Vinyl: KING CRIMSON Lizard LP VERY 1st UK PRESS 1970 RARE MISPRINT SPINE UNPLAYED Very 1st Press EJDay G/F, Rare Upside-Down Titled Spine

Grass in your hair stretched like a lion in the sun, Restlessly turned, moistened your mouth with your tongue. Pouring my wine in your eyes caged mine...... glowing Touching your face, my fingers strayed..... knowing. I called you Lady Of The Dancing Water. Blown autumn leaves shed to the fire, where you laid me, Burn slow to ash, just as my days now seem to be. I feel you still always, your eyes..... glowing, Remembered hours, salt, earth and flowers..... flowing, Farewell my Lady Of The Dancing Water.

KING CRIMSON: "Lizard" LP. RARE UK VERY FIRST PRESSING, 11th DECEMBER,1970. So late in 1970, it was just after the November re-design of the pink Island label, to the pink rim or palm tree Island label. PINK RIM ISLAND LABEL: ILPS 9141. MAITRIX: ILPS 9141 - A - 2U / ILPS 9141 - B - 2U AS THE MAITRIX DEMONSTRATES, THE FIRST UK PRESSINGS WERE ONLY MADE BY EMI AND IN 1970, ALL MAITRIX ENDING DIGITS & LETTERS, WERE '- 2U' ON BOTH SIDES. EMI STAMPING CODES: GL 2 / GL 2 This record is a first UK pressing made as noted above, extremely low in the sequence with both sides sourced from the second mothers and also by sheer coincidence, both sides were No. 18 in the pressing sequence. ORIGINAL LATE 1970, POLY-LINED ISLAND BLUE INNER SLEEVE, UNWORN, UNSPLIT & UNAGED, WITH ONLY A RECORD IMPRESSION AND RELATED LIGHT RIPPLES, IT WOULD EASIER FOR ME TO SAY THIS HAS 'AGEING ' BUT NOT WHEN THE GLUE USED TO STICK THE POLY-LINING TO THE MATT, ABSORBENT PAPER, AT MOST, THE SLIGHTEST ACTUAL AGEING. ONCE USED, IT HAS TO BE MINT CONDITION. If nothing else, this has to be one of the first ever blue Island inner sleeves, not only that, the astonishing condition could only belong to an unplayed, true Mint record. Please see my pictures for the 'as new condition' after 46 years almost to the actual month. The gatefold cover was also unused and like all covers from any decade with Mint records inside, they will have standing in storage traits, but when the record and inner sleeve were never touched for that extraordinary length of time, the enclosed items are like brand new. BR> VERY RARE MISPRINTED VERY FIRST EDITION, LAMINATED OUTSIDE GATEFOLD COVER, A FEW OF THESE EARLIEST COVERS, MADE WITH SPINE TITLES MISTAKENLY PRINTED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. REGARDLESS OF THE ERROR ON A VERY LOW NUMBER, ALL THE UK FIRST ISSUE COVERS WERE PRINTED BY THE 'E. J.Day Group, London.' ALL THREE ITEMS, "King Crimson", "Lizard" & "Island ILPS 9141" WERE PRINTED FACING UP THE SPINE AND NOT AS INTENDED, FACING DOWN. THIS WAS QUICKLY CORRECTED DURING THE PRE-RELEASE MANUFACTURING, MISPRINTED COVERS LIKE THIS WERE USED AND SOLD. THE FIRST ISSUE SPINE WERE WIDER, TWO TYPES OF FIRST ISSUE 'E. J.Day' COVERS EXIST, WITH THE INVERTED TITLES SPINE COVERS, BY FAR RARER. Like most of first edition gatefold covers, the wider spines were folded at an angle, making taking pictures even more difficult than ever, but I have included all three printed sections as close-up pictures. The best picture to illustrate the upside down titles, is the bottom section, because instead of "King Crimson" being on the top section of the spine, it was placed on that bottom section.... upside down and facing up the spine, not down. Personally I think the printer setting out the template was confused by the artwork, the correction was made immediately but the covers with the spine details printed up side down, were used and sold. Pictures of the 'EJDay' first edition mistakenly printed spine, also give an opportunity to show how this unworn the lamination is, over perfectly clear titles, some ripples and tiny laminate edge lines that naturally form. The tips or left side cornersonly have the usual minor rubbing from standing, the bottom left has another common feature to gatefold covers, just a little bunching from when it was factory folded and glued together. The right side corners are near enough perfect and the opening edges are perfectly crisp and unworn, the top & bottom edges are again very close to naming as perfect, unworn as I have found.The thin gold border is 100% present and unworn all the way round the opening sides and all the other edges. The laminate fixing on virtually all first edition wide spine cover had one thing in common, it was applied with thin lines and not perfectly smoothed down. A minor point when the previous "In The Court Of The Crimson King" & "In The Wake Of Poseidon" gatefold covers were matt, "In The Wake Of Poseidon" was textured and both covers wore terribly, at least this time the superb artwork on "Lizard" was fully protected by thick, glossy lamination. The overall condition of this very first printed gatefold cover is exceptional, unused with only very slightest storage traits after standing for 46 years, the fantastic artwork on the outside is still in the original 1970 ultra bright colours, the very deep colour tones are totally unfaded and as vividly rich. The song illustrations have deeply glossy shine over the colours, in a Medieval style, inset with scenes from the album's lyrics and the musical themes. There is nothing better than listening to an inspired album like this and having such a fascinatingly detailed gatefold cover to hold and look at. The back is as described for the front except for a reasonably light impression from the heavyweight record and a few tiny laminate lines from standing in storage. Describing a beautiful cover from as early as 1970 is a thankless task because this was from the era touching the 60's decade, when plastic outer sleeves were rarely placed on covers in record shops from brand new, let alone after being purchased. Inside is just as absorbing and beautifully designed with full credits and the whole album lyrics printed over a pale orange silk silk cloth looking finish, taken from wallpaper. A record impression is exceptionally mild outside, if anything, more noticeable inside where it rested next to the spine in the storage compartment, as light paper ripples on the right side panel. I must stress how perfectly clean and unaged the inside is with those lovely pale colours, please see the following pictures for how beautiful this rare, very first made gatefold cover actually is, "Lizard" was a very poor selling UK album as a first issue, all 'EJDay' covers are by no means common, because endless re-issues were made during the rest of the 1970's decade and beyond, today they far out-number these 1970 first issues. THE UNUSED COVER IS IN A MINIMUM OF EXCELLENT+++ / NEAR MINT CONDITION. THE LABELS ARE IMMACULATE WITHOUT ANY SPINDLE ALIGNMENT TRACES, REFLECTED IN BOTH SIDES OF THE RECORD LITERALLY LOOKING LIKE BRAND NEW. NO SCRATCHES OR MARKS,A TRULY BEAUTIFUL LOOKING, ULTRA GLOSSY TOP SURFACE, THE RECORD IS IN UNPLAYED, MINT CONDITION.

