Puneet Varma (Editor)

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp

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Released
  
13 September 1968

Artist
  
Giles, Giles and Fripp

Genre
  
Rock

Label
  
Deram Records

Length
  
37:43

Release date
  
13 September 1968

Producer
  
Wayne Bickerton

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen990Che

Recorded
  
26 February — 18 May 1968 Decca Studios No. 2, London

Progressive rock albums
  
McDonald and Giles, I Advance Masked, The Gates of Paradise, In the Wake of Poseidon, Exposure

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp is a 1968 album from the English group Giles, Giles and Fripp. The United States LP had a different cover than the original UK version.

Contents

The music shows a mix of pop, psychedelic rock, folk, and classical, influences. In addition to 13 songs, the album contains two comedic spoken word pieces, "The Saga of Rodney Toady" and "Just George", which are interspersed between the songs.

The album had little recognition on first release, but has since been re-issued many times. According to Robert Fripp the album sold only 500 copies. This information came from his royalty statement, but it is very unlikely that this was the total number of copies sold on initial release.

There are at least 4 CD editions. First in Japan with no bonus tracks, then in the US and UK with bonus tracks compiled from singles and previously unreleased recordings. A later Japanese re-issue in a paper sleeve contained the bonus tracks and also a bonus paper sleeve reproduction of the US cover. The most recent CD released by Eclectic Discs also has the bonus tracks.

Also during 1968 the group recorded a series of demos at home, which would be released as The Brondesbury Tapes in 2001. Following this album Peter Giles was replaced on bass by Greg Lake. Soon after that the band changed their repertoire and renamed themselves King Crimson.

Track listing

  • The Saga of Rodney Toady (Robert Fripp)
    1. "North Meadow" (Peter Giles) – 2:29
    2. "Newly-weds" (Peter Giles) – 2:07
    3. "One in a Million" (Michael Giles) – 2:25
    4. "Call Tomorrow" (Peter Giles) – 2:31
    5. "Digging My Lawn" (Peter Giles) – 1:50
    6. "Little Children" (Robert Fripp) – 2:48
    7. "The Crukster" (Michael Giles) – 1:35
    8. "Thursday Morning" (Michael Giles) – 2:50
  • Just George (Michael Giles)
    1. "How Do They Know" (Michael Giles) – 2:14
    2. "Elephant Song" (Michael Giles) – 3:15
    3. "The Sun is Shining" (Michael Giles) – 3:06
    4. "Suite No. 1" (Robert Fripp) – 5:33
    5. "Erudite Eyes" (Robert Fripp) – 5:05
  • Bonus Tracks on 1992 CD release
  • 14. "She Is Loaded" - 3:11 15. "Under the Sky" - 4:01 16. "One in a Million" (mono single) - 2:25 17. "Newly-Weds" (mono single) - 2:44 18. "Thursday Morning" (mono single) - 2:57 19. "Thursday Morning" (stereo single) - 2:57

    Giles, Giles & Fripp

  • Robert Fripp: guitars, mellotron, spoken word
  • Peter Giles: bass, lead and backing vocals
  • Michael Giles: drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals, spoken word
  • Additional Personnel

  • Ted Barker, Cliff Hardy - trombone
  • Raymond Cohen, Gerry Fields, Kelly Isaccs, Boris Pecker, William Reid, G. Salisbury - violin
  • John Coulling, Rebecca Patten - viola
  • Alan Ford, Charles Tunnell - cello
  • Ivor Raymonde - string arrangements
  • "The Breakaways" - backing vocals
  • Mike Hill, Nicky Hopkins - keyboards
  • Production

  • Produced by Wayne Bickerton
  • Engineers: Terry Johnson, Bill Price, Martin Smith
  • Re-Mastering: Anthony Hawkins
  • Songs

    1North Meadow2:28
    2Newly-Weds2:07
    3One in a Million2:25

    References

    The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp Wikipedia