Haskell was previously a classmate of
Robert Fripp at Queen Elizabeth's grammar school in
Wimborne near
Bournemouth, the pair having subsequently played together in the local band The League of Gentlemen. Haskell later contributed vocals to the King Crimson track "Cadence and Cascade" on
In the Wake of Poseidon, after
Greg Lake left the band to join
Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Fripp asked Haskell to become an official member of King Crimson for the recording of
Lizard. Another
In the Wake of Poseidon musician, saxophonist/flautist
Mel Collins, was also asked to continue with the band. New member
Andy McCulloch replaced
Michael Giles on drums. The group was then augmented with
session musicians, including another
In the Wake of Poseidon alumnus, the noted jazz pianist
Keith Tippett, together with
Yes vocalist
Jon Anderson, and brass/woodwind players Robin Miller,
Mark Charig, and
Nick Evans. Haskell and McCulloch had an unhappy experience recording
Lizard, finding it difficult to connect with the material, especially Haskell as a devotee of
soul and
Motown music. In later years, Haskell charged that Fripp "bullied us all"—even pushing McCulloch to the point of tears—and summarized his experience in the band as "24 hours of listening to bullshit hailed as 'art'". During rehearsals for a prospective tour following the album's completion, Haskell left King Crimson. He sought legal redress for the next 19 years because he believed he had been cheated out of royalties owed him for the album. Shortly after Haskell left the group, McCulloch did likewise. The press release drafted by Sinfield to promote
Lizard wryly quoted
Max Ehrmann's poem "
Desiderata", which contains advice on how to chart a true course through confusion. Collins, on the other hand, remained in King Crimson with Fripp and Sinfield for the recording of the group's next album,
Islands. Haskell was replaced with
Boz Burrell on bass guitar and vocals, while McCulloch was replaced with his sometime housemate
Ian Wallace. The
Islands line-up of the group would finally give some of the
Lizard material a live airing, with "Cirkus" and "Lady of the Dancing Water" becoming part of King Crimson's touring repertoire. "Cirkus" would also later become part of the touring repertoire of the
21st Century Schizoid Band, whose members included Mel Collins and
Jakko Jakszyk. In 2016, for the band's biggest European tour since 1974, "Cirkus" was included in the repertoire, as well as "Dawn Song", which is part of the "
Lizard" suite and was played live for the first time ever. For the 2017 North American tour, "Dawn Song" was expanded to the entire "Battle of Glass Tears" section (adding "Last Skirmish" and "Prince Rupert's Lament", neither of which had ever been performed live). The "Bolero" section was added to the live repertoire for the band's 2018 European tour. ==Album cover==