Greg Lake Pg. 1

  

1947 - 1949

Gregory Stuart Lake was born on November 10, 1947, in Poole, Dorset, England, and grew up in nearby Bournemouth. His father worked as an engineer, while his mother encouraged his early interest in music. Although the family lived modestly, their home was filled with records and radio broadcasts, exposing Greg to a wide variety of music from an early age.

The 1950s

As postwar Britain embraced American rock and roll, young Greg became captivated by artists such as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Chuck Berry. Before long, he was asking for a guitar of his own. His first instrument was inexpensive and difficult to play, but it was enough to ignite a lifelong passion.

Music quickly became the center of Greg's world. He attended Oakdale Junior School before moving on to Bournemouth School, where his academic studies increasingly took a back seat to his growing fascination with the guitar. He spent hours learning songs by ear, practicing chords, and developing a smooth singing voice that friends soon recognized as unusually expressive.

One of the most important influences on his musical development came from local guitar teacher Don Strike. Strike was highly respected around Bournemouth, and many aspiring young musicians sought him out for lessons. Among his students was another teenage guitarist named Robert Fripp.

Greg and Robert quickly became friends. Because they were learning from the same instructor, they often practiced together outside their lessons, comparing techniques and encouraging each other to improve. Years later, Greg joked that they "each knew what the other knew" because Don Strike had taught them both. Neither teenager could have imagined that those afternoons with guitars would eventually help shape the future of progressive rock.

By the end of the decade, Greg had become a capable guitarist with an increasingly confident singing voice. Although he had occasionally picked up a bass guitar, he thought of himself first and foremost as a guitarist, a fact that would make one of the biggest decisions of his career all the more surprising a few years later.

The 1960s

As the British music scene exploded during the early 1960s, Greg immersed himself in every opportunity to perform. He played with several local bands around Bournemouth, gradually building a reputation as both a dependable guitarist and a strong vocalist. Dance halls, youth clubs, and small venues became his classroom, teaching him how to entertain audiences while exposing him to everything from rock and roll and rhythm and blues to soul, blues, folk, and jazz.

Among his earliest notable groups were The Shame and later The Gods. Although neither band achieved major commercial success, they provided Greg with invaluable professional experience and introduced him to other ambitious young musicians determined to make careers in music.

Throughout the decade, Greg remained close friends with Robert Fripp. While their musical interests overlapped, their personalities were strikingly different. Fripp approached music analytically, constantly searching for new structures and techniques. Greg was drawn more naturally toward melody, songwriting, and emotionally expressive singing. Those contrasting strengths would eventually complement one another perfectly.

In 1968, Fripp telephoned Greg with an unusual proposal. He was assembling a new band that would push rock music far beyond its traditional boundaries, and he wanted Greg to become its lead singer and bassist. There was only one complication.

Greg considered himself a guitarist. Fripp already intended to handle the guitar work himself, however, and believed Greg's voice was exactly what the new group required. Rather than viewing the bass as a step backward, Greg saw an opportunity to help create something completely original. He accepted the offer, setting aside his preference for guitar in favor of joining what would soon become King Crimson.

The decision changed his life almost immediately. King Crimson quickly developed a reputation as one of Britain's most adventurous new bands, blending rock with classical influences, jazz improvisation, and complex compositions unlike anything then on the charts. Greg's rich baritone voice provided a powerful emotional balance to Fripp's intricate guitar work and Ian McDonald's imaginative arrangements.

The band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, released in October 1969, is now regarded as one of the foundational recordings of progressive rock. Greg's performances on "21st Century Schizoid Man," "Epitaph," and the majestic title track established him as one of the most distinctive new voices in British rock.

Only months after forming, King Crimson appeared before an enormous audience at the Rolling Stones' free concert in Hyde Park. The performance exposed the young band to hundreds of thousands of listeners and confirmed that Greg had joined one of the most talked-about groups in Britain.

Yet almost as quickly as King Crimson had risen, cracks began to appear. Fripp increasingly favored a more experimental direction, while Greg preferred songs built around melody and strong vocals. Their friendship remained intact, but their musical visions were beginning to diverge.

By the close of 1969, Greg made another career-defining decision. Despite having just recorded one of progressive rock's most influential albums, he chose to leave King Crimson. Walking away from a band receiving worldwide acclaim seemed risky, but Greg believed his next opportunity would allow him to contribute even more as both a songwriter and a singer.

He had no way of knowing that his next band would become one of the biggest supergroups of the 1970s.

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