Why Robert Fripp didn’t play on Peter Gabriel’s ‘Solsbury Hill’
When Peter Gabriel began recording his debut solo album, considerations weren’t exactly made for pop success. Gabriel’s work with Genesis had become increasingly complex, culminating in the nearly indecipherable The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974. Gabriel took a break to collect himself and assembled a team to bring his own solo vision to life.
That group included producer Bob Ezrin, then best known for his work with American hard rock bands like Kiss and Alice Cooper. Seeing as Gabriel needed a band, Ezrin insisted on bringing in two wildly different guitarists – Alice Cooper axeman Steve Hunter and King Crimson leader Robert Fripp. Although he was happy to work with Gabriel, Fripp was more suspicious of Ezrin.
“Peter Gabriel I was recorded in Toronto & produced by Bob Ezrin,” Fripp wrote in his online diary in 2010. “The only person who can produce Peter is Peter, so any other producer is, at best, second best. Bob E would not have been the producer that I would have envisioned as a good production choice for Peter; but then, neither was Peter’s second producer.”
Fripp and Hunter both contributed heavily to Peter Gabriel I, each taking different approaches to the arrangements. To everyone’s surprise, ‘Solsbury Hill’ came out sounding something close to a pop hit, largely driven by Hunter’s unique acoustic guitar part. Fripp was an admirer of the track but later admitted that he didn’t wind up contributing anything to the song.
“‘Solsbury Hill’ is a stunning song, a Gabriel classic,” Fripp added. “The guitar parts are played by Steve Hunter a wonderful, accomplished, all-round American guitarist. I had nothing to add to the track after Steve’s superb & fitting contribution, although I would love to be on it. (Similarly, ‘Ashes To Ashes’: I’d love to be on that too, and tried – but anything I added was superfluous). When you have nothing to say, better to say nothing – and get out of the way of what does need to be said, especially when it’s being said well already.”
Fripp contributed plenty to the album already, including a wonky banjo line to ‘Excuse Me’. However, ‘Solsbury Hill’ featured exactly zero of Fripp’s guitar playing. Gabriel was still intent on keeping Fripp as his main collaborator, hiring him as a member of his touring band to support Peter Gabriel I. The next year, Fripp replaced Ezrin as the producer on Gabriel’s follow-up, Peter Gabriel II.
Check out ‘Solsbury Hill’ down below.
