In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson)

(Pink 'I' Label A2/B4)

This highly collectable vinyl plays with stunning audio for the vast majority and S1 in particular is absolutely superb!  It has been fully play tested as per all my vinyls.  It is also visually stunning and may well be the most impressive example I have ever seen of a pink 'I' label pressing.

I'm not sure this can be categorised as a first press because it has an A2/B4 matrix.  On the pink 'I' label this is the most commonly seen matrix.  A2/B3 is not seen as often and the first press matrix A2/B2 even less!  Regardless of this A2/B4 is still a very early pressing!

The iconic cover is also in excellent condition with only very minor shelf wear and the original inner is included and has no splits.

ILPS-9111 // A ^ 2  1 4  1 // B ^ 4  1 1  4

The audio on S1 is Mint- (track 2 Ex- for 2/3 seconds)

Track 1 on S2 is Ex (Near Mint in many sections / track 2 is Near Mint / Mint-)

The gatefold is Ex

The labels are Near Mint-

The original inner sleeve is Ex-

Visual grading

This is one visually stunning record and it has a beautiful glossy sheen - let's not forget this is 50 years old this month!  There are no marks or scratches and I can barely make out any hairlines, a beautiful vinyl for certain.  I can only detect a couple of mega faint sleeve removal hairlines and this has obviously been so carefully looked after down the decades.  There is some spindle wear but by no means an excessive amount and run out grooves are in superb condition.  A fantastic example of this rare pressing.

Play grading  

'21st Century Schizoid Man including Mirrors' plays with remarkable clarity on the quiet intro and thereafter continues to impress with audio that cannot be faulted.  The playback is astounding!  There is just no interference of any kind and this opening classic can be graded as Mint- it is that good.  Even during the quieter moments there is no static let alone anything worse.  The clarity and definition of the audio is of the highest standard possible.  Wow!

'I Talk To The Wind' plays to a very similar standard and this is rare for this relatively quiet track.  The intro begins perfectly and the only 'background' is two faint ticks and one light click just after the vocal comes in.  From then on the clarity is again stunning and in all honesty I am quite simply blown away the 'cleanliness' of the audio here.  So often this record will play with a fair amount of static/crackle/clicks but so far the playback is immaculate aside from a couple of seconds near the beginning.  To the end this track plays with wonderful separation and you can hear each note so clearly - even the fade out has no real 'background, just one mega faint tick, not a click!  This track is deserving of a Mint- grade and only the 2/3 seconds near the beginning grade as Ex- in my opinion.  I am not exaggerating when I say the vast majority is 'as new'!

I am delighted to say 'Epitaph' is of the same standard.  I am running out of superlatives here!  The depth and precision of the audio is sublime and I have never heard a version as good as this, the playback is fantastic!  With only a couple of mega quiet dust ticks the audio is faultless.  There is no loss in quality on the top end i.e. no distortion during the louder sections and nowhere is this more evident than on the powerful end section.  The extended fade out plays with incredible quality with only one very faint tick.  What a stunning S1 to say the least!

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'Moonchild' plays very clearly with only the bare minimum of light static on the first few grooves.  It is an excellent start as this track is so often affected by interference on the intro.  Not here!  The long instrumental section that follows begins in fine style with only the lightest of static.  As any Crimson collector will know this section never plays with CD like aesthetic quality as it is just so quiet and there are only a small number of clicks accordingly.  The entire track has barely any static and the playback is actually very clean.  It is worth saying that the vast majority of this mega quiet instrumental plays with stunning clarity, there is very little intrusion on the audio, just 4/5 clicks I would say.  An Ex grade is probably a fair assessment although many sections are far better than that!

'The Court Of The Crimson King...' begins superbly with no distortion and a wonderfully deep bass sound.  The first vocal plays perfectly and then continues to play with immense depth and power.  This is a 'high end' version if ever there was one.  The quiet flute interlude has no obvious static, the clarity is superb, and the remainder of this track plays to a wonderful standard also.  There is no distortion during the louder sections and the mega quiet percussive/woodwind section has barely any static.  Again it is worth reiterating just how cleanly this classic plays - there is just no intrusive 'background' of any kind.  The end section plays with supreme power and depth and this track is infinitely worthy of a Near Mint grading.

In summary this highly collectable pressing plays with fantastic clarity and depth and on S1 especially.  S2 does have a small number of clicks on track 1 but aside from that is very impressive with very little intrusion.  I honestly think it would be difficult to replicate the quality on offer here and this is unquestionably one of the best pink 'I' label pressings I have ever heard - S1 is absolutely mind-blowing!  Not only that but the visual quality of the record is superb!  A beautiful pressing in anyone's book and it comes complete with the original inner also.

The Gatefold

This cover was printed by 'Robor Ltd' which I believe is a later issue from '71 or '72.  I'm not entirely sure if the pink 'I' label pressing only came with the E.J. Day covers?  If so then maybe this has been mixed and matched or is perhaps just an anomaly?  Nevertheless it is in excellent condition (unlike so many!) and has just minimal wear.  The edges have only a little rubbing and the wide spine is similar but remains 100% legible.  The rubbing is a more evident at the top and bottom of the spine.  All corners are strong and have only minimal wear - small crease also top right.  The opening edge has barely any handling wear and the front cover is mega clean with no real marking, just a very small rub mark just below the teeth!  The back cover is in lovely condition with no marking just a couple of faint creases.  The inside of the gatefold has no marking and is in superb order.  A great example overall.

Inner Sleeve

The original 'Plastic Bags' polylined inner (dated 0270) has no splits or tears just some creasing mainly on the corners and a couple of small marks.

The Labels

The famous pink Island labels have retained their colour superbly and as mentioned do not have that much spindle wear.  No marking or writing on either.

Play tested on my Pro-Ject Essential III Turntable / B&W 684 Speakers

This record has been cleaned on a Pro-Ject VC-S machine

ILPS-9111 // A ^ 2  1 4  1 // B ^ 4  1 1  4

I grade according to "Record Collector" guidelines.

Any questions please feel free to ask

Please pay within 4 days of auction end

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