![\"King](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/King-Crimson-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Credit: Alamy<\/p>\n
Fri 31 July 2026 7:24, UK <\/p>\n
At first glance, The Beatles<\/a> and King Crimson might appear to occupy completely different spaces. However, it is certain that without the innovations of the Fab Four, King Crimson, one of the foremost prog-rock bands, would not have formed.<\/p>\n Emerging on the coattails of the American rock \u2018n\u2019 roll pioneers of the 1950s, The Beatles would cut their teeth and refine their game-changing formula. It fused the most groundbreaking sounds from across the Atlantic with John Lennon and Paul McCartney\u2019s natural ability to conceive infectious pop melodies.<\/p>\n Yet, as time passed, the four Liverpudlian likely lads would shed their original skin and become increasingly experimental. This process occurred thanks to the general countercultural spirit of the 1960s, a little help from newfangled drugs such as marijuana and LSD, and a touch of spiritual enlightenment. Of course, these variables were all underpinned by the group\u2019s collective desire to improve their craft.<\/p>\n Whether it be the stoned folk of 1965\u2019s Rubber Soul, the psychedelic weirdness of 1967\u2019s Sgt. Pepper\u2019s<\/a>, or the refined orchestral angle of their penultimate body of work, Abbey Road, the second half of The Beatles\u2019 career was bursting with genuine artistic innovation. The gravity of their artistic experiments changed the direction of popular culture and music.<\/p>\n This is where the link to King Crimson comes in.\u00a0Sgt. Pepper\u2019s\u00a0is\u00a0one of the most important psychedelic records ever, challenging the musical status quo and pushing the burgeoning genre into a new space. Formed in 1968, King Crimson emerged from a psychedelic rock background and was galvanised by the previous year\u2019s out-there sounds. The weirdness of The Beatles so inspired them during this era that they were known to play the\u00a0Sgt. Pepper\u2019s\u00a0staple, \u2018Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds\u2019 at rehearsals.\u00a0<\/p>\n For bands like King Crimson, however, the influence of Sgt. Pepper\u2019s extended well beyond its psychedelic flourishes. The album demonstrated that a rock record could be conceived as a complete artistic statement rather than simply a collection of songs, encouraging musicians to embrace ambitious arrangements, shifting moods and conceptual ideas without worrying whether they fit comfortably within pop conventions.<\/p>\n That made The Beatles more than just another successful group in King Crimson\u2019s eyes\u2014they became proof that audiences were willing to follow artists into increasingly adventurous territory. By the end of the decade, progressive rock had taken many of those ideas to even greater extremes, but its willingness to challenge expectations owed an undeniable debt to the creative risks The Beatles had normalised just a few years earlier.<\/p>\n According to some sources, The Beatles impacted Robert Fripp and his band so much that the obscure track \u2018Happy Family\u2019 from their 1970 third album, Lizard, is about the acrimonious split of the Fab Four earlier that year. The lyrics by Peter Sinfield seem to call the band by different names, with \u201cJonah\u201d being John Lennon, \u201cJudas\u201d Paul McCartney, \u201cRufus\u201d Ringo Star and \u201cSilas\u201d George Harrison.<\/p>\n Sinfield and the band appear particularly critical of John Lennon, with lines such as, \u201cNasty Jonah grew a wife, Judas drew his pruning knife\u201d and \u201cSilas searching, Rufus neat, Jonah caustic, Jude so sweet\u201d conveying this. Also, the mention of \u201cJude\u201d is a not-so-subtle reference to the classic Paul McCartney Beatles hit \u2018Hey Jude\u2019<\/a>, written for Lennon\u2019s son, Julian, about his parents\u2019 split.<\/p>\n One of the most intriguing lines is the refrain, \u201cHappy family one hand clap, four went on, but none came back\u201d. It infers the pitfalls of fame and how, in the story of The Beatles, none of them were the same after going through the intense mangle of superstardom. <\/p>\n Listen to \u2018Happy Family\u2019 below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/The-Beatles-Paul-McCartney-John-Lennon-Ringo-Starr-George-Harrison-1968-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jp.jpeg\")
<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Associated Press<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n