Just got hold of the 2022 RRPG and looked up this item. I have two copies of this: One I bought new when it was first released and the other I picked up somewhere for a few pennies in a job lot at a Car Boot sale. Both have the matrices for first issues ILPS 9111 A ▼ 2 and ILPS 9111 B // 4 and "Printed and made by E.J. Day, London" on the inside of the gatefolds. The one I bought in the job lot is not in as good condition as my original. I would rate mine as VG+ and Good+. for the other. My original has been played a lot but there are no visual signs on the surfaces. Who would have bought this in 1969 and not played it ????
when i listened to (bits of) this in the arcade music shop before making it that month's lp purchase, in north finchley the saturday morning after it came out, the shop owner warned me that all copies had a quiet background hum running throughout - it wasn't a pressing fault, so the shop wouldn't be accepting returns back as "faulty" because of the hum. did island - or, as it was an outside production by them, e.g. productions - ever remove the hum ?
Is there any research done about the difference in the matrix and what it all means, Has Fripp said anything about the production aspect of this LP? The A1/B1 price hike has been with us for a few years now. The observation about the beginning of 21st Schizoid man as a banded track is something I was not aware of. I do know that the reason why there were sub sections of songs was a naive belief by Fripp or his managers that they could get more royalties from publishing.
I found an Excel file with a bit of Island research I did in 2005.
The copies I have spotted of this have the following variations. I have simplified the matrices to just the last letter and number. In reality they look something like ILPS 9111 A ▼ 2 and ILPS 9111 B // 4 for example.
First press had A1 and B1. This was (I think) unique in having the quiet tootling before the start of Schizoid Man as a banded track. This is the one that makes the big bucks.
Later pressings spotted:
A2 B2
A2 B3
A3 B3
A2 B4