Imagine hearing this album within weeks of release with no information beyond the album cover. No music magazine profile of the band, no review, no deejay introduction. Winter of '69, just out of high school a few friends rented our first apartment and as icy winds off Lake Michigan covered windows with frost the virtually empty rooms were filled with little more than the sounds of King Crimson on a loop. We had a record player, speakers, a couple of chairs and a folding table, and two albums, In the Court of the Crimson King and Rod Stewart's solo debut (released weeks apart, I'll never remember who bought them or why...) Living on cookies and Wonder bread, as teenaged boys might, we took turns flipping the album of the hours over and over. The King Crimson cover perched on the mantel in flickering candlelight is etched on my memory along with every note of the music plus the hiss of the steam radiators that kept us alive while the music kept us warm. You've taken me back there, Abby. Thank you...
First time I heard it.. In a friends basement guest suite, candles and a fire in the fireplace, not big, a small fire.. Night.. Orange Sunshine kept in a freezer from the 60s, and homemade red wine, and Columbian gold. Real good sound system, late fifties amp and new good early 70s speakers, new vinyl, great cartridge on turntable... Wow. Don't know what year, early 70s..We were all floating in space together, just eyes no bodies, like having one eye the size of your head, but we could hear each other.. same place, we told each other what the view was like, and the music was washing through us bringing waves of colours . You get the picture..
I got the original album the first day of it's release so you know I have been around for a long time. I then saw them perform in West Palm Beach Fla . I would read every album cover and all the liner notes . I must have read a million words of Rolling Stone music reviews mostly rubbish. I watch all Rick Beato videos. Nobody comes close to you for information, insight, humor and just all round fun. Good job I wish my 30 year old son had the same interest in music his is a generation that is losing the history and enjoyment of a lot of great music. Keep it up we appreciate your enthusiasm.
It takes a good journalist to tackle In the Court of the Crimson King... ... but to cover it well and comprehensively for over a half hour is GREAT journalism. Nice work, Abby.
Robert Fripp told me that the Crimson King on the inner sleeve is gesturing a blessing with one hand while holding the other out demanding money, showing greed and dishonesty. In February 1972 myself and some friends just walked backstage and Robert gladly stayed to talk with us for a long while.
Sure, He was such a nice approachable guy.I had sex with Beth Hart after her concert and let's not get started over my night with Tina Turner and her Ikettes 35 years ago .And I can tell you even stronger stories , but talking with Fripp beats them all .😅😅
yes zeppelin were great but that first album ripped off those old blues players. King crimsoms 1st album is totally unique and original. A sublime masterpiece.
@@simonmcintyre4154 In the Court of the Crimson King is one of the best albums of all time, you can make a valid argument being the best. I’m sorry but there will never be a debut album that can match the incredible and progressive musicianship that King Crimson brought to the table back in 1969. I love Led Zeppelin I, probably my fav from Zeppelin. Definitely one of the best debuts of all time, but you cannot top In the Court of the Crimson King, you just can’t.
@@PrairieMidwester Abby gives the backstory to the cover art in detail in the episode. She always gives full appreciation of artwork/photography on this channel. Think he was little older when he died but as you say it was a sad situation. Godber was a talent obviously.
@@alanclayton9277 Wikipedia gives 1970 as the year of death for artist Barry Godber, so he lived through the recording and original release of 'In the Court of the Crimson King'.
@@barrymoore4470 Yeah: my waffling in regard to the comment the person made about him dying at 21 was trying to encourage someone to watch and enjoy the full episode which was great wasn't it.
King Crimson-In the Court of the Crimson King (1969). For me this album is a Prog ground zero and the cover art is so current and well known. It's a classic! Thanks for the video, Abby. Greetings from São Paulo, Brazil.
In my own childhood, this album was the monster in the closet (down the hall). At night, I knew it was there...down the hall, with the terrifying cover and the somehow exactly as-terrifying sounds inside. I used to sneak into my older brother's room and put it on (still don't tell him) in the gap between when I got out of school and when he did. He would have beaten me up for being in his room, but not as bad as the album did. The other kids were talking about the Jackson 5 but under my little seventies Braves cap was a nut-brown soupbowl haircut, and under that was this album...and that cover. It left me no chance of being a normal kid. SO....imagine a few years later when I had a brand new driver's license, and I knew the Crimson discography backwards and forwards, except for this thing I found in a pre-release cassette file in a used record shop- a tape labelled "Discipline". You're going to have to deal us that one too, Ms. Road. It was (and is) just as shocking, and just as involving. So a couple months of discipline later, I snuck into a bar, sixteen years old, to hear them. And they opened- just one of them- with the sound of Frippertronics from behind a curtain. So I snuck a little more and lifted the curtain and peeked. Fripp glared at my teenaged indiscipline in seething, unarticulated British fury, and has remained in that state ever since. So I'm sorry for everybody he's hassled online in the years that followed. That's on me.
True story, my little sister is 11 years younger, and when she was a toddler we'd set this album up at the end of the hallway and laugh our butts off when she'd come around the corner, see it, and then screech as she ran in the opposite direction.
Hey Abigail, I saw King Crimson in 1970 and was so impressed with their great ability to improvise, very unexpected and jazzy. This album is in my collection as well, a treasure! I later saw Emerson Lake and Palmer and was a bit more impressed with King Crimson Thanks so much for sharing your great research and good taste!!
I first encountered ITCOTCK the same way as you. I just came across that cover in the high school library and had to check it out, and was blown away. My life was changed both musically and poetically. Back then, lyrics and personnel listings were still very unusual, and for me added a great insight, especially seeing Fripp listed solely on guitar. This was when he started reshaping my attitude towards my own playing. Guitar could be operatic, atmospheric, and mischievous, not just chords and blues solos. And Peter Sinfield's lyrics were an intellectual escape into another dimension. Being a sci-fi and fantasy fan, and someone who loved listening to all kinds of music, it was like this album was custom ordered for me. It just fit into so many receptors that it guaranteed King Crimson and Robert Fripp would impact me forever. Thank you for doing this album, really fun and interesting, and your love here really got me a little verklempt 🥲.
I recently got into your channel (and man, I am hooked), so I'm watching things out of order - but this one is by far my favorite, and not just because of the subject matter. Its informative and humorous and insightful. Simply great!
I have the original first disc on the Island label (UK), but cover a little damaged, as ancient! Robert came from Wimborne, Dorset, and my family farm was there. Moved to Bournemouth, Dorset, where I had guitar lessons from Don Strike, with Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, and John Wetton, who was at school with me, who later joined Crimson, and of course, ASIA. He was in the year above me, and was a gentle person. Robert was rather particular with the sound, which can be construed as fussy, but he is a perfectionist. I have a PRS Schizoid guitar too, and a Mel9 mellotron effects pedal to get the effect. Thanks for posting this, it brings back great memories.....
