Daryl Hall, Robert Fripp & Guests - Sacred Songs Live From Daryl's House (2023)

Time for another guest spot from Mike Solof, featuring music from one of his favourite albums.

Welcome back to a sequel of sorts. A while back in August of 2022, I posted a set called Robert Fripp - 'Triple Exposure' which took the trifecta of all the solo albums that he produced in (roughly) 1979 for himself, Daryl Hall, and Peter Gabriel and gave you the highlights along with many bonus and alternate cuts. Over the past seventeen years, since way back in 2007, Daryl Hall has presented an online music series called 'Live From Daryl's House', (simply known as 'Daryl's House' and often abbreviated as 'LFDH'), which sees the singer-songwriter performing with his band and various guest artists at his home in Millerton, New York. It provides a performance space that is an alternative to live concerts and studio sessions for popular artists, and allows the artists to "have fun and be creatively spontaneous". The majority of shows include a segment in which Hall and the guest artist prepare food from different cuisines for everyone to eat, and then they play songs of their choosing, which are often covers of Hall's own songs from his long career. I'm pleased to report that for Episode 87, recorded in November 2023, Robert Fripp got back together with Hall after 44 years, and they played together for the first time since making those original albums (fun nit-pick fact: Hall was just the vocalist on Fripp's 'Exposure' album, so they never actually "played together" before this "reunion"!) The results were stunning! Fripp himself said it was the best day of his life except for the day he married his wife! I'm pleased to present tracks from those sessions plus some cool bonus recordings, as I could have just left it at the Hall/Fripp cuts, but I love Hall's original Fripp-produced solo album so much, and he so rarely (if ever!) plays cuts from it, that I had to fill the album up with bonus cuts. These are taken from performances that Hall recorded with other artists on his radio show, and feature non-Fripp versions of more songs from Hall's 'Sacred Songs' album. Each guest added their own spin to the original version and I dig that!
Here's a track by track breakdown of what is included:
01 Sacred Songs - Daryl Hall with Kitty, Daisy & Lewis Durham.
02 Babs And Babs - Daryl Hall with Robert Fripp. A song Hall wrote for his first solo album. Fun Fact #2: Babs and Babs are what Hall calls the right and left side of his brain!
03 NYCNY - Daryl Hall with Robert Fripp. Another song written by Hall and Fripp, this one was done on both Fripp's solo and Hall's first solo albums which, by the way, was recorded in 1977 but not released until 1980.
04 The Further Away I Am - Daryl Hall with Robert Fripp. Another cut from Hall's first album.
05 Why Was It So Easy - Daryl Hall with Butch Walker.
06 Don't Leave Me Alone With Her - Daryl Hall with Ben Folds.
07 Survive - Daryl Hall with Charlie Starr.
08 You Burn Me Up I'm A Cigarette - Daryl Hall with Robert Fripp. This was originally presented on Fripp's 1979 debut solo album 'Exposure'. A song written by Hall and Fripp.
09 Heroes - Daryl Hall with Robert Fripp. A song Fripp originally recorded with David Bowie for his 1977 release of the same name. Fripp asked Hall if they could play it during these sessions.
10 North Star - Daryl Hall with Monte Mongomery, on a track from Fripp's 'Exposure'
11 Red - Daryl Hall with Robert Fripp. A song Fripp wrote and recorded in 1974, from the King Crimson album of the same name. Hall's house band did not rehearse this (or anything they recorded that day for the sessions). Fripp was amazed because it took three days of rehearsals for King Crimson to learn all the intricate chord changes for the song every time they played it. IT'S A BEAST!!
I hope you enjoy this selection of great musicians playing mostly unrehearsed (so the pressure was on to impress Hall with their playing) songs, that never, if ever, see the light of day!
Until next time...
Michael

Track listing

01 Sacred Songs
02 Babs And Babs
03 NYCNY
04 The Further Away I Am
05 Why Was It So Easy
06 Don't Leave Me Alone With Her
07 Survive
08 You Burn Me Up I'm A Cigarette
09 Heroes
10 North Star
11 Red

