Fripp and Eno: The Essential Fripp and Eno

As Music Arcades creeps towards four years of operation and 1,500 albums/singles/CD-ROMs/whatever, the scope for repetition, contradiction, spurious or missing cross-references, and general confusion multiplies. I spot a few inconsistencies as I go, usually later rather than sooner; I'm sure a larger number remain undetected.

Here's one that has just hit me like a flashback of an excruciatingly embarrassing drunken comment. Four months ago I said of Fripp/Eno's (No Pussyfooting) that last year "I decided it was time for me to get a legitimate copy after all these years". This CD reminds me that I'd already had one for a decade by then. And three months ago, when referring to my favourite tracks on Evening Star, I was tempted to get myself the remastered version on CD — forgetting that I already had those tracks on CD.

I failed to remember this even when reading a review that mentions this CD:

When Virgin released an Essential Fripp & Eno compilation a few years back I was hugely disappointed, though not surprised that An Index Of Metals was not on it, whilst the patently very unessential Healthy Colours in four exhaustingly boring versions was. Who gets these people with closed ears to do these compilations anyway?

One answer presents itself as obvious: the people doing the compilations are not attending to the calling of their ears, but that of their bank accounts. By including the (distinctly unessential) four versions of Healthy Colours, Virgin were hoping to persuade fans who already owned (No Pussyfooting) and Evening Star to splash out again. Had they included An Index Of Metals they would have risked cannibalising sales of Evening Star on CD, as well as (No Pussyfooting). That answer argues that Virgin were simply aiming to exploit the EG catalogue they'd bought to maximum commercial benefit.

Now here are the words that will make your pulse quicken: It may be a bit more complicated than that. I don't know the full course and timetable of the legal struggle between Robert Fripp and the former managers of EG — a struggle Fripp refers to as Endless Grief — but I believe it ran from 1991 to '98 and ended with copyright ownership being returned to Fripp (after EG had originally persuaded him to transfer it to them, and they had sold it — Fripp maintains — to pay off their own debts as Lloyd's Names). The Essential Fripp and Eno came out in the middle of that struggle. The CD says the copyright is owned by Fripp and Eno under licence to Virgin. So presumably the transfer back had already taken place — does that mean that Fripp and Eno had any say in the release, or was the grant of licence part of the transfer deal, meaning that Virgin could do whatever they wanted? That appears to be the implication of this page, which says, "Copyrights for both records & music were invested in RF [Robert Fripp] as an individual, although bound by exclusive licences for the durations of the copyrights." In which case, ignore this paragraph and refer back to the simple explanation above. However, that settlement may not have been the final one, since the remastered Fripp/Eno albums have since been issued by Fripp's independent label, implying that there is no longer an exclusive licence in place — unless the remastered versions somehow count as distinct recordings for copyright purposes. Listen, I know you don't give a flying fig either way, but if you've read this far, I salute you, and, if you're the first person to post a comment below with an email address that you confirm is linked to a paypal account, I will send you three quid to buy yourself a pint. Think of it as an early Christmas present (this offer expires at noon GMT on 25th).

MusicBrainz entry for this album Wikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Listen to none of this album at Last.fm

Comments

[Brian]

A close friend in the presbyterian wilds of County Down tells me it costs £3 to see a film at his local art house cinema, the QFT in Belfast. Three quid, my gosh, how can they make any profit. That's with membership, otherwise it's a flat fiver to see a picture. I wonder then if, south of the border we are still being fleeced? You see three quid would hardly a pint of stout buy you down here.
I do look forward to some black stuff tomorrow. I am to become an uncle in the Springtime. Hootenanny is further reason to be happy. Have you heard it yet David? I'll expect you couldn't hold out til January and ordered with Insound.
I'm rambling on. Without further ado let me wish Lucy, Ivan and yourself a happy joyful Christmas time.
See you in the new year.
Brian