I still remember the day i listened to 21st Century Schizoid Man for the first time. I was in High school in 2003 and back then i listened to alot of Internet radio. Having never heard a King Crimson track, the rock station finally played Schizoid out of the blue. I stopped doing research for a paper i was working on and just listened to the song. It floored me away. It commanded my attention. I went to the library the next day to find this album and sure enough it was there for me to check out. Ripped the CD on my computer and put it on a blank disc then listened to it religiously on my CD player at school. This album cemented my love for prog music.
King Crimson always had phenomenal musician lineups. I saw K.C. in 1973 w/John Wetton on larger than life itself vocals and they performed Larks Tongues in Aspic in full. I saw E.L.P. in 1971 and Greg Lakes voice was superb and all three musicians gave you musical chills and thrills. King Crimsons Lizard is a symphonic masterpiece. Thank you for your thorough research on this band, it was quite enjoyable. ❤
Lizard is an odd album. Gordon Haskell's vocals didn't do it for me, but I think the last touring lineup actually improved a lot of those songs. Check out the Meltdown - Live in Mexico City set.
@@THumanQTip Yeah but Lizard 🦎 showcased Fripps ability to play almost any kind of music in the world along with the groups he assembled for the his next King Crimson. I have owned Meltdown before, and gave it to an old friend that saw them in Mexico City all three nights ( during the filming of that dvd),and was in one of the main crowd photographs. He bought me a Stickman ticket, as you may know about them led by Tony Levin...a killer trio and the show was great.
@@THumanQTipI love that album. Memories. I have all my Crimson updated for this century, DSD128 format from vinyl, in my digital audio player using planar in ear monitors.
A friend of mine introduced me to this album around 1977, shortly after he introduced me to ELP. Greg Lake's vocals in 'Epitaph' were haunting then, and still just as haunting today. He sings with feeling, power, and dread, making the listener push 'repeat' (or lift the needle and replay it) over and over. 'Epitaph' contains, by far, my favorite performance by Greg Lake.
There are many young people out there reviewing classic sixties songs that have no clue what they are hearing. Abigail has done her research and I am impressed. I'm 72 and still own this album I bought in '69. In the early '80's my young kids were terrified and fascinated with the album's artwork. Today they love the art of music. Also, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake founded The Nice, before King Crimson and maybe the first prog rock band.
I got to meet Bill Rieflin a few times, and recorded once with him. Everyone asked him for stories about REM/Ministry, but I was only interested in his Fripp stories, as he’d just done his first tour with KC. He was a great drummer and a sweetheart.
Some friends of mine had a punk rock band in 1998, but they got so crazy about I Talk To The Wind, when I showed it to them, that I was invited to play the sweet flute as a substitute - the closer we had - for the flute with the band in the gigs. It was a good experience... But imagine: a punk rock concert, with... I Talk To The Wind in the middle! LoL
King crimson love this band and this debut album just takes hold of you and doesn't let you go you're in for the whole ride and when the albums over you want to do it all over again
So excited for this episode! My first intro to this album was the Hyde Park performance of 21st Schizoid Man randomly recommended to me (my fav part was the audience looking incredibly confused), I went and listened to this whole album and was mindblown
Well, back when I was 14ish years old, this was my favorite band. I attended my first concert at 13, which was Stevie Ray Vaughn, opening for Peter Tosh, opening for Talking Heads, opening for The Police. At the time I was first introduced to King Crimson, it was through Three of a Perfect Pair which was playing on the airwaves- Sleepless was everywhere, and we had taped the Frejus concert featuring Bill Bruford's impossible Indiscipline drum solo on a VHS tape. My friends introduced me to In the Court of, and, well... I bought all their albums. I bought a Japanese imported version of Earthbound, because it was impossible to find it in North America. Your comment at the end about Led Zep got you a subscription- this is the first video of yours I listen to. It is such an influential album, and it is brilliantly executed by musicians at the top of their craft. Thanks for your well researched video on this juggernaut of an album!! Cheers!
@hughmac13 No , it's not at all common. There was a major fire in 2008 that destroyed many master tapes ..In general they are stored in a very safe vault & rarely used. Fortunately , a well mastered CD can produce an acceptable alternative for most ears ..not analog purists though ! ✌️
Gonna make you jealous, but ....my first live gig I paid to see was KING CRIMSON on the 'Islands' tour. Boz was lead vocalist, they opened with 'Circus' and blew my mind from that drumsnareORGAN!!. My mind remains, blown.
Another album released in Oct. 1969 is my favorite by The Kinks, the concept album "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)". It's worth a listen. I think there are a lot of similarities between "In the Court of the Crimson King" and "In the Wake of Poseidon". "Lizard" and "Islands" are more eclectic but still good. You mentioned the 50th anniversary, Fripp celebrated by releasing a slew of rarities: alternate takes, edits, remixes, live versions, enough to fill 4 CDRs. If you haven't seen Mr. Fripp's Sunday videos with his wife Toyah Wilcox you don't know how wacky he can be. They're a treat.
I love this album. It was one of the best, released in the late 60s. The album was a complete shock. Rock changed after it. The Kinks album, I bought when it came out also. That is a great album it was different from their earlier songs. The Kinks are always great. There was so much great music in the 60s and 70s. I was blessed to be a teenager during that and experience the atmosphere and the music. I lived in the San Francisco Bay area and saw it all. I would not have changed anything about those years. Dave in Sierra Vista AZ
@@davidewing5605 I'm envious, I was just starting to listen to music around that time, mostly the AM radio stuff and whatever made the variety shows on our 2 TV channels.
Great to see SOMEONE talk about how great Ian McDonald was. He's responsible for the variety in sound and instrumentation. He's also is the only person to have writing credits on all of the songs.
Ian McDonald and Michael Giles started a Duo called McDonald & Giles, releasing one album on the same name in 1970, which utilized some music written for and even performed by King Crimson
Mike Giles one of thé best UK's drummer ,incredibly clean .Mc Donald had many skills but seems unriable ...rather prefer mc Donald 's stuffs than Robert 's one ,dislike " 21 rst century" ...Giles Giles and Fripp too as MC Donald & Giles ,or 1rst Crimson are too interesting lps .mc Donald 's use of thé MK2 mellotron IS wonderfull ,even if hé didn't reach Mike Pinder somptous sound ,liké Tony Banks hé did know how to play it .they AREN'T many of them!
