“Suite no. 1” by Giles, Giles, and Fripp
“21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson
[Note on “21st Century Schizoid Man”: The album version is not available in its entirety, the link is a shortened version of this song. The live version available on Spotify or YouTube isn’t as good.]
Dad: Robert Fripp is completely original. The reason I picked these two songs is because he is just in a league of his own. “Suite no. 1” is a masterpiece as playing guitar goes. The song makes you think that it is going to build one way and goes in a completely different direction.
All of the guitarist that I chose all have it: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, if you hear their acoustic stuff it is amazing.
5songpjct: Did you discover King Crimson on the radio?
Dad: Yeah, they actually played “21st Century Schizoid Man” on the radio. It was obviously an edited version. It was actually on the charts. King Crimson are supposedly prog rock, but back then we didn’t have that term. It was just King Crimson music. When they came out they were just King Crimson.
5songpjct: That’s surprising it was played on the radio after our earlier conversation. Isn’t it over eight minutes long?
Dad: I think they cut a lot of the drum solos and some of the other stuff just to get the single on the radio. That was the first time I heard King Crimson, as a single, and it was just the best. I couldn’t believe how good it was. There is so much in that song, jazz, rock, and it is as tight as can be.
5songpjct: Yeah, there is that one section that is so tight it doesn’t seem like humans can do it. (Listen to 2:06-2:47 and 4:39-5:25)
Dad: Exactly. And I was a kid when I heard this, all of these songs I am talking about, you have to realize that I am just a kid. So I am listening to all of this going Wow, this is where music should be going. It was all so new.
5sonpjct: When you heard the shortened version first, did you go out and buy the album?
Dad: I didn’t go out and buy a King Crimson album until I got some better stereo equipment. As far as Giles, Giles, and Fripp, I didn’t hear them until I listened to King Crimson and you look at the guys that were in that band and you wonder what other bands these artists were in.
5songpjct: Discovering music for us tends to be a choose your own adventure. You start with one band, then see who the players are and then look into other bands that people were in and you go down this rabbit hole of music.
Dad: Some of the artists you turned me on to, like Bjork, I never would have listened to if it weren’t for you. What was the name of that other band she was in?
5songpjct: The Sugarcubes?
Dad: Yeah, I thought they were great. Sometimes it is great going backward. It is all about research now for me. I only recently got into Little Feat. Lowell George is incredible. I thought they were a southern Rock band and it turns out they are from California. He played with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
5songpjct: When was the first time you heard 21st Century Schizoid Man in its entirety?
Dad: When I bought the album, I was out of high school. I bought it at a place called Strawberry Fields, it was a record store/head shop.
5songpjct: When you say head shop, do you mean a place where you can buy paraphernalia?
Dad: (laughing) As a matter of fact, yes.
5songpjct: So it is like the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis. I just wanted readers to be clear. I haven’t heard the term “head shop” from anyone other than you or mom.
Dad: The music that I listened to at that time wasn’t really popular, but it was popular with us. Like you for instance listening to the Cure in Grand Rapids. There weren’t a lot of people listening to that in your class I am sure. We just found other people who liked the music we listened to at record stores.
5songpjct: “Suite no. 1” seems different from the rest of the album, almost like an interlude, a space for Fripp to display his talent.
Dad: Fripp wasn’t just some guy in the background. The guy famous for that one whiny riff in David Bowie’s “Heroes.” He was a well taught musician. I picked this song to show how talented he was. To show the quality of his musicianship.
I have such an admiration for how good these guys, Robert Fripp, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, play, back then and still today.
NEXT UP America warts and all.