King Crimson "Talk To The Wind" 1969

This rare CD is a partial digital clone of: Get Thy Bearings - Scorpio ‎– SC 102/1, 2

 Please note that War is a 32 minutes track with: Matra, Travel Weary Capricorn , Improv  and Mars. In the official release all these tracks are released as single track.

This deserves to be on everyone's playlist. If you’re a fan of the original lineup and you don’t have this one, you’re missing a great show.The sound quality is very good for a bootleg; better than Club1 Live At The Marquee in my opinion. The drums especially are punchy, and along with the bass provides a good driving rhythm. Fripp’s guitar cuts through like a buzzsaw on the intro to "In The Court Of The Crimson King", and Greg Lake’s vocals are clear as a bell throughout. He sings with authority on every track.The setlist covers all the bases, and since this performance is roughly a month after the recording of the debut album, the songs sound confident yet loose. They knew this material inside and out and thus were free to play around within the confines of the compositions. 

This performance even elevates "Drop In", which is the clunkiest song this lineup produced.If there’s a downside, it’s that "Mars" is one of the weaker versions I’ve heard; it feels like they were running out of steam and ideas by the end of the show; even the air raid siren kinda peters out lethargically. This isn’t much of a drawback perhaps, considering the fun yet powerful vibe on the rest of the tracks. The one exception to that might be "I Talk To The Wind", which is possibly more subdued than the studio version.

1.  Why Don't You Just Drop It 6:35   

2.  Epitaph  7:50  

3.  Get Thy Bearings  19:25   

4.  Talk To The Wind  5:09   

5.  The Court Of The Crimson King  7:03  

6.  War 32:01  

Total time 1:18:50 

All songs by King Crimson

Live in Cheltenham, February 9, 1967 (wrong date)

Recorded live at Victoria Ballroom Jazz Club, Chesterfield, UK, September 7, 1969

Robert Fripp: Guitar

Ian McDonald: Keyboards, Reeds, Woodwind, Vibes, Vocals

Greg Lake: Bassguitar, L-Vocals

Michael Giles: Drums, Percussion, Vocals

Peter Sinfield: Live Mixing