I gotta give it to you Abby, as some one who did a lot of prog indulgence and research, I don't believe I could have compiled the information about this album and the band and present it as well as you did here. This is an album for the ages. Great job! (Now I'm hoping for a Larks' Tongues in Aspic episode ;D)
Abigail, this was a brilliantly erudite and utterly charming analysis of IMO one of the greatest recordings of all time, coincidentally released by a band that has for over 50 years been my favorite of all time. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Loved the mention of Yes. Yes' lead singer Jon Anderson went to some of the early Crimson shows and would then go into Yes rehearsals and band meetings and say stuff like "If Crimson's our competition then we're going to have to get a lot better." Yes' original drummer Bill Bruford was also a major Crimson fan and would go on to join the band.
"In The Court of the Crimson King" is nothing short of brilliant! Robert Fripp and company's sound is unique. Greg Lake (RIP) has such a unique voice as well. As with the music, the album cover art has staying power. The last time I was in London, I saw a van with that artwork skillfully applied to the van's side panels. The only other band; other than King Crimson; that impacted me in such a way was (is) Hawkwind. As an addendum, a shout-out to The Groundhogs and Chicken Shack. Cheers and all the best to Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox!
"It the court of King Crimson" by King Crimson is a classic masterpiece,one of the progresive rock albums of all time.I love this album.Great review Abby!
32gram pressing of the remaster was my introduction to King Crimson; sitting on top my roof with a few friends over. Listening to what we called the coconut drum solo - absolutely mindblowing stuff! Ended up traded my copy for Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue". Favourite vinyl Monday episode (so far) Thank you Abs!
👍 Been into this album for 45 years, it never gets boring. A timeless album. 🎵 "A gardener plants an evergreen whilst trampling on a flower, says it all! Longevity vs Aesthetics. 🎵=🗝️
It's great to hear appreciation and analysis of music that I love and remember from my youth come from you who weren't there in the time it was produced. Thank you.
Although I bought the original album in 1969 or 70 (and still have it), I only saw KC live for the FIRST TIME in 2019 in Atlanta. They played both ITCOTCK and Schizoid (as well as Starless and many other greats), and truly feel blessed as sadly I do not think this can happen again. And it was the best concert I have ever experienced. Absolute perfection by all members.
For a 24-year old getting hooked into Crimson and this 50+-year old album speaks volumes as to how vital and brilliant it was and is. As a comparison, I can't imagine any music from the 1920's generating this kind of passionate interest in me back in 1970...
I first heard this in the middle of the night when WABX in Detroit first got the record and played the whole thing. I was blown away and soon bought the album. I also like Islands though a lot of people don't. I play Song of the Gulls of my harmonica
This is a very good analysis of this classic album. I received my first copy in mid 1970. I immediately became a life long fan. I’ve seen the band 9 times. I never caught this first band live (I had to wait until 1973 and 74 to see the Lark’s Tongues in Aspic lineup, and they were superb). The song Epitaph for me is one of my favorite songs of all time, along with Starless, from 1974’s Red. Both of those songs have a 3 o’clock in the morning feel. It’s nice to see a member of the next generation present such a fact based and detailed history of that first band. I love just about everything the following KIng CrImson bands produced, but the bands that existed between 1969 and 1974 are definitely my favorite (although the band from 2013 to 2021 was outstanding as well). Great job on this review.
Not being a prog fan, “Crimson King” has always been the first and last prog record I could actualy relate to. After your delightfully ‘revisionist’ appreciation it sounds better than ever (approaching the album from the vantage point of Kanye’s sampling might have been a blessing). I so enjoy your attention to formal nuance, musical analogies („Moonchild“ - 4’33’’!), surprising cross references (Oppenheimer!!), and your ear-and-mind-opening sense of the archetypal. And how can one not love an album that inspires such sartorial flamboyance!!!
@@avery7001 Thanks for the tip! I had never heard of them. Just listened to some of their stuff. "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" must be the funniest song about a genius since Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso" :-))
It seems like between the years 1964-1973 there was a veritable avalanche of incredible releases. Not that the previous and ensuing years didn’t, but for close to a decade there was a renaissance going on both qualitatively and quantitatively. You are amazing and appreciated, keep up the great work!
You’ve clearly done your homework here and I like that your opinions aren’t re hashes of conventional wisdom. My favorite part is your humor- subscribed! I’m sure you’re aware, but Mc Donald and Giles recorded an album together right after they left. Worth exploring!
Abi thank you so much I love your insight on the music and the connections to other bands that you mention on this video. Please keep doing what you're doing I really enjoy your deep dives into music that I love and treasure. You're the best.
I bought this album when it came out. The first song, 21st, when you put the needle on this song, their is 3 seconds of silence, than you here a hum from the amp, for one to two seconds, then the song starts. I have looked, and every time I find this song, it doesn't have that hum. It may sound dum, but that for me, is beginning of that song. When you here that hum you know you are going to here something loud. That song is one of the loudest songs I have ever heard. This album totally blew us away, it was worthy of the art work on the cover. Also, when it first came out, that was all the teens were talking about. I am from the San Francisco Bay area and we mostly listened to to the underground FM stations. Of course, they played the whole album. Like they did with Tommy, by The Who. You described this album well. But what a shock it was for us musically. Yes for a debut album, it was the best made. Led Zeppelin's first was very good, Credence Clear Water Revival was excellent, Quicksilver Messager Service was very good, but this album, easily toppled them all. Keep on rocking in the free world. Dave in Sierra Vista AZ
Im 72 i got this album as a freshman at USM Southern Miss in 1970. You did a fabulous review. I ordered the album after late night listening to EPITAPH on KAAY rado in Arkansas. If i could get my radio to tune in. Thanks for the review.
Love your speculative, pragmatic and intelligent (and humorous) analysis of anything music. I myself got into into older music as a result of covers and samples (i.e. 80's-early 90's rap) and when it came to contemporary music, I would somehow peer into and immerse myself in sounds and styles from earlier eras to fully color in the entire musical tapestry. Keep the videos coming and we'll keep tuning in. Cheers!
