Ivan Kral

Ivan Král

Ivan Kral
Background information
Born (1948-05-12) May 12, 1948
Prague, Czechoslovakia
(now Czech Republic)
Genres Rock, pop, jazz, alternative rock, protopunk, ambient, electronic
Occupation(s) Guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, bassist, pianist, vocalist
Instruments Guitar, piano, keyboards, bass, vocals, cello
Years active 1966–present
Labels Arista, PolyGram, Universal, Chrysalis, Sony, BMG, Supraphon, Warner Music
Associated acts Patti Smith, Blondie, Iggy Pop, John Cale
Website www.ivankral.net

Ivan Král (born 12 May 1948, in Prague) is a Grammy Award-winning, Czech-born American composer, filmmaker, record producer, bass guitar player, and singer-songwriter.[1] He works across many genres including punk, rock, jazz, soul, country and film scores. His songs have been recorded by such artists as U2, Pearl Jam, Téléphone,[2] Patti Smith,[3] Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Simple Minds, and John Waite, among others.

Král started his American music career during the early 1970s glam rock scene in New York where his band, Luger,[4] performed at many trendy venues, including Max’s Kansas City.[5] After their breakup in 1973, he joined Shaun Cassidy's backing group, then Blondie,[6] then Patti Smith, then Iggy Pop.

Between 1975–1979, Král was co-writer, guitarist and bassist of Patti Smith Group on her first four albums; including debut, Horses (1975), called one of the All-Time 100 Greatest Albums by Time magazine in 2006.[7] The album is in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress because it’s "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

His work also appears on other Smith albums, including Radio Ethiopia (1976), Easter (1978) and Wave (1979).[8]

Some of his songs during this period include "Ask the Angels", "Pissing in a River", "25th Floor", "Revenge", "Citizen Ship", "Birdland", "Ain't It Strange", "Pumping (My Heart)" and her big hit "Dancing Barefoot" which Rolling Stone included on its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,”[9] and has been recorded by many including U2, Simple Minds and Pearl Jam.

Ivan Král was a refugee from Czechoslovakia, he moved to the USA in 1966 with his parents who were diplomats. After the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Král decided not to return.[10]

Král had refugee status until 1981 when he obtained US citizenship. He wanted a visual diary of his days in America in case he was ever deported back home to Czechoslovakia where rock music was forbidden so he bought a Super 8 camera from a pawn shop.[11] He began filming at Murray the K shows in 1968, then eventually got a 16mm where he filmed other concerts. Some of the clips appear in his 1975 amateur compilation, "Night Lunch".[12]

Král also filmed his bandmates and friends at rehearsals, apartments, Bottom Line, and CBGB club. He compiled the footage into a 1976 film titled “The Blank Generation” (not to be confused with a 1980 film titled "Blank Generation" that also stars Richard Hell from Television) which includes Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, New York Dolls, Television, drag queen Wayne County and more, before they had record deals. No Wave filmmaker Amos Poe helped Král edit "The Blank Generation" by adding music from each band’s cassettes and cutting irrelevant scenes.[13]

“The Blank Generation” D-I-Y clip compilation is often referred to as the original visual document that genuinely captures the birth of New York punk as it was happening. There are no effects, production, posing, scripts or budget. It is the source film for many music documentaries worldwide.[14]

Král also shot three rare short films from 1976 – 1979 titled “Rat”, “Raven”, and “Rabbit” which capture his days in the Patti Smith Group, with her band backstage and onstage.[15]

In 1979, after Patti’s last show in Florence, Italy, Iggy Pop invited Král to Rockfield Studios in Wales to work on his Soldier album, with David Bowie as producer. After the "Soldier" tour, Král became Iggy’s co-writer and guitarist for all the original songs on his 1981 album, Party.[16]

Král hoped to build a career as a film composer by heading to Los Angeles to compose music for the Barry Levinson film Diner (1981) [17] but eventually returned to New York. He wrote and recorded the film scores for three films by underground filmmaker Amos Poe, titled, Unmade Beds, The Foreigner and Subway Riders in his apartment on his mini Moog synthesizer, piano and guitar.[18]

The 1980s brought many projects, though nothing long term. He recorded and toured with former Babys singer, John Waite and co-wrote songs for his Ignition album.[19]

Král wrote for many, including Mick Ronson, collaborator for David Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars era. This was followed by rehearsals with British guitarist Chris Spedding and John Cale, formerly of the Velvet Underground to create a new band, but it never materialized.

Finally, Král formed his own band, Eastern Bloc. With a favorable record deal and video from Passport Records the band was positioned for success until the label folded in the mid 1980s.[20]

From there, he ran a New York studio (from 1982 to 1993) named PAWS [21] where Mick Jagger, B-52’s, and reggae talents like Kiddus I rehearsed.[22]

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and eastern Europe emerged from Soviet-style communism. Král returned to Prague where he received a heartwarming welcome back home in 1993. He discovered a nation of motivated musical talent, but with little experience. Many major rock artists worked with Král to help shape the new Czech rock scene.[23] Because he spoke Czech and had some success “in the west” he was in a unique position to become a songwriter, producer and musician for some of the country's top talent, earning three Grammys.[24]

Patti Smith, while still living in Detroit, recorded her poem "Perfect Moon" at 54 Sound studio for Král's 1995 album. John Cale of the Velvet Underground wrote and recorded the piano for the song which only appears on Král's "Nostalgia" album in the Czech Republic.[25]

Král's latest album, Always (2014) is on Warner Music Czech Republic but was recorded in Detroit. He continues to work globally from his Ann Arbor, Michigan home studio.[26] His prior ten albums were released on Universal and Polygram were recorded in the Czech Republic or in Seattle.[27]

He is a collector of late avante-garde Czech photographer Frantisek Drtikol. The video for his song "Winner Takes All" was inspired by Drtikol's work with the female form.

