{"product_id":"king-crimson-penn-state-uni-29-june-1974","title":"King Crimson - Penn State Uni 29 June, 1974","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"104\"\u003eLive \u003cstrong data-start=\"5\" data-end=\"21\"\u003eKing Crimson\u003c\/strong\u003e multi-track recording of live set from June 29th, 1974, at Penn State University\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"439\" data-end=\"869\"\u003eTo coincide with the releases of \u003cem data-start=\"472\" data-end=\"496\"\u003eStarless \u0026amp; Bible Black\u003c\/em\u003e in March 1974, King Crimson set out on a run of shows that many fans consider to be that line-up’s peak with the late music critic \u003cstrong data-start=\"628\" data-end=\"643\"\u003eJohn Kelman\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem data-start=\"645\" data-end=\"661\"\u003eAll About Jazz\u003c\/em\u003e) describing them as being at their “heaviest and most guitar-centric version of Crimson to date” where “even 24 hours represented a significant difference in how this group approached form-based material”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"871\" data-end=\"1538\"\u003eIn the final week of June, as the band neared its conclusion as a live act, four of these concerts -including the Asbury Park show from which much of the original 1975 released \u003cem data-start=\"1048\" data-end=\"1053\"\u003eUSA\u003c\/em\u003e, single live LP was derived – were recorded to multi-track tape but, with the exception of that release, lay unreleased until the 1992 assemblage\/mix \u0026amp; compilation of \u003cem data-start=\"1221\" data-end=\"1241\"\u003eThe Great Deceiver\u003c\/em\u003e boxed set by Robert Fripp \u0026amp; \u003cstrong data-start=\"1270\" data-end=\"1289\"\u003eDavid Singleton\u003c\/strong\u003e which was centred around those performances. In the notes to that set Robert Fripp described the band’s 1974 tour as a period of “balanced disarray” characterised by “chaotic and intense” performances and “powerful, almost brutal improvisations”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1540\" data-end=\"2126\"\u003eWith the rapid growth of CD in the 1980s came an equally rapid growth in bootlegging and by 1992 there were over 120 different King Crimson bootlegs – many focusing on poor quality recordings of the 1973\/74 touring band whose reputation among fans and influence on a generation of musicians continued to grow. The first pressing run of \u003cem data-start=\"1876\" data-end=\"1896\"\u003eThe Great Deceiver\u003c\/em\u003e sold out within weeks \u0026amp; was re-pressed by DGM in the same format before being split into two double CD sets in the early 2000s. The release also did much to re-establish King Crimson’s critical reputation, especially in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2128\" data-end=\"2547\"\u003eOf the four multi-tracked concerts, Penn State was a last minute addition to the schedule and required gruelling additional journeys there and back, book-ended, on the original tour schedule, by the geographically easier Asbury Park, New Jersey on the 28th and Providence, Rhode Island on the 30th, leaving audiences then \u0026amp; since, grateful for the band’s willingness to use a ‘rest day’ for an unplanned performance..\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2549\" data-end=\"3041\"\u003eDespite the travel complications, the Penn State gig featured two of the best improvs from this tour - \u003cem data-start=\"2652\" data-end=\"2678\"\u003eIs There Life Out There?\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem data-start=\"2683\" data-end=\"2713\"\u003eIt Is For You But Not For Us\u003c\/em\u003e, which sounded, in many respects, no less fully composed than the recently released \u003cem data-start=\"2798\" data-end=\"2808\"\u003eFracture\u003c\/em\u003e or the yet to be recorded \u003cem data-start=\"2835\" data-end=\"2845\"\u003eStarless\u003c\/em\u003e. For most attendees, the majority of the material would have been heard for the first time, not an uncommon feature of King Crimson gigs in that period, though unthinkable for most bands today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3043\" data-end=\"3212\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eRecently released on 200-gram double vinyl exclusively via Record Store Day in April 2026, \u003cem data-start=\"3134\" data-end=\"3162\"\u003e1974 Penn State University\u003c\/em\u003e is now being released on CD from 19th June, 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"196\" data-end=\"252\"\u003eSleevenotes from King Crimson biographer \u003cstrong data-start=\"237\" data-end=\"250\"\u003eSid Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"254\" data-end=\"437\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"254\" data-end=\"270\"\u003eRobert Fripp\u003c\/strong\u003e: Guitar, Mellotron \u0026amp; Devices\u003cbr data-start=\"299\" data-end=\"302\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"302\" data-end=\"317\"\u003eDavid Cross\u003c\/strong\u003e: Violin, Viola, Mellotron, Electric Piano\u003cbr data-start=\"359\" data-end=\"362\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"362\" data-end=\"377\"\u003eJohn Wetton\u003c\/strong\u003e: Bass, Lead Vocals\u003cbr data-start=\"396\" data-end=\"399\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"399\" data-end=\"415\"\u003eBill Bruford\u003c\/strong\u003e: Drums \u0026amp; Percussion\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DGM","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":57964863226201,"sku":"SDZ-45329","price":11.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/9542782f476f32f0ff7f05a17559d49c.jpg?v=1777628043","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/king-crimson-penn-state-uni-29-june-1974","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}