king crimson - in the court of the crimson king 40th anniversary edition
Recorded over a period of 10 days in August 1969 & released on October 10th of the same year “In The Court Of The Crimson King” stands as one of the defining albums of British rock music & one of the finest debut albums of all time. Described at the time as “an uncanny masterpiece” by Pete Townshend, the album has achieved legendary status over the years. It is the only studio document of an extraordinary year in the life of King Crimson; a year that began with the group’s first rehearsals on January 13th, included a residency at the Marquee Club, a concert in Hyde Park with The Rolling Stones, the recording and release of the album and ended with the dissolution of the lineup at the close of Crimson’s 1st American tour in December.
In the 40 years since its release ‘In The Court of the Crimson King’ has never been out of print or unavailable in any of the world’s main music markets & continues to enjoy consistently high sales.
Now expanded with a completely new mix, previously unreleased tracks & a stunning 5.1 Surround Sound mix. Steven Wilson said of the mixing work “The intention is certainly not to try to replace or supersede the 1969 mix (which, like many classic albums, is what it is partly because of the limitations of the original recording circumstances), but to provide an alternate perspective to what must now be considered not only a rock masterpiece, but also the foundation stone of progressive rock.”
Personnel:
Robert Fripp:- guitar
Ian McDonald: reeds, woodwind, vibes, keyboards, mellotron, vocals
Greg Lake: bass guitar, lead vocals
Michael Giles: drums, percussion, vocals
Peter Sinfield: words and illumination
* Steven Wilson & Robert Fripp have collaborated to produce a completely new stereo mix drawn directly from the original multitrack tapes
* CD1 features the new mix plus 5 additional tracks drawn from the original recording sessions - a complete version of Moonchild (edited on the new stereo mix), a flute/guitar duet of I Talk to the Wind, an alternate mix of I Talk to the Wind, the full Epitaph backing track & the session recording of the 'wind' noises used to introduce the album at the start of 21st Century Schizoid Man
* CD2 features the 2004 remaster of the original album drawn from the original master tape plus bonus tracks including the Morgan studios instrumental take of 21st Century Schizoid Man, 2 tracks from 1969 BBC John Peel sessions, (21st Century Schizoid Man & I Talk to the Wind (the latter previously unreleased) and de-clicked vinyl transfer of the original mono a+b side single edits of In the Court of the Crimson King.
* Presented as a 2CD Jewel case edition with new sleeve notes by Robert Fripp & King Crimson biographer Sid Smith along with rare photos & archive material.
CD/DVDA version:
CD:
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph
4. Moonchild
5. The Court of the Crimson King
New stereo mixes by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp.
Bonus tracks:
5 tracks of alternate takes & versions mixed by Steven Wilson from original multitracks.
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph
4. Moonchild
5. The Court of the Crimson King
1-5 2009 2009 stereo album mix from the original multitrack master tapes.
6. Moonchild (full version)
As Robert chose to feature the edit of Moonchild in the album running order, the full version is included here.
7. I Talk to the Wind (Duo version) An alternate take featuring just Robert Fripp & Ian McDonald.
8. I Talk to the Wind (Alternate mix) An alternate take featuring different solos.
9. Epitaph (Backing track)
10. Wind session
Extracts from the session that produced the distinctive intro to 21st Century Schizoid Man.
1-6 mixed & produced by Robert Fripp & Steven Wilson.
7-10 mixed & produced by Steven Wilson, Executive Producer; Robert Fripp.
Audio mastered by Simon Heyworth, assisted by Joe Gilder at Super Audio Mastering, Devon.
DVD-A:
PART I
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph
4. Moonchild
5. The Court of the Crimson King
5.1 Surround Sound mixes available in DTS 5.1 (playable in all DVD players/DVD-Rom drives etc. with a compatible speaker setup) & MLP Lossless Audio (DVD-A players only).
All 5.1 tracks mixed & produced by Steven Wilson, Executive producer: Robert Fripp.
PART II
24/48 High Resolution Stereo mixes of full CD audio content (playable in all DVD players/DVD-Rom drives etc.) & 24/96 High Resolution Stereo mixes (DVD-A players only).
PART III
The Alternate Album: In the Court of the Crimson King
Alternate takes mixed for the first time from the original studio recordings.
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man (Trio version - instrumental)
2. I Talk to the Wind (Studio run through)
3. Epitaph (Alternate Version)
4. Moonchild (Take 1)
5. The Court of the Crimson King (Take 3)
Mixed & produced by Steven Wilson, Executive producer: Robert Fripp.
24/48 High Resolution Stereo (playable in all DVD players/DVD-Rom drives etc.) & 24/96 High Resolution Stereo (DVD-A players only).
PART IV
Original album mix, 2004 remaster
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph
4. Moonchild
5. The Court of the Crimson King
24/48 High Resolution Stereo (playable in all DVD players/DVD-Rom drives etc.) & 24/96 High Resolution Stereo (DVD-A players only).
PART V
Video Content
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man (edit), film from Hyde Park concert July 5th 1969 available for the first time with original audio from the actual performance.
All material previously unreleased or previously unreleased in these versions except
DVD content Part IV, previously released in standard 16 bit resolution as CD DGM0501 - In the Court of the Crimson King.
DVD-A mastered & assembled by Neil Wilkes at Opus Productions, London.
Notes
• The classic album has been mixed for 5.1 Surround Sound from the original studio masters by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), with Crimson founder Robert Fripp acting as executive producer.
• Additionally Steven Wilson & Robert Fripp have collaborated to produce a completely new stereo mix drawn directly from the original multitrack tapes.
• CD features 5 additional tracks drawn from the original recording sessions – a complete version of Moonchild (edited on the new stereo mix) – a flute/guitar duet of I Talk to the Wind, an alternate mix of I Talk to the Wind, the full Epitaph backing track & the session recording of the ’wind’ noises used to introduce the album at the start of 21st Century Schizoid Man.
• DVD-A (compatible with all DVD players & DVD Rom players) features a 5.1 DTS Mix and High Resolution Stereo mixes (24bit/48khz).
• DVD-A players can, additionally, access a 5.1 Lossless audio mix and Lossless Stereo mixes (24bit/96khz).
• DVD-A also features High Resolution & Lossless stereo mixes of both the full original stereo and the new stereo album mixes.
• DVD-A features 10 additional tracks drawn from the original recording sessions, including a complete alternate version of the album using instrumental & vocal takes - All previously unreleased and in Lossless Audio & High Resolution stereo.
• Features short performance footage of classic Hyde Park performance of 21st Century Schizoid Man with original audio from the show.
• Presented as a 2 x digipack format in a slipcase with new sleeve notes by Robert Fripp & King Crimson biographer Sid Smith along with rare photos & archive material.
