A 2023 Panegyric LP reissue of the charming cult classic McDonald And Giles (1970) by the ex-King Crimson pairing of Ian McDonald and Michael Giles.
This is the first official release of the album on vinyl in decades and the first time since 1970 that the album has been cut from the original masters.
Mastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering and pressed on 200g vinyl at Vinyl Factory UK.
The shock of King Crimson’s arrival, ascendancy and transatlantic success – all in a period of just under a year – carried within it the seeds of the line-up’s implosion in December of 1969 when Ian McDonald and Michael Giles left the band.
Taking up the option to record an album as a duo – with Michael’s brother Peter taking the role as bass guitarist – the eponymous album was recorded in the summer of 1970 and released in the UK in November of that year. It was and remains a minor classic of the late British Underground era – an album that could only come from that particular time and place and, very obviously, an album that was always intended as just that – a studio construct with no evidence that it was ever imagined as music that could or might be played on the 1970 gig circuit – (though some of the material would, eventually, be performed by the 21st Century Schizoid Band in 2002).
Inevitably perhaps, there was some continued crossover with King Crimson activities – both Michael and Peter played on the Jan/April sessions for Crimson’s “In the Wake of Poseidon” prior to the recording and Peter Sinfield contributed lyrics for side 2 of McDonald & Giles’ “Birdman.” Inevitable also, that some material had a shared lineage with KC, most notably in “Flight of the Ibis,” as it was the original melody for what became “Cadence and Cascade.”
But if Mike’s instantly recognisable drum sound and position as that generation’s most gifted drummer and Ian’s skills as a multi-instrumentalist and composer were, by this point, established, the considerable charm of the record comes from the different direction in which the duo took some of the familiarities from their earlier shared band – both compositionally and in arrangements – the vocal harmonies on Birdman more reminiscent of late Giles, Giles and Fripp, the expanded sound coming – not from a mellotron but from full string and brass sections, Steve Winwood’s piano and organ solo sound on the “Turnham Green” section of album opener “Suite in C” would be instantly familiar to anyone who had heard the July 1970 released “John Barleycorn Must Die” album and the overall album had a gentler, more wistful, autumnal sound than anything Crimson would record.
Although not a huge success when initially released, the album became a cult favourite and garnered a broader reception over the decades to the point where it is now much better known than it was in 1970/71.
Pre-Order here: https://burningshed.com/store/kingcrimson/mcdonald-and-giles_mcdonald-and-giles_vinylb
Tracklist:
SIDE A
- SUITE IN C; including TURNHAM GREEN, HERE I AM and others
- FLIGHT OF THE IBIS
- IS SHE WAITING?
- TOMORROW’S PEOPLE – THE CHILDREN OF TODAY
SIDE B
- BIRDMAN; involving
THE INVENTOR’S DREAM (O.U.A.T.)
THE WORKSHOP
WISHBONE ASCENSION
BIRDMAN FLIES!
WINGS IN THE SUNSET
BIRDMAN – THE REFLECTION
Pre-Order it alongside “Music Is Our Friend” by King Crimson here: https://burningshed.com/store/kingcrimson/king-crimson_mcdonald-and-giles_miof_mdag_vinyl-bundle
A bundle of the limited edition triple vinyl “Music Is Our Friend” by King Crimson and the McDonald And Giles LP from 1970 (available on the format for the first time in decades).
Music Is Our Friend
SIDE A
Introductory Soundscape
Hell Hounds of Krim
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
Pictures of a City
SIDE B
The Court of the Crimson King
Red
Tony Cadenza Deals It Slitheryacious-To-The-Max
Neurotica
SIDE C
One More Red Nightmare
Indiscipline
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part Two
SIDE D
Epitaph
Radical Action II
Level Five
SIDE E
Tony Cadenza Serves It Piping Hot
Discipline
Starless
SIDE F
Islands
21st Century Schizoid Man
McDonald And Giles
SIDE A
- SUITE IN C; including TURNHAM GREEN, HERE I AM and others
- FLIGHT OF THE IBIS
- IS SHE WAITING?
- TOMORROW’S PEOPLE – THE CHILDREN OF TODAY
SIDE B
- BIRDMAN; involving
THE INVENTOR’S DREAM (O.U.A.T.)
THE WORKSHOP
WISHBONE ASCENSION
BIRDMAN FLIES!
WINGS IN THE SUNSET
BIRDMAN – THE REFLECTION
Pre-Order “Music Is Our Friend” here: https://burningshed.com/store/kingcrimson/king-crimson_music-is-our-friend_triple-vinyl
Featuring fresh perspectives on classic material recorded during a tour that took place despite almost insurmountable issues, “Music Is Our Friend” is an official bootleg featuring all of King Crimson’s stunning final performance in North America at Washington DC in September, 2021 plus four pieces from KC’s intimate ‘Friends and Family‘ first concert of the tour’s second leg in Albany.
A limited edition 200g triple vinyl cut by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering, four additional tracks have been taken from the first concert of the second leg of the US tour in Albany, New York (August 2021).
“A completion is a new beginning.” – Robert Fripp, September, 2021
Originally scheduled for 2020, postponed for a full year because of the pandemic, the tour began in July 2021 in Florida as the latest Covid wave hit and the band moved across the country in a tour bus bubble.
Following a two-week break due to scheduling conflicts, the band took to the road again, with the Zappa Band appearing nightly before Crimson. Now facing gigs that had to be moved due to extreme weather, with one venue flooded a day before a concert, an open-air venue in New York transferred to the more familiar Beacon Theatre, and even a band member flown to hospital via helicopter, King Crimson faced a range of challenging conditions. Happily, the band member fully recovered and no gigs were missed despite the array of setbacks and obstacles. By the time King Crimson reached Washington, the band was in ferocious form with a powerful, energetic set with some arrangements reworked and differing from previous tours. Featuring a restored middle section of “Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Part One” that had not been played since 1973, substantial keyboard arrangements, Tony Levin on upright bass during “Neurotica” giving the piece an extra swing, an emotional “Starless” and an immensely powerful “21st Century Schizoid Man” as an encore. King Crimson completed their tour in style and to much acclaim from fans and critics alike.
As Robert Fripp notes in his diary entry included in the notes: “David (Singleton, KC manager/producer), pointed out that the very first piece KC played in the US, at Godard College, Montpelier, Vermont on October 29th. 1969, was the same piece as completed KC’s 52 years – 21CSM.”
The four performances from the ‘Friends and Family’ concert in late August 2021 at The Egg in Albany, the opening show of the second leg of the tour and the same venue where the current band played its first US gig in 2014, add material not played in Washington due to time constraints. David Singleton, who also prepared all the audio for this release, thought it one of the best sets the band played on this or previous tours. As Robert wrote in his diary at the time: “A completion is a new beginning” – Robert Fripp, September, 2021
Tracklist:
SIDE A
Introductory Soundscape
Hell Hounds of Krim
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
Pictures of a City
SIDE B
The Court of the Crimson King
Red
Tony Cadenza Deals It Slitheryacious-To-The-Max
Neurotica
SIDE C
One More Red Nightmare
Indiscipline
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part Two
SIDE D
Epitaph
Radical Action II
Level Five
SIDE E
Tony Cadenza Serves It Piping Hot
Discipline
Starless
SIDE F
Islands
21st Century Schizoid Man