Good one. Glad to hear more of the story. Another angle on the scene that shifted between this and Poseidon includes the death of Jimi Hendrix, who was a principal inspiration to Fripp, along with Stravinsky, Miles, and Charlie Parker. Poseidon kind of functions as a funeral dirge for the 60's. Fripp got me good as I took in King Crimson as a young bassist. Now I have a black Les Paul copy and regularly do the First Primary exercise I was shown when I was briefly in a Guitar Craft group round 2007. Fripp's call for Prog to realize it's no longer 1970 takes me even further back to the origins of the drum kit which is my present band placement and discipline. Learning to play Jazz after being stuck in a tight Rock box until I got my own kit is a joyful struggle to me, Capricorn Sun and Mercury down in my underground, Moon up high in Gemini taking it all in. Fripp is a Taurus Sun, so that shows something of his discipline with protecting his wealth. He's also been of great service to a few musicians like Talking Heads, David Bowie, The Roaches where he did the opposite of bad producers and helped artists find their genius like when under the influence of something Fripp said to him Peter Gabriel went and wrote "Here Comes The Flood" which was the beginning of his solo career coming up above ground, and the flood is still flowing with his new album IO. David Sylvian found a new voice working with Fripp in the 80's and 90's. Lately as Bobby Wilcox he's the guitar wizard for his wife Toyah's band. Red was another stunning album for the Bruford, Wetton phase. And wow do those songs come alive with the Tony Levin years! He's my favorite bassist. When he's on the bass I don't need to hear the drums to know where they go. So taking my music history bundle into the present time it's obvious to me how the music I love to play and not just listen to is threatened by over reliance on technology. I focus my music lessons on training the human skills and not get lost in the technology, where to my senses it's not humans playing machines like it was in the 70's and 80's, and sort of the 90's. It's algorithms playing with humans where the 'artists' only give the faintest samples of their natural human signals, then the producers process the living integrity and mask lack of skill with all the plug ins and filters, if they're even human anymore cause the mainstream crap is all uniform and segmented and perfectly compressed like a fart in a jar, stuff robots can and do compose like exquisite corpses they make from scant human input. So the present time to me looks like a revival of humans playing instruments together in the same space even if it's just a subculture under the dominion of robots.
As a 52-year old classic rock reviewer myself, there is nothing I can do but applaud and admire your sharpness and intelligence, Abigail. “Schizoid Man” and “In The Court...” used to be my favorites from this album. It took me decades of listening to it but finally I switched to “Epitaph”. Greeting from Chihuahua, Northern Mexico.
I listened to this album when it came out in the fall of 1969. We were living in Nashville and Scott Shannon featured it often on his Power Hour from 11 till midnight on WMAK. Loved it, I was a freshman at Hillwood High School so this came out during my formative years. It’s left a life-long impression on my musical journey.
The man who gave you that collection knew what he did.This could well be the best story telling about classic rock. I never felt prog was difficult. In the 70's I listened to nothing else.But never dove deep lile you do. Just loved the melodies and voices and smoked a lot. Thathelps.
I was hanging out with my friend down by the bridge that leads to Ohio ..It was summertime and it was the early seventies. We were going to visit his brother. Everybody was drinking and smoking funny stuff down there. King Crimson was playing ..confusion will be my epitaph. I said "what the hell is this?". I was impressed as hell. I went out and bought all of the Crimson albums that i could find. All good except that live album with Boz..I turned my friend on to them and he loved them till the day he died and they influenced us very much as far as making music..When we bought the Fripp/ Eno albums they were a big reason for Jimson and Hollingsworth and the whole end of the world trilogy that we did..Unfortunately,that stuff is sitting in a box rotting away somewhere and will probably never be heard until after I am long gone because Kevin has passed now and his sister and her husband have it in Texas. Anyway,you heard it here first. Take care!
I'm old - so I lived thru that era. I still listen to KC almost daily. My fav after thousands of listens over the years in Epitaph. It seeems to really be more relevant today.
I bought this record as a middle-school student in '69. Each of the band members seemed to have his own voice. Fripp was dark and ponderous, Lake was heroic, McDonald was tender but jazzy and Giles sounded vaguely militaristic. There was some beautiful music on subsequent albums, but the balance was lost. Imagine such a long-standing group doing its best work in the first year!
It occurred to me later that there was another strand of thinking in the 1960s which the young uns might not be so aware of. This was the notion, popularized by figures such as RD Laing, that the normal society getting ready for nuclear war was in fact mad, while people like schizophrenics and so on were the sane ones.
When I found this with 16 (93) in my stepfathers collection, I was blown away by the first song and every following was as I was searching for that music a long time ago... I am still a great fan of KC and this album is the no 1 still and ever!!!
Hi Abby. Thanks for this, and well done. I first heard this at a party in the mid-70's; the album cover was propped on a mantle piece with a homemade "Now Playing" sign next to it. (I haven't seen that before or since, except here.) It made an impression on me. I was more a fan of Red and Starless and Bible Black, what I think of as the Bill Bruford years. Did try a few others too, like Larks' Tongues in Aspic. Thanks again for bringing it all back.
Just finished my viewing of Vinyl Monday 1969 mini series part II ( a title so long it's prog). An amazing richly articulate episode. Page, Hendrix, Clapton et al weren't the only game in town in 1969 enter R.Fripp my fav. If you want to hear him let rip on Schizoid Man I'd recommend the BBC session version on epitaph. An answer to where the original band might have gone musically can be found on the eponymous Macdonald and Giles album where things get, I think, Beatley indeed. They had everything in that first lineup to pick up that thread. You've truly picked a challenge for yourself with this mini series Abby and the last couple of weeks has been sooo goood.
Abigail, you did very comprehensive research on this album. You know more about the album than me... and I was there at the time, and very into the "prog" scene. Always enjoy you Mondays. Thanks.
I was never familiar with King Crimson other than occasionally hearing the title track on the radio. Shame on me. As a kid growing up in the 70's I was heavily into Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Yes, Alice Cooper, and Uriah Heep to name a few. Some bands you might be familiar with are UFO, Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Captain Beyond, Lou Reed, Kraftwerk, Return To Forever are bands that as being the youngest of six boys were a big influence on me. I definitely got to hit up Amazon for King Crimson. If your familiar with Uriah Heep I recommend profiling their album "Demons and Wizards" on vinyl Monday. Love your videos Abby!
@@abigaildevoe Another connection: when Phil Collins joined Genesis they supposedly sat him down with ITCOTKC and Giles and said 'play like that'. And that was his style for a couple albums. I imagine a few early prog bands did that.
Nice review ! The Giles and Giles and Fripp tapes you mention are a revelation for me, if you don’t mind CDs they are available in the 1969 recordings box ! I had no idea they were rare, I put them on and was blown away.
Truly a GREAT album!!! I will never forget the experience of hearing "21st Century" for the first time after putting this record on, and I remember being floored by the onrushing waves of sound! It was equal parts amazing, ass-kicking, and truly frightening! Your point is well taken. This album is truly timeless, and still sounds fresh today!!! Nice review Abby!
