Happy birthday, David Cross, born on this day in 1949!

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David Cross (born 23 April 1949 in Turnchapel near Plymouth, England) is an English electric violinist and keyboardist best known for playing with progressive rock band King Crimson from 1972 to 1974.

Cross appeared on the King Crimson studio albums Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1973) and Starless and Bible Black (1974), as well as “Providence”, a live track on Red (1974), in addition to live albums USA (1975) and The Night Watch (recorded 1973, released 1997). Cross also appears on numerous concert recordings from his time in the group that have been released by Robert Fripp‘s Discipline Global Mobile label in the decades since.

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David Cross was voted out of the group after a 1974 tour. He had withdrawn personally from the other musicians over time, and had expressed frustration as his violin was increasingly overwhelmed by the other instruments during live performances.

After his time with King Crimson, David Cross travelled extensively, eventually returning to music through his work in theater. In 1987, he formed an ensemble called Low Flying Aircraft with Keith Tippett on piano. In 1988, he was invited by keyboardist Geoff Serle to join Radius, with whom he has recorded five studio albums.

Since the late 1980s, David Cross has toured and recorded with his own eponymous band (see below).

Over a 30-year period, the group has included saxophonist Pete McPhail, guitarists Paul Clark and Peter Claridge, bassists Simon Murrell, John Dillon (who also sang lead vocals) and Mick Paul, drummers Dan Maurer, Lloyd, Craig Blundell, Pat Garvey, Steve Roberts, and Jack Summerfield. Keyboardists Sheila Maloney and Alex Hall, and lead singers Arch Stanton (Jonathan Casey) and Jinian Wilde. Former King Crimson musicians Robert Fripp, Pat Mastelotto and John Wetton, as well as former Crimson lyricists Peter Sinfield and Richard Palmer-James have all contributed to Cross’s albums.

Prominent session work includes recordings with Clearlight, Jade Warrior and Tony Levin‘s Stick Men (with whom Cross toured).

Recently, Cross has released a series of duo recordings with Robert Fripp, Andrew Keeling, Andrew Booker (of No-Man), David Jackson (formerly of Van der Graaf Generator) and the late Peter Banks (formerly of Yes), the latter two including a full band.

David Cross has composed music for theater and also worked as an actor. He runs his own record label, Noisy Records.

David Cross Band

The David Cross Band was established in 1988/89. The first edition of the group consisted of keyboardist Sheila Maloney, bassist Simon Murrell (soon replaced by bassist & vocalist John Dillon), saxophonist Pete McPhail and drummer Dan Maurer. The longest serving members of the group are guitarist Paul Clark (since 1994) and bassist Mick Paul (since 1995). The David Cross Band have released seven albums that blend elements of progressive rock, heavy metal, classical, ambient, jazz and experimental music.

Discography

With King Crimson

• Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1973)
• Starless and Bible Black (1974)
• Red (1974) (“Providence” as a performer/ co-composer and “Starless” as co-composer)

Live albums

• USA (1975) (recorded in June, 1974)
• The Great Deceiver (1992) (boxed set, 1973–1974)
• The Night Watch (1997) (recorded in November, 1973)

With Robert Fripp

• Starless Starlight (2015)

Solo / David Cross Band

• Memos from Purgatory (1989)
• The Big Picture (1992) (David Cross Band)
• Testing to Destruction (1994) (David Cross Band)
• Exiles (1997) (David Cross Band + guests)
• Closer Than Skin (2005) (David Cross Band)
• Alive in the Underworld (2008) (David Cross Band)
• Sign of the Crow (2016) (David Cross Band)
• Crossing the Tracks (2018)
• Ice Blue, Silver Sky (2023) (David Cross Band)

With Naomi Maki

• Unbounded (2006)

With Radius

• Arc Measuring (1988)
• Sightseeing (1989)
• Elevation (1992)
• There Is No Peace (1995)
• Civilisations (2000)

With Andrew Keeling

• English Sun (2009)
• October Is Marigold (2021)

Collaborations

• The Butterfly Ball (With Rod Edwards and Roger Hand) (1975)
• Clearlight: Forever Blowing Bubbles (1975)
• Paul Egan: Island of Dreams (1978)
• Shock Headed Peters: Life Extinguisher EP (1986)
• Low Flying Aircraft: Low Flying Aircraft (1987)
• Danielle Dax: Blast The Human Flower (1990)
• Jade Warrior: Distant Echoes (1993)
• Rime of the Ancient Sampler: A Mellotron Compilation (1993)
• Joe Hisaishi: Chijou no Rakuen (1994)
• Stick Men + featuring David Cross: Midori (2016)
• David Cross and Sean Quinn: Cold Sky Blue (2016)
• David Cross and David Jackson: Another Day (2018)
• David Cross and Andrew Booker: Ends Meeting (2018)
• David Cross and Peter Banks: Crossover (2020)

Browse in the Library:

King Crimson – USA (1975) FULL ALBUM

Side one: Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part II 0:00 Lament 7:03 Exiles 11:22

Side two: Asbury Park 18:45 Easy Money 25:59 21st Century Schizoid Man 32:39

Personnel

King Crimson

David Cross – violin, viola, Mellotron, Hohner Pianet
Robert Fripp – electric guitar, Mellotron, Hohner Pianet
John Wetton – bass guitar, vocals
Bill Bruford – drums, percussion

USA is a live album by the English progressive rock band King Crimson, released in April 1975, some seven months after this incarnation had disbanded.

It was recorded at the Casino, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States on 28 June 1974, except for “21st Century Schizoid Man”, which was recorded at the Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island two days later. The live recording was performed by George Chkiantz and David Hewitt using the Record Plant Remote Truck. Violin and electric piano overdubs were added to three tracks at Olympic Studios, London in early 1975 and Chkiantz mixed the album at Olympic with Robert Fripp and John Wetton.

The album opens with a brief excerpt of “The Heavenly Music Corporation” from (No Pussyfooting), an experimental album which Robert Fripp had recorded with musician and producer Brian Eno in 1972. While it was not listed as a separate track on the original album, it is present on all releases.

Eddie Jobson, then a member of fellow E.G. artists Roxy Music along with Wetton, performed violin overdubs on “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part II)” and “21st Century Schizoid Man” and electric piano on “Lament” to improve the poor sound quality of the original parts played by David Cross, who had been fired from the group shortly after the live recordings were made.

“Asbury Park” and “Easy Money” were edited to about half their original lengths for the LP release. The unedited versions were released digitally on DGMLive.com in 2005, along with the rest of the show in its original running order.

Original vinyl releases contain audio content in both the lead-in grooves to both sides of the album, and in side two’s run-out groove. In the latter case, the audience’s applause following “21st Century Schizoid Man” continues through side two’s final locked groove, causing the applause to continue on manual turntables as long as the phonograph needle remains on the record.