Tracks 1-7 from 'Sacred Songs' by Daryl Hall

Tracks 8 and 10 from 'Exposure' by Robert Fripp

Track 9 from 'Heroes' by David Bowie

Track 11 from 'Red' by King Crimson

Robert Fripp - Triple Exposure (1979) **UPDATE**

Mike emailed me today with some great news about his recent Robert Fripp 'Triple Exposure' post, so over to Mike...
Since I originally released this album a few months ago, Robert Fripp has released a 32 Disc set called ‘Exposures’ of the years covering his ‘Exposure’ sessions. I have basically replaced every legit originally released cut on my original version with an alternate from the box set. Now you really do have a totally new alternate version of his ‘Exposure’ album, filled out with the various solo works he produced for Daryl Dall and Peter Gabriel. Don’t forget that Daryl Dall was supposed to be the main vocalist on the ‘Exposure’ album, but his record company wouldn’t allow it, as they were afraid it would destroy his image. Therefore my version restores many of these “lost versions” that originally had Hall’s vocals on them, which is why he’s featured so much on my “album I wish existed!”. Hope you enjoy this completely new version! 
By the way, besides updating the sources in the notes below, I’ve also updated the pdf and added (at the bottom) more than 80 new pages of in-depth notes on the recording of the album, as well as some excellent reviews and overviews of what’s in the newly released ‘Exposures’ box set! Have fun reading!!

Michael 8/22

Track listing, with the lead vocalist noted as well as the source CD for each cut:
 
*01 Preface / You Burn Me Up I’m A Cigarette (Alt. Take - Rough Mix) (Gabriel/Hall/Fripp)

                                                                                                             Exposures Box Set 2022
*02 Disengage (Alt. Take - Rough Mix) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022
*03 Chicago (Alt. Take - Rough Mix Aug 8th) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022 
*04 15 NY3 (Alt. Take - Rough Mix) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022
*05 Perspective (Gabriel/Fripp) - single version 
06 Exposure - Combined Custom Mix Robert Fripp ft. Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall 

                                                     & Terre Roche (Mikes Vocals UP Mix) - Exposure 1979/2006 

*07 Mother Of Violence (Gabriel/Fripp) - single mix 
08 Why Was It So Easy (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
*09 North Star (Old Riff - Take 6) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022 
*10 Here Comes The Flood [Early Mix] (Gabriel/Frip) - Exposures Box Set 2022
11 White Shadow  (Gabriel/Fripp) - Peter Gabriel II 
12 Something In 4-4 Time (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
13 Babs And Babs (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
14 Survive (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
15 On The Air (Gabriel/Fripp) - Peter Gabriel II 
*16 Mary (Sax Version) (Hall/Fripp) - Exposures Box Set 2022
17 The Farther Away I Am (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs

18 Without Tears (Hall/Fripp) - Sacred Songs
 
* denotes new version used

Robert Fripp - Triple Exposure (1979)

