kentgirl22 is pleased to offer for sale the following VERY RARE original 1973 UK 1st PRESS vinyl LP:

KING CRIMSON

"LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC"

ORIGINAL 1973 UK 1st PRESS VINYL LP

CAT.NO. ILPS 9230

MATRIX NOS: ILPS 9230 A-2U (SARK) / ILPS 9230 B-2U

(Earliest Possible 1st Pressing Matrix Numbers)

VINYL EX+ NEAR MINT CONDITION - COVER EX+ CONDITION - INNER LYRIC SLEEVE EX+

A SUPERB ORIGINAL UK 1st PRESSING OF THIS TRULY AWESOME AND CLASSIC LP

THIS IS THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE UK 1st PRESSING ISLAND RECORDS 'PINK RIM' LABEL LP WITH 'SARK' (THE MASTER PRESSERS SIGNATURE) HAND ETCHED INTO DEAD WAX RUN OFF ON A SIDE. THIS WAS ONLY DONE ON THE ORIGINAL VERY 1st PRESS!!

THIS ALBUM WAS PURCHASED BY ME WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED AND IS IN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC CONDITION

VERY RARE ORIGINAL 1973 UK 'PINK RIM' ISLAND RECORDS 1st PRESS VINYL LP

COMPLETE WITH RARE ORIGINAL PRINTED LYRICS INNER LYRIC SLEEVE THAT ONLY CAME WITH THE VERY EARLY COPIES!!

Here’s a superb ORIGINAL UK 1st PRESS ISLAND 'PINK RIM' LABEL VINYL LP release of the TRULY GREAT fifth studio album released in 1973 by the LEGENDARY British progressive art-rock group KING CRIMSON. Outstanding original 1st press album from one of the great groups of the late sixties and early 70's.

Larks' Tongues In Aspic is one of the best and most unique albums in King Crimson's catalogue. The sound of the title track is slightly avant-garde with touches of hard rock, psychedelia and jazz. The title track is split into two parts on this album, and the band would add more parts to this piece on later releases in their career, but none of the later additions live up to the creativity of this original version. The remaining tracks are a sublime mix of prog rock, intense hard rock and jazz influenced tracks that include vocals, unlike the title track. Any music lover (not only a prog lover) will be satisfied with this masterpiece. Maybe "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is a strange masterpiece (as said Pete Townshend) and "In the wake of Poseidon" a kind of photocopy. Maybe "Lizard" is an admirable effort to spread their sound into other limits, and "Islands" a comfortable paradise of truly great music. But with this new group, formed by ex-yes drummer Bill Bruford, bassist and singer John Wetton, Jaime Muir on astonishing percusives and, of course, Mr.Fripp, is when the band find the definitive sound, the sound of a new era, the sound of King Crimson. Between killer heavy metal and sophisticated chamber music. Forget all the rock scene before and salute the greatest band of the early 1970s, without any doubt. Overall, this is one of the most satisfying and intense listens King Crimson ever released, true art in music, and comes to you very highly recommended indeed!!

The album sleeve is in Excellent + condition, a couple of tiny small creases and minute very slight shelf wear, otherwise the cover is superbly clean and solid with no splits, no writing or any other serious issues. The vinyl is a strong EX + near Mint- condition, only been played a handful of times by myself from new!! The vinyl plays beautifully with fantastic fidelity and is very silent even during the quiet sections. The very rarely seen original printed inner sleeve, featuring lyrics to three of the songs, is also in excellent + condition, no splits, no writing, no tears, only a few very light mild creases. The original Pink Rim labels are immaculate with no visible spindle marks. A Beautiful copy for your collection! Good Luck! Thanks for viewing my auction!

UK ISLAND RECORDS 'PINK RIM' LABEL ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING VINYL LP FROM 1973. ORIGINAL NON-LAMINATED MATT SLEEVE BY TANTRA DESIGNS, LONDON. ORIGINAL 1ST PRESS PRINTED INNER LYRICS SLEEVE. OVERALL A SUPERB CONDITION ORIGINAL FIRST UK PRESSING!!

I DOUBT IF YOU CAN FIND A SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER COMPLETE ORIGINAL COPY THAN THIS!!

