In the Court of the Crimson King
Studio album by King Crimson
Released October 10, 1969
Recorded June-August 1969, Wessex Sound Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock
Length 43:54
Label Island
Producer King Crimson
Professional reviews
* Allmusic 5/5 stars link
* Robert Christgau (D+) link
* Mojo 5/5 stars
* Rolling Stone (favorable) link
In the Court of the Crimson King is the 1969 debut album by the British progressive rock group King Crimson. The album reached #3 on the British charts. The album is certified gold in the United States.
The album is generally viewed as one of the strongest of the progressive rock genre, where King Crimson largely stripped away the blues-based foundations of rock music and mixed together with jazz and European symphonic elements. In his 1997 book Rocking the Classics, critic and musicologist Edward Macan notes that In the Court of the Crimson King "may be the most influential progressive rock album ever released".[3] The Who's Pete Townshend was quoted as calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece". In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #4 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".
The album was remastered and re-released on vinyl and CD several times during the 1980s and 1990s. All of these versions were based on tape copies that were several generations removed from the originals. The original first-generation stereo master tapes were finally located in an Island Records storage vault in 2003, leading to a much improved remastered CD version in time for the album's 40th anniversary.
Album cover
Barry Godber (1946–1970), an artist and computer programmer, painted the album cover. Godber died in February 1970 of a heart attack, shortly after the album's release. It would be his only painting, and is now owned by Robert Fripp. Fripp had this to say about Godber:
"Peter brought this painting in and the band loved it. I recently recovered the original from EG's offices because they kept it exposed to bright light, at the risk of ruining it, so I ended up removing it. The face on the outside is the Schizoid Man, and on the inside it's the Crimson King. If you cover the smiling face, the eyes reveal an incredible sadness. What can one add? It reflects the music."
Content
The album consists of only five long songs. Most of these have additional titles given to sub-sections of the songs. The additional titles do not actually reflect divisions in the music. The main reason for them was to ensure that the group received the full amount of song writing royalties from their music publisher and record company. With the extra titles included the album can be seen as having a full 12 songs, as is typical for most rock albums. Since this album was recorded new rules have become standard in the music publishing business which take into account the length of the songs as well as the number of titles on an album.
Production details
Initial sessions for the album were held in early 1969 with producer Tony Clarke, most famous for his work with the Moody Blues. After those sessions failed to work out the group were allowed to produce themselves. However, unofficially it is thought by most fans that Greg Lake actually did most of the production work on the album by himself.[citation needed] The album was recorded on an 8-channel master tape recorder at Wessex Sound Studios in London, engineered by Robin Thompson. It took many hours of overdubbing to build up the orchestral sound of multiple layers of Mellotron and woodwinds played by Ian McDonald. Robert Fripp has since claimed that at least some of the original 8-channel master multitrack tapes for the album have been lost.
Soon after the recording sessions were completed in 1969 it was discovered that a stereo tape recorder used to mix the album had recording heads that were mis-aligned. A loss of high-frequencies and undesired distortion affected some parts of the album, most apparently on "21st Century Schizoid Man". While preparing the first American release on Atlantic Records a stereo sub-master tape copy was created that attempted to correct some of the sound problems. The first-generation stereo master tapes were filed away and forgotten for many years.
CD editions
LP and CD re-issues during the 1980s and 1990s by Polydor and EG Records were taken from tape copies several generations removed from the corrected stereo sub-master tape. This resulted in a lack of clarity and excessive tape hiss. Several different remastered CD versions were released in this period while attempting to make the best use of the tape recordings that were available.
Virgin Records released a 30th Anniversary Edition in 1999. 24 bit remaster by Simon Heyworth, Robert Fripp and David Singleton at Chop 'Em Out, August 3rd, 1999. Scrapbook design: Hugh O'Donnell
The first generation stereo master tapes for the album were finally rediscovered in the archives of Island Records in 2003 after being misplaced for many years. A 2004 CD version (described as the "Original Master Edition", DGM0501) was released on Robert Fripp's Discipline Global Mobile label. This release has greatly improved sound over previous CD editions. The latest digital technology was used to repair high frequency problems caused during the original mixing sessions. 24 bit mastering was also utilised to enhance the sound. This edition also has a twelve-page booklet that includes pictures and press clippings from the period.
With Fripp's collaboration Steven Wilson remixed the original master tapes into 5.1 Surround Sound, and a 40th Anniversary edition was released on 12 October 2009. There are three different versions: a two-CD set, a CD+DVD set and a six-disc (5CD/1DVD) box.
Track listing
Side One
1. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) – 7:21
* including "Mirrors"
2. "I Talk to the Wind" (McDonald, Sinfield) – 6:05
3. "Epitaph" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) – 8:47
* including "March for No Reason" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow"
Side Two
1. "Moonchild" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) – 12:13
* including "The Dream" and "The Illusion"
2. "The Court of the Crimson King" (McDonald, Sinfield) – 9:25
* including "The Return of the Fire Witch" and "The Dance of the Puppets"
Personnel
* Robert Fripp – guitar
* Ian McDonald – flute, clarinet, saxophone, vibes, keyboards, mellotron, vocals
* Greg Lake – bass guitar, lead vocals
* Michael Giles – drums, percussion, vocals
* Peter Sinfield – lyrics, illumination
* Barry Godber – cover illustrations
Production
* Arranged & Produced By King Crimson/Greg Lake
* Recorded & Engineered By Robin Thompson & Tony Page (also assistant engineer)