Every self-respecting King Crimson fan needs a copy of this CD. No, it
doesn't sound a bit Crimson-esque, but this is where it all began, folks.
The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles and Fripp. This is the only record
that trio put out before adding McDonald and Lake and forming King Crimson.
The style of this music is ... well, it's all over the place. There's plenty
of late '60s psychedelic pop, there are a few tracks such as the very baroque
"Suite No.1" that hint at what would become the sound that defined a genre.
There are a few serious, moments, and there are whacky Python-esque vocal
interludes that speak to the album's title. There are hints of Syd Barrett,
there are moments that recall The Beach Boys, there are dozens of Beatles
references, and there are times when it sounds more like insubstantial post-war
music hall entertainment. It's a bit eclectic - so it's appropriate that it was
Eclectic Discs who re-mastered this release and put it together with wonderful
packaging, enhanced artwork and a batch of bonus tracks.
The first section has interludes of a silly, offbeat narrative about a boy
named Rodney Toady:
Rodney was a sad young man because he was fat and ugly and no-one liked
him.
Children ran up to him in the street and pointed and shouted
"Rodney is a sad young man because he's fat and ugly"
And then they ran away laughing...
..and so it goes on, never going anywhere, never really being funny. And
Giles, Giles and Fripp were trying to be funny. They were trying to be
pop. They were trying to be the Moody Blues ("Thursday Morning," and "Under The
Sky"). They were trying to be experimental ... in fact, it seems that they were
trying to find themselves. That musical identity would finally settle on them
two years later when they grew into Crimson, and launched In The Court Of The
Crimson King - to which so many elements of modern progressive music owe
their very existence.
This one's a collector's item.
Track Listing:
1 Saga Of Rodney Toady (59:00)
2 Northmeadow (33:00)
3 Newly-Weds (43:00)
4 One In A Million (57:00)
5 Call Tomorrow (05:00)
6 Digging My Lawn (50:00)
7 Little Children (35:00)
8 Crukster (51:00)
9 Thursday Morning (26:00)
10 Just George (25:00)
11 How Do They Know (20:00)
12 Elephant Song (47:00)
13 Sun Is Shining (07:00)
14 Suite No.1 (12:00)
15 Erudite Eyes (54:00)
16 Thursday Morning (Bonus Track) (59:00)
17 She Is Loaded (Bonus Track) (27:00)
18 Under The Sky (Bonus Track) (45:00)
19 One In A Million (Bonus Track) (51:00)
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