Andy Summers and Robert Fripp / The Complete Recordings 1981-1984 - 3CD+blu-ray

3CD+blu-ray deluxe set • 5.1 mixes and hi-res stereo • Includes 'I Advance Masked' and 'Bewitched', plus new album compiled from rare material

This brand new 2CD+blu-ray deluxe set features two original albums - I Advance Masked and Bewitched - recorded by Andy Summers and Robert Fripp and a new mini-album assembled from previously unreleased / recently discovered recordings, all in DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 and 24/96 hi-res stereo.

PLUS additional treasures / mixes and an audio documentary taken from Fripp’s sessions/ tapes, packaged in a 10-panel book-sized digisleeve with 16-page booklet including new sleevenotes by Sid Smith and notes on the recordings by King Crimson producer David Singleton.

The Complete Recordings 1981-1984 will be released on 28 March 2025 via DGMLIVE.

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Andy Summers, One Train Later

"Having crossed paths briefly in the ’60s in Bournemouth where Fripp took over Andy’s guitar chair in the band at Bournemouth’s Majestic Hotel, it wasn’t until 1981 - when Summers wrote to Fripp - that the two guitarists would work together.

With King Crimson fresh from recording the now classic album ‘Discipline’ after a considerable break, Fripp was immediate in his response to Summers’s suggestion of
working together. And though The Police were busy with the recording and touring of ‘Ghost in the Machine’, the two guitarists somehow managed to find time to experiment, develop and record the first of their two albums.

Whilst ‘I Advance Masked’ showcased the skill and differing guitar techniques of the two players with heavy influence of Fripp’s multi-rhythmic playing evident, their second 1984 album ‘Bewitched’ was a more melodic affair with the inclusion of additional personnel including bassist Chris Childs and Sara Lee, and as Fripp put it, “the album is a lot more Andrew than it is me”.

Almost 40 years later - during plans to reissue the original albums and searching for the original tapes - Summers came across four new tapes in a Los Angeles vault. Not only was most of the original material on those tapes, but a treasure trove of previously unreleased material, early versions, alternative versions of tracks were unearthed.

From that, eleven unreleased tracks were arranged/edited and newly mixed and, along with an alternative take of “Maquillage” and an early slower version of “Parade”, a third mini album titled ‘Mother Hold the Candle Steady’ was created. More previously unreleased tracks such as Balinese and Brainstorm and delights such as an early mix of New Marimba were also discovered by David Singleton in the process of collating and mixing this collection.

In addition, this package includes an audio documentary titled ‘Can We Record Tony?’ which is from a series of cassettes Fripp kept containing their original exploratory improvisations.