1973 ORIGINAL UK ISLAND 'PINK RIM' LABEL ILPS 9230 STEREO. A-2U (SARK) / B-2U STAMPED 1ST PRESS MATRIX

 A BRILLIANT ORIGINAL EXAMPLE OF THIS HIGHLY PRIZED KING CRIMSON LP

ORIGINAL UK 1ST PRESS ISLAND 'PINK RIM' LABEL + 1ST PRESS INNER SLEEVE WITH PRINTED SONG LYRICS!

A FANTASTIC LP - YOU NEED THIS ONE!!

Tracks

Side 1.

1. Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part 1 (13:36)
2. Book Of Saturday (2:59)
3. Exiles (7:37)

Side 2.

1. Easy Money (7:51)
2. The Talking Drum (7:28)
3. Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two (7:10)

Rare Original 1973 UK Island Records 'PINK RIM' LABEL 1st Pressing Vinyl LP Housed In Non-Laminated Sleeve

Comes Complete With The Rarely Seen Original Inner Sleeve Featuring Printed Song Lyrics!

Record Label: Island Records

Catalogue No: ILPS 9230

Matrix Nos:

Side One: ILPS 9230 A-2U (SARK) Hand Etched Into Dead Wax And Only Seen On The Original 1st Press!!

Side Two: ILPS 9230 B-2U

(Signifies original UK very first pressing)

The Mother Stampers:

side 1. 1 GP (VERY EARLY!!)

side 2. 1 GG (VERY EARLY!!) 

Year: 1973

Made In UK

CONDITION

Vinyl: EX+ near MINT-

The Vinyl Is In Exceptional Condition - Plays Excellently Throughout - Probably The Best You Can Find!!

(Beautiful gleaming vinyl surfaces which retains all their original deep mirror shine and lustre, with that exceptional  'just pressed' look. Only a few very faint wispy hairlines and some near invisible, inaudible faint marks can be seen under a strong light. Play tested today with excellent sound quality. Very sharp and clear sound, only some occasional touches of light audible crackle can be heard in a couple of quiet sections and in between tracks and on the run ins and run offs. No skips, no jumps, no sticking, no serious loud pops that are noticeable. This 1973 UK Island 'Pink Rim' first pressing still retains its full gloss and sheen with beautiful surfaces, and judging by the labels it has been looked after and cared for extremely well. A great original UK 1st pressing of this great and increasingly rare LP. I seriously doubt if you can find a significantly better condition original copy than this one!)

Labels: MINT-

THE PINK RIM ISLAND PALM TREE LABELS ARE IN MAGNIFICENT CONDITION. ALL COLOURS ARE RICH AND VIBRANT AND THE WHITE AREAS ARE STILL PURE WHITE. NO MARKS OR STAINS AT ALL ON A ANY PART OF THE LABEL.

(Original first pressing Island Palm Tree 'PINK RIM' labels are in MINT- condition.... Both labels are absolutely immaculate and unmarked with only 2 or 3 faint almost invisible faint spindle traces and barely any wear around the centre holes. A near perfect set of 'PINK RIM' labels)

LP Sleeve: EX+

(Cover design by TANTRA DESIGNS, London. This is the early original  1st press matt cover with "pinch" style spine that is in great condition with sharp clear titling. These original covers are so hard to find and to keep in tip top condition. The thick card matt finish sleeve is in excellent plus condition. It is very clean indeed with only a few very light and small creases near the spine and one small crease on the rear near the top edge. There are No tears, No writing, No nasty grubby marks or rips. Only a very little shelfwear on the bottom seam near the opening. The spine is very solid and straight with all text completely clear and fully legible. A superb example of this 38 years vintage cover and I'm sure one of the best you can find! Please see pics)

Printed Inner Sleeve: EX+

(Only mild and very light creases. No writing, No tears, No splits, No rips, No stickers. A beautiful example of this RARELY SEEN original 1st PRESS inner sleeve with printed song lyrics!!)

NOTES

KING CRIMSON 

"LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC"

ISLAND RECORDS

ILPS 9230

A-2U (SARK)/B-2U

Absolute Earliest 1st Pressing Matrices

Ultra Rare Original 1973 UK Island Records 'Pink Rim' Label 1st Press LP With Original Inner Sleeve!!

