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The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles And Fripp

Artist: Giles, Giles And Fripp
Label: Deram
Catalog#: SML 1022
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1968-09
Tracklist
A1 North Meadow 2:30
  Notes:

Written-By - Peter Giles

A2 Newly-weds 2:06
  Notes:

Written-By - Peter Giles

A3 One In A Million 2:23
  Notes:

Written-By - Michael Giles

A4 Call Tomorrow 2:35
  Notes:

Written-By - Peter Giles

A5 Digging My Lawn 1:50
  Notes:

Written-By - Peter Giles

A6 Little Children 2:47
  Notes:

Written-By - Robert Fripp

A7 The Crukster 1:30
  Notes:

Written-By - Michael Giles

A8 Thursday Morning 2:48
  Notes:

Arranged By - Ivor Raymonde
Written-By - Michael Giles

B1 How Do They Know 2:14
  Notes:

Written-By - Michael Giles

B2 Elephant Song 3:13
  Notes:

Written-By - Michael Giles

B3 The Sun Is Shining 3:05
  Notes:

Written-By - Michael Giles

B4 Suite No. 1 5:21
  Notes:

Written-By - Robert Fripp

B5 Erudite Eyes 5:01
  Notes:

Written-By - Robert Fripp

Credits

Backing Vocals - Breakaways
Cello - Alan Ford
Cello - Charles Tunnell
Engineer - Bill Price
Engineer - Martin Smith
Keyboards - Mike Hill
Keyboards - Nicky Hopkins
Performer - Michael Giles
Performer - Peter Giles
Performer - Robert Fripp
Photography [Cover] - Gered Mankowitz
Producer - Wayne Bickerton
Trombone - Cliff Hardie
Trombone - Ted Barker
Viola - John Coulling
Viola - Rebecca Patten
Violin - Boris Pecker
Violin - G. Salisbury
Violin - Gerry Fields
Violin - Kelly Isaacs
Violin - Raymond Cohen
Violin - William Reid

Notes

Concept album, with a theme for each side. Tracks are interspersed with comments, which together "tell" a story.
Dates of composition:
A - Oct. 1967
A1 - July 1967
A2 - Feb. 1968
A3 - Nov. 1965
A4 - March 1968
A5 - June 1967
A6 - April 1967
A7 - Oct. 1966
A8 - June 1967
B - March 1967
B1 - March 1967
B2 - June 1967
B3 - April 1967
B4 - March 1968
B5 - Feb. 1968
Also available in mono (# DML 1022).
The index tracks titles have a composer credit on the cover. Side A: Fripp and side B: M. Giles.

Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
This was by no means a major release; these are, however, the first recordings from guitarist Robert Fripp, and as such, of interest to the timeline. The band came to London from provincial Bournemouth, on England's south coast. Brothers Peter Giles and Michael Giles, bass and drums respectively, had spent the last seven years as a rhythm section together, performing mainly R&B covers. In London, they managed to secure a deal with Deram Records, who released two singles and the album, The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles & Fripp. Unfortunately, the album's highlight is on the opening track: "North Meadow" reveals a concise arrangement and the tight interplay of the Giles brothers. Otherwise, the tracks are predictably of the era. Each album side presents a musical story as terminally dated as the other: Fripp's "The Saga of Rodney Toady" on the first side, and on the second, Michael Giles's "Just George." The closing track "Erudite Eyes" finally gets electric and eclectic, but good luck getting that far through the record. Lyricist and jack-of-all Pete Sinfield would later remark "if one wondered what my contribution to King Crimson was, they should simply listen to this album!" But the album's failure was portentous: GG&F met up with Fairport Convention's Judy Dyble and her boyfriend Ian McDonald in response to an ad Dyble had placed for a backing band. Dyble remained for a short while (a version of "I Talk to the Wind" appeared on The Young Persons' Guide To King Crimson in 1975) before the men took over. And a few months and one wealthy uncle later, King Crimson was born.
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