In the first of what is intended to be a regular spot on the blog, here is Mike Solof's personal take on a trio of classic albums from the late 70's. All his albums include a pdf of his notes.  
According to Robert Fripp, his 1979 album 'Exposure' was originally conceived as the third part of an MOR trilogy with Daryl Hallʼs solo album 'Sacred Songs' and Peter Gabriel's 'Peter Gabriel II', both of which he produced and to which he contributed. With the proposed release of 'Sacred Songs' postponed, and the delay in the release of 'Exposure', it made it impossible to convey the sense of what he'd intended, which was to try to investigate the 'pop song' as a means of expression. He considered it a supreme discipline to know that you have three to four minutes to get together all your lost emotions, and find words of one syllable or less to put forward all your ideas, and it's a discipline of form that he didn't consider to be cheap or shoddy. Although Daryl Hall's 'Sacred Songs' was recorded in 1977, record company indecision meant that it didn't appear until 1980, which was a year after the appearance of 'Exposure', and thus ruining Fripp's concept of a trilogy of records that would have started with 'Sacred Songs' and ended with his own 'Exposure', all being released very close to each other as a way to feature and promote Fripp's production techniques. 'Sacred Songs' was originally to be titled 'The Last Great New York Heartthrob', and would have featured a different track listing to that of the final release, but Hall's management and label resisted the project, fearing the music would damage Hall's commercial appeal, and insisting as well that 'Exposure' be equally credited to Hall, who was initially Fripp's main vocalist. To counter what the record company was demanding, Fripp instead used only two Hall vocals on his album, substituting Peter Hammill and Terre Roche as vocalists on other recordings. All the songs from the sessions were eventually released in various forms on each artist's individual albums, with 'Urban Landscape' appearing on Hall's album, as does 'NYCNY' (actually 'I May Not Have Had Enough of Me but I've Had Enough of You' with different lyrics written by Hall), while the Gabriel record also featured a version of 'Exposure'. Fripp's album was remixed in 1983, and a second "definitive edition" was released in 1985 featuring some alternate takes, but in 2006, a 24-bit two-disc remaster appeared on Fripp's Discipline Global Mobile label, with one disc containing the original 1979 album, and the second disc featuring a version of 'Exposure' containing all the original Daryl Hall vocals. For this re-imagining of the trilogy as one album, Mike has one rule, and that is that every song had to feature Fripp playing on it as opposed to just producing the cut, and although many of the songs appeared in different forms on different albums, he's only picked one version of each for the project. Unfortunately, all three musicians never appeared together on the same recording, but through the magic of clever editing he's included a remix of a great version of 'Exposure' (which he found on Youtube by Mr. J. Wilson…), enhancing and bringing forward all the vocal parts from the different versions, and that’s the perfect opener to his take on Fripp's vision.

Track listing
 
01 Exposure (Custom Mix featuring Fripp/Gabriel/Hall & Roche)
02 Preface / You Burn Me Up
03 Disengage II
04 Chicago
05 New York, New York, New York
06 Perspective
07 Exposure
08 Mother Of Violence
09 Why Was It So Easy
10 North Star
11 Water Music 1 / Here Comes The Flood
12 White Shadow
13 Something In 4-4 Time
14 Babs And Babs
15 Survive
16 On The Air
17 Mary
18 The Farther Away I Am
19 Without Tears
 
A Mike Solof Production

Robert Fripp - ...and on guitar (1980)