SIDE 1 "Cirkus" (including "Entry Of The Chameleons") "Indoor Games" "Happy Family" "Lady Of The Dancing Water" SIDE 2 "Lizard" (a) "Prince Rupert Awakes" (b) "Bolero - The Peacock's Tale" (c) "The Battle Of Glass Tears" (i) "Dawn Song" (ii) "Last Skirmish" (iii) "Prince Rupert's Lament" (d) "Big Top" Robert Fripp - guitar, mellotron, electric keyboards etc. Peter Sinfield - lyrics Mel Collins - flute & sax Gordon Haskell - bass guitar & vocals Andy McCulloch - drums Tony Levin - bass guitar Jon Anderson - vocals on "Prince Rupert Awakes" Keith Tippet - acoustic & electric pianos Robin Miller - oboe & cor anglais Mark Charig - cornet Nick Evans - trombone All Songs Written By Robert Fripp & Peter Sinfield. Recorded August - September,1970, At Wessex Sound Studios, Highbury New Park, London. Produced By Robert Fripp & Peter Sinfield.

During their time performing as 'Giles, Giles and Fripp', founder members Robert Fripp and Michael Giles planned to form a new band,'King Crimson' first arose in June, 1968 directly after the first incarnation had disbanded. In 1968 they were joined by a versatile musician in Ian McDonald, the other two were the vocalist and guitarist Greg Lake along with lyricist Peter Sinfield. Even Peter Sinfield's role was unconventional because he was not playing an instrument, showing the importance of lyrics, if you just read the relatively short "Lady Of The Dancing Water" lyrics, the poetic contents was as inspired as Robert Fripp's music. One of the UK's most celebrated concerts in 1969 featured the Rolling Stones, who were paying their tributes to Brian Jones, it took place in London's Hyde Park and continued the 'free concert' theme that become a regular summer event since the previous 1968. On the bill with the Rolling Stones that day, the very first outing for King Crimson who in front of a massive audience of half a million, gave a live debut performance that instantly established their unique brand of music. When their debut Island label "In The Court Of The Crimson King" album, was released in October, 969, unlike their same titled debut Island single the album became a huge success and by the 1st November, it reached a peak at No.5 in the UK charts. Quite why ebay presents the album with a big fuss about the pink label pressings escapes me, no, they are not at all rare, how could they be when pressed in such vast quantities? I am not just discussing figures in chart books, I saw the band in 1969, bought "In The Court Of......" single and album on release. Late in 1969, everyone you visited had a copy of "In The Court Of...." playing, it was as popular an album as it got in the final months of the 60's, 'rare' does not even enter the equation, check the figures for the later King Crimson albums to find out which albums are actually rare. In fact, the majority being offered on ebay are from 1970 and were not even pressed during the 1960's decade! I can easily tell those genuine October,1969 pink label pressings, apart from the later 1970 pink label variety that were being pressed right up to November,1970, I am going off at a tangent , this was supposed to be brief. The point is, King Crimson were one of the few Island bands to achieve immediate commercial acceptance and for a debut album, the success was phenomenal but ironically, because King Crimson were arguably the least commercial band on the entire Island label. After first touring the UK , they moved onto the USA and that was where the band developed internal stress and strains common to most artists in the final chapter of the 1960's decade. As ever, it concerned their musical direction, as a result Ian McDonald and Michael Giles left in December,1969, but they stayed with Island as a duo and released a self titled album in 1970. That was the beginning of 'musical chairs' for King Crimson, the trio of Robert Fripp, Pete Sinfield and Greg Lake next released the single "Cat Food", issued in a superb picture sleeve and paired with a non-album track, "Groon" and released in March, 1970. Both tracks had been extracted from the recording sessions for their second LP, "In The Wake Of Poseidon." Meanwhile, that merry-go-round spun round once again and now sitting on it was Mel Collins, who played just about any wind instrument, plus now it was Peter Giles who handled bass guitar duties on most of the album, only a month later in April, next to jump was Greg Lake who obviously was about to form "Emerson, Lake & Palmer", quite a loss there because Greg was their only vocalist. Gordon Haskell was the next to join the funfair ride, his vocals were supplemented by his ability to play the bass guitar on this, the third album, "Lizard." Just one other addition saw Andy McCulloch taking over the drumming for "Lizard", also appearing on the album was Yes vocalist, Jon Anderson for Side 2's opening track, "Prince Rupert Awakes." Where the album's title originated from, I should mention two departing musicians, Gordon Haskell (bass guitar and vocals) and Andy McCulloch (drums), both left before the release of the "Lizard"album, amazingly you had King Crimson left high and dry while an established band. I have really explained how the few covers with misprinted spines had "Lizard" remaining in the centre, but facing upwards and on the top, the catalogue "Island ILPS 9141" was upside down in in the position "King Crimson" should have occupied! Sunlight was poor today and did my best with the close up pictures, as mentioned, I always find it difficult to take pictures of spine titles but when assembled at an angle, that increases. EMI exclusively manufactured all the first pressings, I will stress here and now, the misprinted "Lizard" covers were distributed and sold along with the corrected covers in January,1971. Mistakes happened, seen and amended, talking about EMI, only the previous year even the Beatles "Abbey Road" needed the covers and labels to amended and both types were side by side in record shops on the day of release. With the demise of the pink Island labels and introduction of the palm tree / pink rim, late 1970 records are really easy to identify because Island had all but handed over all their first issues to EMI, who pressed "Lizard", so the maitrix becomes definitive. In I970, including for example, the Beatles "Let It Be" LP, all EMI first issues had maitrix numbers ending with '2U ' on at least one of the sides, digits only rose on that particular album due to the colossal sales of a No.1 LP. To have that maitrix ending on "Lizard" on both the sides , 'ILPS 9141 A - 2U / ILPS 9141 B - 2U', can only be from the 1970, pre-release very first pressings made. For no reason I can think of or give, the superb "Lizard" album struggled to sell, only making it to No.30 with a duration of just seven days there, then completely dropping out of the British charts. "Lizard" as the 1970 first pressing is most certainly rare, especially where the condition and the sound quality of the record are concerned. This was never played and due to the acute rarity of a true Mint first pressing, I feel it imperative to offer this without me playing it, I must resist hearing the stunning sound of an EMI first pressing and that awesome first stereo mix in all of it's original glory. {Roy}

R & M RECORDS. My lifetime's love of music and records began at a very young age, the arrival of the Beatles and the 1960's decade in general had a very profound effect. It was only natural to bring all my first hand experience of collecting vinyl into becoming a professional record seller. Nearly thirty years ago we entered into the wonderful atmosphere of record fairs with the highest possible standards set. When the Internet became the world's new market place for vinyl, in 2001 it was time to join ebay. Those standards were rigidly adhered to as they will always continue to be, the basics of honesty and integrity were very much part of the era the music I love originated in, so here is our friendly and very efficient service we are proud to provide; EVERY RECORD IS FULLY PLAYED AND COMES WITH A 'NO ARGUMENT' MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. I USE GOOD OLD COMMON SENSE AS WELL AS A GLOBALLY ACCEPTED GRADING TERMINOLOGY FROM THE U.K. "RECORD COLLECTOR PRICE GUIDE" BOOK. THERE IT CLEARLY STATES "Sound Quality" AFFECTS EVERY GRADING LEVEL AND THAT IS THE ONE AND ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO ACCURATELY GRADE RECORDS. i.e. COMBINING A STRICT VISUAL INSPECTION WITH VERY CLOSELY LISTENING TO EVERY SECOND, UNLESS PERHAPS IN THE CASE OF GENUINELY UNPLAYED VINYL. EVEN THEN WE STILL TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR A RECORD WHEN A CUSTOMER RECEIVES EITHER A SEALED OR AN UNPLAYED RECORD. We take 100% responsibility after an item has been posted and offer our fullest support in the event of any problems.

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