King Crimson: Classic Or Dud

It's not just for Fall records any more!

Like his reaction to someone auditioning for his Guitar Craft school: "Not entirely wretched".

Listening to the new live album Music Is Our Friend, mostly recorded in DC in September, and it's pretty fucking amazing. I saw them in 2017 and Radical Action... is pretty close in spirit to the show I saw. This is much heavier, the sax solos are free-jazz-ier, and the drummers are going absolutely berserk. I didn't think I needed any more 21st century live KC albums, but this one might be their most crushing live record ever.

I recall the show I saw in 2017 (I think?) to be OK, but not this good. The drummers are more unleashed here, which is cool and which reminds me of the last (final?) tour I caught with Belew in 2008. Like, when you've got Gavin Harrison, let the dude do his thing, you know?

The show I saw in 2019 (referenced upthread) was this good. They’re really incredible live – and getting incredibler.

they were amazing this year, granted it helped that I was mega drunk, outdoors in socially distanced seating with good friends, but it was fantastic.

people were headbanging lol, and not even to 21st Century

Apparently this is the end?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQsrO8cVnJ0

It’s a bit equivocal, but Tony Levin says that 8th December was quite possibly the final King Crimson concert”.

https://tonylevin.com/road-diaries/king-crimson-2021-tour-part2-japan/tokyo-the-final-show

yes, Fripp and Singleton have been saying as much for a little while now and Fripp is being more explicit about it on his personal FB account this week. I'm really glad I was able to see each of these tours (until this year's which was not optimal as it was an opening slot for Zappa band, outdoors, and a shortened set), they were some of the best live shows I've ever experienced.

I thought the Zappa band was the opener.

I think it was supposed to be 'co headline' but AFAIK the Zappa band played last here. could be wrong. either way it was a much shorter set for crimson than the previous 3 hours ones they were doing.

Fwiw, hasn't Fripp pulled the plug on Crimson at least twice before?

This was very sweet - https://tonylevin.com/road-diaries/king-crimson-2021-tour-part2-japan/in-the-company-of-ghosts

lord, if that was it, i am mega glad I caught them finally this year

I regret not catching them this year (or ever). I guess there's always youtube.

I caught their 50th anniversary tour in September 2019, the only time ever - better late than never!

It is finished

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGzyT0sMZPs

What an amazing band. So King Crimson is done, but is Fripp himself retiring?

Six months of making those videos with his wife and he'll be back out on the road.

Apparently he and his manager are going to do a spoken-word Q&A tour where he makes wry putdowns to anyone who asks him a question.

"So, Mr. Fripp, during the first part of Lizard you play a C sharp minor chord that..." "WRONG! NEXT!"

"So, Mr. Fripp, during the first part of Lizard you play a C sharp minor chord that..."

This could also be Fripp answering questions in the third person.

"People ask Fripp, why New Standard Tuning. What Fripp can say is that Fripp would not be Fripp without Fripp, and to deviate from Fripp would be to lose what makes Fripp Fripp. Now, Fripp off before I Fripp out."

I thought Fripp was wiping tears from his eyes when the camera first panned to him, but he was just taking a picture. Was going to say "Ha! You are a sentimental old bastard!"

"We're not talking about Discipline today!"

I've been listening to live KC shows today but quickly narrowed it to that line-up behind Lark's Tongue and Red - what an incredible unit. I like a lot of their stuff, but I keep coming back to Red and hearing those songs expanded on stage always knocks me out, especially the title track.

Will probably dive into the Great Deceiver live albums last (same era), but FWIW, the ones I'm really loving now are all from 1974, at Mainz, Asbury Park Casino and their last live show of the decade (!) at Central Park. The Central Park show unfortunately has no multi-track, just a copy made from the soundboard, but the performance more than makes up for it - it may even be my favorite despite the hit it takes in sound quality.

Do you think that the USA release gives enough of a taster of that era for those who don't want to listen to show after show?

had to miss the Milwaukee show because my daughter got sick...thought it was appendicitis but it was just an infection. yes i will hold this against her for life

...and while we're on the topic of live albums, has anyone made a more listenable playlist of the early 1972 live recordings than what wound up on the Earthbound LP?

xxp It's a good listen, but I think The Great Deceiver Parts One and Two is a much better (and still economical) pick. USA feels like a sampler since it omits some big numbers played on the tour. The Great Deceiver used to be an expensive four-CD box set, but it was reissued as two double-disc sets packaged in "slim" jewel cases and priced much lower than before. Still in-print and easy to find.

Actually, you could just get the Asbury Park show, which was newly mixed and released in 2005 - USA is mostly a heavily edited and overdubbed version of that with I think a few substitutions.