Line Up / Musicians:

David Cross: Violin, Viola, Mellotron
Robert Fripp: Guitar, Mellotron,, Devices
John Wetton: Bass, Vocals
Bill Bruford: Drums
Jamie Muir: Percussion & Allsorts

On offer here, from my own collection, is this very rare original 1973 UK Island Records 1st PRESS LP

On the original 1st pressing UK Island 'PINK RIM' labels

Housed in original non-laminated matt sleeve

Complete with original 1st press 'MADE IN ENGLAND' INNER-SLEEVE with PRINTED SONG LYRICS

Catalogue Number: ILPS 9230

Matrix numbers: ILPS 9230 A-2U (SARK) & ILPS 9230 B-2U

On offer here, from my own collection, is a superb top condition ORIGINAL 1973 UK 1st PRESS of the brilliant 5th KING CRIMSON abum 'LARKS TONGUES IN ASPIC', issued on the UK original 1st press ISLAND 'PINK RIM' label.

KING CRIMSON ''LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC'' ORIGINAL EARLY 1ST UK PRESSING LP. CAT NO. ILPS-9230 (ORIGINAL PINK RIMED ISLAND LABEL) MEGA RARE! EARLY FIRST PRESSING! MATRIX A-2U (SARK) and B-2U (ONLY 1ST PRESSINGS) MOTHER STAMPERS 1 GP and 1 GG VERY EARLY!! ''SARK'' (hand etched on side A. run out dead wax. This was the master pressers signature! (only to be seen on original very 1st pressings)!

1ST UK 1973 PINK RIM ISLAND LP 

KING CRIMSON

"LARKS TONGUES IN ASPIC"

 A FIRST EDITION COMPLETE WITH ORIGINAL LYRIC INNER SLEEVE!

THIS IS THE VERY FIRST ISSUE!

THICK VINYL ILPS 9230

A-2U (SARK) + B-2U MATRIXES.

MOST THAT TURN UP HAVE NO LYRIC INNER SLEEVE!! 

 IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN EXCELLENT ORIGINAL 1ST PRESSING OF THIS CLASSIC LP - THIS COULD BE THE ONE FOR YOU!  

EXCELLENT + NEAR MINT CONDITION

A COPY THAT HAS NOT HAD MUCH PLAY AND HAS BEEN WELL LOVED BY ONE CAREFUL OWNER IN 38 YEARS! 

For all its break-ups, periods of non-existence and fluctuating methodology, King Crimson remains one of the interminably compelling bands playing within the domain of rock music to this day. Widely acknowledged as being the harbingers of the art-rock genre with their monumental 1969 album "In The Court Of The Crimson King", they paved the way for innovative art-rock/progressive rock bands such as Yes, ELP etc etc. in the early '70s as well as providing a stimulus for more recent neo-progressive bands like Tool and The Mars Volta through their post-progressive work in the early '80s and '90S.

LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC is a near perfect PROG ROCK album , inded a SEMINAL MASTERPIECE!

This experimental work is still very important today for some of the bands within the so called "Zehul Music" in France and Belgium (MAGMA, SHYLOCK, ART ZOYD and so on). The title track is excellent and very influential, but also the song-format tracks like "Book of Saturday" and "Easy Money" composed by John Wetton, are of a stunningly high quality.

Larks' Tongues in Aspic is the first King Crimson album to feature the classic lineup of Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, and Cross (along with Jamie Muir on percussion). I consider this to be the band's most consistently excellent formation; some of Crimson's most adventurous, most innovative, and brilliantly craziest music was created during this era. Larks' Tongues is a creative milestone for Fripp and company. The style of this album is eclectic and hard to describe; the music goes from ambient minimalism to heavy fusion to Mellotronic symphonics to experimental grooves to peusdo-metal. Larks' Tongues could not have been more different from its predecessor Islands (see my other listing for an original 1st press of this one), and is yet another testament of Robert Fripp's ability to reinvent this band.

'Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 1' is probably the best instrumental King Crimson ever did. It begins with an extended ambient intro played on tuned percussion. Intense violin builds up to metalesque riffing, and heavy jazz-rock insanity is combined with chamber-rock ambience to create a stunningly memorable composition. 'Book of Saturday' is a short vocal/electric-guitar piece that adds some melody after the assault of the title track. 'Exiles' is probably the most 'traditional' Crimson track here, with bolero drums and Mellotron passages. Cross's violin and Wetton's vocals stand out here. 'Easy Money' is another amazing song. I find this track hard to pin down; is it rock, jazz, blues, or just King Crimson? The wonderfully unorthodox guitar soloing and odd percussion prove it to be nothing but the latter. 'The Talking Drum' is one of my favourites. An absolutely infectious bass groove dominates this piece, with Cross's manic string soloing bringing the song together. 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 2' is the heaviest track here, and is probably the most recognizable piece on the album. The song mostly builds upon a main theme by adding increasingly complex and multilayered instrumentation.