Your thorough, thoughtful and extensive analysis is so impressive. You really did your homework on this album and hit all the relevant points. It's sad to me that the brilliant line up from this debut album didn't last. Later versions of King Crimson, though, have made up for it. Again, your dive into this classic is so appreciated.
What gets me about this album is everyone has praised it for so long and all the time I hear of it's genius, I would put it on and I am like "I just don't get it!". Then one day i tried again and I got it.
what’s the best debut album? comment below!
Enter The Wu Tang
The Pretenders
Metallica
Velvet Underground and Nico
Appetite for Destruction !!
Imagine hearing this album within weeks of release with no information beyond the album cover. No music magazine profile of the band, no review, no deejay introduction. Winter of '69, just out of high school a few friends rented our first apartment and as icy winds off Lake Michigan covered windows with frost the virtually empty rooms were filled with little more than the sounds of King Crimson on a loop. We had a record player, speakers, a couple of chairs and a folding table, and two albums, In the Court of the Crimson King and Rod Stewart's solo debut (released weeks apart, I'll never remember who bought them or why...) Living on cookies and Wonder bread, as teenaged boys might, we took turns flipping the album of the hours over and over. The King Crimson cover perched on the mantel in flickering candlelight is etched on my memory along with every note of the music plus the hiss of the steam radiators that kept us alive while the music kept us warm.
You've taken me back there, Abby. Thank you...
i truly love hearing stories like these, thank you so much for sharing. that must've made in the court of the crimson king all the more magical
First time I heard it.. In a friends basement guest suite, candles and a fire in the fireplace, not big, a small fire.. Night.. Orange Sunshine kept in a freezer from the 60s, and homemade red wine, and Columbian gold. Real good sound system, late fifties amp and new good early 70s speakers, new vinyl, great cartridge on turntable... Wow. Don't know what year, early 70s..We were all floating in space together, just eyes no bodies, like having one eye the size of your head, but we could hear each other.. same place, we told each other what the view was like, and the music was washing through us bringing waves of colours . You get the picture..
Bravo press on comrade!
Nice mate.
Bill Bruford said playing with KC was the most terrifying experience he ever went through. One (tiny) mistake your out.
I WAS HOOKED ON THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING ART IN 1969 AND AFTER HEARING 21ST CENTURY I WAS HOOKED.
I got the original album the first day of it's release so you know I have been around for a long time. I then saw them perform in West Palm Beach Fla . I would read every album cover and all the liner notes . I must have read a million words of Rolling Stone music reviews mostly rubbish. I watch all Rick Beato videos. Nobody comes close to you for information, insight, humor and just all round fun. Good job I wish my 30 year old son had the same interest in music his is a generation that is losing the history and enjoyment of a lot of great music. Keep it up we appreciate your enthusiasm.
It takes a good journalist to tackle In the Court of the Crimson King...
... but to cover it well and comprehensively for over a half hour is GREAT journalism.
Nice work, Abby.
Robert Fripp told me that the Crimson King on the inner sleeve is gesturing a blessing with one hand while holding the other out demanding money, showing greed and dishonesty. In February 1972 myself and some friends just walked backstage and Robert gladly stayed to talk with us for a long while.
Sure, He was such a nice approachable guy.I had sex with Beth Hart after her concert and let's not get started over my night with Tina Turner and her Ikettes 35 years ago .And I can tell you even stronger stories , but talking with Fripp beats them all .😅😅
@@silvertube52 That's exactly how I read it, with a false cynical smile.
"Sorry Zeppelin, this is the best debut album of all time". 52 seconds later they appear behind you ready to torture your soul forever.
yes zeppelin were great but that first album ripped off those old blues players. King crimsoms 1st album is totally unique and original. A sublime masterpiece.
As great as the first album was, the 2nd was considerably better!
However, Zeppelin has the greatest second album…ever…no comparison.
@@simonmcintyre4154 In the Court of the Crimson King is one of the best albums of all time, you can make a valid argument being the best. I’m sorry but there will never be a debut album that can match the incredible and progressive musicianship that King Crimson brought to the table back in 1969. I love Led Zeppelin I, probably my fav from Zeppelin. Definitely one of the best debuts of all time, but you cannot top In the Court of the Crimson King, you just can’t.
Don't know about that, Ma.
The album art is so great it's BONKERS
Definitely one of the all-time great LP covers. You simply can't ignore it if it crosses your field of vision.
The man who painted the cover died at the age of 21, before 21st Century Man was recorded.
@@PrairieMidwester Abby gives the backstory to the cover art in detail in the episode. She always gives full appreciation of artwork/photography on this channel.
Think he was little older when he died but as you say it was a sad situation. Godber was a talent obviously.
@@alanclayton9277 Wikipedia gives 1970 as the year of death for artist Barry Godber, so he lived through the recording and original release of 'In the Court of the Crimson King'.
@@barrymoore4470 Yeah: my waffling in regard to the comment the person made about him dying at 21 was trying to encourage someone to watch and enjoy the full episode which was great wasn't it.
Your Layla joke had me in stiches. Yes, I was waiting for that riff!
Nice. This album changed my life.
King Crimson-In the Court of the Crimson King (1969). For me this album is a Prog ground zero and the cover art is so current and well known. It's a classic! Thanks for the video, Abby. Greetings from São Paulo, Brazil.
In my own childhood, this album was the monster in the closet (down the hall). At night, I knew it was there...down the hall, with the terrifying cover and the somehow exactly as-terrifying sounds inside. I used to sneak into my older brother's room and put it on (still don't tell him) in the gap between when I got out of school and when he did. He would have beaten me up for being in his room, but not as bad as the album did. The other kids were talking about the Jackson 5 but under my little seventies Braves cap was a nut-brown soupbowl haircut, and under that was this album...and that cover. It left me no chance of being a normal kid. SO....imagine a few years later when I had a brand new driver's license, and I knew the Crimson discography backwards and forwards, except for this thing I found in a pre-release cassette file in a used record shop- a tape labelled "Discipline". You're going to have to deal us that one too, Ms. Road. It was (and is) just as shocking, and just as involving. So a couple months of discipline later, I snuck into a bar, sixteen years old, to hear them. And they opened- just one of them- with the sound of Frippertronics from behind a curtain. So I snuck a little more and lifted the curtain and peeked. Fripp glared at my teenaged indiscipline in seething, unarticulated British fury, and has remained in that state ever since. So I'm sorry for everybody he's hassled online in the years that followed. That's on me.
True story, my little sister is 11 years younger, and when she was a toddler we'd set this album up at the end of the hallway and laugh our butts off when she'd come around the corner, see it, and then screech as she ran in the opposite direction.
