Richard William Palmer-James (born 11 June 1947) is an English guitarist, songwriter and lyricist. He may be best known as one of the founder members of

Supertramp Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...

(playing guitar and songwriter); writing lyrics for several songs by the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

group

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

in the early 1970s; and for writing lyrics for the 1985 hit "

(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena", also known simply as "Maria Magdalena", is a song recorded by German singer Sandra for her debut studio album ''The Long Play'' (1985). The song, written by Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr, Michael Cretu and Richa ...

" by Sandra. Palmer-James was born in Meyrick Park,

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, where he got his start in the music business playing in various local bands: The Corvettes, The Palmer-James Group (formed with Alec James), Tetrad, and Ginger Man, all of which included

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

on bass and vocals. He was a founding member of

, playing guitar and singing vocals, as well as writing the lyrics for their self-titled debut album under the name Richard Palmer. He also co-wrote the lyrics of "Goldrush", a song written during his days in the band but not recorded until their 2002 album ''

Slow Motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use o ...

''. Palmer wrote lyrics for three of King Crimson's albums: ''

Larks' Tongues in Aspic ''Larks' Tongues in Aspic'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock group King Crimson, released on 23 March 1973 through Island Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. This album is the debut ...

'', '' Starless and Bible Black'', and ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

''. He did not participate in any of King Crimson's recordings, but worked with

and

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

after

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

disbanded the group in 1974. Palmer has lived in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

since the early 1970s. In 1978 he was visited by John Wetton and W.J. Hutcheson, his bandmates in Tetrad. Over 10 days, with the German drummer Curt Cress, they recorded, as "Jack-Knife", an album of songs from the early days called '' I Wish You Would''. He wrote the English lyrics for

La Bionda La Bionda were an Italian disco duo consisting of siblings Carmelo (1949–2022) and Michelangelo La Bionda (born 1952). They are considered among the pioneers of the Italo disco music genre. The siblings were born in Ramacca, Sicily and moved ...

the Italo Disco inventors. Palmer-James also wrote lyrics for the La Bionda-associated disco group D.D.Sound in the late 70s. In 1997 he released a CD with former bandmate John Wetton, '' Monkey Business'', a compilation of unreleased material including some songs that were recorded for the first time in studio, including a King Crimson tune called "Doctor Diamond".

Selected discography

__NOTOC__ ; Supertramp * 1970 : '' Supertramp (album)'' * 2002 : ''

'' : One of his compositions, "Goldrush", is featured here. ; Emergency * 1973 : ''Get Out to the Country'' ; King Crimson * 1973 : ''

'' * 1974 : '' Starless & Bible Black'' * 1974 : ''

'' ; D.D.Sound * 1977 : ''Disco Delivery'' - lyricist on all four albums * 1977 : ''1-2-3-4... Gimme Some More!'' * 1978 : ''Café'' * 1979 : ''The Hootchie Coochie'' ; Munich * 1979 : ''Sideshow/Wednesday'' - Single - The song "Sideshow" was written by Palmer-James & Hermann Weindorf. ; Jack Knife * 1979 : ''I Wish You Would'' - With John Wetton. ; Pan Demonium * 1979 : ''Start the Fire'' - co-composer of two songs: "Walking on Air" and "Touch Me" ;

Eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

* 1983 : ''Our Way'' - co-composer of two songs: "Big Bang" and "In 1000 years" ; John Wetton * 1998 : ''Arkangel'' - With Robert Fripp, Steve Hackett, etc. * 2011 : ''Raised in captivity'' - The song "The Devil and the Opera House" was co-written by Palmer-James, John Wetton & Billy Sherwood. ; John Wetton & Richard Palmer-James * 1998 : '' Monkey Business 1972 - 1997'' * 2014 : ''Jack-Knife / Monkey Business 1972 - 1997'' ; Richard Palmer-James * 2016 : ''Takeaway''

References

Sources

Discography
discogs.com; accessed 10 June 2017.

External links

Rough English translation of an interview with Richard Palmer-James in Tylko Rock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer-James, Richard King Crimson members Supertramp members Musicians from Bournemouth English songwriters Living people 1947 births English expatriates in Germany English rock guitarists English male singers Lead guitarists English male guitarists