Sold Date: February 23, 2016
Start Date: February 16, 2016
Final Price: £180.00 (GBP)
Bid Count: 13
Seller Feedback: 4147
Buyer Feedback: 35

Grass in your hair stretched like a lion in the sun,
Restlessly turned, moistened your mouth with your tongue.
Pouring my wine in your eyes caged mine...... glowing
Touching your face, my fingers strayed..... knowing.
I called you Lady Of The Dancing Water.

Blown autumn leaves shed to the fire, where you laid me,
Burn slow to ash, just as my days now seem to be.
I feel you still always, your eyes..... glowing,
Remembered hours, salt, earth and flowers..... flowing,
Farewell my Lady Of The Dancing Water.
KING CRIMSON: "Lizard" LP.  RARE UK VERY FIRST PRESSING, 11th DECEMBER,1970.
So late in 1970, it was just after the November re-design of the pink Island label, to the pink rim or palm tree Island label.


PINK RIM ISLAND LABEL: ILPS 9141.

MAITRIX: ILPS 9141 - A - 2U / ILPS 9141 - B - 2U

AS THE MAITRIX DEMONSTRATES, THE FIRST UK PRESSINGS WERE ONLY MADE BY EMI AND IN 1970, ALL MAITRIX
ENDING DIGITS & LETTERS, WERE '- 2U' ON BOTH SIDES.

EMI STAMPING CODES:  P  1 / T  1
This record is the very first UK pressing made, extremely low in the sequence with both sides sourced from the first mothers and
single letters;
P  1 / T  1 = No.'s 5 & 9 from the first mothers per side.
ORIGINAL 1970 EMI  INNER SEEVE, UNUSED WITH A LIGHT RECORD IMPRESSION AND MINOR AGEING,
IN NEAR MINT CONDITION.

BR> VERY RARE MISPRINTED VERY FIRST EDITION, LAMINATED OUTSIDE GATEFOLD COVER, A FEW OF THESE EARLIEST
COVERS, MADE WITH SPINE TITLES MISTAKENLY PRINTED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.  REGARDLESS OF THE ERROR
ON A VERY LOW NUMBER, ALL THE UK FIRST ISSUE COVERS  WERE  PRINTED BY THE 'E. J.Day Group, London.'
ALL THREE ITEMS, "King Crimson", "Lizard" & "Island ILPS 9141" WERE PRINTED FACING UP THE SPINE AND
NOT AS INTENDED, FACING DOWN.   THIS WAS QUICKLY CORRECTED DURING THE PRE-RELEASE MANUFACTURING,
MISPRINTED COVERS LIKE THIS WERE USED AND SOLD.  THE FIRST ISSUE SPINES WERE HUGE, EXTRA WIDE AND
SQUARE SHAPED, TWO TYPES OF FIRST ISSUE 'E. J.Day' COVERS EXIST, WITH THE INVERTED SPINE COVERS, BY
FAR RARER.
  The laminate fixing on virtually all first edition wide spine cover had one thing in common, it was applied with thin lines and
not perfectly smoothed down.  A minor point when the previous "In The Court Of The Crimson King" & "In The Wake Of Poseidon"
gatefold covers were matt, "In The Wake Of Poseidon" was textured and both covers wore terribly, at least this time the superb
artwork on "Lizard" was fully protected by thick, glossy lamination. The overall condition of this very first printed gatefold
cover is exceptional, unused with only very slightest storage traits after standing for 46 years, the fantastic artwork on the
outside is still in the original 1970 ultra bright colours, the very deep colour tones are totally unfaded and as vividly rich.  
The song illustrations have deeply glossy shine over the colours,  in a Medieval style, inset with scenes from the LPs lyrics
  and musical themes.  There is nothing better than  listening to an inspired album like this and having such a fascinatingly
detailed gatefold cover to hold and look at.
 
To give a visual reference to the unique features of this spine's extra wide width and the misprinted titles direction, I laid a
1971 cover on top and took two close up pictures of two out of three printed items, obviously only the central "Lizard" title
had corresponding positions...if inverted!  The spine of the 'EJDay' printed first edition cover really does show the difference
in shape and size with the slightly later design, also an opportunity to show how this unworn the lamination is, over perfectly
clear titles, just a few tiny paper ripples and tiny laminate edge lines that naturally form.  The spine tip's or left side corners
  only have the usual minor rubbing from standing, the bottom left has another common feature to gatefold covers, just a little
bunching from when it was factory folded and glued together. The right side corners are near enough perfect and the opening
  edges are perfectly crisp and unworn, the top & bottom edges are again very close to naming as perfect, unworn as I have found.
The thin gold border is 100% present and unworn all the way round the opening sides and all the other edges.
 
The back is as described for the front except for a reasonably light impression from the heavyweight record and a few tiny
  laminate lines from standing in storage.   Describing a beautiful cover from as early as 1970  is a thankless task because this
  was from the era touching the 60's decade, when plastic outer sleeves were rarely placed on covers in record shops from brand
new, let alone after being purchased.