@@submandave1125 That's my kind of family!
My best friend introduced me to this album and said of Epitaph “it’s the perfect 3 am song.” He was right then (1972) and still right today.
ok ..I'm convinced..I've subscribed.. your vids are great!
Hey Abigail,
I saw King Crimson in 1970 and was so impressed with their great ability to improvise, very unexpected and jazzy. This album is in my collection as well, a treasure!
I later saw Emerson Lake and Palmer and was a bit more impressed with King Crimson
Thanks so much for sharing your great research and good taste!!
It must have been late 1969 when I saw them in Louisville Ky
I first encountered ITCOTCK the same way as you. I just came across that cover in the high school library and had to check it out, and was blown away. My life was changed both musically and poetically. Back then, lyrics and personnel listings were still very unusual, and for me added a great insight, especially seeing Fripp listed solely on guitar. This was when he started reshaping my attitude towards my own playing. Guitar could be operatic, atmospheric, and mischievous, not just chords and blues solos. And Peter Sinfield's lyrics were an intellectual escape into another dimension.
Being a sci-fi and fantasy fan, and someone who loved listening to all kinds of music, it was like this album was custom ordered for me. It just fit into so many receptors that it guaranteed King Crimson and Robert Fripp would impact me forever.
Thank you for doing this album, really fun and interesting, and your love here really got me a little verklempt 🥲.
I recently got into your channel (and man, I am hooked), so I'm watching things out of order - but this one is by far my favorite, and not just because of the subject matter. Its informative and humorous and insightful. Simply great!
I have the original first disc on the Island label (UK), but cover a little damaged, as ancient! Robert came from Wimborne, Dorset, and my family farm was there. Moved to Bournemouth, Dorset, where I had guitar lessons from Don Strike, with Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, and John Wetton, who was at school with me, who later joined Crimson, and of course, ASIA. He was in the year above me, and was a gentle person. Robert was rather particular with the sound, which can be construed as fussy, but he is a perfectionist. I have a PRS Schizoid guitar too, and a Mel9 mellotron effects pedal to get the effect. Thanks for posting this, it brings back great memories.....
I still remember the day i listened to 21st Century Schizoid Man for the first time. I was in High school in 2003 and back then i listened to alot of Internet radio. Having never heard a King Crimson track, the rock station finally played Schizoid out of the blue. I stopped doing research for a paper i was working on and just listened to the song. It floored me away. It commanded my attention. I went to the library the next day to find this album and sure enough it was there for me to check out. Ripped the CD on my computer and put it on a blank disc then listened to it religiously on my CD player at school. This album cemented my love for prog music.
Nah I love King Crimson's adaptability and constant change. Their 80s records (Discipline, Beat, 3 of a Perfect Pair) are arguably their best run
That's the great thing about them so many different styles, my favourite era is lizard through to red
@@FormulaProgMe too.
@@FormulaProg Larks Tongues In Aspic and Starless are for me their best songs.
King Crimson always had phenomenal musician lineups.
I saw K.C. in 1973 w/John Wetton on larger than life itself vocals and they performed Larks Tongues in Aspic in full.
I saw E.L.P. in 1971 and Greg Lakes voice was superb and all three musicians gave you musical chills and thrills. King Crimsons
Lizard is a symphonic masterpiece.
Thank you for your thorough research on this band, it was quite enjoyable. ❤
Lizard is an odd album. Gordon Haskell's vocals didn't do it for me, but I think the last touring lineup actually improved a lot of those songs. Check out the Meltdown - Live in Mexico City set.
@@THumanQTip Yeah but Lizard 🦎 showcased Fripps ability to play almost any kind of music in the world along with the groups he assembled for the his next King Crimson.
I have owned Meltdown before, and gave it to an old friend that saw them in Mexico City all three nights ( during the filming of that dvd),and was in one of the main crowd photographs. He bought me a Stickman ticket, as you may know about them led by Tony Levin...a killer trio and the show was great.
@@THumanQTipI love that album. Memories. I have all my Crimson updated for this century, DSD128 format from vinyl, in my digital audio player using planar in ear monitors.
Never underrate the 2 great saxes
@@rickdicl amazing work on that album
Congratulations, you did a lot of research, good information that a 60-year-old didn't know. I've loved KC since the 70s.
Your singing of the theme is pitch-perfect and lovely.
A friend of mine introduced me to this album around 1977, shortly after he introduced me to ELP. Greg Lake's vocals in 'Epitaph' were haunting then, and still just as haunting today. He sings with feeling, power, and dread, making the listener push 'repeat' (or lift the needle and replay it) over and over. 'Epitaph' contains, by far, my favorite performance by Greg Lake.
Adore this album... I Talk to the Wind is a thing of beauty 🖤
As an old guy I didnt learn anything new but hearing your take on this was wonderful. Love your presentation style, really enthusiastic and funny.
There are many young people out there reviewing classic sixties songs that have no clue what they are hearing. Abigail has done her research and I am impressed. I'm 72 and still own this album I bought in '69. In the early '80's my young kids were terrified and fascinated with the album's artwork. Today they love the art of music. Also, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake founded The Nice, before King Crimson and maybe the first prog rock band.
You are wise between your ears and beyond your years. They had me with this album, and never lost me.
I got to meet Bill Rieflin a few times, and recorded once with him. Everyone asked him for stories about REM/Ministry, but I was only interested in his Fripp stories, as he’d just done his first tour with KC. He was a great drummer and a sweetheart.
Some friends of mine had a punk rock band in 1998, but they got so crazy about I Talk To The Wind, when I showed it to them, that I was invited to play the sweet flute as a substitute - the closer we had - for the flute with the band in the gigs. It was a good experience... But imagine: a punk rock concert, with... I Talk To The Wind in the middle! LoL
dude that is seriously one of the most punk stories ever! Hats off to you guys for that.
King crimson love this band and this debut album just takes hold of you and doesn't let you go you're in for the whole ride and when the albums over you want to do it all over again
So excited for this episode! My first intro to this album was the Hyde Park performance of 21st Schizoid Man randomly recommended to me (my fav part was the audience looking incredibly confused), I went and listened to this whole album and was mindblown
Well, back when I was 14ish years old, this was my favorite band. I attended my first concert at 13, which was Stevie Ray Vaughn, opening for Peter Tosh, opening for Talking Heads, opening for The Police. At the time I was first introduced to King Crimson, it was through Three of a Perfect Pair which was playing on the airwaves- Sleepless was everywhere, and we had taped the Frejus concert featuring Bill Bruford's impossible Indiscipline drum solo on a VHS tape. My friends introduced me to In the Court of, and, well... I bought all their albums. I bought a Japanese imported version of Earthbound, because it was impossible to find it in North America. Your comment at the end about Led Zep got you a subscription- this is the first video of yours I listen to. It is such an influential album, and it is brilliantly executed by musicians at the top of their craft. Thanks for your well researched video on this juggernaut of an album!! Cheers!