Robert Fripp was born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, the second child of a working class family, and at age ten he received a guitar for Christmas from his parents. After taking guitar lessons, by age 11 he was playing rock, moving on to traditional jazz at 13 and modern jazz at 15. In 1961, the fifteen-year-old Fripp joined his first band, The Ravens, which also included Gordon Haskell on bass. After they split the following year, Fripp considered a job at his father's estate agency, but at seventeen, he decided to become a professional musician. He became the guitarist in the jazz outfit The Douglas Ward Trio, followed by a stint in the rock and roll band The League of Gentlemen, which included two former Ravens members. In 1965, Fripp left the group to attend Bournemouth College, which was where he met future musical collaborators John Wetton, Richard Palmer-James, and Greg Lake. In 1967, Fripp responded to an advertisement placed by Bournemouth-born brothers Peter and Michael Giles, who wanted to work with a singing organist. Though Fripp was not what they wanted, his audition with them was a success and the trio relocated to London and became Giles, Giles And Fripp, with their sole studio album 'The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles And Fripp' being released in 1968. Despite the recruitment of two further members, singer Judy Dyble (formerly with Fairport Convention and later of Trader Horne) and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, Fripp felt that he was outgrowing the eccentric pop approach favoured by Peter Giles, preferring the more ambitious compositions being written by McDonald, and so the band broke up in 1968. Almost immediately, Fripp, McDonald and Michael Giles formed the first lineup of King Crimson in mid-1968, recruiting Fripp's old Bournemouth College friend Greg Lake as lead singer and bass player, and McDonald's writing partner Peter Sinfield as lyricist, light show designer and general creative consultant. King Crimson's debut album 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' was released in late 1969 to great success, and Fripp's long and illustrious career was off to a great start. 
During King Crimson's less active periods Fripp collaborated with other artists, such as Keith Tippett, on projects far from rock music, playing with and producing jazz-progressive rock big band Centipede's 'Septober Energy' album in 1971 and 'Ovary Lodge' in 1973. During this period he also worked with Van der Graaf Generator, playing on the 1970 album 'H To He, Who Am The Only One', and in 1971 on 'Pawn Hearts'. In 1972 he produced Matching Mole's 'Matching Mole's Little Red Record', and then later that year teamed up with Brian Eno to record the classic electronic album 'No Pussyfooting', reconvening two years later for 1974's 'Evening Star'. In 1973 Fripp performed the guitar solo on Brian Eno's 'Baby's On Fire', from his first solo album 'Here Come The Warm Jets', and later contributed to his 'Another Green World' album in 1975. After a one year sabbatical he returned to musical work as a studio guitarist in 1976, working on Peter Gabriel's first self-titled album, which was released the following year, and he also toured with Gabriel to support the album, but remained out of sight (either in the wings or behind a curtain) and used the pseudonym 'Dusty Rhodes'. He assisted Gabriel again in 1978 on his second album, producing and playing on it, adding solos to 'On The Air' and 'White Shadow', and musically enhancing 'Exposure'. In 1977 Fripp reconnected with Daryl Hall, who he'd first met in 1974, when Hall asked him to produce his debut solo album, on which he also provided guitar and co-wrote two of the songs. The recording was completed in 1977, but the record company didn't feel that it would be a commercial success and so refused to release it for three years, with it finally seeing the light of day in 1980. Also in 1977 he added his distinctive guitar sound to the b-side of Bryan Ferry's 'This Is Tomorrow' single, and while living in New York in 1978 Fripp contributed to albums and live performances by Blondie, most noticeably to 'Fade Away And Radiate' from their 'Parallel Lines' album. The same year he worked with Talking Heads on their 'Fear of Music' record, and he also produced The Roches' first and third albums, which featured several of his characteristic guitar solos. A second set of creative sessions with David Bowie in 1980 produced distinctive guitar parts on songs from 'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)', and he also appeared on Peter Gabriel's third solo album the same year. To be honest I'd never really thought of Robert Fripp as the sort of artist to guest on other people's records, although obviously I knew that he was on Bowie's 'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)', but I was amazed to find that he played on a Blondie record, or collaborated with Daryl Hall. Unfortunately the Van Der Graaf Generator tracks that he played on were too long to include here, and you couldn't really hear him on them anyway, but I have included a track from Peter Hamill's solo album 'Fool's Mate' as an example of his work a member of VDGG. We all know that Fripp is an outstanding guitarist from his work with King Crimson, but I hope that this album shows another side to him that people might not have known about.  

Track listing

01 Sunshine (from 'Fool's Mate' by Peter Hammill 1971) 
02 St Elmo's Fire (from 'Another Green World' by Brian Eno 1975)
03 As The World Turns (b-side of 'This Is Tomorrow' single by Bryan Ferry 1977)
04 Fade Away And Radiate (from 'Parallel Lines' by Blondie 1978)
05 Babs And Babs (from 'Sacred Songs' by Daryl Hall recorded 1977)
06 Exposure (from 'Peter Gabriel II' by Peter Gabriel 1978)
07 I Zimbra (from 'Fear Of Music' by Talking Heads 1979)
08 Teenage Wildlife (from 'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)' by David Bowie 1980)
09 Hammond Song (from 'The Roches' by The Roches 1979)
10 No Self Control (from 'Peter Gabriel III' by Peter Gabriel 1980)