DGM HQ A grey day
09.16
DGM HQ.
A grey day along the valley. Morning street I…
II...
III...
Awaiting on the desk…
11.01
DGM HQ.
RF Journals with scans have just arrived from Mariana in Spain…
… including those for 1974. The only unscanned 1974 journal is now the one I brought here to DGM HQ, covering the period 26th. July – 23rd. September 1974, and including Red sessions at Olympic Studios, Barnes. Taken as a whole, the Journals are the guitarist’s personal notes on The Road To Red, and very much more.
From 7th. August 1974 I…
II...
III...
Vibed JW re/IanM. When BB arrived, him also. He became v. uptight. I suggested the same applied to him as Dougal; ie I won’t work with anyone not interested. Post letters thinking how quickly things change: now maybe the band will fold. Photos with John Kosh & Gered M.
Mix Providence; snagged on ending. While walking outside; 16.10, met Trudy Taylor. Vibe: she says I always was strange for Wimborne…
JW not too interested in Providence…
Overdub Mel C. on “Starless”. V. good. Vibe relaxed & casual. He doesn’t like sessions. JW & BB leave before the end; I finish.
Comments:
Vibed JW re/IanM. When BB arrived, him also. This refers to my suggestion that Ian MacDonald rejoin KC on my departure, to establish a direct line of succession from the first King Crimson. Whatever John and Bill might have decided, David Enthoven flatly stated that EG had no interest in KC without me.
According to various interviews over the years, Ian believes that I asked him if he were interested in returning to Crim, shortly before we disbanded, as a way of getting-back at Ian for leaving in December 1969.
… how quickly things change: now maybe the band will fold.
King Crimson has never done longevity in a conventional fashion.
Photos with John Kosh & Gered M.
Gered Mankowitz’s photos became the cover shot of Red. It was Mark Fenwick’s idea to use John Kosh to design the cover, and Mr. Fenwick’s default instincts were not Crimpathetic.
…met Trudy Taylor. Vibe: she says I always was strange for Wimborne…
Trudy was one of three Taylor sisters from Wimborne. Becoming a successful rock guitarist somehow provided a measure of validation for a young man seemingly misplaced in a Dorset of the 1950s and 1960s.
The RF Journals have remained mostly unvisited, other than for a brief dipping- into for The Great Deceiver Scrapbook (1992). The diary was private, part of a beginning-practice in self-observation. Dreams and various exercises were recorded in some detail. From one point of view, the Journals are exceptionally frank. From another: a partial, subjective and revealing commentary on The Mighty Beast’s daily workings, unfurling itself over two continents at the end of King Crimson’s Classic Period.
I’m not sure how much can, or should, be published in unexpurgated form. Like penis hurts from last night. Annotating the mechanics of the guitarist, what he thinks, feels and does, is one thing, and boring to anyone other than the diarist. Comments on other members and characters close to the action, is another.
Parts of the 1980 and 1981 Journals were intended for publication (in Musician, Player and Listener) but are otherwise similarly unvisited, as are The Guitar Craft Diaries (1985 onwards). Since 1998, the online DGM Diary has increasingly replaced handwritten journals.
11.23 David and Mr. Stormy in DGM SoundWorld I working on the KC Asbury Park show (1974) I…
II...
III...
IV...
V...
11.34 Indeg has been scanning my NYC pocket book (1977-78). Noughts and crosses with Eno at a falafel restaurant in Greenwich Village…
… and notes for Exposure I…
II...
III...
IV...
11.54 Wonder Whippy Drinks in DGM-approved glasses are a reliable way to revivify the spirits of DGM workers I…
II...
III...
III...
14.31 Stuff.
16.05 More stuff. But WillyFred is in much better shape, the Minx reports. Wilf’s medication seems to be managing his dental problems.
Even more stuff.
16.15 Enough, and perhaps too much stuff, already. Off.
21.45 Home via Wilton and a visit to Mr. Romain at The Emporium. Then on past Stonehenge. Nicky Bookkeeper recommended I avoid the main road, as the Solstice attracts many visitors, but all the surrounding smaller roads were closed with police in attendance. Along the A303, an impressively awful way to manage traffic close to one of the world’s wonders.
Arriving c. 19.45, unloading, loading the Minx’s costumes for an early departure tomorrow.
Shopping on the High Street I…
II...
… and packing. To gentle.
