On October 10, 1969, King Crimson published his first studio album "In the Court of The Crimson King" on Island Records in England and Atlantic in America. King Crimson's debut is still considered one of the brightest progressive rock albums of all time. Julián Ruiz reminds us.
The "mellotron" had revolutionized rock, the British pop of the second half of the sixties.
It sounded at the intro of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' with the Beatles, in Traffic's 'Hole in my shoe', in 'She'sa rainbow' of the Rolling Stones.
But above all, the great master Mike Pinder had made the Moody Blues do an absolute masterpiece with "Days of future passed", where 'Nights in white satin' was, with those sounds of string and flute in the "melotron" , a tape-based keyboard that played any orchestral sound.
The drummer Mike Giles and the excellent guitarist Robert Fripp had tried the success with several singles, under the name of Giles, Giles an Fripp. Nothing at all. Then, Fripp met the amazing musician Ian Mc Donald, who had a mellotron and was a saxophone player, whatever you asked for.
Fripp also called his school friend, Gregg Lake and the group was called King Crimson, with the introduction of Pete Sinfield, who had many ideas and was the lyricist.
David Enthoven and John Gaydon were like Kirt Lambert and Andrew Loog Oldham, businessmen who liked music. They founded the label and the producer EG They were the managers of King Crimson and, later, of Roxy Music, among others.
David and John even got more than one hundred thousand people to see King Crimson as opening act at the famous Stones concert in Hyde Park, days after Brian Jones' suicide.
But it is that the disc that Fripp and his companions had made, unintentionally, was an authentic masterpiece.
“In the court of the Crimson King” es sin duda el epicentro de toda la música progresiva, el nacimiento de todo lo que llegó después. Desde Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Asia, etc. Para Pete Townshend de los Who es uno de los mejores albumes de toda la historia.
Sólo el comienzo del album , el increíble 21 ‘Century Schizoid man’ es un delirio de música sencillamente genial, entre la psicodelia, la locura, el progresismo y el rock con el jazz. Increíble, con la voz de Greg Lake saturada por el compresor, por el flanging y que encima distorsionada ,porque una de las cabezas del magnetofono de ocho pistas en que se grabó el disco, no estaba bien alineada. Absolutamente, música del siglo XXI en 1969.
Las sesiones habían comenzado con con Tony Clarke como productor. Era lo lógico había sido el productor de los Moody Blues y el maestro del sonido del “mellotron” en los discos. Pero Bob Fripp jamás se llevó bien con él y fue entre Fripp y Mc Donald los que decidieron en el disco.
Buen, no puedo decir , sinceramente, que tema me gusta más en el disco. Epitaph es una pasada, melódica, sensiblemente, entre los acústico y lo electrónico. El tema que da titulo al album es una pequeña sinfonía. Genial, fuerte, complicada, pero sencilla.
En fin, todavía hoy escucho el álbum y, simplemente, digo: increíble. En sonido, en ideas, en canciones, en la autentica liberación de la música . Y es del año alo q969. Increíble, increíble. Hasta la portada con el dibujo de Barry Godber es el grito más maravilloso desde los tiempos de Edward Munch.
EL ALBUM.-
Todas las canciones escritas por King Crimson, excepto “I Talk to the Wind” and “The Court of the Crimson King”, written by Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield.
KING CRIMSON, "IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING" (1969), ALBUM HISTORICO
Side one
1. “21st Century Schizoid Man”
“Mirrors”
7:24
2. “I Talk to the Wind” 6:04
3. “Epitaph”
“March for No Reason”
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow”
8:49
Total : 22:17
Side two
No. Title Length
1. “Moonchild”
“The Dream”
“The Illusion”
12:13
2. “The Court of the Crimson King”
“The Return of the Fire Witch”
“The Dance of the Puppets”
9:26
Total length: 21:39.
PERSONAL.-
Robert Fripp – electric and acoustic guitars, production
Michael Giles – drums, percussion, backing vocals, production
Greg Lake – lead vocals, bass guitar, production
Ian McDonald – woodwinds (saxophone, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet), keyboards (Mellotron, harpsichord, piano, organ), vibraphone, backing vocals, production
Peter Sinfield – lyrics, illumination, production
Produced By King Crimson for E.G. Productions
Robin Thompson – recording engineer
Tony Page – assistant engineer
Barry Godber – cover illustrations