Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox's Sunday Lunch series – in each example of which the King Crimson electric guitar legend and his wife cover a hard-rock song in their kitchen – has become quite the pandemic-era tradition.
This past weekend saw the dynamic duo take on Queens of the Stone Age's hard-hitting 2002 classic, No One Knows. It's loose, freewheeling and off-the-cuff but – as always with these two – a fun watch. You can see it above.
Though they're occasionally somewhat serious – their version of Neil Young's Rockin’ In The Free World, for instance, was recorded to show support for the people of Ukraine – the Sunday Lunch covers are mainly an opportunity for Fripp (the author of a guitar solo so intricate and complicated it took one dedicated player 22 years to fully master it) and Wilcox to have some fun.
That said, though, Fripp has gone on record saying that preparing songs for the Sunday Lunch series gave him a new appreciation for the giants of hard-rock guitar.
“They’re all utterly stunning things,” he told Rolling Stone of the riffs in the songs he covers with Wilcox. “I’m blown away by the original guitarists on these tracks. Phenomenal development and playing primarily since the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Van Halen onwards. Steve Vai, Satriani, the Metallica boys… The originators of the riffs are phenomenal players."
Fripp has a history with Vai and Satriani in particular, having shared the stage with them as part of the 2004 G3 tour.
In a recently-published interview with Guitar Player, Satriani revealed that Fripp requested complete anonymity for the G3 shows.
“When he joined up, he insisted that he not be listed, and he wanted to play before the show," Satriani said.
“He said, 'Look, don’t turn the lights on. I’m going to sit behind all the amps, and I’m going to play music as people walk into the venue and find their seats. And don’t mention my name.' It’s what he wanted to do.
“Sometimes [bassist] Stu Hamm would play with him unannounced,” Satch continued. “He’d just come out, sit right next to Robert and he’d play along, or some of the other guys would play. It was really quite beautiful. Robert is such a wonderful human being and an incredible musician.”
