McDonald & Giles (Pink)

Soon after the release of King Crimson’s 1969 masterpiece, In the Court of the Crimson King, band members Michael Giles and Ian McDonald began to disagree with the direction the band was taking and soon split off to start their own project. 1971 saw the release of an excellent studio album on Island Records called simply McDonald and Giles. Although the album was similar in style and complexity to King Crimson, the sound was considerably less dark overall. In fact, regarding this difference, McDonald commented at the time, ‘I want to make music that says good things instead of evil things.’ The album also featured Michael Giles’ brother Peter (from their days with Giles, Giles & Fripp), and guest musician Steve Winwood, whose keyboard playing can be heard on ‘Turnham Green’.