KING CRIMSON In The Wake Of Poseidon FIRST PRESS A1//B1

	£		35
	$		46

A BREAKDOWN OF THE ARTIST/S :-

Arguably progressive rock's definitive exponents, King Crimson was formed in January 1969 out of the ashes of the eccentric Giles, Giles And Fripp. Robert Fripp (Born 16 May 1946, Wimbourne, Dorset, England; guitar) and Mike Giles (Born 1 March 1942, Bournemouth, Dorset, England; drums) were joined by Ian McDonald (Born 25 June 1946, London, England; keyboards), before former Gods member Greg Lake (Born 10 November 1948, Bournemouth, Dorset, England; vocals/bass), completed the first official line-up. A fifth addition to the circle, Pete Sinfield, supplied lyrics to Fripp's compositions. The band's debut album, In The Court Of The Crimson King, drew ecstatic praise from critics and a glowing, well-publicized testimonial from the Who's Pete Townshend. An expansive use of mellotron suggested a kinship with the Moody Blues, but Fripp's complex chord progressions, and the collection's fierce introduction "21st Century Schizoid Man", revealed a rare imagination. This brief courtship with critical popularity ended with In The Wake Of Poseidon. Damned as a repeat of its predecessor, the album masked internal strife which saw McDonald and Giles depart to work as a duo and Greg Lake leave to co-found Emerson, Lake And Palmer.

Having resisted invitations to join Yes, Fripp completed the album with various available musicians including Gordon Haskell (Born 27 April 1946, Bournemouth, Dorset, England; bass/vocals, ex-Les Fleur De Lys, Cupid's Inspiration) and Mel Collins (Born 5 September 1947; saxophone), both of whom remained in the band for Lizard. Drummer Andy McCullough completed this particular line-up, but both he and Haskell left when the sessions terminated. Boz Burrell (Born Raymond Burrell, 1 August 1946, Lincolnshire, England; vocals/bass - Fripp taught Burrell how to play the instrument) and Ian Wallace (drums) replaced them before the reshaped quartet embarked on a punishing touring schedule. One studio album, Islands, and a live selection, Earthbound, emanated from this particular version of King Crimson which collapsed in April 1972. Collins, Wallace and Burrell then pursued studio-based careers although the bass player later found fame with Bad Company. With Sinfield also ousted from the ranks, Fripp began fashioning a new, more radical line-up. John Wetton (Born 12 June 1949, Derby, Derbyshire, England), formerly of Family, assumed the role of bass player/vocalist while Bill Bruford (Born 17 May 1948, Sevenoaks, Kent, England) left the more lucrative ranks of Yes to become King Crimson's fourth drummer, and Richard Palmer-James was recruited as new lyricist. Percussionist Jamie Muir and violinist David Cross (Born 23 April 1949, Plymouth, Devon, England) completed the innovative unit unveiled on Larks' Tongues In Aspic, but were discarded over the next two years until only Fripp, Wetton and Bruford remained for the exemplary Red.

"King Crimson is completely over for ever and ever", Fripp declared in October 1974 as he embarked on an idiosyncratic solo career. However, in 1981 the guitarist took a surprisingly retrograde step, resurrecting the name for a unit comprising himself, Bruford, Tony Levin (Born 6 June 1946, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; bass) and Adrian Belew (Born 23 December 1949, Kentucky, USA; guitar). The albums which followed, Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair, showed both adventure and purpose, belying the suspicion that the band would rest on previous laurels. It was, however, a temporary interlude and Fripp subsequently resumed his individual pursuits and established a new unit, the League Of Gentlemen. He subsequently performed and gave tutorials under "The League Of Crafty Guitarists' banner, but reconvened King Crimson in 1994 to record the challenging Thrak with a line-up comprising Belew, Trey Gunn (stick and backing vocals), Levin, Bruford and Pat Mastelotto (Born Lee Patrick Mastelotto, 10 September 1955; acoustic/electric percussion). He recorded with the same musicians as part of the ongoing ProjeKcts series, and oversaw a series of collectors" releases on his own Discipline Global Mobile label. Fripp retained Belew, Gunn and Mastelotto for the first King Crimson album of the new millennium, The ConstruKction Of Light.