Král wrote music for the memorial of President Vaclav Havel and performed it for live broadcast across the Czech Republic following the St. Vitus Cathedral funeral where world leaders came to pay their final respects.

As a producer, Král worked with The Vipers [28] and the Band of Outsiders, along with Czech bands such as Lucie [29] and David Koller, Ivan Hlas, Jiri Suchy, Aneta Langerova, Miroslav Žbirka, Alice,[30] Debbi, Triny, Garage.[31] He also released many solo albums.

Filmography

Director

Self

Discography

Solo

with Patti Smith

with Iggy Pop

with John Waite

with Téléphone

with John Cale

with Eastern Bloc

with Sky Cries Mary

with Noel Redding and Friends

with Triny Vocal Trio

References

  1. ↑ Discogs - Ivan Král (profile and discography)
  2. ↑ Král Discogs - Téléphone - (discography search for Y. Kral)
  3. ↑ Král Discogs - Patti Smith (discography search for Ivan Král)
  4. ↑ ivankral.net - Ivan Kral & his Luger publicity 1972 photo
  5. ↑ Liberation - Nostalgia - Ivan Kral, the ghost of Prague
  6. ↑ Love Goes to Buildings on Fire - A chat with Blondie in NYC by Will Hermes, 2013-March-25th
  7. ↑ Tyrangiel, Josh (2006-11-13). "Horses by Patti Smith". The All-TIME 100 Albums. United States: Time. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  8. ↑ Švamberk, Alex (26 August 2005). "Po čtyřech letech vystoupí v Praze Patti Smith". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  9. ↑ RollingStone - 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - "Dancing Barefoot"
  10. ↑ Bezr, Ondřej (2010-06-25). "Český rocker Ivan Král vstoupil s Patti Smith do Kongresové knihovny" [Czech rocker Ivan Král entered the Congress library with Patti Smith]. iDnes (in Czech). Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  11. ↑ "Generational Sounds: Rock Icon Ivan Kral Listens To Metro Detroit". Metromodemedia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  12. ↑ YouTube - "Night Lunch" 1975 official trailer by Ivan Kral
  13. ↑ Greg Prato (2001-08-14). "Blank Generation/Dancin' Barefoot - Patti Smith | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  14. ↑ BBC. "Seven Ages of Rock - Programmes - Blank Generation". BBC. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  15. ↑ "Punk (cca 1976 – 1981) — Články — Bigbít — Česká televize". Ceskatelevize.cz. 2015-07-18. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  16. ↑ "Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed - Paul Trynka - Google Books". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  17. ↑ Turner Classic Movies - Diner - Music: Bruce Brody and Ivan Kral
  18. ↑ the New York Times - Movies & TV - Ivan Kral
  19. ↑ AllMusic - Ignition by John Waite - review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
  20. ↑ nyrocker - Eastern Bloc - A&R / ATLANTIC RECORDS
  21. ↑ 1980's PERFORMER TO FILM SCORE AND SONGWRITER (record producer)
  22. ↑ amazon - Rising of the Phoenix - Ragz Mo' Rocka
  23. ↑ Diskograie - Ivan Král
  24. ↑ YouTube - Ivan Kral MTV Europe
  25. ↑ MusicMe - Patti Smith, John Cale & Ivan Kral - Perfect Moon
  26. ↑ IvanKral.net - COMPLETE BIOGRAPHY
  27. ↑ "Ivan Král se vrací s Photoalbem". iDNES.cz. 12 November 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  28. ↑ "Vipers, The (4) – Outta The Nest". Discogs. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  29. ↑ "Lucie (2) – Černý Kočky Mokrý Žáby". Discogs. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  30. ↑ ivankral.net - Ivan was Producer for 1995 album by Czech rock band Alice
  31. ↑ "Mňága A Žďorp – Ryzí Zlato". Discogs. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  32. ↑ IMDb - Night Lunch - 1975 Documentary, USA
  33. ↑ IMDb - The Blank Generation - 1976-April-22nd Documentary, 55min, USA (aka Blank Generation: The Birth of Punk)
  34. ↑ IMDb - Iggy and the Stooges Live at Academy of Music New York City - 2011-April-24th music short, USA
  35. ↑ The Legend Live - Patti Smith Group – Rockpalast 1979
  36. ↑ IMDb - Rockpalast: Patti Smith Group - 1979-April-21st TV Episode, 94 min, West Germany
  37. ↑ YouTube - Patti Smith - My Generation (1979) Germany
  38. ↑ Gilipolladas de Kigonjiro - Patti Smith Group – Rockpalast 1979 DVD
  39. ↑ IMDb - Dancing Barefoot - 1995 made-for television biopic, 60 mins
  40. ↑ IMDb - VIP zprávy - Episode dated 16 April 2014
  41. ↑ Discogs - Native 1992 CD, Zensor (Zensor ZS 124) Germany
  42. ↑ "Vydavatelství Warner Music podepsalo smlouvu s Ivanem Kralem, jeho nové album vydá v září". RockAndPop.cz (in Czech). 29 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  43. ↑ http://www.lidovky.cz/ivan-kral-ziji-pro-perfektni-pisen-d5v-/kultura.aspx?c=A140926_095050_ln_kultura_hep/
  44. ↑ Billboard - Redding honors Hendrix on new Live set
  45. ↑ Discogs - Live From Bunkr . Prague - 2002 CD, Track Record (5038407 123805) Europe
  46. ↑ allmusic - Live from Bunk R - Prague - 2002-April-15th CD, Track Record (TRK-1010CD)
  47. ↑ "Gypsy Streams - Triny Vocal Trio | Credits". AllMusic. 2001-09-25. Retrieved 2014-07-30.

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