Sail in My Boat

by Bruce EderIt's astonishing to think that as King Crimson was recording their monumental, groundbreaking debut album, Gordon Haskell -- who would join the Crimson lineup in 1970 -- was cutting this sappy, orchestrated piffle. The music on his debut album is pretty enough, but otherwise undistinguished. Haskell couldn't decide whether he was trying to be Justin Hayward or Jacques Brel, neither of whom was he suited to emulate. Haskell has a strangely breathy, un-nasal voice, oddly reminiscent of fellow King Crimson alumnus Pete Sinfield on his solo album Still. The music ranges from the syrupy ("Oo La Di Doo Da Day" to the melodramatic "Time Only Knows," and all the while Haskell's voice struggles to stretch its range. The only interesting cut here is the calypso-flavored "Zanzibar," which is at least diverting, if not exactly a classic piece of pop-rock. Only absolute King Crimson completists and serious Haskell fans need bother with the Voiceprint CD reissue of this genuine late-'60s rarity.