Fripp's inventive and ambitious approach to music making has enabled King Crimson to consistently avoid the traps prevalent in rock's experimental arena. The totally acceptable face of prog-rock, and one to be recommended 30 years on.

Discography:
In The Court Of The Crimson King ... An Observation By King Crimson (Island/Atlantic 1969)****, In The Wake Of Poseidon (Island/Atlantic 1970)***, Lizard (Island/Atlantic 1970)***, Islands (Island/Atlantic 1971)**, Earthbound (Island 1972)**, Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Island/Atlantic 1973)****, Starless And Bible Black (Island/Atlantic 1974)***, Red (Island/Atlantic 1974)****, USA (Island/Atlantic 1975)***, Discipline (EG/Warners 1981)***, Beat (EG/Warners 1982)***, Three Of A Perfect Pair (EG/Warners 1984)***, Thrak (DGM/Virgin 1995)***, B'Boom: Official Bootleg - Live In Argentina (DGM 1995)**, THRaKaTTak (DGM 1996)***, Epitaph: Live In 1969 (DGM 1997)***, The Nightwatch: Live At The Amsterdam Concertgebouw (DGM 1997)***, Absent Lovers: Live In Montreal 1984 (DGM 1998)***, Live At The Marquee 1969 (DGM 1998)***, Live At Jacksonville 1972 (DGM 1998)***, The Beat Club Bremen 1972 (DGM 1999)***, Live At Cap D'Adge, 1982 (DGM 1999)***, On Broadway: Live In NYC 1995 (DGM 1999)***, Live In Mexico City 1996 (DGM 1999)***, The Vrooom Sessions 1994 (DGM 2000)**, Live At Summit Studios, 1972 (DGM 2000)***, Live In Central Park, NYC, 1974 (DGM 2000)***, Live At Moles Club, Bath, 1981 (DGM 2000)***, The ConstruKction Of Light (DGM 2000)***, Heavy ConstuKction 3-CD box set (DGM 2000)***, Vroom Vroom 1996 live recordings (DGM 2001)***, Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With (DGM 2002)***, The Power To Believe (Sanctuary 2003)***.

THE HISTORY OF THE RECORD :- In the Wake of Poseidon is the second studio album by the progressive rock group King Crimson. By the time this album was released, the band had already undergone their first change in line-up, however they still maintained much of the style of their first album, In the Court of the Crimson King. Also like their first album, the mood of this album often changes from serene to chaotic

Greg Lake was the next member to leave, departing in early 1970 after being approached by Keith Emerson to join what would become Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This left Fripp as the only remaining musician in the band, taking on part of the keyboard-playing role in addition to guitar. To compensate, Sinfield increased his own creative role and began developing his interest in synthesisers for use on subsequent records.

Lake agreed to sing on the recordings for In the Wake of Poseidon (negotiating to receive King Crimson's PA equipment as payment). Eventually, he ended up singing on the band's early 1970 single "Cat Food" b/w "Groon" and on all but one of the album’s vocal tracks. The exception was "Cadence and Cascade", which was sung by Fripp's old schoolfriend and teenage bandmate Gordon Haskell. There does exist however, an early mix of the song with Lake singing a guide vocal which was unearthed and featured on the DGM site as a download. At one point, the band considered hiring the then-unknown Elton John to be the album's singer, but decided against it. Other former members and associates returned – as session players only – for the Poseidon recordings, with all bass parts being handled by Peter Giles and Michael Giles performing the drumming. Mel Collins (formerly of the band Cirkus) contributed saxophones and flute. Another key performer was jazz pianist Keith Tippett, who became an integral part of King Crimson's sound for the next few records (although Fripp offered him full band membership, Tippett preferred to remain as a studio collaborator and only performed live with the band once).

