has gotten him into a lot of problems. Thus, I don’t think so. Fripp recalls it as a real experience even though it was a dream. The sight of Hendrix, dressed in white and with his arm in a sling, appearing to be handing the grail to the young Fripp along with a friendly greeting and a handshake has a surreal quality. I believe it is feasible.
Hendrix and Fripp did really meet, although Fripp later misremembered the time and location. Based on Hendrix’s and Fripp’s own chronologies, it appears impossible that they could have met in May 1969. However, Hendrix was in town at the Record Plant on November 21, 1969, when King Crimson played the Fillmore East in New York City, and it’s probable that Hendrix met Fripp that evening. But because the band’s fame was soaring on May 14 and Fripp’s 23rd birthday was just two days away, he has moved the recollection back to the band’s more thrilling early days. As a result, I find it improbable that Fripp is deliberately and totally lying. That is the most naive and cynical thing.
The renowned guitarist Robert Fripp, well known for his work with King Crimson, has never met the famed guitarist Jimi Hendrix, at least not in any known or recorded occasion. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the rise in popularity of Robert Fripp’s career, while Jimi Hendrix passed tragically in 1970. There is no official record of them meeting, but given how small the music industry is, it’s plausible that they crossed paths at some point.
