King Crimson - Mr Stormy's Monday Selection Vol.5 2CD (Digital Album 2012)

Mr Stormy's Monday Selection Vol. 5
Now in it's fifth year. DGM presents the unearthed treats from the murky, cavernous archives. These have only previously been offered as MP3s, but now, for your delight and fetishization, can be suffered in full FLAC quality. Wow!
Take a moment to savor and enjoy another marvellous collection of newly polished gems!
Disc 1
01. Writing Rehearsal II 4.42
02. Running Dat 13 5.31
03. Starless Sax 1.54
04. VROOOM Coda Running Dat 25 3.22
05. Waiting Man Section 0.59
06. Matte Kudasai Solo 3.48
07. Ladies Of The Road 5.18
08. In The Court Of The Crimson King 2.04
09. Running Dat 17 5.38
10. Lizard 2.45
11. Starless Cornet 1.19
12. Heartbeat Section 1.01
13. People Rehearsal Run Through 5.18
14. Running Dat 18 12.21
15. Ian Boz And Robert 1.07
16. Neal And Jack And Me 1.47
Disc 2
01. Guess What 0.45
02. Running Dat 25 Feb 1997 15.13
03. Robert And Adrian Rehearsal 5.57
04. Islands Run Through 10.57
05. The Trumpeting Horse 3.59
06. The Return Of The Trumpeting Horse 3.56
07. The Trumpeting Horse Rides Again 4.02
08. The Trumpeting Horse Comes Fourth 4.07
09. Happy Family 2.08
10. Level Six 6.26
11. Thela Hun Ginjeet 6.17
12. The Great Deceiver 1.45
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01. King Crimson
6 December 1996
A rather tasty extract from a writing rehearsal. This charming carillon-like sequence would later be refined and edited into FraKctured. There’s some points that are reminiscent of those gorgeous, mesmeric moments during tracks such as Hope by the RFSQ and The LOCG’s Asturias where time seems to stand still. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough then how about that slinky solo, eh? A lovely sequence to be cherished in its own right and lovely to hear it.
01. Writing Rehearsal II .42
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
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02. King Crimson
27 Oct 1994
Taken from the DAT tapes at Real World, Mister Stormy presents a kind of audio documentary about the making of one song: Sex Eat Sleep Drink Dream. There’s a myriad of tiny details to savour; Fripp’s half-quote of Apache near the very beginning; the same guitarist hollering “Keep that take please, just in case” after a particular rumbling solo; Belew breaking “another E string”; Levin’s verdict that the song is “tough shit” - all of shows the band at work in studio - warts and all.
02. Running Dat 13 5.31
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
Tony Levin
Bill Bruford
Pat Mastelotto
Trey Gunn
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03. King Crimson
8 July 1974
Here’s a real treat. Mel Collins improvising to the song part of Starless. The unrestrained lyricism of the playing, and the sense of melancholic yearning in the notes is incredibly moving. Isolated away from the main instruments, this unused take at times sounds similar to the chilled meditative work of Jan Garbarek or John Surman. Of course the beauty and elegance contained in these show exactly why Fripp once called Mel Collins the guv’nor and still does!
03. Starless Sax 1.54
Personnel
Mel Collins
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04. King Crimson
18 November 1994
Another moment from the Thrak sessions at Real World. Robert and Trey Gunn are intoning the various names and numbers associated with the Marine 475 syndicate at Lloyds Insurance. As Fripp explained in his notes for the Thrak tour programme “Marine 475' (Coda to VROOOM) 1. An example of remorseless and unforgiving inevitability where one is called to honour one's liability without limitation. 2. A Lloyd's insurance syndicate which suffered catastrophic losses for 1989, 1990 and 1991 resulting from Hurricane Hugo, Exxon Valdez and Phillips Petroleum. Several Names involved were from the music industry - even honest, God-fearing family men and good guys that you could trust, who had nothing to hide and who were renowned for their probity and sound business practices.” As Gunn and Fripp “thrak” their way through the names, the latter corpses mid-take and hilarity ensues!
