REMEMBERING IAN MCDONALD + SUNDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO
I Talk to the Wind
REMEMBERING IAN MCDONALD + SUNDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO: “I Talk to the Wind”
…There is a deep bond between King Crimson fans, several of whom are my friends and suggested I cover certain KC songs. “I Talk to the Wind” has spoken to me since I was a teenager. I video’d my version with little preparation, raw-recording it at home on 21 January 2021 (1-21-21). I forsook the solos, not daring to replicate Ian McDonald’s sublime flute work on the original. It was the second song on the 1969 landmark first album by King Crimson, a bittersweet but elegant segue from the metallic jazz dystopia of “21stCentury Schizoid Man.” Pete Sinfield’s lyrics seem to be about a person (straight man) trying to communicate with someone who is self-absorbed or narcissistic (late man), so it’s better to move on and be done with discouragement. The signature 1969 KC version was sung by Greg Lake and the music was composed by McDonald—who said it was inspired by Joni Mitchell. Pop Matters called it “a stunning tone-poem of melancholy (that) somehow manages to be somber and gorgeous.”
Robert Fripp reportedly said he never intended to be sole proprietor of the King Crimson brand, citing Ian McDonald as a co-founder.
McDonald pursued other ideas with the KC spin-off McDonald & Giles (a fascinating footnote of 70s hippie prog-rock), then co-founding Foreigner—I bought the first Foreigner LP sight-unheard simply because McDonald’s name was on it. His solo album DRIVERS EYES is also well worth seeking. With his recent passing I realized that, early in my music career, he was a key inspiration for his adventurous spirit and pursuit of excellence on my list of multi-instrumentalists I sought to emulate (Emitt Rhodes, Roy Wood, and others). RIP Ian—thank you for driving great music through our minds.
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