The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
The bottom line
King Crimson bassist is happy to do a bit of this and that
There are many great bassists in rock ’n’ roll history, but there’s only one Tony Levin. A bald maestro of progressive rock for half a century, the imaginative bassist — in addition to recording and touring with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson — appeared on albums by Paul Simon, John Lennon, David Bowie and dozens of others.
Once you’ve seen Levin in action, you never forget his funk fingers, which are modified drumsticks he invented to slap the bass strings.
Levin is touring with prog-rock giant King Crimson, which appears Sept. 1 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica.
The News-Herald recently talked with him about his memories of filming “One-Trick Pony” in Cleveland, the return of King Crimson and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Q
What do you remember about filming Paul Simon’s 1980 film “One-Trick Pony” in Cleveland?
A
That goes back a ways. I was in Paul’s band when he asked if we wanted to be in the movie. We said why not? I love the (Cleveland) area, I love the lovely Agora downtown (which burned down in 1984). I loved the whole experience. It was really fun pretending to play in the club that I had played many times. I thought it was appropriate because Cleveland is such a home of rock ’n’ roll. Also, it was interesting Paul had written in a scene with the then pretty unknown band The B-52s as the headliner. The juxtaposition of the two kinds of music and the way the audience who liked the other band better was funny and an amusing part of the movie.
Q
Speaking of musical juxtapositions, you’ve seen many genres come and go over the years. Did you ever have a fear of being passed by?
A
Sometimes I’m sort of a little bit in the front, like in progressive rock being with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson. And sometimes I’m late catching on, sometimes I never catch on. I don’t worry about it. I don’t need to be on top of every style. I think someone who is doing a very current style that I don’t do is unlikely to ask me to be in their band or play on their record. And if they do, then I’m more than happy to learn. One that comes to mind is the guitar player named Head — a wonderful
guy, Brian Welch. He asked me to be on his solo album in the nu-metal style, which I had not played before. We spent a lot of days just getting my sound together. I had to experiment with different strings and lower tuning. It was an exciting thing even though I knew I’m not going to use that particular sound and those elements much after that but it was a learning experience. As a musician, especially a bass player to kind of use the instrument, I’m always open to becoming a better player, better musician and learning new things.
Q
While appearing on more than 500 albums, you’re most closely associated with
working with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson. How did those relationships start?
A
I always consider myself lucky to play with these amazing players, who do push me musically — and that’s a good thing. That came about in 1976, when I was called to play on Peter Gabriel’s first solo album. On that same day, I met Peter and Robert Fripp, who was playing guitar on the record. I’m still involved personally and musically with both of them, so I was lucky with that. Subsequent to that, I toured with Peter and Robert. I had a good connection musically with Robert before he decided in 1981 to start a new (version of King
Crimson) with Adrian Belew and Bill Bruford. It was really a huge challenge for me. Each of these other three players was an iconic player on their instrument in the genre of progressive rock. I hadn’t played much progressive rock except for with Peter Gabriel, so it was a learning experience. I just tried to up my game to somewhat deserve to be on the stage with these other players.
Q
What can you tell us about the current King Crimson tour?
A
The current lineup of seven players with three drummers is a new idea.