KC...Earthbound vs Summit Studios...Live Boz!

I adore the Boz Burrell era of King Crimson.  I'm in the minority...stranded in a bone-dry, crimson desert OR maybe I'm luxuriating in a mirage, dining on pomegranates, figs, and dates...floating on my Wizard Of Boz King Crimson Oasis.  

Edited by omphaloskepsis - July 30 2024 at 11:48

See also an official live album issued on DGM
Live in Boston 03/27/72
with the quatuor you like
tracklist:
Cadence/Cirkus/Formentera/Improv ( 8 minutes)/ Pictures/ Fripp's announcement/Sailor/Schizoid
Enjoy

To me...Live In Summit is the better album. The production on Earthbound sounds like a toilet flushing. I remember ordering Earthbound in the early 70s from Brian Gatland in England and being real disappointed in the production 😃

Although there is no Mellotron on Summitt.

I find that I get more enjoyment from live recordings of the ISLANDS band that hail from 1971. For example, most K.C. concerts I've heard from 71' feature the band playing In The Court Of The Crimson King , Lady Of The Dancing Water, Cirkus etc and Earthbound doesn't have any of that and is based more on K.C. jamming in a R&B style.

In 71' the band was performing in a more serious Progressive Rock style. In 1972 Wallace, Burrell, and Collins began dominating the group. Fripp would join in but didn't fit in. It wasn't even fair because he really wasn't a Blues guitarist. Maybe if they had worked with Clem Clempson ..but Fripp didn't have that style.

In 72' they were playing an arrangement of In The Court Of The Crimson King based off Muddy Waters version of Hoochie Koochie Man. They began playing less and less of the dramatic Progressive sounding material and more R&B.

The fact that Collins, Burrell, and Wallace recorded an album with Alexis Korner right after leaving KC is telling. If you compare the 71' shows with the 72' shows it's obvious that they were taking a different direction. Boz Burrell had a decent voice. I liked his style on Formentera Lady and the song Islands. He covered the early material nicely. I didn't like anything about his voice on Earthbound.

Edited by Jacob Schoolcraft - July 30 2024 at 14:28

Thanks guys.  Lots of choices.  I'll purchase the 40th-anniversary Earthbound, plus the rest of your recommendations.  I've been spinning  "Ladies Of The Road".  I adore the live KC jazz fusion. 

Edited by omphaloskepsis - July 31 2024 at 19:27