Today we bring you another excellent collectors item hand-picked by the staff of eil.com. Our stock addition manager and all-round prog aficionado, Syd, has chosen an early pressing of King Crimson’s magnum opus, In The Court of The Crimson King.
“After rightfully hat-tipping the The Wilde Flowers, Soft Machine, Arthur Brown or even early Floyd & Caravan for their parts to play in making important steps beyond 60s psychedelia, and frankly transcending what The Nice, Procol Harum, and The Moody Blues brought to the table, In The Court of The Crimson King has to mark the undeniable true dawn of progressive rock.
“This is the one that had the attack, the real contrasting darkness and light, the unsettling balance of chaos and order and the ambiguity that any definitively daring piece should offer, and it’s crucial that this is the one that landed just before the main onslaught that followed over the subsequent few remarkable years from Comus to Gentle Giant to the Krautrock and Canterbury movements and can stake its claim as the archetypal pioneer of musical exploration in a rock setting.
“The artwork itself is colossal among the host of iconic cover designs from the era, no small achievement in a time where album sleeve art had the potential to become historic in music culture. Its representation of the sound of this record perfectly portrays the equally harrowing surrealist music with nothing short of suitably devil-like temptation. A formidable work of forced nature and the benchmark of breaking conventional chains, you could call it the genesis but that name was used elsewhere. These guys just took it to a whole new level.”
1969 UK first issue 5-track stereo LP on the smooth pink Island label with white ‘i’ logo [A2/B4 matrices], matt gatefold picture sleeve with lyrics inside. The sleeve has a some minor scuffing to the edges but has no splits of rips, however the striking artwork is not compromised & the colours are still vibrant. The vinyl shows only minor evidence of play with some light surface scuffs, overall a very good example and an ideal play copy ILPS-9111
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- King Crimson - Islands - 1st - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £75.00, $93.75, €84.00 (New Item) (arrived 30-Aug-2020 17:52)
KING CRIMSON Islands (1971 UK first press 6-track LP on the pink rim Island 'palm tree' label, with A1/B1 matrices & original flipback 'nebula' picture sleeve complete with illustrated inner with integral lyric insert. This is a well loved example with paper scuffing around the edges of the sleeve [VG], as expected to some degree being a non-laminated cover. The elaborate inner/insert is often missing from most copies, & is found here intact, albeit with a couple of small edge splits& some foxing. The vinyl is clean & grades VG/VG- revealing spindle wear & light paper marks which have only light effect on play; a little background surface is apparent in the quieter sections & there are no jumps or sticks. A serviceable first issue starter copy always in demand ILPS9175)
- King Crimson - Lizard - Japanese - vinyl LP - £50.00, $62.50, €56.00 (New Item) (arrived 04-Aug-2020 11:38)
KING CRIMSON Lizard (1988 Japanese 'Final Vinyl' issue 5-track vinyl LP, housed in a gatefold picture sleeve with lyric inside plus a fold-out family tree insert and 'Big Artist Collection' obi-strip. The sleeve displays minimal wear whilst the vinyl looks barely played VJL-148)
- King Crimson - In The Wake Of Poseidon - Japanese - vinyl LP - £50.00, $62.50, €56.00 (New Item) (arrived 04-Aug-2020 11:31)
KING CRIMSON In The Wake Of Poseidon (1988 Japanese 'Final Vinyl' issue 8-track LP of the album originally released in 1970. The gatefold picture sleeve replicates the superb artwork with lyrics across the inner spread, complete with family tree insert and 'Big Artist Collection' obi-strip. The sleeve displays minimal wear and the vinyl looks barely played VJL-131)
- King Crimson - Lizard - Australian - vinyl LP - £125.00, $156.25, €140.00 (Back In Stock) (arrived 23-Jul-2020 18:43)
KING CRIMSON Lizard (Very Scarce 1970 Australian first issue 7-track vinyl LP on the blue & silver Philips label, housed in a front laminated gatefold picture sleeve with lyrics printed within. This is an extremely well kept archive copy with the sleeve in near 'as new' condition and the vinyl is Excellent with very little evidence of any play! PDS356)
- King Crimson - In The Court Of - 2nd - Palm Tree - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £35.00, $43.75, €39.20 (Back In Stock) (arrived 14-Jul-2020 06:14)
KING CRIMSON In The Court Of The Crimson King (1970 UK second issue of the 1969 debut 5-track vinyl LP on the pink rim palm tree label. The iconic matt gatefold picture sleeve [VG+] has a little storage wear, with some scuffing at the edges and spine, whilst the vinyl has just the odd light surface scuff. Essential for any Progressive Rock collector ILPS9111)
- King Crimson - In The Court Of - 2nd - Palm Tree - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £35.00, $43.75, €39.20 (New Item) (arrived 13-Jul-2020 12:29)
KING CRIMSON In The Court Of The Crimson King (1970 UK second issue of the 1969 debut 5-track vinyl LP on the pink rim palm tree label. The iconic matt gatefold picture sleeve [VG+] has a little storage wear, with some scuffing at the edges and spine, whilst the vinyl has just the odd light surface scuff. Essential for any Progressive Rock collector ILPS9111)
It’s the first two Crimson lps for me; Crimson King and Poseidon. Love ’em, have so since they came out. Inventive, musical and pleasing tonality. Fripp, Lake, McDonald et. al. And don’t forget the awareness at the time of Pete Sinfield, his delivering of the lyrics.