Hard to believe the master tapes for such a masterpiece were missing for so many years. Nice research Abby 👌
An excellent,scholarly-type (really!) review. BTW, Blue Cheer was huge in my SW Ohio "boogie-belt" environment, Abby. Vincibus Eruptum! Thanks.
Mainly hard to believe they lost 'em that fast.
They're on the 3cd plus blu ray set I have I think
I think I've read that it's far more common than you think, even with major historic recordings.
@hughmac13 No , it's not at all common. There was a major fire in 2008 that destroyed many master tapes ..In general they are stored in a very safe vault & rarely used. Fortunately , a well mastered CD can produce an acceptable alternative for most ears ..not analog purists though ! ✌️
Gonna make you jealous, but ....my first live gig I paid to see was KING CRIMSON on the 'Islands' tour.
Boz was lead vocalist, they opened with 'Circus' and blew my mind from that drumsnareORGAN!!.
My mind remains, blown.
Abby, I love your style, you remain me of my old flames from back in my days and course love the work you do for us with all your knowledge of music.
Another album released in Oct. 1969 is my favorite by The Kinks, the concept album "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)". It's worth a listen.
I think there are a lot of similarities between "In the Court of the Crimson King" and "In the Wake of Poseidon". "Lizard" and "Islands" are more eclectic but still good.
You mentioned the 50th anniversary, Fripp celebrated by releasing a slew of rarities: alternate takes, edits, remixes, live versions, enough to fill 4 CDRs.
If you haven't seen Mr. Fripp's Sunday videos with his wife Toyah Wilcox you don't know how wacky he can be. They're a treat.
That's my favorite Kinks record too.
I love this album. It was one of the best, released in the late 60s. The album was a complete shock. Rock changed after it. The Kinks album, I bought when it came out also. That is a great album it was different from their earlier songs. The Kinks are always great. There was so much great music in the 60s and 70s. I was blessed to be a teenager during that and experience the atmosphere and the music. I lived in the San Francisco Bay area and saw it all. I would not have changed anything about those years. Dave in Sierra Vista AZ
@@davidewing5605 I'm envious, I was just starting to listen to music around that time, mostly the AM radio stuff and whatever made the variety shows on our 2 TV channels.
Great to see SOMEONE talk about how great Ian McDonald was. He's responsible for the variety in sound and instrumentation. He's also is the only person to have writing credits on all of the songs.
Ian McDonald and Michael Giles started a Duo called McDonald & Giles, releasing one album on the same name in 1970, which utilized some music written for and even performed by King Crimson
I like the McDonald & Giles album, maybe more than Crimson King actually, but I haven't listened to either in years.
Found a copy about a year ago.not bad
Excellent album.
There is also the Brondesbury Tapes with the ethereal ex Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble singing. I love her voice on those songs.
Mike Giles one of thé best UK's drummer ,incredibly clean .Mc Donald had many skills but seems unriable ...rather prefer mc Donald 's stuffs than Robert 's one ,dislike " 21 rst century" ...Giles Giles and Fripp too as MC Donald & Giles ,or 1rst Crimson are too interesting lps .mc Donald 's use of thé MK2 mellotron IS wonderfull ,even if hé didn't reach Mike Pinder somptous sound ,liké Tony Banks hé did know how to play it .they AREN'T many of them!
I gotta give it to you Abby, as some one who did a lot of prog indulgence and research, I don't believe I could have compiled the information about this album and the band and present it as well as you did here. This is an album for the ages. Great job!
(Now I'm hoping for a Larks' Tongues in Aspic episode ;D)
Abigail, this was a brilliantly erudite and utterly charming analysis of IMO one of the greatest recordings of all time, coincidentally released by a band that has for over 50 years been my favorite of all time. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Loved the mention of Yes. Yes' lead singer Jon Anderson went to some of the early Crimson shows and would then go into Yes rehearsals and band meetings and say stuff like "If Crimson's our competition then we're going to have to get a lot better." Yes' original drummer Bill Bruford was also a major Crimson fan and would go on to join the band.
"In The Court of the Crimson King" is nothing short of brilliant! Robert Fripp and company's sound is unique. Greg Lake (RIP) has such a unique voice as well. As with the music, the album cover art has staying power. The last time I was in London, I saw a van with that artwork skillfully applied to the van's side panels. The only other band; other than King Crimson; that impacted me in such a way was (is) Hawkwind. As an addendum, a shout-out to The Groundhogs and Chicken Shack. Cheers and all the best to Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox!
"It the court of King Crimson" by King Crimson is a classic masterpiece,one of the progresive rock albums of all time.I love this album.Great review Abby!
32gram pressing of the remaster was my introduction to King Crimson; sitting on top my roof with a few friends over. Listening to what we called the coconut drum solo - absolutely mindblowing stuff!
Ended up traded my copy for Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue".
Favourite vinyl Monday episode (so far) Thank you Abs!
👍 Been into this album for 45 years, it never gets boring. A timeless album. 🎵 "A gardener plants an evergreen whilst trampling on a flower, says it all! Longevity vs Aesthetics. 🎵=🗝️
It's great to hear appreciation and analysis of music that I love and remember from my youth come from you who weren't there in the time it was produced. Thank you.
Abby, for whatever, your use of the opening riff from "Circle Sky" from the Monkees' "Head" soundtrack always brightens my day. Thanks.
I love this album and King Crimson secured their place for the greatest live concert I've ever attended in 2021. Your analyses are delightful.
I'd trade the other 50+ shows I've seen in my life to relive the 23 song KC show I saw in 2017. Unbelievable.
@@THumanQTip I walked out of the Chicago show that year thinking they HAD to give us a release of that show. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
Although I bought the original album in 1969 or 70 (and still have it), I only saw KC live for the FIRST TIME in 2019 in Atlanta. They played both ITCOTCK and Schizoid (as well as Starless and many other greats), and truly feel blessed as sadly I do not think this can happen again. And it was the best concert I have ever experienced. Absolute perfection by all members.
For a 24-year old getting hooked into Crimson and this 50+-year old album speaks volumes as to how vital and brilliant it was and is. As a comparison, I can't imagine any music from the 1920's generating this kind of passionate interest in me back in 1970...
