With In the Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson Bet on Themselves and Changed Rock Forever

Jonah Krueger
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The post With In the Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson Bet on Themselves and Changed Rock Forever appeared first on Consequence.

For rock fans in 1969, there was no shortage of fantastic albums, nor was there a lack of fantastically out-there albums. The year was chock-full of innovative projects that would go on to splinter rock music into a sprawling family tree of microgenres: Abbey Road, The Velvet Underground, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Hot Rats, Led Zeppelin, The Band… the list goes on. But while each of these records are wonderful and, in their own ways, wonderfully strange, perhaps only one can lay claim to effectively inventing a genre — King Crimson and their perfect, revolutionary, prog-rock-defining debut, In the Court of the Crimson King.

From the moment of its conception, King Crimson was out for shock and awe. Composed of guitarist Robert Fripp, drummer Michael Giles, bassist Greg Lake, multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, and lyricist/idea-man Peter Sinfield, the band established itself as a formidable, ferocious, and unpredictable live act within mere months of forming. Nabbing opening gigs for the likes of The Rolling Stones and boasting notable fans such as Jimi Hendrix (someone who might know a thing or two about guitar music), it became blindingly clear that the band had found something different from the art-rock that came before them.

And yet, when it came time to put their tunes to tape, the group initially struggled to translate the spirit of their stage show to a studio environment. Working with famed Moody Blues producer Tony Clarke, the bullish men of King Crimson knew what they wanted out of their art (that being work that could irrevocably change the landscape of popular music), and they weren’t about to settle for anything less. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what they felt they were getting — less — and the blame fell on Clarke.

“You’ve got to remember that all the people in King Crimson were very strong personalities,” Lake later reflected. “They were very intelligent, very good musicians and all opinionated – not in a nasty way, but everyone was passionate about what they were doing. All very dedicated and all of us out to change the world in one way or another.

“The fact of the matter is that when it came to music making and the music we were making, really Tony didn’t know enough about it. We felt that we could make a better job of producing the record, because we knew more about it than he did.”

So, in a move that could be considered either bravely confident or exceedingly arrogant, King Crimson walked away from their established producer and the industry cred that would have come with his name in the liner notes. Instead, they opted to produce the record themselves, with one of the band’s managers even remortgaging his house to make it happen.

The group spent the next few weeks recording and overdubbing between gigs, eventually walking away with a collection of songs so revolutionary that it’s now widely recognized as the birthplace of progressive rock.

As soon as opener “21st Century Schizoid Man” (yes, the one Kanye sampled) bursts in with its flurry of guitars, horns, relentless drum fills, and distorted vocals, the controlled chaos of In the Court of the Crimson King smacks the listener in the face. Between the frantic rhythm section, noisy guitar solos, and big band flourishes, the track packs more notes into its seven-and-a-half-minute runtime than most fit into full-length albums.

Then, without warning, the cacophony of “21st Century Schizoid Man” is washed away by the dreamy, wandering, flute-led “I Talk to the Wind.” The juxtaposition is intentionally jarring, though careful inspection reveals just how similar the two songs are at their core. Both infuse a rock base with jazz chops, unorthodox orchestration, and an intensely alluring, uniquely eerie tone – “I Talk to the Wind” simply looks to Joni Mitchell rather than The Rolling Stones.

But perhaps it’s “Epitaph,” the album’s centerpiece that would prove to be the most prescient. Atmospheric, dynamic, and utterly enthralling, the fusion of experimental stylings and emotive guitar work laid the groundwork for the sounds that bands like Pink Floyd or Yes would go on to explore for the next decade and change.

In the Court of the Crimson King ends with the spacy, free-form jam “Moonchild” and the final, epic eponymous track. The former showcases just how wide the band’s influences range, as at one point Fripp even interpolates “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” from the musical Oklahoma!, while the latter serves as a symphonic, larger-than-life psychedelic closer complete with a false ending and arguably one of the most satisfying chord progressions in classic rock history.

King Crimson bet on themselves and, as fans have known for over 50 years, the risk paid off. Beyond becoming a go-to recommendation for freshman art-school students and topping list after list in the online music community, In the Court of the Crimson King also managed to sell remarkably well upon its release, peaking at number five on the UK Album Charts and receiving a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. The classic status of the record has also allowed for rerelease after rerelease, leading it to become a staple in the vinyl community alongside behemoths like Dark Side of the Moon or Thriller.

Taken as a whole, the album is a triumph of creativity that rewards repeat listens and patient analysis. More than half a century after its release, the conversation surrounding In the Court of the Crimson King is not only active, but fruitful. There’s enough to appreciate about the album’s five songs to fill various books, documentaries, and online forums, and the more progressive-leaning bands of today continue to nod to the 1969 album with the iconic, grotesque cover art.

Much like how Black Sabbath’s debut pervades nearly all metal that came to follow it, any subsequent project tagged with the term “progressive rock” can be traced back to this mammoth of a record. From the extended song lengths and unorthodox structures to the mysticism and world building of the lyrics; the wild dynamics to the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink stylistic approach; all subsequent prog rock projects (and perhaps rock records in general) were either inspired by or rebelling against In the Court of the Crimson King. Either way, the mark of King Crimson remains.

Argue over its pretension or its wider accessibility, but the album’s influence, lasting legacy, and earth-shaking ideas are well and truly set in stone. King Crimson set out to “change the world” with their debut, and at least within the context of 50 years worth of music, the mad lads somehow accomplished just that.

With In the Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson Bet on Themselves and Changed Rock Forever
Jonah Krueger

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