PDA

View Full Version : Michael Giles

Pollyanna
09-27-2009, 03:16 PM
I'm surprised that there isn't a Michael Giles thread here. I guess it's because he doesn't have a large body of work and is more of an ideas than a groove player, but his drumming on King Crimson's first two albums was pretty amazing.

He was one of the early overplayers, like a jazzy Keith Moon at times, and he definitely likes his high-tuned snare to be heard! But he's put in some stunning performances with loads of imagination and sense of occasion:

Cat Food
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22XSv-oWxD0

Epitaph
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bVKH28LhRk

And of course Schizoid Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzyvXBfmGt0

Enjoy :)
pirate
09-27-2009, 07:07 PM
He is a great player... so colourful and gentle.
Pollyanna
09-28-2009, 03:46 PM
He is a great player... so colourful and gentle.

Yeah, colourful describes his playing well.

I suspect he was influenced by Robert Wyatt; parts of Schizoid Man sounded almost like a more polished version of Soft Machine's Joy of a Toy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwo3ht8sxJo.
SimSalaBim
09-30-2009, 12:34 PM
I was blown away when I heard Crimson's 1st record. He was so ahead of his time
Mook
09-30-2009, 04:07 PM
I made a Michael Giles thread months ago & got a few replies, not sure the search option works very well.

Funnily enough I'm sitting listening to Michael Giles just now on 'McDonald & Giles', a very underrated LP from just after he left Crimson.
Pollyanna
10-01-2009, 05:19 AM
I made a Michael Giles thread months ago & got a few replies, not sure the search option works very well.

Funnily enough I'm sitting listening to Michael Giles just now on 'McDonald & Giles', a very underrated LP from just after he left Crimson.

For all I know I probably commented on it and forgot! Never min, just early-onset senility.

There's a Mc & G song on YouTube, with a seriously hippie visual. There's also Schizoid Band playing that same song. Michael was a beast, as always, though I found his snare a bit too much. To my ear, KC brought out the best in him.

There are some live early recordings from even before ITCOTCK on Wolfgang's Vault (with stuff like Travel Weary Capricorn, that missed the cut for the debut album). Listening to those old tapes you can tell that MG was the strongest player in the band at the time, the driving force that held the songs together. Bob Fripp was a far less authoritative in his playing back then.