The Brondesbury Tapes

Moving into 93a Brondesbury Road in 1968, Peter Giles, Michael Giles and Robert Fripp’s North London flat soon became a centre of creative activity for the trio. 

Feeling energised after the frustrations they’d experienced while recording “The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp” at Decca, they soon established their living space into a home studio (consisting of one Revox reel-to-reel tape machine) which was frequently visited by ex-Fairport Convention vocalist Judy Dyble, a then unknown Ian McDonald and, later in 1969, by Greg Lake.

The musical output from that period is often mentioned as providing King Crimson fans with a glimpse into the early incarnation of the band’s sound and composition.

The popular Crimson ballad ‘I Talk To The Wind’ appears here in two early versions with one featuring Peter Giles on vocals and the other with Judy Dyble on vocals.

Parts of Fripp’s ‘Suite No.1’ would later be transformed into ‘Prelude: Song Of The Gulls’ and his ‘Why Don’t You Just Drop In’ became, with new lyrics, ‘The Letters’ for 1971’s album “Islands”.

The Fripp-composed ‘Passages of Time’ is also of interest, consisting of a driving bolero rhythm and a middle-eight section that would later find its way onto King Crimson’s “In the Wake of Poseidon” as ‘Peace - A Theme’.

Although the audio quality is limited in places due to the original source, the 2025 remastering by David Singleton has improved the sound significantly compared to previous issues. 

Tracklist

LP – A Selection from The Brondesbury Tapes

Side A

1. Erudite Eyes
2. I Talk to the Wind (1)
3. Make it Today
4. Wonderland
5. She is Loaded

Side B

1. Scrivens
2. Why Don't You Just Drop In?
3. Suite No. 1
4. I Talk to the Wind (2)
5. Under the Sky
6. Plastic Pennies
7. Tremolo Study in E Major (Spanish Suite)
8. Passages of Time

CD – The Brondesbury Tapes

1. Hypocrite
2. Digging My Lawn (A)
3. Tremolo Study In E Major (Spanish Suite)
4. Newly Weds
5. Suite No. 1
6. Scrivens
7. Make It Today (A)
8. Digging My Lawn (B)
9. Why Don't You Just Drop In (I)
10. I Talk To The Wind (1)
11. Under The Sky (*)
12. Plastic Pennies
13. Passages Of Time
14. Under The Sky (**)
15. Murder
16. I Talk To The Wind (2)
17. Erudite Eyes
18. Make It Today (B)
19. Wonderland
20. Why Don't You Just Drop In (II)
21. She Is Loaded