On 25 March 1970, the line up of Fripp, Lake, Tippett, Mike and Peter Giles taped a mimed performance of the single version of "Cat Food" for the following night's broadcast of BBCTV's Top Of The Pops. It was to be King Crimson's sole British TV appearance until 1981. This footage has long since been wiped, though several photographs taken backstage and of the dress rehearsal do exist.

With the album on sale, Fripp and Sinfield remained in the awkward position of having King Crimson material and releases available, but not having a band to play it. Fripp persuaded Gordon Haskell to join permanently as singer and bass player, and recruited drummer Andy McCulloch, another Dorset musician moving in the West London progressive rock circle, who had previously been a member of Shy Limbs (alongside Greg Lake, who recommended him to Fripp) and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Mel Collins was also retained as a full band member.

The album opens with an a cappella piece called "Peace – A Beginning", which is reprised instrumentally in the middle of the album and vocally again at the end. "Pictures of a City" was originally performed live, often extended to over ten minutes and was called "A Man. A City". An example of such a performance can be found on the live album Epitaph.

The longest track on the album is a chaotic instrumental piece called "The Devil’s Triangle", which was built around quotations from Gustav Holst's "Mars: Bringer of War" from his The Planets Suite. King Crimson would have called the piece "Mars", as they had performed it on tour in the 1969 line-up, but were forbidden by the composer's legal estate. In 1971, a brief excerpt from "The Devil’s Triangle" was featured on the BBC television series Doctor Who. Also, the track samples the chorus from "The Court of the Crimson King", the title track from the band's first album, a studio technique known as xenochrony.

THE HISTORY OF THE COVER :- The work is called The 12 Archetypes or The 12 Faces of Humankind. The colour pictures were painted by Tammo De Jongh in 1967.

The twelve faces in the picture are as follows:

1. The Fool (Fire and Water): The laughing man with a wispy beard.
2. The Actress (Water and Fire): The Egyptian girl with long pearl earrings and many pearl necklaces around her neck, she has tears in her eyes.
3. The Observer (Air and Earth): A scientist type person with round spectacles pushed up above his brow, mostly bald head with white hair at the sides; his left hand is held up to his chin, he looks thoughtful.
4. The Old Woman (Earth and Air): A woman with much wrinkled face wrapped up against the cold.
5. The Warrior (Fire and Earth): A dark and powerful warrior's face in blacks and reds. He wears a steel helmet, broad square face, open mouth with square teeth and a full black beard.
6. The Slave (Earth and Fire): A black African with large gold earrings and a ring through her nose; the lips are full and pink, the eyes half-closed, sultry and sensuous; the expression is warm and friendly.
7. The Child (Water and Air): a picture of innocence; a girl with delicate sweet smile and butterfly shaped bows at each side in her long golden hair; her eyes are large and watery and she has a delicate sweet smile on her mouth. She wears a gold chain, on the end of which is a small golden key.
8. The Patriarch (Air and Water): An old philosopher, with a long face and long white hair and long white beard and moustache; white bushy eyebrows; all around are shapes like flowers or snowflakes; the brow is furrowed upwards from the nose in a fan-like fashion.
9. The Logician (Air and Fire): A scientist or wizard type man with long face, dark hair and long dark beard; he appears to hold a long stick or wand with his right hand and his left is held aloft and surrounded by stars.
10. The Joker (Fire and Air): Picture in bright reds and yellows is of a smiling twinkle-eyed Harlequin with his typical gold-stuccoed, triangular hat.
11. The Enchantress (Water and Earth): A sad girl with watery eyes ; her long dark hair is blown sideways across her face and brow from right to left.
12. Mother Nature (Earth and Water): Lying asleep in the long grass; their face in silhouette is viewed from the left side and all around are the flowers and butterflies