Inside is just as absorbing and beautifully designed with full credits and the whole album lyrics printed over a pale orange silk
silk cloth looking finish, taken from wallpaper.  A record impression is exceptionally mild outside, if anything, more noticeable
inside where it rested next to the spine in the storage compartment, as light paper ripples on the right side panel.
I must stress how perfectly clean and unaged the inside is with those lovely  pale colours, please see the following pictures for
how beautiful this rare, very first made gatefold cover actually is, "Lizard" was a very poor selling UK album as a first issue,
all 'EJDay' covers are by no means common, because endless re-issues were made during the rest of the 1970's decade and beyond,
today they far out-number these 1970 first issues.
THE  UNUSED COVER IS IN A MINIMUM OF  EXCELLENT+++ / NEAR MINT CONDITION.


THE LABELS ARE IMMACULATE WITHOUT ANY SPINDLE ALIGNMENT TRACES, REFLECTED IN BOTH SIDES OF THE
RECORD LITERALLY LOOKING LIKE BRAND NEW.  NO SCRATCHES OR MARKS,A TRULY BEAUTIFUL LOOKING, ULTRA
GLOSSY TOP SURFACE, THE RECORD IS IN UNPLAYED,  MINT CONDITION.
SIDE 1
"Cirkus" (including "Entry Of The Chameleons")
"Indoor Games"
"Happy Family"
"Lady Of The Dancing Water"

SIDE 2
"Lizard"
(a) "Prince Rupert Awakes"
(b) "Bolero - The Peacock's Tale"
(c) "The Battle Of Glass Tears"
(i) "Dawn Song"
(ii) "Last Skirmish"
(iii) "Prince Rupert's Lament"
(d) "Big Top"  


 

Robert Fripp - guitar, mellotron, electric keyboards etc.
Peter Sinfield - lyrics
  Mel Collins - flute & sax
Gordon Haskell - bass guitar & vocals
Andy McCulloch - drums


Tony Levin - bass guitar
Jon Anderson - vocals on "Prince Rupert Awakes"
Keith Tippet - acoustic & electric pianos
Robin Miller - oboe & cor anglais
Mark Charig - cornet
Nick Evans - trombone


All Songs Written By Robert Fripp & Peter Sinfield.
Recorded August - September,1970, At Wessex Sound Studios, Highbury New Park, London.
Produced By Robert Fripp & Peter Sinfield.
During their time performing as 'Giles, Giles and Fripp', founder members Robert Fripp and Michael Giles planned to form a new
band,'King Crimson' first arose in June, 1968 directly after the first incarnation had disbanded.  In 1968 they were joined by a
versatile musician in Ian McDonald, the other two were the vocalist and guitarist Greg Lake along with lyricist Peter Sinfield.
Even Peter Sinfield's role was unconventional because he was not playing an instrument, showing the importance of lyrics, if you
just read the relatively short "Lady Of The Dancing Water" lyrics, the poetic contents was as inspired as Robert Fripp's music.
One of the UK's most celebrated concerts in 1969 featured the Rolling Stones, who were paying their tributes to Brian Jones, it
  took place in London's Hyde Park and continued the 'free concert' theme that become a regular summer event since the previous
1968.  On the bill with the Rolling Stones that day, the very first outing for King Crimson who in front of a massive audience of
half a million, gave a live debut performance that instantly established their unique brand of music.  When their debut Island
label "In The Court Of The Crimson King" album, was released in October, 969, unlike their same titled debut Island single the
  album became a huge success and by the 1st November, it reached a peak at No.5 in the UK charts.  Quite why ebay presents the
album with a big fuss about the pink label pressings escapes me, no, they are not at all rare, how could they be when pressed in
such vast quantities?  I am not just discussing figures in chart books, I saw the  band in 1969, bought  "In The Court Of......"
single and album on release.   Late in 1969, everyone you visited had a copy of "In The Court Of...." playing, it was as popular
an album as it got in the final months of the 60's, 'rare' does not even enter the equation, check the figures for the later King
Crimson albums to find out which albums are actually rare. In fact, the majority being offered on ebay are from 1970 and were
not even pressed during  the 1960's decade!   I can easily tell those genuine October,1969 pink label pressings, apart from the
later 1970 pink label variety that were being pressed right up to November,1970, I am going off at a tangent , this was supposed
  to be brief.  The point is, King Crimson were one of the few Island bands to achieve immediate commercial acceptance and for a
debut album, the success was phenomenal but ironically, because King Crimson were arguably the least commercial band on the
  entire Island label.
 
