"So Why In 1974, Returning From Life On The Road Since 1969, Did I Wish To Leave It Behind? Because It

"So why in 1974, returning from life on the road since 1969, did I wish to leave it behind? Because it was utterly mad. Utterly mad. You can say to the other members of the band, 'Come on, this is mad.' And they say, 'But we're going to be as successful as Pink Floyd in Europe next year," which is also true. My concern was that the creative impulse is acting through KC. The actual behaviour, the actual life of the band was going to go off course. It hadn't gone off course but it was being set up to do that."

"I suggested [Ian McDonald to replace me] to David Enthoven, whose comment was 'We're not interested in King Crimson without you'. So at that point I let go of it. I called up Bill and John and said it's over. This is not a discussion. For me there was nothing to discuss: I was going and I'd done what I could to keep it going."

~ Robert Fripp

"The confidence level after Central Park was phenomenal both from band and public. When I came back and we started recording Red I was full of optimism."

"I think some people are as wary of success as they are of failure. There were two of us champing at the bit to make the band as successful as possible because we could see what was possible, what we could do. What was on the horizon for us was really close and tangible. And one third of the band was going 'hang on a minute'.

"The more popular the band is, the less control there is. There you have a fairly big factor in the demise of the band. It's a pity because the chemistry was incredible. Ian McDonald was tantalisingly close to rejoining or at least touring with the band and that would have been the icing on the cake for me."

~ John Wetton

"John tended to say that after Central Park and making Red we were on the way up and the next thing would've been fantastic. Me? I have no idea. I wasn't looking that far ahead. I was just trying to get through Red, which was hard work. I think we were all exhausted. None of us had any idea how tiring all this was... I think Robert had spotted this that Crimson was not the kind of band that should go on and on. We would've inevitably blown up had it carried on."

"I look back on it now with a great deal of fondness. It's very easy with this distance and all this scholarly enquiry to nit-pick but we should not forget that it was a blast! It was, excuse the language, fucking great!"

~ Bill Bruford