Halfway there but for you asked: "Do you think that the USA release gives enough of a taster of that era for those who don't want to listen to show after show?"

I highly recommend giving "The Great Deceiver" box a try, and one of the big advantages of it over "USA" is the amount of high-quality improvised material - those fellers were absolutely on fire.

xxxp - the Ladies of the Road set is pretty good for this

Forgot, the Mainz and Asbury Park shows were also paired together as The Collectable King Crimson: Volume One which is pretty cheap for a two-CD set. It does look a little cheap, but it's an official release and sounds great. The Great Deceiver - either as the box set or the two double-disc sets I mentioned - would be the one I'd get if I only make one purchase, but if you actually prefer whole shows, The Collectable King Crimson: Volume One or just the Asbury Park disc would be better than USA.

the friend I took to the KC show this year had barely listened to KC at all prior. I helped her move the other day and she put "Starless" on in the car and said it's her favorite song now

<3

Forgive me if this has already been posted, but just recently I heard this particular recording for the first time, and it blew my mind - "Schizoid Man" backing tracks recorded at Morgan Studios in 1969, with new overdubs to fill it out. (Listen to the spoken intro for the back story.) Most notably, Michael Giles's drums sound INCREDIBLE here; I always thought that the album version's snare drum sound was terrible! Like a cardboard box. The cymbals are more prominent and sound better here, too. Amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k06ljRKlmys

"Ladies of the Road" 2xCD seconded! (For the Boz/Mel era.) The entire second disc is a Frankenstein's monster patchwork of 12 live recordings of "Schizoid Man" stitched together to make one mega-song. And for the record, I love "Earthbound" even with its low fidelity...that version of "Groon" is a wild ride.

The Mainz improv of The Savage into the Doctor Diamond (never recorded in the studio) is just the heaviest thing in the world. Wetton’s bass sounds absolutely enormous while Fripp and Cross duel over the top. It’s also incredible in surround.

Earthbound was remastered as much as possible, and expanded from 5 tracks to 12, this year. Still not amazing, but worth hearing for sure.

Those huge Red and Larks boxed sets containing (almost?) every known recording from each tour are bonkers. When they came out there were a few days I just put the shows on shuffle.

Don’t forget the Starless box as well

Starless box? Does that not have Fripp on it? (...I'll get my coat)

I have the Larks and Starless boxes. They are indeed enormous and overwhelming. As good as it is, I am slightly annoyed that the LTIA box didn’t have the only decent recording of that band as they hadn’t found the tape yet. And now I feel like I’ve had my fill of paying big bucks for that era so won’t be ponying up for it.

In other news, I’m def. finding myself a bit sad that this may be it. They have been a hugely important force in my life since I was 15, and it’s hard not to think the pandemic may have speeded the end of this particular band. But what a run, and I’m so glad I saw them on the last three tours when they came to Boston. Each show better than the last and surprising to boot. Now I just need to finally read Sid Smith’s book …

Enormous sadness that I didn’t go to the early September show in ny
But the delta wave rumblings… I just couldn’t quite do it. I’m trying not to be too hard on myself

On the plus side, a lot of the various current and former members (like Belew and Levin) have toured the KC stuff in various combos. I wouldn't be shocked if Jakko gets Fripp's permission to keep touring the music of Crimson.

Earthbound was remastered as much as possible, and expanded from 5 tracks to 12, this year. Still not amazing, but worth hearing for sure.

Thanks for the suggestions, I hadn't got around to listening to Ladies of the Road because I was expecting Earthbound revisited.
From the Wetton band I have heard The Night Watch live in Amsterdam in 1973, which might have been more of a revelation if it hadn't been cherry-picked for much of Starless and Bible Black.

I do find it funny that Fripp decided to reissue Earthbound despite spending decades talking about how much he hated it. Gotta respect the actual legacy of Crimson, I guess.

So I just finished Sid Smith’s revised In the Court of King Crimson – and I have to say: it was one of the best music biographies I’ve ever read (and candidly, they’re about all I read these days).

Yes, it’s a lot about the band – and if you are only a casual fan, it’s likely way more than you would ever want to know. But as a document of band dynamics—why some people play well together—and insight into the 70s British rock scene, it’s pretty incredible.

Smith is a legit great writer, which I’ve never quite noticed even as I’ve enjoyed his liner notes over the years. Also: structurally, I loved that Smith didn’t dwell on each record or have a ton of biographical wind-up, instead he sticks to the important stuff and puts a neat track-by-track overview at the end, which keeps things moving.

I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts but just a terrific biography on a band I’ve obsessed over for a very, very long time.