  After first touring the UK , they moved onto the USA and that was where the band developed internal stress and strains common to
  most artists in the final chapter of the 1960's decade.   As ever, it concerned their musical direction, as a result Ian McDonald
  and Michael  Giles left in December,1969, but they stayed with Island as a duo and released a self titled album in 1970. That was
  the beginning of 'musical chairs' for King Crimson, the trio of Robert Fripp, Pete Sinfield and Greg Lake next released the single
  "Cat Food", issued in a superb picture sleeve and paired with a non-album track, "Groon" and released in March, 1970. Both tracks
  had been extracted from the recording sessions for their second LP, "In The Wake Of Poseidon."  Meanwhile, that merry-go-round
  spun round once again and now sitting on it was Mel Collins, who played just about any wind instrument, plus now it was Peter
  Giles who handled bass guitar duties on most of the album, only a month later in April, next to jump was Greg Lake who obviously
was about to form "Emerson, Lake & Palmer", quite a loss there because Greg was their only vocalist.  Gordon Haskell was the next
  to join the funfair ride, his vocals were supplemented by his ability to play the bass guitar on this, the third album, "Lizard."
  Just one other addition saw Andy McCulloch taking over the drumming for "Lizard", also appearing on the album was Yes vocalist,
  Jon Anderson for Side 2's opening track, "Prince Rupert Awakes."  Where the album's title originated from, I should mention two
  departing musicians, Gordon Haskell (bass guitar and vocals) and Andy McCulloch (drums), both left before the release of the
"Lizard"album, amazingly you had King Crimson left high and dry while an established band.


I have really explained how the few covers with misprinted spines had "Lizard" remaining in the centre, but facing upwards and on
the top, the catalogue "Island ILPS 9141" was upside down in in the position "King Crimson" should have occupied!  Sunlight was
poor today and I did my best with the close up pictures of two covers, this and one from 1971, I always find it difficult to take
pictures of spine titles, but I felt it necessary to illustrate these far rarer covers, the camera struggled to focus but both of
the pictures are more than clear enough.   To make sure they are understood, I placed this wide spine with misprinted direction
titles on the bottom, the corrected later thin, rounded shape spine cover is on top of this cover, one is of the central LP title
misprinted and amended. The second picture taken of the two spines is of the bottom corners, illustrating the reversed direction
of the upside down "Island ILPS 9141" on the wide spine, the cover on top has the corresponding "King Crimson" as the corrected
section.  Meanwhile, the same sections immediately next to the two individual spines, have the same artwork on both covers, only
the titles on the spine completely differ in the direction they face.
  EMI exclusively manufactured all the first pressings, I will stress here and now, the misprinted "Lizard" covers were distributed
  and sold along with the corrected covers in January,1971.  Mistakes happened, seen and amended, talking about EMI, only the
previous year even the Beatles "Abbey Road" needed the covers and labels to amended and both types were side by side in record
  shops on the day of release.  With the demise of the pink Island labels and introduction of the palm tree / pink rim, late 1970 records
are really easy to identify because Island had all but handed over all their first issues to EMI, who pressed "Lizard", so the
maitrix becomes definitive.  In  I970, including for example, the Beatles "Let It Be" LP,  all EMI first issues had  maitrix numbers
  ending with '2U ' on at least one of the sides, digits only rose on that particular album due to the colossal sales of a No.1 LP.
To have that maitrix ending on "Lizard" on both the sides , 'ILPS 9141  A - 2U / ILPS 9141  B - 2U', can only be from the 1970,
pre-release very first pressings made.
 
  I'm not into figures at all, but I detest the way facts are contorted on ebay and like it or not, I am going to place the truth before
those who believe only King Crimson's first two pink Island LP's are rare, far from it they are are the most common of all their
albums!   For no reason I can think of or give, the equally superb "Lizard" struggled to sell, only making it to No.30 and  spent just
seven days there, them completely dropping out of the British charts. "Lizard" as the 1970 first pressing is most certainly rare,
especially where the condition and the sound quality of the record are concerned.  This was never played and due to the acute
  rarity of a true Mint first pressing, I feel it imperative to offer this without me playing it, the last first pressing I sold on
  ebay was in 2006!   I must resist hearing the stunning sound of an EMI first pressing and that awesome first stereo mix in all of
  it's original glory.
{Roy}
  R & M RECORDS.

My lifetime's love of music and records began at a very young age, the arrival of the Beatles and the 1960's decade
  in general had a very profound effect. It was only natural to bring all my first hand experience of collecting vinyl
  into becoming a professional record seller.  Nearly thirty years ago we entered into the wonderful atmosphere
of record fairs with the highest possible standards set. When the Internet became the world's new market place for
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the basics of honesty and integrity were very much part of the era the music I love originated in, so here is our friendly
and very efficient service we are proud to provide;

EVERY RECORD IS FULLY PLAYED AND COMES WITH A 'NO ARGUMENT' MONEY BACK GUARANTEE.
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  FROM THE U.K. "RECORD COLLECTOR PRICE GUIDE" BOOK.
THERE IT CLEARLY STATES "Sound Quality" AFFECTS EVERY GRADING LEVEL AND THAT IS THE ONE
AND ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO ACCURATELY GRADE RECORDS. i.e. COMBINING A STRICT VISUAL
INSPECTION WITH VERY CLOSELY LISTENING TO EVERY SECOND, UNLESS PERHAPS IN THE CASE
OF GENUINELY UNPLAYED VINYL.  EVEN THEN WE STILL TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR A RECORD
WHEN A CUSTOMER RECEIVES EITHER A SEALED OR AN UNPLAYED RECORD.
 

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IN THE UK RECORDS UP TO THE VALUE OF £46 WILL BE SENT RECORDED DELIVERY, OVER £46 WILL BE
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POSTAGE  COST FOR LP's
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POSTAGE COST FOR EP's & 7"
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