The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp is a 1968 album from the English band Giles, Giles and Fripp. The music shows a varied mix of psychedelic pop, folk, jazz and classical influences. The songs on each LP side are connected with comedic spoken word pieces, "The Saga of Rodney Toady" and "Just George", which tell stories.

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp
Studio album by Giles, Giles and Fripp
Released	13 September 1968
Recorded	26 February – 18 May 1968
Studio	Decca Studios No. 2, London
Genre	Psychedelic pop, jazz rock
Length	37:43
Label	Deram
Producer	Wayne Bickerton

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

The album had little recognition on first release, but has gained more attention through multiple reissues. According to Robert Fripp the album sold only 500 copies. This information came from his royalty statement, but it seems unlikely that this was the total number sold on initial release. Most copies are stereo, but a rare mono LP was also released in the UK. The original United States and Canadian editions had a different cover from that of the UK version.

There are at least four CD editions: the first was in Japan with no bonus tracks, followed by US and UK releases with bonus tracks compiled from singles and previously unreleased recordings. A later Japanese re-issue in a paper sleeve contained the bonus tracks as well as a bonus paper sleeve reproduction of the US cover. Subsequent editions on Esoteric (UK) and Deram (Japan) followed this format. In 2025, Fripp reissued the album on LP and CD on Discipline Global Mobile, remastered by David Singleton, with the "somewhat dated" spoken word sections removed (but still containing the bonus tracks) as The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp (The Songs).^[2]

Also during 1968 the group recorded a series of demos at home, which would be released as The Brondesbury Tapes in 2001. Discipline would also reissue this in 2025 as a 21 song CD, and a 13-song LP entitled A Selection from The Brondesbury Tapes. Following this album Peter Giles was replaced on bass by Greg Lake. Soon after that the band changed their repertoire and renamed themselves King Crimson.

Track listing

Side One
The Saga of Rodney Toady (Robert Fripp)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"North Meadow"	Peter Giles	2:29
2.	"Newly-weds"	P. Giles	2:07
3.	"One in a Million"	Michael Giles	2:25
4.	"Call Tomorrow"	P. Giles	2:31
5.	"Digging My Lawn"	P. Giles	1:50
6.	"Little Children"	Robert Fripp	2:48
7.	"The Crukster"	M. Giles	1:35
8.	"Thursday Morning"	M. Giles	2:50

Side Two
Just George (Michael Giles)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
9.	"How Do They Know"	M. Giles	2:14
10.	"Elephant Song"	M. Giles	3:15
11.	"The Sun is Shining"	M. Giles	3:06
12.	"Suite No. 1" (instrumental)	Fripp	5:33
13.	"Erudite Eyes"	Fripp	5:05

Bonus Tracks on 1992 CD release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
14.	"She Is Loaded"	P. Giles	3:11
15.	"Under the Sky"	Fripp[nb 1]	4:01
16.	"One in a Million" (mono single)	M. Giles	2:25
17.	"Newly-Weds" (mono single)	P. Giles	2:44
18.	"Thursday Morning" (mono single)	M. Giles	2:57
19.	"Thursday Morning" (stereo single)	M. Giles	2:57

Notes

1. Actually written by Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield with McDonald on vocals/guitar.

Personnel

Giles, Giles & Fripp

• Robert Fripp – guitars, mellotron,^[3] spoken word (The Saga of Rodney Toady)
• Peter Giles – bass, lead (2, 4, 5, 12, 14) and backing vocals
• Michael Giles – drums, percussion, lead (1-3, 6-14) and backing vocals, spoken word (Just George)
• Ian McDonald – guitar, sax, piano, lead vocals (14) guitar, lead vocals (15)

Additional personnel

• Ted Barker, Cliff Hardy – trombone
• Raymond Cohen, Gerry Fields, Kelly Isaccs, Boris Pecker, William Reid, G. Salisbury – violin
• John Coulling, Rebecca Patten – viola
• Alan Ford, Charles Tunnell – cello
• Ivor Raymonde – string arrangements
• The Breakaways – backing vocals
• Mike Hill, Nicky Hopkins – keyboards^[4]

Production

• Produced by Wayne Bickerton
• Engineers: Terry Johnson, Bill Price, Martin Smith
• Re-mastering: Anthony Hawkins