Three critical decisions are needed to set in motion three critical events which will shape our future. So far, one is decided in principle and moving forwards. The second (from this morning's meeting) is likely to move to a decision, but requires another element to fall into place. Then, we shall approach the third key event.
A note on the Collectors' Club: a former member of Crim approached us because their prior approval hadn't been given to one of the Club releases. My letter to the Crims in reply to this, written yesterday, is included here for the interest of Web visitors...
Dear Team,
Since Crim ceased to exist in 1974 I have taken an active interest in maintaining the strength and interest of the catalogue. At that time, the project was "The Young Persons' Guide To KC". I note, with interest, that three months of my time was engaged on that project and I didn't get paid.
In 1989 I re-mastered the catalogue with Tony Arnold. I wasn't paid for that either.
The demise of EG in 1991, the details of which are well-known to most of us, threatened the future of the catalogue. But, within EG, I could always liase inside the office.
Since then, with the release of "Frame By Frame" (1991) from (mainly) the EG tapes sold to Virgin Records, I have put a lot of effort into developing and maintaining a relationship with Virgin, and formalising the archives (tape, paper & photos) within the framework of DGM. Since 1991, and the EG debacle, I have been receiving a producer's percentage for my catalogue work. Virgin, in contrast to EG, didn't appear surprised at this.
"The Great Deceiver" (1992) was the first direct result of that archive, followed by "Epitaph", "The Night Watch" and "Absent Lovers". These are all mainstream releases and all considered to set standards in their field, even to have contributed to the re-writing of the period's music history. The music of Crimson, for a later generation, can now be discovered sonically rather than through witless commentary and careless cliches.
The Collectors' Club Releases are not publicly available as such (with the exception of slightly modified releases in Japan). This is an R&D section within the archive which sifts through masses of (mainly) bootlegs, board recordings and my own tape store. Much of this is available on the 390 KC bootleg titles known to avid collectors. Artwork is drawn mainly from my paper archive. Club Releases have also been generally well received although the number of present members (3,000) just about covers expenses.
The archive currently costs around £25,000 a year to maintain. We continue to process and arrange the mass of printed materials, and updating best-known recordings of various rare performances. No-one in the Team gets sent a bill for this.
Were I looking at this situation, impassively from the outside, I would see one guy taking on the enormous work of keeping the historic aspects of King Crimson fresh and technologically current. This costs the other members nothing, although they have received royalties so far of around $500,000. It would seem to me, looking on at this strange situation from outside, that Christmas comes early every year.
Recently, with a Club Release, one of the Team was upset that they didn't have prior approval of that release. I have a measure of sympathy with this. But over the past 7 years no-one has required prior approval and all the releases (in their area) have received overwhelming approval from the public and the Team.
The practical matters of my concern are these:
1. Were I to seek prior approval of all members of the Team involved in one particular project, it wouldn't happen.
i) Essentially, the bulk of the work (updating tapes, sorting, sifting, selecting, editing, production mastering) has to be done before anyone's opinion could be canvassed. And it's not possible to do the work of preparing a release if it's not released. "Epitaph", for example, took four months to prepare.
ii) Michael Giles has not yet given his approval to the name "King Crimson" nor to the Schizoid face for the cover of "In The Court".
2. Virtually all the material is already available in bootleg form. Most of it is sonically appalling. This suggests that there is a bona fide interest in Crimson and its music. My sense is the listening community would rather have good quality, legitimate releases than take a punt on often dodgy boots. And the sifting, sorting aspect of Club Releases enables us to find material which is worthy of mainstream release. We don't claim perfection, but the work so far sings for itself.
If you were to ask: does Robert have a stunning future which exists without the catalogue & archive? The answer is "Yes!".
Were you to ask: is Robert prepared to continue maintaining the catalogue & archive for the forseeable next period? The answer is yes, but only if it's straightforward.
This is not a life-churning matter for me. It would seem, watching this situation from the outside as I do, an act of primal, undifferentiated self-interest for every Team member to allow that one guy to go on, as he has been since forever, have my music presented fresh to a new generation, and get my cheque (for whatever pitiful sum).
But then, this is Crimson. If anyone would rather this guy stopped - hey! let me know. An easier life is waiting.
Best wishes, Robert.
"Three ways to discover our faults: ask a friend; ask an enemy; recognise a fault in others."
