King Crimson "Sailors' Tales" Mega Box (November 2017)

Thank you. Man this is a wonderful box. Everything here.

 

I love the box too, despite this not being my top lineup. But if the download is anything like the Dec 13, 1972 Rainbow Theatre download from the LTIA box, don't expect much, but it's nice that they cater to the completists as much as possible.

 

Lizard is such a bizarre album. I would really enjoy a purely instrumental version. Wish that was considered for the box.

My opinions of this era were always colored (intentionally?) by Fripp's scrapbook in the Young Person's Guide LP. I need to find the exact quote, but I think Fripp says in there about 1970-72: "Everything I'm going to do the next two years will be wrong, but necessary to get to the next phase." Not sure if Fripp said this in hindsight or foresight. Would've been a hilarious blurb for the boxset! Crimheads can navigate through these counter-intuitive remarks.

 

Lizard is one of my favorite albums.

 

What's everyone's go-to disc after the core albums Poseidon, Lizard, Islands, & Earthbound in this set? Is it the auditions disc or one of the live shows?

 

So far for me, it's Blows 1-3. I mean these are the most revealing tracks. I've not yet dug more deeply into the live shows or studio albums.

 

I’m still working on the alternative album and additional tracks unique to the blu-ray discs.

Hopefully I’ll have finished in time for next year’s box.

 

You're optimistic about everyone's progress.

So far, I've found that I needed to spend more time with the previous boxes, but I did bypass Earthbound (which I've never heard, incidentally) and go straight to the first Zoom Club show.

 

It appears the unknown shows are Santa Monica 19 March 72. The first 'unidentified' show matches the audience recording of Santa Monica (assuming the date is authentic) - the RF announcement is the easiest way to spot it ('Dick Cavett'!).

Unfortunately it's missing the great Groon / Sailors Tale mashup that's on the bootlegs.

 

That’s cool. I’d also love to identify the source of the Schizoid Men included in the Earthbound Blu-ray. There’s some info on Wikipedia but I doubt it’s accurate. Do you know something about those edits?

 

Sorry I've never really investigated that piece.

 

Are the live shows on this set the same basic quality as the Earthbound album?

 

Most of 'em. The '71 shows are soundboards but much, much better quality (reel to reel instead of cassette, maybe?), and the Summit Studios disc is an exceptional multitrack recording.

 

It’s been years since I listened to Earthbound and I don’t remember clearly the sound quality. I’ve listened to one random concert so far, Detroit, and it’s below what I call basic. The recording levels were way to high. It’s still listenable but just for me. It’s better than the audience recordings in the Larks box.

 

On this box Earthbound has also suffered from an excess of digital limiting (just as on the 30th Anniversary CD). The full shows they used to make it, other '72 shows on the box, and even the bonus tracks added to the original album are mastered better for having less hard limiting. The bonus needledrop from the original pressing was also spared this treatment — I mean it's already inherently overloaded, why did they add even more?

 

I don't think there were two performances in Santa Monica, both shows can't be from that date. However, I have not heard the bootleg recording from Santa Monica.

In show #1 Boz mentions a late show. The only time I can see a two-set night is Wilmington, February 11, 1972. Therefore this should be the early show and the DGM download from this date would be the late show.

In show #2 Fripp references a farewell to America. If this is the last night of the tour it would be from Birmingham on April 1, 1972.

Please feel free to correct me on any of the above, there are Crimson fans much more knowledgeable than I am in this area.

 

Schizoid Man from Earthbound is from the Wilmington, 2/11/72, late show so the unidentified show #1 is not from Wilmington. The DGM download, also on the box, is correctly identified as the early show from Wilmington.

Boz references "quite a lot of trouble with the first half..." at the end of Pictures of a City for unidentified show #2.

