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Hand picked records important to the history of Soul Strut.

McDonald And Giles - McDonald And Giles

  • McDonald And Giles

    McDonald And Giles LP (1970)

    Island Records

Ranked #55 in the Soul Strut 200

This LP is a prime example of an album touted for having beats and breaks and ends up being appreciated more on a musical level by sample hungry hip hop producers and beat diggers.  In 1970, drummer Michael Giles and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald left King Crimson at the height of their early success and teamed up as a duo for their first and only LP.  The result has familiar ingredients of In The Court of the Crimson King with 10+ minute epic opuses adorned with Giles' percussive jazz rhythms and Mcdonald's knack for woodwinds and reeds. The song writing is more Beatles than Moody Blues presented with ingenious arrangements and warm, punchy sonics making it a favorite for sampled based producers.  This is most evident on tracks like "Tomorrow's People - The Children Of Today" and "Suite In C; Including Turnham Green, Here I Am And Others."  This album did not do much at the time and even stumped diehard King Crimson fans of its existence for years, but it lives on as a lost treasure. It's well noted that McDonald went on to form the mega-platinum arena act Foreigner a few years later.


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SOUL STRUT 100: # 55 - MCDONALD AND GILES (1971)

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