Listening to King Crimson Discipline on vinyl...

Piros version

I had to go back to see where I got the idea that there was a George Piros version-- I found a reference to it in the archives here: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-166717-p-2.html but I couldn't find a comparison of it to any other version. I need to run my "new" copy through the cleaner-- and I'll likely be looking for the Piros version "just because".

 

Not even funny how much I played this when it first came out in 1981. Literally 4 or 5 times a day for weeks. Sheltering Sky is a religious experience.

 

That `81 tour was no snoozer either, saw them at The Savoy, NYC Nov.7 1981, they took my head off !

 

Even that post looks far from definitive re a Piros cut. I'd like to see some more solid information. It seems unusual that Piros would cut a Warner Bros lp, although I know he has cut many non-Atlantic lps. And if we are talking about the Editions E'g reissue, those all seem to have been cut @ Sterling (although I've never seen the Editions E'g version of Discipline).

Considering Piros did cut most (all?) of the U.S. Atlantic Crimson lps from the 70's, it seems possible that someone could confuse their Discipline deadwax with the deadwax from some other Crimson record that had an AT/GP marking. Lord knows my increasingly feeble mind is prone to those sort of mistakes

 

Mine looks slightly different than the post above but the same overall look. I don't have a lot of knowledge on deadwax stuff, but I'll try to list it accuratly for you. Mine is a promo copy that I bought used at a record store but it is not a white label press.

Side 1: BSK ' - 3629 - S4 @t/gp + SLM + (then there are two more very faint ++) Then a triangle 912 Then there is a small odd circular mark B - 16126 - S4

Side 2: small odd circular mark B - 16127 - S1 BSK - 2 - 3629 - S-1 @t/gp + SLM + triangle 912 - x

It is a Warner Brothers label and says BSK 3629

Curbach - I hope this information is of assistance to you. If you have any questions let me know.

 

Excellent album.

 

Looks exactly like my promo copy.

 

My copy:

Side 1-- BSK-1 3629 -S3 #1 @t gp + SLM + ∆912 (w logo) B-16126-S3

Side 2--BSK-2-3629-S2 #1 + SLM + ∆912-X (w logo) B-16127-S2

Bold content is in Piros' handwriting.

Addenda: What I mean by 'w logo': must be a pressing plant logo. (Wilkie, your thoughts?)

 

Runt, my album cover looks just like yours with the same Promo stamp on the front cover. I do not have any of the insert boolets that you have but I got the album used so who knows. The album itslef is in mint condition. Not sure if it is the lighting of your photo but my album label appears to be more cream colored than yous, which appears more white in color. It sould just be the lighting though as mine could be taken as white also.

Perisphere, why the slight differences in our deadwax info? I don't know enough about this stuff to have a clue.

 

Perishpere - mine has the same logo stamp as well.

 

Hit record, or one expected to be, so more than one lacquer needed to be cut for each side of the record to yield enough metal parts to press the quantity of copies they expected to sell.

 

Probably just the lightening. I'm thinking they're both identical promo copies.

 

Aha. Thanks for that picture, Perisphere. Unusually sloppy signature even by Piros' standards. Now I feel foolish It's on one side of my copy of Discipline and I didn't even recognize it. So maybe every copy of Discipline I've seen is a Piros cut and I've never noticed

 

That's the one I have (XBS 3629 with a Q in the deadwax) and it's (obviously) Canadian. I bought it when it came out (obviously) in Canada. I played it lots at the time it came out. It's an original Canadian pressing. I just listened to it and it's just good/average. IMHO.

 

IMO, one of the greatest albums of the last 30 years. I was in college and co-owned a record store when this was released (September 1981). The anticipation of this LP release among certain friends made me curious. I was not a big King Crimson guy. This album changed all that. Still as vital and modern sounding today, as back then. I have an original promo (a George Piros cut), along with a well-played UK pressing, plus a Japanese one, too. Generally speaking, all three sound good. It's not the geatest recording, say, compared to Beat, but it is raw and powerful. A desert island disk, for me...

 

I think I have the same copy. Any Canadian LP pressings with "Q" in the deadwax from the early 1980s means the LP was cut and manufactured @ Quality Records Canada's pressing plant.

Any Canadian LPs from the late 1970s to early-mid 1980s with DM in the deadwax means the LP was cut and manufactured by CBS Records Canada, Don Mills, Ontario. (CR) is CINRAM.

 

Not to contribute anything at all to this thread, but I am currently doing exactly what it says in the thread title. I was just working my way to the listening on vinyl thread to post pictures. Weird.

 

I have a pressing with the exact side A deadwax as your promo, and then my side 2 ends with E-1.
I am guessing they used the same stampers as the promo for an early run?? My copy is very distorted, either the previous owner destroyed it with their turntable, or it was mastered too hot...??? How does yours sound overall??

 

Killer album!

 

I think it's a bit hot as well. I have no other copies to compare it to nor have I heard another version. I should pick up a different version when one pops up at my record store for comparison.

 

I just got the 30th Anniversary HDCD release-- I can now understand why the vinyl sounds so hot-- I think this album was recorded in the red! It sounds pretty pushed with mild distortion and some clipping-- I know opinions on the 30th versions differ pretty greatly around here...

 

Great thread. I entirely agree that KC, at the time, had some similarities to the Heads with the African beats and themes ( Elephant Talk, Matte Kudesai, Thela Hun Ginjeet, Sartori in Tangier come to mind ). I will go further and say that some of Peter Gabriel's late 70's and early 80's music incorporated the same beats. I would imagine that Tony Levin played a big influence here as he was the bridge between Crimson and TH/PG, having played with both. Tom Tom Club, a Weymouth/ Frantz Talking Heads offshoot, also incorporated these sounds. Perhaps Fripp was also reading the works of some of the Beat writers that would vacation in Morocco and Tunisia ( ie Byron Gysin, Paul Bowles who wrote Sheltering Sky ) I love the three Crimson albums that came from this period. The sound transcends time as the songs don't sound dated. Crimson was one of the few bands that transitioned well into the 80's. They kept their core fans and won over many fans that listened to new wave ( Fripp association with the Gang of Four ). I saw them in '81 and '84 and it was a bizarre mix of heads and new wavers dressed like they were more ready to see a Bauhaus or Cure show.

 

I'd highly recommend Talking Heads' Remain in Light and Tom Tom Club's first album, as Adrian Belew's fingerprints are quite literally all over those records too.

 

Everyone interested in Belew should follow him on Facebook. He is pretty active there and shares a lot of great stories from his time with Zappa, Bowie, etc, etc.