 

Where does Boz mention a late show during the first show? I know the booklet mentions this but I didn't hear it

 

Well, back in 2002, after doing some serious listening of the official releases up to that date, I was able to identify the first five of the Schizoid Men as follows:

1 - from Jacksonville: 0:37 of first verse (0:03 to 0:40) and 1:07 of instrumental after second verse (1:17 to 2:24) make up 1:44 total.
2 - from Jacksonville: solo is 4:46 (from 2:25 to 7:07). Vocal shriek around 2m. Sax from 2:53 to end.
3 - from Denver, March 13. Solo is 2:21 to 6:14, minus about 42 seconds around the 4:00-4:30 mark. Almost entirely guitar. Strange panning around 1:35 (on Ladies). Sax comes in around 3m.
4 - from Orlando: solo is 5:15 (from 2:22 to 7:37). Jazzy (later Sailor's Tale) guitar. Sax from 3:58. More Sailor's Tale guitar 5m to end.
5 - from Earthbound: solo is 6:33 (from 2:28 to 8:51). Guitar, then (cool) sax around 3:45. Happy Family at 4:01. Guitar comes back 5:28 to end.

And here's what Wikipedia has to say:

01 Baseball Park, Jacksonville, Florida - 26 February 1972
02 Baseball Park, Jacksonville, Florida - 26 February 1972
03 Sound Track, Denver - 14 March 1972
04 Kemp Coliseum, Orlando, Florida - 27 February 1972
05 Armoury, Wilmington - 11 February 1972 (Late Show)
06 Sound Track, Denver - 13 March 1972
07 Cinderella Ballroom, Detroit - 18 February 1972
08 Armoury, Wilmington - 11 February 1972 (Early Show)
09 Unidentified Show #2 - 1972
10 The Barn, Peoria - March 10 1972
11 Academy Of Music, New York - February 12 1972 (Late Show)
12 Academy Of Music, New York - February 12 1972 (Early Show)
and Riverside Theater, Milwaukee - March 08 1972

Since Wikipedia and the 2002 me agree on the first five, the 2017 me is inclined to believe that they got it right.

 

He doesn't. It's on the second unknown show. Also, I've heard no mention of "farewell America" in the second unknown show, which I've listened to twice.

 

This is what I've got as the sources for Schizoid Men. I can't recall where it's from, but definitely not Wikipedia.

Schizoid Men I (2/26/72 Jacksonville)
Schizoid Men II (2/26/72 Jacksonville)
Schizoid Men III (3/14/72 Denver)
Schizoid Men IV (2/27/72 Orlando)
Schizoid Men V (2/11/72 Wilimington late show)
Schizoid Men VI (3/10/72 Peoria)
Schizoid Men VII (3/6/72 Pittsburgh)
Schizoid Men VIII (2/11/72 Wilmington early)
Schizoid Men IX (2/17/72 Detroit)
Schizoid Men X (3/11/72 Indianapolis)
Schizoid Men XI (3/13/72 Denver, 3/8/72 Milwaukee)

 

And just to throw it out there, for me the greatest revelation on the entire set is the Happy Family take listed as Fulham Palace Cafe Rehearsal. You can get a feel for what the Lizard quartet (Fripp, Collins, Haskell, McCulloch) would have sounded like live. I hope DGM has more of these rehearsals in their vaults.

 

...and what do you think of the `blows' jblock ? It is these which have tweaked my interest and just might tip the scales for me eventually buying the box. How would you describe them ?

 

Interesting for a listen or two. I was also very intrigued by these but don't think I'll listen to them much. Lots of aimless jamming and noodling, although there are some very interesting bits. Basically, drums, guitar, sax/flute and bass. Blows No. 1 is a lot of noodling in Groon territory. Blows 2 and 3 sound like a different bass player, more aggressive playing there. Fripp mainly has a clean tone throughout all three Blows. Collins in mainly on flute for Blow 2 so it has a very jazzy vibe. Blows 3 actually veers into Lark's Tongues territory; kind of like some of the jams from the Fall 1972 band. Interestingly, when Collins is on sax it sounds like he's on an alto, so some of the jamming on Blows 1 and 3 almost sounds like the 1969 band. But, again, something I'll only listen to occasionally.

 

Thanks for the detailed info ! Much appreciated