Larks' Tongues in Aspic is without doubt another King Crimson masterpiece. Creative songwriting and unparalleled musicianship are displayed here en masse. I would heartily recommend this album to any fan of progressive/experimental rock. I would especially point this album out to any open-minded music listener who is not yet familiar with avant-garde music;  This is a progressive rock classic of the HIGHEST ORDER and has never truly been replicated, and I don't think that it ever will be!!  If there truly was one eclectic progressive rock album, it'd be this one. This album is absolutely unique.

Very highly recommended and without doubt one of KING CRIMSON'S very FINEST albums and is indeed one of the BEST progressive rock albums EVER released by ANYONE, ANYWHERE!!

This VERY RARE 100% ORIGINAL UK ISLAND 1st PRESS LP is becoming increasingly hard to find these days, especially in such SUPERB CONDITION!

This RARE ORIGINAL UK 1ST PRESS album is a 'MUST HAVE' for KING CRIMSON fans, UK 70's PROG ROCK and ISLAND label collectors alike.

 The record is pressed on THICK quality vinyl. The Cat.No. is ILPS 9230 on the ORIGINAL 1st PRESS ISLAND 'PINK RIM' label (see picture) and is a 1973 UK Stereo 1st Pressing.

YOU WOULD HAVE TO GO A LONG WAY TO FIND ONE IN SUCH FANTASTIC CONDITION AS THIS. VERY, VERY RARE.

I very much doubt if you can find a significantly better condition complete original UK 1st pressing of this absolutely awesome King Crimson LP!!

 Low Start....No Reserve....Don't Miss Out!!

Please take a look at my other KING CRIMSON original UK 1st PRESS LPs listed this week

POST & PACKING:

UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (Recorded Delivery) each additional LP will cost £1.50
EUROPE: Airmail: £5.00 or £10.00 (International Signed For Delivery) each additional LP will cost £2.50 
INTERNATIONAL / REST OF WORLD: Airmail: £8.00 or £13.00 (International Signed For Delivery) each additional LP will cost £3.00

***Any record (or combination of records) which sells for more than £20 MUST be sent by a trackable method ie INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR outside of the UK. This is compulsory. Please do not bid above £20 on this item if you are not prepared to pay for this secure shipping service. I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks.

ALL RECORDS ARE VERY WELL PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT. A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, CRUCIFORM (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY.

Note: The pictures provided are REAL images of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. What you see is what you'll get!

Records / CDs Are Graded In The Following Way:

MINT (M): The record / cd displays barely any signs of use, if any, with no marks or deterioration in sound quality. Extra items and cover are near perfect.

EXCELLENT (EX): Shows only minor signs of being played with very little lessening in sound quality. The Cover and extras will have some light wear and or creasing

VERY GOOD (VG): Has been played many times but has no major deterioration in sound quality, despite some noticeable surface marks and occasional light scratches. Cover and extras will have normal wear and tear but no major defects

GOOD (G): Has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and any extras may suffer from folding, scuffing, split spine, discoloration etc.

FAIR (F): The record is still just playable and has considerable surface noise and may even jump. Cover and contents will be torn stained and/or defaced.

POOR (P): The record will not play properly. Covers badly damaged or partly missing

+ or - : Indicates slightly better (+) or slightly lesser (-) condition than main grade

All records / cd's are from my personal collection and have been carefully play graded before listing. In many cases I have owned them from new and all have been looked after very well. Please check out my other similar items currently listed on eBay.

Auction Conditions - Important : Please read before bidding

UK Bidders

Acceptable methods of payment :

• Cheques
• Postal Orders
• PAYPAL

Non-UK Bidders

Acceptable methods of payment :

• PAYPAL

All payment to be made within 7 days of end of auction.

At the end of the auction I will send you an invoice confirming your winning bid(s) with the total amount payable. Do not send any payment until you have received this invoice.

Paypal To: kentgirl22@gmail.com

Packaging Notes:

All records are securely and well packed to avoid any unnecessary damage during transit. I aim to dispatch all items within 48 hours of receiving payment. I always obtain a certificate proof of posting receipt for every item sent, which will complete our transaction. Thank you for taking the time to look at my listings, I hope you will be lucky if deciding to make a bid.