The album was recorded on a 1" 8-track recorder at Wessex Sound Studios in London, engineered by Robin Thompson and assisted by Tony Page. After these sessions failed to work out, the group were given permission to produce themselves. Initial sessions for the album were held in early 1969 with producer Tony Clarke, most famous for his work with The Moody Blues.
King Crimson made their live debut on 9 April 1969, and made a breakthrough by playing the Rolling Stones free concert at Hyde Park, London in July 1969 before an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people. Problems playing this file? See media help. "The Court of the Crimson King" (1969) MENU 0:00 37 second sample from King Crimson's "The Court of the Crimson King", demonstrating the sound of the first incarnation of the band, with its classically-influenced style and use of the Mellotron instrument. If you cover the smiling face, the eyes reveal an incredible sadness. The face on the outside is the Schizoid Man, and on the inside it's the Crimson King. 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. Peter brought this painting in and the band loved it. It was his only album cover, and is now owned by Robert Fripp. Godber died in February 1970 of a heart attack, shortly after the album's release. Remastering was executed by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree.īarry Godber (1946–1970), a computer programmer, painted the album cover. Once again, in November 2010 the album was re-released both on vinyl and CD with newly cut masters approved by Robert Fripp. This led to a much improved remastered CD version (see below) in time for the album's 40th anniversary. The original first-generation stereo master tapes were thought to be lost, but were finally located in a storage vault in 2003.
All of these versions were based on tape copies that were several generations removed from the originals. The album was remastered and re-released on vinyl and CD several times during the 1980s and 1990s. The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine s "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock". In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came fourth in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".
The Who's Pete Townshend was quoted as calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece". 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". The album is generally viewed as one of the first works to truly embody the progressive rock genre, where King Crimson largely departed from the blues influences that rock music had been founded upon and mixed together jazz and classical symphonic elements. The album reached number five on the British charts, and is certified gold in the United States, where it reached #28 on the Billboard 200. In the Court of the Crimson King an Observation by King Crimson is the debut studio album by the British rock group King Crimson.