King Crimson - The Complete 1969 Recordings

[flyonthewall2983]

• Ultimate Boxed Set Edition of one of rock music’s seminal debut albums.
  
• Blu-Ray 4 features all-new, 2020, Dolby Atmos mix by Steven Wilson.
  
• Complete, fully mixed stereo recording sessions feature on Blu-Ray, DVD & across 6 CDs
  
• Blu-Rays also feature the original master edition of the 1969 album mix in 24/96 stereo, the 2019 stereo & 5.1 mixes, the 2009 stereo & 5.1 mixes, a complete alternate album comprising 2019 mixes & more.
  
• "Let's Make a Hit Waxing" - single CD 'in the studio with the band' mixed & compiled by David Singleton - also features in 24/48 on DVD & 24/96 hi-res on Blu-Ray.
  
• 13 further CDs present all known live recordings of the band, BBC sessions, a CD compilation of Giles, Giles & Fripp material (1968) & all studio recordings & alt takes of the main album.
  
• Presented in an album sized box with outer slipcase, containing a 12" booklet featuring an intro from Robert Fripp, notes about the source tapes by David Singleton, sleeve-notes by King Crimson biographer Sid Smith & previously unseen photos from the recording sessions plus memorabilia.
  
• Artwork derived from 2019 scans of the original paintings, meticulously restored.
  
• The eighth boxed set in the series documenting King Crimson’s studio & live recordings from 1969 onwards.

All box sets sold in this shop automatically will receive a mask featuring the "Moon Man" from the In The Court artwork. (These masks are made of fabric. They are not N95 approved masks. They are not anti-microbial. Please follow CDC guidelines for mask usage.)

“…Let’s make a hit waxing…” – studio chatter on recording sessions, 1969

The complete audio history of one of the most important debut albums of all time is presented across 26 discs in this boxed set. Featuring a new Dolby Atmos mix by Steven Wilson, 6 CDs' worth of session material on CD & Blu-Ray for the first time (fully mixed by David Singleton), a further disc of newly compiled studio material, the box also includes the original studio album, every alternate take known to exist, every mix known to exist, all live recordings known to exist & a selection of pre/Crimson 1968 recordings.

The set - as with the previous boxed seven sets in the series - is housed in a vinyl sized box complete with a booklet featuring an introduction by Robert Fripp, notes about the source tapes from David Singleton, sleeve-notes by King Crimson biographer Sid Smith, previously unseen photos from the recordings sessions, additional memorabilia & a protective outer sleeve.

“…an uncanny masterpiece” – Pete Townshend, 1969

It’s a quote that’s forever associated with the album. It was used in advertising at the time of release. Unlike many claims made in advertising it has, like the album it heralded, stood the test of time. It’s easy to forget how quickly things moved for the first incarnation of King Crimson: Formed January 13th 1969; by late Spring they were regulars on stage at the likes of The Marquee and The Speakeasy clubs & performed with Tyrannosaurus Rex at The Lyceum, during May recorded the first of two BBC sessions, initial album recording sessions in June & then, in early July – the big breakthrough – played to 650,000 people in Hyde Park supporting The Rolling Stones, the album recorded in July/August, signed to Island Records (& Atlantic in the USA), missed the Isle of Wight festival due to illness/exhaustion, more gigs & a second BBC session in August, broadcast in September, a Top 5 charting, unanimously lauded album in the UK, followed by a Top 30 debut in the USA weeks later, toured the USA – with concert appearances at legendary venues such as the Boston Tea Party, Chicago’s Kinetic Playground, New York’s Fillmore East & another appearance on a bill with The Rolling Stones – this time at a Miami festival & then, following a series of December appearances at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, it was over, as quickly as it had begun – the arc for the band from formation to dissolution had taken barely more than 11 months, leaving behind an iconic – both musically and in terms of cover art - self-produced debut album, a fearsome live reputation & the sense of a band that, in its brief period of existence, set its own agenda.

This boxed set collects every existing note that the band played - from the live gigs to the complete studio sessions, the album itself, plus every alternative take & all mixes of the album including the original mix, the 40th and 50th anniversary mixes in stereo & surround sound & a brand new Dolby Atmos mix - the ultimate edition of the quintessential debut album.

