LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

180g LP

Before there was King Crimson, there was Giles, Giles & Fripp. Robert Fripp, before he went on to become “one of the greatest guitar players of all-time”, was just a guy with a guitar who responded to an advertisement by brothers Michael and Peter Giles looking for a singing keyboard player. Fripp was neither, but the three formed a band anyway and soon moved to Brondesbury Road, London. During this time, they recorded many demos in their flat, with a two-track Revox reel-to-reel recorder, which was modified to allow overdubs. During the 15 months in which they were together, they released one album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp on Decca, a mix of psychedelia and jazz with amusing lyrics. It sold fewer than 1,000 copies, and by 1968 the band was defunct. However, Michael Giles and Peter Fripp were about to more than make up for the lost record sales with their next band, King Crimson. This album, originally compiled in 2001, is taken from the miles of Brondesbury Road tape the three recorded in 1968, with some friends brought in here and there, friends like ex-Fairport Convention singer Julie Dyble and Ian McDonald . In other words, this is the chance for Crimson fans to hear where it all began. The sound is also surprisingly good, near studio quality in most cases.

Track listing - Side A: 1. Under The Sky 2. Why Don't You Just Drop In 3. Make It Today 4. Erudite Eyes 5. Hypocrite 6. Passages Of Time 7. Murder Side B: 1. Plastic Pennies 2. Newly Weds 3. I Talk To The Wind 4. Wonderland 5. She Is Loaded 6. Tremelo Study In A Major 7. Suite No. 1 8. Digging My Lawn 9. Scrivens