The one song that changed Robert Fripp’s life: “The turnaround”
Robert Fripp is now a prog-rock icon, but as a teenager, this seemed like an impossible dream for the musician, who found himself accepting a life of mundanity.
As much as he adored music from a young age, he acknowledged that it looked destined to be a weekend hobby with friends in the backroom of a pub rather than a career. The chances of earning enough money from the music industry seemed unlikely, and instead, following his father’s footsteps in the family business beckoned.
His father, Arthur Fripp, ran an estate agency, and it was drilled into him that one day it would be his. Fripp wasn’t excited by the idea of a corporate future, but he accepted that it was significantly more obtainable than forming a successful rock band.
Ahead of starting King Crimson in 1968, Fripp was ready to enrol in Estate Management, a course that would have provided him with the necessary qualifications for the 9-5 life. He’d already left his first band, The Ravens, to focus on his previous studies at Bournemouth College before getting the bug for music once more and playing in the Majestic Dance Orchestra.
At the back of his mind, Fripp always knew that this wasn’t the life that he wanted to lead, and it took until hearing one song by The Beatles for him to turn his back on the family trade. Within an instant, his mind had been made up, and from Fripp’s perspective, there was no going back to college to pursue somebody else’s dream.
In a documentary, he explained this seismic life-changing moment: “When I first started playing guitar, which was December 25th, 1957, when my parents bought me a very cheap guitar for Christmas, almost immediately I knew this guitar was going to be my life. One night, coming back from college, I think it was, I turned on Radio Luxembourg, and it was late. I had no idea who it was, and it was actually Sgt. Pepper.”
“That incredible wind-up at the end of ‘A Day In The Life’, it terrified me. Shortly afterwards, I was listening to it all at once,” he added. Fripp then listed albums by John Mayall and The Bluebreakers, Béla Bartók, Antonín Dvořák and Jimi Hendrix as other vital influences upon him at that stage in his life, which helped him with his decision.
‘A Day In The Life’ touched him deeply and forced him to question the choices that lay ahead. In that moment, Fripp knew that he was prepared to at least attempt to follow his dreams, even if it all ended in tears. The idea of allowing himself to ignore his ambition to do a job merely to appease his family was no longer a sacrifice he was willing to make.
Fripp added, “Although all of the dialects were different, the voice was the same. And at that time, I couldn’t say no. This one night where ‘A Day In The Life’ galvanised me was really the turnaround, I knew I couldn’t go to the College of Estate Management in South Kensington. One of 200 men and four women taking a degree in Estate Management.”
Rather than becoming another number on a corporate course, Fripp followed his heart and chased his goal. While this decision could have backfired, and the guitarist may have apologetically re-enrolled in South Kensington, ‘A Day In The Life’ was his sign to pursue his true love.
Even if it all ended in disaster, at least he would have been able to proudly say he gave it his best shot with his head held high. Thankfully, it was the first page of a beautiful book which is still being written today.
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