8 July 1974

This track was one of Stormy's Monday selections. It is currently unavailable, but will be part of his next bumper collection. His fourth year of treasures from the murky, cavernous DGM archives, torch in hand, fedora upon his head is now available for download.

In 2011 celebrated folk act The Unthanks recorded a version of Starless which utilised a cornet as a means of delivering the main theme. What they couldn't have known is that in 1974, Mark Charig was asked to take a run at the main theme during the recording sessions for Red. Deemed interesting but not quite what they were looking for, Mel Collins was also asked to lay down some soprano sax on the piece in much the same manner as he would several decades later on Jakszyk Fripp & Collins' A Scarcity Of Miracles.

Whilst recognising that choosing Collins' take was the right decision, Charig's take on the tune has a certain charm and power to it. Now for the very first time, we can hear the choice that befell the Crims at the control desk in Olympic Studios and get a sense as to how Starless could have sounded had a different decision been reached.

AUDIO SOURCE: Multi-Track Tapes

DGM AUDIO QUALITY

AVERAGE CUSTOMER RATING

TRACK

TIME

Starless Cornet

01:18

TRACK	TIME
Starless Cornet	01:18

Written by Bill Harder

Possible future direction for someone else...

I understand the choice to NOT use this piece. It wouldn’t have fit with the general direction the rest of the recording took but it does point in an interesting jazz direction, at least for the overall piece. I can clearly imagine a jazz trio taking this in some beautiful directions.

Written by ALLAN G OKADA

Hooray

Great to hear more Marc Charig with Crimson! For the curious...align it with the last verse...it’s beautiful !

Written by Matt George

charig cornet

for some reason, i can’t recognize Starless on this one. With just the bass accompaniment, it’s hard to make out the song. I’ll have to listen to the original Starless to figure this one out. But......Charig goes absolutely CRAZY with that cornet......beautiful.

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8 July 1974

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