The sessions for Red saw the return of guest musicians joining the band in the studio, a practice that had been discontinued after Islands in 1971.
Fitting then that one of those guests should be trumpeter and cornet player, Mark Charig who had made such an important contribution to Lizard and particularly the title track of Islands.
While Charig's playing on One More Red Nightmare will be familiar, the two passes he made at the ballad section of Starless will be new to ears of Crimheads.
Some of this session was made available as a Stormy selection some time ago with just cornet and Wetton's bass. However, this special mix with all the instruments and vocals offers a brand new, hitherto unreleased track.
It's obvious that choosing Mel Collins’ soprano embellishments for the final mix was the right way to go, it’s nevertheless fascinating to be given this intimate glimpse of the creative process at work during the sessions, and in doing so, the possibility of an alternative direction for this beloved Crim classic.