04. VROOOM Coda Running Dat 25 3.22
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
Tony Levin
Bill Bruford
Pat Mastelotto
Trey Gunn
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05. King Crimson
16 March 1982
Here's Tony Levin giving it some Stick as Robert lays down some organ chords against a click track during the Beat sessions.
05. Waiting Man Section 0.59
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Tony Levin
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06. King Crimson
20 May 1981
It’s May 1981 and Robert Fripp has just sat down with his headphones on and guitar at the ready. It’s his first pass at a solo for the ballad Matte Kudasai. He nods and the engineer presses play. 31 years later we get a ringside seat on Fripp’s prodigious sustain technique and for those so inclined, a ticket to bliss.
06. Matte Kudasai Solo 3.48
Personnel
Robert Fripp
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07. King Crimson
22 July 1971
Mister Stormy has unearthed a revealing rendition of Ladies of the Road in one of the earliest recordings of the song during the sessions for Islands. We hear Boz, Fripp and Wallace working on the feel of the tune as much as the notes, not quite letting rip but clearly things are loose and exploratory at this point. There’s some especially tasty guitar, and Ian Wallace produces some wonderfully funked-up beats, proving that it’s not what you put in but what you leave out that often makes the difference.
07. Ladies Of The Road 5.18
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Boz Burrell
Ian Wallace
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08. King Crimson
21 July 1969
Although he claims he was never happy with the drum sound achieved at Wessex Studios, there's no denying that hearing Michael Giles work around the kit in such close detail is breathtaking. With just Fripp's acoustic and Lake's bass guitar as accompaniment Mister Stormy lets you about as close as you're ever likely to get to the recording sessions of a truly groundbreaking album. This is a must-have for fans of Michael Giles drumming and all fans of the first King Crimson album.
08. In The Court Of The Crimson King 2.04
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Michael Giles
Greg Lake
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09. King Crimson
3 November 1994
Two for the price of one here Trey and Tony talk a tune for a walk in this previously unheard outtake from the Thrak recording sessions. A lilting, almost folky melody in this setting, it’s interesting to think how this might have developed. The second version is marginally less busy with the mood slightly more reflective. Whether through lack of time or lack of interest, the untitled piece never made it beyond the confines of the studio - until now!
09. Running Dat 17 5.38
Personnel
Trey Gunn
Tony Levin
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10. King Crimson
12 September 1970
The marvelous thing about Mister Stormy blowing the dust off the multi-tracks is that we get to hear a little of the processes involved in the recording of albums we know and love. It makes one consider how different the piece we think of as forever preserved in aural amber somehow made malleable and prone to radically altered outcomes had the decision made during the mixing been different. So this is an alternative reality version of Prince Rupert’s Lament from Lizard. Not only do we have a different guitar solo (there were four takes in total) but, as we can hear, there was another guitar accompanying the bass providing extra harmonic information and some mood-shifting colour. This is in keeping with Fripp’s approach during the making of an album, placing a kind of musical scaffolding in the early stages of building up a track, and then remove it all for the final unveiling of the finished piece.
10. Lizard 2.45
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Gordon Haskell
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11. King Crimson
8 July 1974
In 2011 celebrated folk act The Unthanks recorded a version of Starless which utilised a cornet as a means of delivering the main theme. What they couldn't have known is that in 1974, Mark Charig was asked to take a run at the main theme during the recording sessions for Red. Deemed interesting but not quite what they were looking for, Mel Collins was also asked to lay down some soprano sax on the piece in much the same manner as he would several decades later on Jakszyk Fripp & Collins' A Scarcity Of Miracles.
Whilst recognising that choosing Collins' take was the right decision, Charig's take on the tune has a certain charm and power to it. Now for the very first time, we can hear the choice that befell the Crims at the control desk in Olympic Studios and get a sense as to how Starless could have sounded had a different decision been reached.
