KING CRIMSON Red 1974 UK pink rim Island palm tree Vinyl LP EX condition Pecko

	£		46
	$		61

KING CRIMSON Red - 1974 UK pink rim Island 'palm tree' label vinyl LP. Both the laminated picture sleeve and vinyl are faultless. Complete with original blue island poly-lined inner ILPS9308

1. Red
2. Fallen Angel
3. One More Red Nightmare
4. Providence
5. Starless

In excellent condition throughout.Red (King Crimson album)

Contents

• 1 Production
• 2 Reception
• 3 Legacy
• 4 Releases
• 5 Track listing
  • 5.1 Side one
  • 5.2 Side two
  • 5.3 2009 CD bonus tracks
• 6 Personnel
• 7 Production
• 8 Notes
• 9 References
• 10 Further reading

[edit]Production

David Cross left King Crimson in 1974, reducing the group to the trio of Robert Fripp, John Wetton and Bill Bruford. The trio recordedRed with the help of Cross and former band-members Ian McDonald and Mel Collins. Fripp disbanded King Crimson on 24 September 1974, and the album was released later that year with no accompanying tour.

While musically similar to its predecessor Starless and Bible Black, Red was produced very differently from previous King Crimson albums. For instance, while the acoustic guitar features prominently in previous releases, on Red it is heard only for a few bars in "Fallen Angel". Also, unlike previous King Crimson albums, Red features extensive use of guitar overdubs. Later albums lacked acoustic guitar entirely and reverted to a minimum of overdubs, though by that point the band featured multiple guitarists playing simultaneously.

The album opens with the title track, a driving, hard rock instrumental. It features multiple time signatures including 5/8, 7/8 and 4/4.[citation needed] Its polyrhythmic melodies usewhole-tone scales.[2][3]

The fourth track on the album, "Providence", was recorded live at Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, on 30 June 1974, and is the album's only live recording. Charles Snider refers to the album as a "swan song", and comments that "'Providence' packs just about everything improv-related from the last two albums into its eight short minutes."[4] A longer, unedited version of the track is available on the live four-CD set The Great Deceiver.

The original lyrics and melody for "Starless" were written by John Wetton. He originally intended the song to be the title track of the group's previous album Starless and Bible Black. Fripp and Bruford initially disliked the song and declined to record it for that album. Instead the group chose an instrumental composition as the title track for the Starless and Bible Black album. However, "Starless" was later revived, its lyrics altered and a long instrumental section (based on a bass riff contributed by Bruford) added to it, and performed live between March–June 1974. For the Red recording sessions, the lyrics were again altered (with contributions by Richard Palmer-James). The haunting introductory theme, originally contributed and played by David Cross, was taken over by the guitar, with Fripp making minor alterations to the melody. As the title "Starless and Bible Black" had already been used, the original title was shortened to "Starless".

[edit]Reception

The record spent only one week on the British charts, at No. 45, whereas all the band's previous studio albums had reached the Top 30. In the United States, it reached No. 66 on the Billboard 200. However, it remained a popular album with fans and critics.

Retrospective reviews were resoundingly positive. In theirs, Allmusic declared Red to be weaker than its two predecessors, but nonetheless a superlative work: "few intact groups could have gotten an album as good as Red together. The fact that it was put together by a band in its death throes makes it all the more impressive an achievement."[5] Robert Christgau also applauded the album, calling it "Grand, powerful, grating, and surprisingly lyrical" and commenting that "this does for classical-rock fusion what John McLaughlin's Devotion did for jazz-rock fusion."[6]

[edit]Legacy

In 2001 Q magazine named Red as one of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time",[9] and Kurt Cobain has cited the album as a major influence.[10][11] Musicologists Eric Tamm and Edward Macan both consider Red, and particularly the track "Starless", to be the highlight of King Crimson's recorded output.

[edit]Releases

The album had CD releases in 1989 and 2001, each newly remastered by Fripp at the time. The newest version appeared on 21 September 2009, containing a 5.1 Surround Soundmix on DVD-Audio (created by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, in collaboration with Fripp).

[edit]Track listing

[edit]Side one

1. "Red" (Robert Fripp)  – 6:16
2. "Fallen Angel" (Fripp, Richard Palmer-James, John Wetton)  – 6:02
3. "One More Red Nightmare" (Fripp, Wetton)  – 7:07

[edit]Side two

4. "Providence" (Bill Bruford, David Cross, Fripp, Wetton)  – 8:09 Recorded at Palace Theatre, Providence, USA, 30 June 1974
5. "Starless" (Bruford, Cross, Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton)  – 12:16

[edit]2009 CD bonus tracks

6. "Red" (pre-overdub trio version)
7. "Fallen Angel" (pre-overdub trio version)
8. "Providence" (unedited live version)

[edit]Personnel

• Robert Fripp – guitar, mellotron
• John Wetton – bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Bruford – drums, percussion

• David Cross – violin on "Providence"
• Mel Collins – soprano saxophone on "Starless"
• Ian McDonald – alto saxophone on "One More Red Nightmare" and "Starless"
• Robin Miller – oboe on "Fallen Angel"
• Mark Charig – cornet on "Fallen Angel"

[edit]Production

• Arranged & Produced By King Crimson
• Recorded & Engineered By George Chkiantz & Rod Thear (also assistant engineer)

[edit]