Review: ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ Excellent Rock Documentary

It’s tough to be on top. It’s tough to be in the middle, too. Here’s how it goes for a touring prog-rock band whose biggest and only hit sputtered out at No. 80 on the singles chart:

The speaker is a roadie for King Crimson, which made it to the small-time and has stayed there for more than 50 years. Everyone involved speaks of the endeavor as a tale of endless toil and suffering, and they bring to mind the old joke about the guy who works at a circus and complains endlessly about having to clean up elephant poop all day, every day: “Say, fella, did you ever think about quitting?” “What? And leave show business?”

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Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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It’s tough to be on top. It’s tough to be in the middle, too. Here’s how it goes for a touring prog-rock band whose biggest and only hit sputtered out at No. 80 on the singles chart:

The speaker is a roadie for King Crimson, which made it to the small-time and has stayed there for more than 50 years. Everyone involved speaks of the endeavor as a tale of endless toil and suffering, and they bring to mind the old joke about the guy who works at a circus and complains endlessly about having to clean up elephant poop all day, every day: “Say, fella, did you ever think about quitting?” “What? And leave show business?”