11. Starless Cornet 1.19
Personnel
Marc Charig
John Wetton
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12. King Crimson
16 March 1982
One of several try-outs for Heartbeat, this one features Fripp on the Roland organ. If you squint your eyes shut a bit, it's just possible to imagine what Heartbeat might have sounded like had the League of Gentlemen had a crack at it.
12. Heartbeat Section 1.01
Personnel
Tony Levin
Adrian Belew
Robert Fripp
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13. King Crimson
16 may 2000
An interesting look at the 2000 band running through People which was under consideration for inclusion in the setlist at that point.
Not only do we get to hear all the individual components of the track as realised for the Double Duo, but Adrian throws in a typically left-field solo that's a bit of a treat!
13. People Rehearsal Run Through 5.18
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
Pat Mastelotto
Trey Gunn
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14. King Crimson
4 November 1994
Lovingly edited down from over 2 hours worth of DAT recordings, Mister Stormy presents yet another fascinating glimpse into the recording sessions of Thrak.
Adrian, Bill and Trey work on the feel and timing of a piece which never quite made it to fruition as part of the Crimson songbook. The guitar riff has echoes of Funky Jam (Fashionable) and more distantly The Howler, while Trey’s basslines are steeped in the line of notes that were first heard in Cirkus and would later be developed in Level Five.
Trey Gunn notes "We were at Real World recording Thrak. Not rehearsing or writing. Though, in the cracks of the recording process we kept writing and trying ideas. If the idea didn't go anywhere with the Crim-Monster it probably meant only three of the six found it relevant.
The bottom-line standard RF put forward for whether material was suitable was:
At a minimum 5 of the 6 had to be saying "YEAH", with one dissenter saying "Meh..." and not "Nay."
But not all the good ideas became manifest. Might need another 100 years to pull that off!"
14. Running Dat 18 12.21
Personnel
Adrian Belew
Bill Bruford
Trey Gunn
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15. King Crimson
22 July 1971
In the midst of the recording sessions for Islands there emerged a quick work-out between Ian, Boz and Robert. A jaunty snippett of soul-orientated funk, it’s interesting to hear Robert’s guitar with so much studio-applied reverb.
15. Ian Boz And Robert 1.06
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Ian Wallace
Boz Burrell
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16. King Crimson
17 March 1982
It’s always interesting to hear how a piece is put together and with this selection Mister Stormy enables Crimheads to get up close to Fripp, Belew and Levin’s interlocking wheels within wheels. There’s also a lovely Fripp solo that’s akin to a pebble skipping over the undulating waves of the guitar and Stick.
16. Neal And Jack And Me 1.47
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
Tony Levin
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Disc 2
01. King Crimson
Guess What
Mister Stormy goes into the multi-tracks of the Lizard recording sessions and hones in on some of the remarkable details lurking beneath the surface of the tunes we know so well. Some of this guitar can be heard quite clearly on the finished version of Indoor Games but with everything else stripped away it becomes something else altogether.
01. Guess What [PREVIEW] 0.45
Personnel
Robert Fripp
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02. King Crimson
Running Dat
If you've ever wondered how King Crimson got to grips with a new composition, well now's your chance to eavesdrop on the process in this fascinating and revealing 15 minute recording. It shows where the double trio might have gone next had things not fallen apart at the SIR sessions in Nashville. We hear Fripp unfurling the components of what would eventually become FraKctured. "I think it'll be a monster" says Fripp expectantly. It would be but not for that line-up. As we know, we had to wait until the Double Duo and TCOL to hear this particular monster in all its glory.
02. Running Dat 25 Feb 1997 15.13
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
Trey Gunn
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03. King Crimson
18 August 1999
Mister Stormy has unearthed a couple of interesting sketches from the writing rehearsals of Belew and Fripp. They're in a rather reflective and almost mellow mood on these two pieces. The first with Robert providing bass lines and a chord sequence from Ade that seems to echo elements of Walking On Air. The second piece has RF laying chords that are reminiscent in tone of the Fripp & Sylvian track, Damage. Here Ade lays down some tasty, if slightly hesitant melodies. Writing in his diary at the time Fripp noted "It's surprising how exhausting writing rehearsals are, although 32 years of experience suggests this should be utterly unsurprising. Buts it's always the same: the blank canvas in front, waiting for the subject to fall upon it - naked or draped, figurative or abstract, reflective or driving, & other better metaphors which escape my addled wits."
