Another Week Another Vinyl: King Crimson: A Young Persons Guide to King Crimson

It’s been nearly a month since I’ve last purchased a vinyl, and severe depression has started to kick in. The only way to cure that depression is by heading down the record store and going crazy. Having not been there for a pretty substantial amount of time meant I would be seeing a pretty new selection to choose from.

Ever since I decided to collect vinyls, I had one ultimate goal, which was to own every King Crimson album from In the Court of the Crimson King to Red. For some reason it’s been extremely difficult to come across any Crimson material at my local record stores, but that would change this week.

On Tuesday I picked up King Crimson’s unbelievable album Larks’ Tongues in Aspic along with The Young Persons Guide to King Crimson. I decided to focus on the latter for this post because it’s a sensational package with awesome artwork and a rather robust and informative black and white booklet. The booklet features a wealth of information regarding the band, including, album reviews (permitting both the good and the bad), a history of the band, photos, and a detailed gigography.

Overall the song selection is pretty solid with some questionable omissions - most notably “21st Century Schizoid Man” and anything from Lizard - but one inclusion that I was very excited to see was their single “Groon”, a song that was never released on a proper full length studio album. Another important fact worth mentioning is the alternate version of “I Talk to the Wind”. Instead of pulling the song directly from In the Court of the Crimson King, Fripp decided to give fans a sped up version sung by Judy Dyble opposed to Greg Lake. That alone isn’t exactly an album seller for established KC fans, but it’s certainly a welcomed addition.

Without babbling on for too long, I was able to pick this album up for around $14. The jacket is probably VG+ with very little wear. On the other hand, the records themselves suffer from some heavy warping issues. Shockingly, it doesn’t effect the playback too much, but it is noticeable on the opening track of each side - which would only be right considering my all time favorite song, “Epitaph” opens up the album. Otherwise, I’m absolutely thrilled to get a hold of this vinyl; I’ll be flipping through the juicy booklet for years to come.

Track Listing
1. Epitaph (8:52)
2. Cadence and Cascade (3:36)
3. Ladies of the Road (5:27)
4. I Talk to the Wind (3:15)
5. Red (6:18)
6. Starless (12:17)
7. The Night Watch (4:38)
8. Book of Saturday (2:52)
9. Peace - A Theme (1:14)
10. Cat Food (2:43)
11. Groon (3:30)
12. Coda from Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part One (2:09)
13. Moonchild (2:24)
14. Trio (5:38)
15. In the Court of the Crimson King (9:21)