Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson

Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson is a 4-CD box set by the band King Crimson, released in 1991.

Frame By Frame: The Essential King Crimson
Box set by King Crimson
Released	December 1991
Recorded	1969–1984; 1991 (overdubs)
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	256:46
Label	Caroline
Producer	King Crimson
King Crimson chronology
Heartbeat: The Abbreviated King Crimson (1991) Frame By Frame: The Essential King Crimson (1991) Sleepless: The Concise King Crimson (1993)

Track listing

Disc 1: 1969-1971

1. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, Peter Sinfield) - 7:20
2. "I Talk to the Wind" (McDonald, Sinfield) - 6:05
3. "Epitaph" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 8:44
4. "Moonchild" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 2:26

   Abridged version, omitting the improv section of the song

5. "The Court of the Crimson King" (McDonald, Sinfield) - 9:25
6. "Peace: A Theme" (Fripp) - 1:16
7. "Cat Food" (Fripp, McDonald, Sinfield) - 2:45

   Single version

8. "Groon" (Fripp) - 3:31

   Previously unreleased on CD; also featured on the 2-LP compilation A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson (1976)

9. "Cadence and Cascade" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 4:10

   New mix, replacing Gordon Haskell's original vocals with vocals performed by Adrian Belew, July 1991

10. "The Sailor's Tale" (Fripp) - 7:27

    Abridged version, removing approximately 3.5 seconds' worth of the cymbal introduction

11. "Ladies of the Road" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 5:31
12. "Bolero" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 6:45

    New mix, replacing Gordon Haskell's original bass guitar with bass guitar performed by Tony Levin, June 1991

Tracks 1-5 from In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

Tracks 6-7 & 9 from In the Wake of Poseidon (1970)

Tracks 7-8 released as the single "Cat Food/Groon" in 1970

Track 12 from Lizard (1970)

Tracks 10-11 from Islands (1971)

Total Running Time - 67:47

Disc 2: 1972-1974

1. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part I)" (Bill Bruford, David Cross, Fripp, Jamie Muir, John Wetton) - 10:53

   Abridged version

2. "Book of Saturday" (Fripp, Richard Palmer-James, Wetton) - 2:53
3. "Easy Money" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 7:55
4. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part II)" (Fripp) - 7:09
5. "The Night Watch" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 4:40
6. "The Great Deceiver" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 4:03
7. "Fracture" (Fripp) - 6:57

   Abridged version

8. "Starless" (Bruford, Cross, Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 4:38

   Abridged version

9. "Red" (Fripp) - 6:17
10. "Fallen Angel" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 5:59
11. "One More Red Nightmare" (Fripp, Wetton) - 7:09

Tracks 1-4 from the album Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)

Tracks 5-7 from the album Starless and Bible Black (1974)

Tracks 8-11 from the album Red (1974)

Total Running Time - 69:08

Disc 3: 1981-1984

All tracks on disc 3 written by Adrian Belew, Bruford, Fripp and Tony Levin, unless otherwise indicated.

1. "Elephant Talk" - 4:42
2. "Frame by Frame" - 5:08
3. "Matte Kudasai" - 3:48
4. "Thela Hun Ginjeet" - 6:26
5. "Heartbeat" - 3:54
6. "Waiting Man" - 4:22
7. "Neurotica" - 4:48
8. "Requiem" - 6:36
9. "Three of a Perfect Pair" - 4:11
10. "Sleepless" - 5:22
11. "Discipline" - 5:05
12. "The Sheltering Sky" - 8:16
13. "The King Crimson Barber Shop" (Levin) - 1:31

    Also featured on the compilation Heartbeat: The Abbreviated King Crimson (1991), subsequently featured on the reissued version of the album Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)

Tracks 1-4 & 11-12 from the album Discipline (1981)

Tracks 5-8 from the album Beat (1982)

Tracks 9-10 from the album Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)

Total Running Time - 64:08

Disc 4: Live 1969-1984

1. "Get Thy Bearings" (Donovan Leitch) - 9:21

   Recorded at Plumpton Racetrack (at the Ninth National Jazz and Blues Festival), Streat, UK, 9 August 1969

   subsequently featured on the live album (4-CD set) Epitaph

2. "Travel Weary Capricorn" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 4:23

   Recorded at Plumpton Racetrack (at the Ninth National Jazz and Blues Festival), Streat, UK, 9 August 1969

   Subsequently featured on the live 4-CD set Epitaph (1997)

3. "Mars" (Gustav Holst) - 8:09

   Recorded at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California, United States, 14 December 1969*

   subsequently featured on the live 4-CD set Epitaph

4. "The Talking Drum" (Bruford, Cross, Fripp, Muir, Wetton) - 8:30

   Recorded at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 23 November 1973;

   subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set The Night Watch (1997)

5. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 9:15

   Recorded at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 23 November 1973

   subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set The Night Watch

6. "Asbury Park" (Bill Bruford, Cross, Fripp, Wetton) - 6:52

   Recorded at the Casino, Asbury Park, New Jersey, 28 June 1974; previously featured on the live album USA (1975)

7. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part III)" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 2:35

   recorded at Le Spectrum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 11 July 1984; excerpt version from the afternoon show. A complete performance from the evening show was subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal (1998)

8. "Sartori in Tangier" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 4:08

   recorded at Le Spectrum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 11 July 1984

   subsequently featured on the live album (2-CD set) Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal

9. "Indiscipline" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 5:26

   Recorded at the Arena, Fréjus, France, 27 August 1982; subsequently featured on the live album (King Crimson Collectors' Club release) Live at Cap D'Agde (April 1999)

Total Running Time - 61:20

(*) The Frame by Frame booklet incorrectly lists the date as 10 December 1969.