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McDonald and Giles

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McDonald and Giles is an album of music released by British musicians Ian McDonald and Michael Giles in 1971. The album was first issued on Island Records (ILPS 9126) in the U.K. and in the U.S. as Cotillion Records (SD 9042), a division of Atlantic Records. The album was recorded at Island Studios between May and July 1970. Although McDonald and Giles remains popular among King Crimson fans, its commercial success was limited. The duo did not record a second album.

Ian McDonald and Michael Giles were members of the original King Crimson lineup, and were featured performers on the band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969). Both left the group at the end of its first North American tour in 1969, although Giles appeared on the second King Crimson album, In the Wake of Poseidon (1970), as a session musician. Two other King Crimson members also worked on the album: Peter Giles and Peter Sinfield.

The music on McDonald and Giles contains many of the pastoral and musically complex elements of King Crimson, while generally avoiding that band's darker tendencies. The song "Flight of the Ibis" has a similar melody and rhythm to King Crimson's "Cadence and Cascade", with different lyrics. The album contains a guest appearance by Steve Winwood, playing organ and piano on "Turnham Green." Winwood's group Traffic were working on John Barleycorn Must Die at Island Studios at the same time.

Michael Giles' drum solo in "Tomorrow's People - The Children of Today" has been sampled by a number of rap and hip-hop artists, most notably the Beastie Boys, on the track Body Movin' from the album Hello Nasty.[citation needed]

The first CD edition was released in Japan in the early 1990s. It came in both jewel box and paper sleeve versions. This version was the same as the original vinyl but was mastered from a tape copy several generations removed from the original master. In 2002 the group members authorized a revised version of the CD with improved sound. The revised version can be recognized by the use of green lettering on the cover instead of pink. A phrase near the beginning of "Suite In C" has slightly different lyrics. Some of the tracks of the 2002 edition have very minor editing. There are a few slightly different segues in the song "Birdman" and the sections of this song are marked as separate tracks on the CD.

Track listing

  1. "Suite in C" (Ian McDonald) 11:14
    • including "Turnham Green", "Here I Am" and others
  2. "Flight of the Ibis" (music: Ian McDonald, lyrics: BP Fallon) 3:11
  3. "Is She Waiting?" (Ian McDonald) 2:36
  4. "Tomorrow's People - The Children of Today" (Michael Giles) 7:00
  5. "Birdman" (music: Ian McDonald, lyrics: Peter Sinfield) 21:22
    • involving;
    1. "The Inventor's Dream (O.U.A.T.)"
    2. "The Workshop"
    3. "Wishbone Ascension"
    4. "Birdman Flies!"
    5. "Wings in the Sunset"
    6. "Birdman - The Reflection"

"Suite In C" was written by Ian McDonald in Detroit, Los Angeles and Earls Court between December 1969 and February 1970. "Is She Waiting?" was written in Earls Court in the summer of 1969, between King Crimson gigs. "Birdman" was mostly written in the spring of 1968, except for the "Birdman Flies!" section in 1970. The original idea was from Peter Sinfield.

"Tomorrow's People" was written by Michael Giles in 1967, and expanded and arranged in 1970. The song was dedicated to Tina and Mandy, his children.

The lyrics for "Birdman" begin "Long ago / In Walthamstow". Walthamstow Marshes was the location of Alliot Verdon Roe's attempts to build and fly his early aeroplanes. (A.V. Roe was the first British aviator and founder of Avro Aircraft Company).

The parenthetical acronym in the title of "The Inventor's Dream" stands for "Once Upon a Time."

Personnel

  • Ian McDonald: guitar, piano, organ, saxes, flute, clarinet, zither, vocals and sundries
  • Michael Giles: drums, percussion (including milk bottle, handsaw, lip whistle and nutbox), vocals

Arranged and produced by Ian McDonald and Michael Giles. Engineered by Brian Humphries. Assistant engineer: Richard Digby Smith. Strings and brass on "Birdman" and "Suite in C" arranged and conducted by Mike Gray.

References

  • McDonald and Giles at AllMusic
  • "McDonald and Giles - An Analysis by Andrew Keeling". www.songsouponsea.com. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
  • "Individual Album Reviews :: M". www.progweed.net. Retrieved 2010-03-21. Review by Greg Northrup
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