Familiar sources, fresh sounds...
Having done 5.1 Surround Sound mixes for both the 40th & 50th anniversary editions of the album, Steven Wilson was able to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by Atmos mixing, allowing for far greater movement within the mix itself. As he put it: "I've definitely had a bit more fun with the Atmos mix, watch out for solos and mellotrons circling overhead!" While the improv section of 'Moonchild' is a particular beneficiary of this approach, the mix is very active, with plenty of ear-catching moments to offer to listeners.

Likewise, significant work on the multi-track tapes was undertaken by David Singleton - who mixed all of the existing multi-track sessions recordings to stereo as well as running the single track CD length 'Let's Make a Hit Waxing' - from those same tapes. "Listening to the original recording sessions was astonishing. Time collapses and you are suddenly there in the studio with a young band, just starting out, as they experiment with recording their first album. It is not so much listening to a slick product, more witnessing a process. You are present at the birth."

King Crimson has returned many times since that birth and in many different line-ups – each different from its predecessor and, with two concerts at The Palladium in late 2018 & three shows at The Royal Albert Hall in June, 2019, the current band has played to more people in London, the city in which it began, than at any point since 1969 & in the process, played more of the material from 1969 than any line-up since the original. The current line-up has, on more than one occasion, been described as “the best live band in the world” – something that also used to be said of the original band.

Complete disc contents * :

Blu-Rays NTSC, Zone ABC, playable on all BD players. DVD playable on all DVD players & drives. DVD-A playable on all DVD players**

1. CD 1: Live at Hyde Park, July 5th 1969
   
2. CD 2: Live at The Marquee, July 6th 1969
   
3. CD 3: Plumpton Festival, August 9th 1969
   
4. CD 4: Live at Chesterfield, September 9th 1969 (new master) disc 1
   
5. CD 5: Live at Chesterfield, September 9th 1969 (new master) disc 2
   
6. CD 6: Fillmore East, November 21st/22nd 1969
   
7. CD 7: Fillmore West, December 14th/15th 1969
   
8. CD 8: Original master edition expanded
   
9. CD 9: Alternate album expanded
   
10. CD 10: 2009 mix plus additional material
    
11. CD 11: 2019 mixes expanded
    
12. CD12: Let's Make A Hit Waxing
    
13. CDs 13- 18: Complete Recording Sessions
    
14. DVD 19: Complete Recording Sessions, Let's Make a Hit Waxing (24/48 stereo) Stormy Selections (16/48)
    
15. DVD-A 20: 2019 stereo, 5.1 & instrumental mixes. Original master edition album mix (24/48)
    
16. Blu-Ray 21: Complete Recording Sessions (24/96 stereo), Chesterfield, Giles, Giles & Fripp (24/192)
17. Blu-Ray 22: 2009 mixes in stereo & 5.1, Additional Material & alternate album (2009 stereo mixes) (24/96)
    
18. Blu-Ray 23: 2019 mixes in stereo, 5.1, original master edition, alt. album, additional material (24/96)
    
19. Blu-Ray 24: 2020 Dolby Atmos Mix by Steven Wilson, I Talk to The Wind (Duo version, Surround mix), Let's Make a Hit Waxing (24/96)
20. CD 25: Giles, Giles & Fripp (new master)
21. CD 26: BBC Sessions, Trees

Discs 1-3, 6 & 7 have been audio restored at DGM to remove hiss & other noise from earlier editions but with original DGM mastering to optimise original sound sources. Discs 4 & 5 present the complete concert on disc in a new transfer & master from the original cassette source - at least one generation better than previously presented. All material on Discs 1- 7 originally taken from audience or band recordings. Discs 12 - 18 are all new to disc & mixed from the original multi-track tapes. Disc 25 is taken from a new transfer & newly mastered from the original tapes. Material on disc 19 is new to disc. Material on discs 20 is new to DVD-A. Material on discs 21,22 & 24 is new to Blu-Ray.
* resolution of material for DVD, DVD-A & Blu-Ray correct as at time of writing, resolution of remaining material to be determined at point of mastering.

**all material playable on DVD players. Lossless audio accessible only on DVD-A compatible players.

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