The Great Deceiver (King Crimson album)


The Great Deceiver is a live 4CD box set by the band King Crimson, released on Virgin Records in 1992. In 2007, it was reissued as two volumes of 2 CDs each. The track listing on the volume 1 CD 1 lists 11 tracks, incorrectly listing "The Talking Drum" and the abbreviated "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two" from the Pittsburgh show from CD 1 of the volume 2 set.
The box set features live recordings of the band from 1973 and 1974. All recordings feature the lineup of Robert Fripp, John Wetton, David Cross and Bill Bruford. Jamie Muir, who left the band in early 1973, is not featured on the set. The band's 1974 concert from Providence, Rhode Island is presented in its entirety on CDs One and Two; this was the second-to-last live concert ever performed by this incarnation of King Crimson.
King Crimson's "Walk On" music in 1973-74 was an excerpt of "The Heavenly Music Corporation," from the album ' by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. These "walk-ons" are reproduced here, and indexed as separate tracks.
Three recordings from this box set were previously available on other King Crimson albums, albeit in slightly altered forms. An abbreviated version of "We'll Let You Know" appears on the Starless and Bible Black album, released in 1974. Similarly, an abbreviated version of "Providence" was included on the Red album, also released in 1974. The live performance of "21st Century Schizoid Man" on CD Two was issued in 1975 as part of the album USA, featuring overdubbed violin from Eddie Jobson.
Many of the recordings on this album are band improvisations. "The Law of Maximum Distress" appears in two sections, as the tape ran out in the middle of the song. Much of the missing material seems to be used on "The Mincer" from Starless and Bible Black. As Robert Fripp notes in the CD jacket, "Most live recording follows the policy of two machines in use simultaneously to meet an eventuality such as this. We learn."
The liner notes to The Great Deceiver run to 68 pages. These notes feature comments from Fripp, Wetton and Cross, annotated excerpts from Fripp's 1974 diary, reviews of the previous King Crimson box set, ', and a complete listing of all concerts performed by the band in 1973 and 1974.
The track "Exiles" is credited to Fripp/Wetton/Palmer-James on this box set. The correct credit, as listed on Larks' Tongues in Aspic and confirmed by BMI's records, is Cross/Fripp/Palmer-James. Despite having no legal co-writing credit for the song, John Wetton has indicated in interviews that he wrote the bridge for "Exiles."

Track listing

Disc 1: Things Are Not as They Seem...

  1. "Walk On... No Pussyfooting" – 0:52
  2. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two" – 6:12
  3. "Lament" – 4:04
  4. "Exiles" – 7:00
  5. "Improv - A Voyage to the Centre of the Cosmos" – 14:41
  6. "Easy Money" – 7:14
  7. "Providence" – 9:47
  8. "Fracture" – 10:47
  9. "Starless" – 11:56

    Disc 2: Sleight of Hand (or Now You Don't See It Again) and...

  1. "21st Century Schizoid Man" – 7:32
  2. "Walk off from Providence... No Pussyfooting" – 1:15
  3. "Sharks' Lungs in Lemsip" – 2:30
  4. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One" – 7:25
  5. "Book of Saturday" – 2:49
  6. "Easy Money" – 6:43
  7. "We'll Let You Know" – 4:54
  8. "The Night Watch" – 4:54
  9. "Improv - Tight Scrummy" – 8:27
  10. "Peace - A Theme" – 1:01
  11. "Cat Food" – 4:14
  12. "Easy Money..." – 2:19
  13. "...It is for You, but Not for Us" – 7:25

    Disc 3: ...Acts of Deception (the Magic Circus, or Weasels Stole Our Fruit)

  1. "Walk On... No Pussyfooting" – 1:15
  2. "The Great Deceiver" – 3:32
  3. "Improv - Bartley Butsford" – 3:13
  4. "Exiles" – 6:23
  5. "Improv - Daniel Dust" – 4:40
  6. "The Night Watch" – 4:18
  7. "Doctor Diamond" – 4:52
  8. "Starless" – 11:36
  9. "Improv - Wilton Carpet" – 5:52
  10. "The Talking Drum" – 5:29
  11. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two" – 2:22
  12. "Applause and announcement" – 2:19
  13. "Improv - Is There Life Out There?" – 11:50

    Disc 4: ...But Neither Are They Otherwise

  1. "Improv - The Golden Walnut" – 11:14
  2. "The Night Watch" – 4:22
  3. "Fracture" – 10:48
  4. "Improv - Clueless and Slightly Slack" – 8:36
  5. "Walk On... No Pussyfooting" – 1:00
  6. "Improv - Some Pussyfooting" – 2:23
  7. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One" – 7:41
  8. "Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress, Part One" – 6:31
  9. "Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress, Part Two" – 2:17
  10. "Easy Money" – 6:57
  11. "Improv - Some More Pussyfooting" – 5:50
  12. "The Talking Drum" – 6:05

    Personnel

Executive producer: Robert Fripp. Mixing by Fripp, Tony Arnold and David Singleton.