Extreme volume
In these rougher recordings one can truly appreciate the loudness of John Wetton's playing!
Bournemouth’s Winter Gardens is about as close as you can get to being on home turf gig for Wetton and Fripp. As the guitarist observes in his introductory remarks after a blistering Doctor Diamond and Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, “regular Crimsonites to the Winter Gardens will know that my mother is here…”
Perhaps buoyed by such close familial support the team is on top form before a supportive crowd. The best live versions of Easy Money are nearly always about the build to Wetton’s scat singing before the final verse, and this one, despite the murk and grim sonics, is a great example. The last verse also includes a rare example of the sharper, more defined drum-accented slashes which were usually ploughed through in later performances.
The first improv out of Easy Money is pushed by Wetton using a lick that would later be incorporated into other improvs and form the basis of 1974’s Guts On My Side. After some initially tentative ‘show and tell’ they gather pace and storm off.
However, what’s especially interesting here is the appearance of the Fracture motif which Fripp had been working on during March and would continue to develop as a piece of writing in April. In this context, it’s a pointillistic duet with Wetton and gradual swathes of Mellotron stings from David Cross. It’s a significant moment in Crim history and probably makes this gig essential despite its somewhat grainy, indifferent sound.
Oh, and one more moment for the attentive Crimhead with half an ear on history; it may not be as momentous as the Fracture blow that precedes it, but just a few moments before they morph into an incomplete Exiles, David Cross plays the exact same theme that graces the opening of Providence, recorded thirteen months after this performance in 1974.
Perhaps buoyed by such close familial support the team is on top form before a supportive crowd. The best live versions of Easy Money are nearly always about the build to Wetton’s scat singing before the final verse, and this one, despite the murk and grim sonics, is a great example. The last verse also includes a rare example of the sharper, more defined drum-accented slashes which were usually ploughed through in later performances.
The first improv out of Easy Money is pushed by Wetton using a lick that would later be incorporated into other improvs and form the basis of 1974’s Guts On My Side. After some initially tentative ‘show and tell’ they gather pace and storm off.
However, what’s especially interesting here is the appearance of the Fracture motif which Fripp had been working on during March and would continue to develop as a piece of writing in April. In this context, it’s a pointillistic duet with Wetton and gradual swathes of Mellotron stings from David Cross. It’s a significant moment in Crim history and probably makes this gig essential despite its somewhat grainy, indifferent sound.
Oh, and one more moment for the attentive Crimhead with half an ear on history; it may not be as momentous as the Fracture blow that precedes it, but just a few moments before they morph into an incomplete Exiles, David Cross plays the exact same theme that graces the opening of Providence, recorded thirteen months after this performance in 1974.
