Beat (King Crimson album)

Beat
Studio album by King Crimson
Released	June 18, 1982
Recorded	1982
Genre	Progressive rock, post-punk
Length	35:19
Label	E.G. Records Warner Bros./E.G. Virgin Records
Producer	Rhett Davies
King Crimson chronology
Discipline (1981) Beat (1982) Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

Beat is an album by the British rock band King Crimson, released in 1982.

Of King Crimson's thirteen studio albums, this is the only album that does not have a title track, although its title is included in the name of the song "Heartbeat".

The Beat Generation

According to the Trouser Press Record Guide, the album focused on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac.^[3] The album makes several references to the writings of the Beat Generation:

• "Neal and Jack and Me" is the track most obviously inspired by Beat writers. The 'Jack' of the title is Beat writer Jack Kerouac, and the 'Neal' of the title is Kerouac's friend Neal Cassady. The song was released as a b-side to "Heartbeat". The song picks up where the album "Discipline" left off, with interlocking guitars playing in 5/4. Guitars frequently play in polyrhythms with 5/4 over 7/8. Other time signatures in the song are 13/8 and 21/8.
• "Heartbeat" is also the name of the book written by Carolyn Cassady, Neal's wife, about her experiences with the Beats.
• "Sartori [sic] in Tangier" also derives its title from Beat influences including the Jack Kerouac novel Satori in Paris, and the city of Tangier in Morocco, where a number of Beat writers resided and which they often used as a setting for their writing. Writer Paul Bowles was associated with the Beats, and his novel The Sheltering Sky, which provided the title for a track on King Crimson's previous studio album, Discipline, is partly set in Tangier. The song was first released as a b-side to the Heartbeat 12" single in 1982. It is entirely instrumental with the intro performed by Tony Levin on the Chapman Stick.
• "Neurotica" shares its title with Neurotica, a Beat-era magazine.^[4][5]
• "The Howler" refers to the Beat poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg, which Fripp suggested to Belew as inspiration for the lyrics.

Track listing

Lyrics by Adrian Belew, music by Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford, Robert Fripp, and Tony Levin, unless otherwise indicated.

Side one

1. "Neal and Jack and Me" – 4:22
2. "Heartbeat" – 3:54
3. "Sartori in Tangier" – 3:54
4. "Waiting Man" – 4:27

Side two

5. "Neurotica" – 4:48
6. "Two Hands" – 3:23 (lyrics: A.Belew and Margaret Belew / music by A.Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin)
7. "The Howler" – 4:13
8. "Requiem" – 6:48

Credits

• Robert Fripp – guitar, organ, Frippertronics
• Adrian Belew – guitar, vocals
• Tony Levin – bass guitar, Chapman stick, vocals
• Bill Bruford – drums

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1982	Billboard Pop Albums	52

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	"Heartbeat"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	57

In popular culture

The Chapman Stick introduction to "Sartori in Tangier" is featured in the first scene of the premiere of the MTV show The Maxx.

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Rolling Stone review
3. ^ "King Crimson". Trouser Press. http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=king_crimson. Retrieved July 5, 2005. 
4. ^ "Neurotica". Landesmania. http://www.landesmania.com/neurotica.html. Retrieved 2009-03-20. 
5. ^ Chapter 10: Battling the Social Neurosis. University of Chicago Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ti0jsxHJzVMC&pg=PA232&lpg=PA232&dq=Neurotica+magazine&source=bl. Retrieved 2009-03-20. 

External links

• Beat lyrics
• Beat at MusicBrainz