THE COVER :- Single deep textured sleeve

THE LABEL :- Pink Island "i" labels

THE VINYL VISUALLY :- On initial inspection of this piece of vinyl there are a couple of things worth pointing out. One Side One there is a small scratch roughly 10mm in length on track 3 and on track 1 throught 2 there is also a very light hairline scratch and a few paper scuffs and removal marks here and there. I would also say that there is a very slight warp in the record when looked at from eye level in rotation.  Side two is cleaner with no noticeable scratches or scuffs. General wear and tear really and still a pretty clean copy of this album. I would grade somewhere at Very Good visually.

THE VINYL PLAY GRADED :- The playgrading of the vinyl reveals a little lessening in the sound quality. There is some crackle on the quiet start to track 1 and a couple very tiny skips on track 2, one about a minute or so in and one half way through. It may just be grains of dust in the groove as I cannot see anything obvious causing it and might improve with regular cleaning or a better turntable than my set up may not even pick them up as they do not repeat or stop the flow of the track. I barely noticed it myself untill playing the track a second time. Apart from that Side One play very well with minimal background noise revealed in quiet areas, just one light pop on track 3. Side Two plays much better and aside from a small amount of static crackle in soft areas I have not noticed any deterioration in the quality. As I say a better set up than mine may smother the problems I have highlighted on Side One but I feel it important to give a thorough review of the playback as I find it. I would grade the playback as Very Good for Side One and Excellent for Side Two

THE SLEEVE FRONT CONDITION :- This is the very earliest 1st press textured E.J. Day sleeve. The front is free from any writing or stickers. These are very fragile sleeves and does show some ageing in places. There are a couple of small scuffs in the top right where a price sticker may have been and one near the bottom centre. There is some rubbing wear on the top and bottom seams but nothing of major concern. All in all the front has survived quite well and I would grade somewhere between Very Good and Excellent condition.

THE SLEEVE REAR CONDITION :- The rear of the machine is comparable to the front with a scuff at the top centre where again something appears to have been removed. There is also some scribble in red ink  on the old ladys headscarf along with a scuff. If you look at the photos these are clearly visable. That apart there is some light ringwear and rubbing on the seams and corners. Very Good condition.

THE SLEEVE INNER GATEFOLD CONDITION :- The inner of the sleeve is in fairly nice shape with only one or two light marks and general wear and tare. Excellent condition.

THE LABEL SIDE ONE CONDITION :- Original Pink Island "i" logo first press label in excellent order free from stickers or writing and no damage at all, light signs of play around the spindle hole. Excellent condition.

THE LABEL SIDE TWO CONDITION :- Original Pink Island "i" logo first press label in excellent order free from stickers or writing and no damage at all, light signs of play around the spindle hole. Excellent condition

THE SPINE CONDITION :- The spine has shelf rubbing along the length and in the corners but no splits or other damage. The writing which was situated on the rear cover adjacent to the spine is all clear and readable. Very Good condition.

THE INNER SLEEVE CONDITION :- The polylined inner is the original one and is aged with browning around the perimeter. Very Good condition

THE EXTRAS :- No extras were given with this album

THE CATALOGUE NUMBER :- ILPS 9127

THE YEAR OF RELEASE :-  1970

THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN :-  UK

PLAYING FORMAT :- STEREO

THE MATRIX NUMBERS :-  ILPS 9127 A//1  &  ILPS 9127 B//1

TRACK LISTING :-

SIDE ONE :-

1. PEACE - A BEGINNING
2. PICTURES OF A CITY
3. CADENCE AND CASCADE
4. IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON

SIDE TWO :-

1. CAT FOOD
2. THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE
3. MERDAY MORN
4. HAND OF SCEIRON
5. GARDEN OF WORM
6. PEACE - AN END

