The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp was the first album from the 1960s psychedelic rock group Giles, Giles and Fripp. In addition to 13 songs, the album contains two comedic spoken word pieces, "The Saga of Rodney Toady" and "Just George", which are interspersed between the songs. The album is a mix of various styles (folk, classical, pop, psychedelic rock and religious music). The original U.S. LP version released in 1968 has a completely different cover than the UK version. The album has been released on CD at least 4 times. First in Japan with no bonus tracks, then on Deram in the U.S. and UK with bonus tracks compiled from singles and previously unreleased recordings. A later Japanese re-issue in a paper sleeve contained the bonus tracks and also a bonus paper sleeve reproduction of the U.S. alternative cover. The most recent CD version released by Eclectic Discs has the same bonus tracks as the Deram CD. According to Robert Fripp the album sold only 500 copies. This information came from his royalty statement, but it is very unlikely that this was the total number of original copies sold. Also during 1968 the group recorded a series of demos at their home demo studio, which would be released as The Brondesbury Tapes in 2001. Peter Giles was replaced on bass by Greg Lake soon after and the band renamed themselves King Crimson.