Yesterday I bought a vinyl 1/2 speed master of King Crimson's "Lizard".
I'd forgotten how much fun this song is.
When I saw King Crimson play NJPAC in Newark, late 2017, they played a lot of songs from "Lizard", really drawing everything out as if to say, "It should have gone this way".
With three drummers out front it really seemed to be the best lineup ever. Here's "Starless".
We threw a party last night, and I'm still exhausted. About 100 Trick or Treaters came by too.
-BBJ
7 comments:
The mighty Crims are one of my favorites. I saw the 80's edition each time they toured, the 90's double trio, plus Project 2 and The Crimson Project. All of these editions of the band were amazing live.
I'm not so keen on the last edition of the band. They only toured and created no new songs. Jakko's rearrangements of some of the vocal parts are not to my liking (Indiscipline, for example - too much crooning). He sounds fine on the now-Belew songs, though. Perhaps if I had seen one of their gigs, my opinion might be different.
The video of Starless is very good, but the playing lacks the intensity and menace of the 72-74 band. The bass and guitar parts are too clean in this video.
- Paul in DK
The 72-74 edition is my favorite. When I saw them in 2017, they mostly ignored the Belew versions, which are my least favorite. I thought Jakko split the difference of all the vocalists pretty well. The version of "Starless" posted here seems to really let me focus on the arrangement, but it is John Wetton's song, so his version is always going to have a little something no one else will match.
To this day "Lizard" remains one of my favourite albums (love the "Indoor Games" track too)and I feel Gordon Haskell was a much underrated vocalist during his tenure with the band. And, of course, there's a guest appearance by Jon Anderson too. Cheers!
my debt to "Lizard" was for introducing me to a bunch of England's non-trad jazz musicians.
King Crimson. Where do I begin? The quintessential prog band. Continuously evolving and surpassing others of their ilk. Revelatory. Visionary. Life-changing in perpetuity. Eternally new.
First of all, let me say that BBJ picked a fantastic King Crimson tour to attend. That double-quartet line-up was terrific. And the setlists for that tour were marvelous, touching a lot of my favorite bases. I’ve seen Crimson over fifty times during the course of their on- and-off career. Twice in New York City and the rest in California. Those 2017 dates really stood out. I agree with BBJ that it could possibly be the best configuration of the band. And I say that without dissing any of the previous ensembles. I love all incarnations.
Regarding Lizard, that album really bombed in the US. Stores stocked too many based on the decent sales of the first two. I got my copy on clearance at the local White Front. I invited Sandy over to share the listen. We smoked some Afghani hash that we got turned on to by John & Mike at Rainbow in Laguna. It enhanced our Crimson consciousness. We gave it a thumbs up, even though Fripp didn’t approve. Evidently, he re-assessed based on the inclusion of “Cirkus” and the title epic in the 2017 sets.
VR
The first time I heard King Crimson was on KPPC-FM during Tom Gamache's show. In a set of tunes that began with Donovan's "Lalena" and segued into King Curtis' "Soul Serenade," he dropped the needle on "I Talk To the Wind." I remember vividly.
At the time, Sandy and I were in the process of seducing a guy. We gave him a show by slow-dancing nude while making out to the Crimson tune. The dude was sixteen and long overdue for something he could tell his friends about without lying. The beauty of it was that they’d never believe it anyway. Gamache followed Crimson with Tull's "Reasons For Waiting” and Blind Faith’s “Sea of Joy." I'll never forget.
After that eventful night, I bought the album and realized that "I Talk To the Wind," was one of the less interesting cuts. At the time, there was nothing like it on the Rock landscape. Further, Crimson grew by leaps and bounds with each successive album. I love all the 1969-1974 stuff. Even Earthbound.
After being floored by the debut, I had to see them at the Whisky. They were fucking great. Super professional but not boring. Saw them three nights on that run. First band I ever saw in which the lead guitar player was seated. Those fuckers could play. Ian McDonald blew me out. They did numbers that weren't on the album too. Seriously, the Whisky didn’t deserve them.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving 1971. Me, Sandy and our parents flew to NYC to meet my Dutch cousin Marita and a friend of hers at JFK airport. We spent the week in NYC and then the bunch of us took the train to Los Angeles. It was a bitchen way to introduce the Hollanders to the glorious expanse of the USA. On the train trek, they introduced us to the wonders of the Durban Poison they had smuggled in their over-nite cases.
To make matters even more sensational, we caught a rock show at the Academy of Music. It featured Procol Harum, Yes & King Crimson. It was providence! Nothing ever happens by accident. We seized the day. Crimson already had Boz and were doing new stuff which would wind up on “Islands.” One of the tunes really mesmerized me. "Sailor's Tale." Later I would interpretatively dance to it, in varying states of undress, at my Wildcat gig. Inspirational. That guitar gets me every time. Fripp’s a fuckin’ genius.
VR
Later I saw this same band in Santa Monica. “Islands” is considered by many as KC’s weakest album and Boz their least effective lead singer, but I like it. It’s sort of a special one for me. It's probably only me, but I think of this LP as one they did for the girls. Anyway, I enjoyed the show. Fairport Convention opened at the Civic. By this time, they had no original members left. Some semblance of the Blues Project was third bill. Three of the four K’s were missing – Kooper, Katz and Kulberg. Kalb and Blumenfeld were still hanging on. Even so, all the acts were entertaining, especially Crimson. Though I wish they would have played longer.
Agree with BBJ about 1972-1974 being his favorite years. Those last three studio albums of the 1970’s were stunning. By the time they played Long Beach behind LTIA, Jamie Muir had unfortunately left the band. Great show, nevertheless. They did the entire LTIA and opened with the unreleased Dr. Diamond. This tune would gain wider circulation as “Dr. D” when the Arlington Texas bootleg surfaced.
Subsequently, they played L.A. a couple more times with the Strawbs opening both shows. The Concertgebouw BBC tape surfaced and had a similar, though edited, set to the Santa Monica show I saw in the fall of 1973. The Shrine show from mid-1974 had more Starless stuff and echoed “USA” in most respects.
Then came the magnificent Red. Though all their albums are fantastic, it’s fair to say that my faves are LTIA and Red. Also saw them a bunch of times from 1981 to 2021. During the THRAK tour, the fans at the three-day Wiltern Theater run started to bug me. They smelled bad and acted like a bunch of refugees from a Ratdog show. I hate it when they get all Pentecostal. The kind of fucks that gave Deadheads a bad name in the 1990's.
Loved every one of their Hollywood House of Blues shows 1995, 2000, 2003. Used a four track plugged into board with room mics for all of those. Sweet.
Like BBJ said, 2017 stood out. Excellent tour. Also check out the Music Is Our Friend release from the 2021 tour.
VR
I fell asleep between posts with my fingers typing endless miles of rapid eye movement gibbersih. I was dreaming I was at a Joanne Vent gig at the Beach House in Venice when James Farentino sat at my cocktail table and creeped me out. Sal Mineo and Bobby Fuller came to my rescue, which was weird since they were both dead. I ended up leaving the show on the back of Adam Roarke's bike. He took me to this place in Topanga where we had a three-way with Susan George. A drunken Gene Tierney and her ocelot watched. Doodles Weaver was making popcorn in the kitchen with Billy Gray. Then Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss burst in and told all of us "deviants" to get the fuck out of their house or they'd be late for Voodoo Lounge at the Rose Bowl. I woke up yelling as a Triumph Bonneville was heading for my bed at 100 mph and about to take me out. At least I think I'm awake.
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