WHAT WE PLAY THE RECORD ON :- 

We use a Project 6 Perspex Turntable to play grade our records which delivers a rich authoritative sound and achieves a rich and weighty vibrancy unrivalled by the majority of decks within its price range

HOW WE CLEAN YOUR RECORD :- 

We use a V.P.I. HW-16.5 record cleaning machine to clean your vinyl. "A highly recommended machine" as quoted by Stereophile magazine. This removes any excess dirt before playing

HOW WE PACKAGE YOUR RECORD :- 

Your record will be package very securely to minimise any risk of damage during transit. We remove the record from the outer sleeve unless asked not to do so. This helps to minimise the risk of seam spliting. We use a high quality record mailer which is designed to give superior protection for your vinyl record. We place stiffeners either side of the record for added protection. The album will also be placed in a 450 gram Poly outer sleeve for even extra added protection

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING CHARGES FOR UK CUSTOMERS :-

We advise that items reaching over £46 in price to be insured and sent by Special Delivery. This protects both of us and ensures better handling of the parcel during transit.We are in no way out to make money from postage. The postage price includes the record mailer, stiffeners and plastic sleeve. We just want your item to reach you in the best possible condition. A breakdown of insured postal services are listed below. Please choose to use the relevant postal service for your own protection as once these rare records are lost they can quite often seldom be replaced

FIRST CLASS RECORDED FOR RECORDS INSURED UP TO £46  :-   £4.50

SECOND CLASS RECORDED FOR RECORDS INSURED UP TO £46 :- £4.00

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY UPTO 500g :- £7.15

SPECIAL DELIVERY NEXT DAY FROM 500g - 1000g :- £8.35

(SPECIAL DELIVERY INSURES YOUR ITEM UPTO £500)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION :-    

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the European Union by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £6.22 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £11.37 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :-  £13.97 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE USA AND CANADA :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the USA & Canada by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS  :-  £8.78 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £13.93 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.53 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING FOR THE AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN AND ROW :- 

All records reaching under £15 are sent to the Australia & Japan by Airmail small packets. We will not ship abroad without insured post for items reaching over £15

AIRMAIL SMALL PACKETS :- £9.06 (For items under £15)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £14.21 (For items £15 - £50)

INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR :- £16.81 (For items £50 - £500)

(These prices are based on a package weight of no more than 500g and can vary for heavier packages)

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT PROFIT FROM POSTAGE, THE PRICES WE QUOTE ARE QUITE ACCURATE AND INCLUDE THE PACKAGING MATERIALS AT COST PRICE

NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS:

PLEASE AWAIT AN INVOICE BEFORE PAYING SO WE CAN WORK OUT THE CORRECT POSTAGE/SHIPPING CHARGES

BUYERS OF MULTIPLE ITEMS :- 

Postage prices and courier methods for multiple purchases will be calculated after the auction end. It is impossible for us at the pre auction stage to determine these prices as the final weight is unknown.If you are the winner of multiple items the please await contact from us or alternately contact us yourself for a breakdown of the shipping costs.You will only pay the stamp price + relevant packaging charges so there are big savings to be made with multiple purchases

HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR RECORD :-

We can accept the following payment methods

UK BUYERS :- 

• PayPal
• Personal cheque (Please allow to clear)
• Bankers Draft
• Postal Order

OVERSEAS BUYERS :-

• Paypal only

TERMS AND CONDITIONS :-

We always try to appraise the record for sale as openly and honestly as possible and provide plenty of pictures for you to look at but please be aware that errors however rare do occur and not everyone has the same audio  equipment. There is no problem that cannot be worked out in a civilised manner. We urge you to contact us so that we can discuss any small problems that may occur. We offer a refund of the purchase price for returned items within 7 days of purchase and are happy to help you with any questions or concerns you may have during the auction

SAVE US TO YOUR FAVOURITES LIST AS WE INTEND TO LIST MANY MORE RARE VINYL TREATS OVER THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS