Speaking In (Larks) Tongues Part 3

I cited John Wetton's  wonderful voice so let me provide you with a couple examples on “The Great Deceiver” and “Easy Money”: 

 

The band used, what to me, was a curious strategy in divining their set lists. If for example, you went to a Yes or a Who concert and you fell in love with a song during the show, odds were you could go out the next day and by a record containing said song. Not necessarily so with Crimso. First off, 25 to 40 percent of what they played was improvisational and unique to the event. Add to this the fact that the band liked to hone out material on stage, so that song you were diggin’ on may not have even been recorded yet. The most notorious example of this is the song “Doctor Diamond”. It’s a fully realized tune with lyrics and appeared in the set as early as 1973. It was a regular part of the shows during the final days of the band, yet they never laid it down in the studio. Here is a 73 version:

Another curiosity is from 1972. It’s a snippet from the end of a longer improv, where the guys found a particularly intriguing riff. I have listened to many shows from this era but I’ve never heard it repeated. But two years later they remembered it and incorporated it into the ending of “Fallen Angel” on their swansong album “Red”.

Just last week I stumbled upon something that has absolutely blown my mind. It’s a track from a 1974 Italian show and is titled “Guts On My Side”. Like “Doctor Diamond” it is a completely composed song with elaborate lyrics and also one that they never commercially recorded. Hell, this may have been the only time it was played at all!

 

Discography

Studio:

Larks Tongues In Aspic (released March 23, 1973)

Starless And Bible Black (released March 29, 1974)

Red (released October 5, 1974)

Live:

USA

The Nightwatch

The Great Deceiver (Boxed Set)

Additionally shows have also appeared in editions of the

Mail order “King Crimson Collector Series” of releases.

Pat