03. Robert And Adrian 5.57
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
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04. King Crimson
September 20, 1971
A part of the process when recording King Crimson albums between 1969 - 1974 was the erection of what Fripp has referred to as scaffolding. This referred to various instrumental and rhythmic parts that were laid down and later removed as the performance in the studio was judged to be completed. On this early run-through taken from the original multi-tracks, the scaffolding here is Ian Wallace’s time-keeping and Fripp’s lovely guitar accompaniment. Keith Tippett would have used this as a reference point at which point, the guitar would have been removed. Boz’s guide vocal also contains an early lyric which Peter Sinfield later revised and refined. Mellotron aficionados will appreciate the rich strings and some Fripp vamping featured on this rendition.
04. Islands Run Through 11.56
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Ian Wallace
Boz Burrell
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05-08. Robert Fripp
November 12, 1996 - Mark Radcliffe Show BBC Radio 1, Manchester, UK
“Have you heard D.I.V.O.R.C.E. in three key keys and four simultaneous time signatures?” asks Robert Fripp when presenter Stuart Maconie enquires what King Crimson will be getting up to in Nashville. Taken from Robert’s appearance on Radio 1 ahead of his performance in Manchester’s Virgin Megastore the following day, we hear four instrumental pieces, most notably perhaps an extended piece of Ligeti-style choral work on the second. In essence these are soundscapes in bite-sized chunks - the kind you can play in between other records without ruining your radio show. Necessarily truncated for the format of the show there are nevertheless some eerie moments to terrify and delight. Also of interest are RF’s comments on the act listening, how we take music for granted, and the appalling quality of muzak to be found in Amigo’s Restaurant across the road from the BBC’s HQ.
05. The Trumpeting Horse 8.02
06. The Return Of The Trumpeting Horse 7.54
07. The Trumpeting Horse Rides Again 5.09
08. The Trumpeting Horse Comes Fourth 6.11
Personnel
Robert Fripp
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09. King Crimson
30 September 1970
Another glimpse into the making of Lizard courtesy of Mister Stormy. By taking out the bass and drum track we can hear four musicians vamping and improvising for all their worth. It's interesting to note that each player laid down their parts separately, waiting until the final mix to become an ensemble.
09. Happy Family 2.08
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Keith Tippet
Mel Collins
Nick Evans
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10. King Crimson
27 September 2001
There’s quite a few motifs all wrapped into this particular Level - most obviously what became Level 5 and Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With. Taken at a bright and breezy pace, it’s interesting to note just how developed and seemingly ready to roll this particular amalgamation of musical ideas and motifs is. As we know however, the confidence to run all these into one piece gave way to the impulse to unpack, unpick and extend the different sections for what would become The Power To Believe album.
10. Level Six 6.26
Personnel
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
Pat Mastelotto
Trey Gunn
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11. King Crimson
19 May 1981
DGM engineer Alex Mundy has stripped back all the tracks for Thela leaving only Tony Levin and Bill Bruford, peppered with Tony’s backing vox and Ade’s taped recounting of the incident which gave the piece its lyrical impetus. It’s interesting to note how clean and simple Levin and Bruford keep everything, allowing plenty of room for their colleagues to make their respective contributions. That’s what being part of a band is all about isn’t it?
11. Thela Hun Ginjeet 6.17
Personnel
Adrian Belew
Tony Levin
Bill Bruford
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12. King Crimson
7 January 1974
Mister Stormy pressed the mute button on the guitarist's output to reveal in greater depth and detail the rather tasty work from the Wetton Bruford team on this take of The Great Deceiver. Great indeed!
12. The Great Deceiver 1.45
Personnel
John Wetton
Bill Bruford