King Crimson - 'The Great Deceiver (Live 1973-1974)'

 

 

This 4CD set chronicles the on-stage activity between October 1973 and June 1974 of my favotite King Crimson lineup.  Robert Fripp, John Wetton, David Cross, and Bill Bruford were mostly performing material from their previous two LPs,  'Larks Tongues in Aspic' and 'Starless and Bible Black'.  While the track list remains pretty much the same from one show to another, but the group approaches each night from a different angle, changing the arrangements on the fly to suit the prevailing mood -- check out the chameleon-esque "Easy Money," presented in four guises.  More importantly, the group performed unpredictable improvisations that embodied the struggle between order and chaos that Fripp thrived to express in penned songs like "Starless" and "Fracture."  The live tapes have been beautifully mastered so that the music hits hard without losing the subtle nuances of Cross' violin.  At the time of its release, The Great Deceiver filled a gap in the group's discography (the live album USA had not been officially reissued yet), but even after tons of additional concerts from that period were released by Fripp's Discipline label, to me this box set, is the most exciting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CD 1: Things Are Not as They Seem...

1. "Walk On ... No Pussyfooting"
2. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two"
3. "Lament"
4. "Exiles"
5. "Improv - A Voyage to the Centre of the Cosmos"
6. "Easy Money"
7. "Providence"
8. "Fracture"
9. "Starless"

(Recorded at the Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 30 June 1974.)

 

CD 2: Sleight of Hand (or Now You Don't See It Again) and...

1. "21st Century Schizoid Man"
2. "Walk off from Providence ... No Pussyfooting"
3. "Sharks' Lungs in Lemsip"
4. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One"
5. "Book of Saturday"
6. "Easy Money"
7. "We'll Let You Know"
8. "The Night Watch"
9. "Improv - Tight Scrummy"
10. "Peace - A Theme"
11. "Cat Food"
12. "Easy Money..."
13. "...It is for You, but Not for Us"

(Tracks 1-2 recorded at the Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 30 June 1974. Tracks 3-11 recorded at the Glasgow Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, 23 October 1973. Tracks 12-13 recorded at Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States, 29 June 1974.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

CD 3: ...Acts of Deception (the Magic Circus, or Weasels Stole Our Fruit)

1. "Walk On ... No Pussyfooting"
2. "The Great Deceiver"
3. "Improv - Bartley Butsfordd"
4. "Exiles"
5. "Improv - Daniel Dust"
6. "The Night Watch"
7. "Doctor Diamond"
8. "Starless"
9. "Improv - Wilton Carpet"
10. "The Talking Drum"
11. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two"
12. "Applause and announcement"
13. "Improv - Is There Life Out There?"

(Tracks 1-11 recorded at the Stanley Warner Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States, 29 April 1974. Tracks 12-13 recorded at Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States, 29 June 1974.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

CD 4: ...But Neither Are They Otherwise

1. "Improv - The Golden Walnut"
2. "The Night Watch"
3. "Fracture"
4. "Improv - Clueless and Slightly Slack"
5. "Walk On ... No Pussyfooting"
6. "Improv - Some Pussyfooting"
7. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One"
8. "Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress, Part One"
9. "Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress, Part Two"
10. "Easy Money"
11. "Improv - Some More Pussyfooting"
12. "The Talking Drum"

(Tracks 1-4 recorded at Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada, 24 June 1974. Tracks 5-12 recorded at the Volkshaus, Zürich, Switzerland, 15 November 1973.)

Robert Fripp - guitar, mellotron, electric piano
John Wetton - bass guitar, vocals
David Cross - violin, mellotron, electric piano
Bill Bruford - drums, percussion

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