I first heard this in the middle of the night when WABX in Detroit first got the record and played the whole thing. I was blown away and soon bought the album. I also like Islands though a lot of people don't. I play Song of the Gulls of my harmonica
This is a very good analysis of this classic album. I received my first copy in mid 1970. I immediately became a life long fan. I’ve seen the band 9 times. I never caught this first band live (I had to wait until 1973 and 74 to see the Lark’s Tongues in Aspic lineup, and they were superb). The song Epitaph for me is one of my favorite songs of all time, along with Starless, from 1974’s Red. Both of those songs have a 3 o’clock in the morning feel. It’s nice to see a member of the next generation present such a fact based and detailed history of that first band. I love just about everything the following KIng CrImson bands produced, but the bands that existed between 1969 and 1974 are definitely my favorite (although the band from 2013 to 2021 was outstanding as well). Great job on this review.
Not being a prog fan, “Crimson King” has always been the first and last prog record I could actualy relate to. After your delightfully ‘revisionist’ appreciation it sounds better than ever (approaching the album from the vantage point of Kanye’s sampling might have been a blessing). I so enjoy your attention to formal nuance, musical analogies („Moonchild“ - 4’33’’!), surprising cross references (Oppenheimer!!), and your ear-and-mind-opening sense of the archetypal. And how can one not love an album that inspires such sartorial flamboyance!!!
I would like to know if you like nik turner /Hawkwind
@@avery7001 Thanks for the tip! I had never heard of them. Just listened to some of their stuff. "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" must be the funniest song about a genius since Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso" :-))
It seems like between the years 1964-1973 there was a veritable avalanche of incredible releases. Not that the previous and ensuing years didn’t, but for close to a decade there was a renaissance going on both qualitatively and quantitatively. You are amazing and appreciated, keep up the great work!
You’ve clearly done your homework here and I like that your opinions aren’t re hashes of conventional wisdom. My favorite part is your humor- subscribed! I’m sure you’re aware, but Mc Donald and Giles recorded an album together right after they left. Worth exploring!
Abi thank you so much I love your insight on the music and the connections to other bands that you mention on this video.
Please keep doing what you're doing I really enjoy your deep dives into music that I love and treasure. You're the best.
Masterpiece.
Indeed. And has any other LP from 1969 remained as relevant to listeners today?
Don't sell yourself short - You may not think of yourself as a musician, but you really understand music.
thank you so much - i try my best!
@@abigaildevoe - and you succeed!
I bought this album when it came out. The first song, 21st, when you put the needle on this song, their is 3 seconds of silence, than you here a hum from the amp, for one to two seconds, then the song starts. I have looked, and every time I find this song, it doesn't have that hum. It may sound dum, but that for me, is beginning of that song. When you here that hum you know you are going to here something loud. That song is one of the loudest songs I have ever heard. This album totally blew us away, it was worthy of the art work on the cover. Also, when it first came out, that was all the teens were talking about. I am from the San Francisco Bay area and we mostly listened to to the underground FM stations. Of course, they played the whole album. Like they did with Tommy, by The Who. You described this album well. But what a shock it was for us musically. Yes for a debut album, it was the best made. Led Zeppelin's first was very good, Credence Clear Water Revival was excellent, Quicksilver Messager Service was very good, but this album, easily toppled them all. Keep on rocking in the free world. Dave in Sierra Vista AZ
Im 72 i got this album as a freshman at USM Southern Miss in 1970. You did a fabulous review. I ordered the album after late night listening to EPITAPH on KAAY rado in Arkansas. If i could get my radio to tune in.
Thanks for the review.
Love your speculative, pragmatic and intelligent (and humorous) analysis of anything music. I myself got into into older music as a result of covers and samples (i.e. 80's-early 90's rap) and when it came to contemporary music, I would somehow peer into and immerse myself in sounds and styles from earlier eras to fully color in the entire musical tapestry. Keep the videos coming and we'll keep tuning in. Cheers!
Good one. Glad to hear more of the story. Another angle on the scene that shifted between this and Poseidon includes the death of Jimi Hendrix, who was a principal inspiration to Fripp, along with Stravinsky, Miles, and Charlie Parker. Poseidon kind of functions as a funeral dirge for the 60's.
Fripp got me good as I took in King Crimson as a young bassist. Now I have a black Les Paul copy and regularly do the First Primary exercise I was shown when I was briefly in a Guitar Craft group round 2007. Fripp's call for Prog to realize it's no longer 1970 takes me even further back to the origins of the drum kit which is my present band placement and discipline. Learning to play Jazz after being stuck in a tight Rock box until I got my own kit is a joyful struggle to me, Capricorn Sun and Mercury down in my underground, Moon up high in Gemini taking it all in.
Fripp is a Taurus Sun, so that shows something of his discipline with protecting his wealth. He's also been of great service to a few musicians like Talking Heads, David Bowie, The Roaches where he did the opposite of bad producers and helped artists find their genius like when under the influence of something Fripp said to him Peter Gabriel went and wrote "Here Comes The Flood" which was the beginning of his solo career coming up above ground, and the flood is still flowing with his new album IO. David Sylvian found a new voice working with Fripp in the 80's and 90's. Lately as Bobby Wilcox he's the guitar wizard for his wife Toyah's band.
Red was another stunning album for the Bruford, Wetton phase. And wow do those songs come alive with the Tony Levin years! He's my favorite bassist. When he's on the bass I don't need to hear the drums to know where they go.
So taking my music history bundle into the present time it's obvious to me how the music I love to play and not just listen to is threatened by over reliance on technology. I focus my music lessons on training the human skills and not get lost in the technology, where to my senses it's not humans playing machines like it was in the 70's and 80's, and sort of the 90's. It's algorithms playing with humans where the 'artists' only give the faintest samples of their natural human signals, then the producers process the living integrity and mask lack of skill with all the plug ins and filters, if they're even human anymore cause the mainstream crap is all uniform and segmented and perfectly compressed like a fart in a jar, stuff robots can and do compose like exquisite corpses they make from scant human input.
So the present time to me looks like a revival of humans playing instruments together in the same space even if it's just a subculture under the dominion of robots.
One of the best album covers of all time!
That album cover is great, you’ll always remember it even if you’ve seen it once. I miss great album cover art
Glad you brought up the drums. It's my favorite snare sound ever.
Such great insights. I love In the Wake of Poseidon, but I can see how it's certainly not for everyone.
Great review as usual, In the court of the Crimson king is an important album in the rock history,.
Nice dress
As a 52-year old classic rock reviewer myself, there is nothing I can do but applaud and admire your sharpness and intelligence, Abigail. “Schizoid Man” and “In The Court...” used to be my favorites from this album. It took me decades of listening to it but finally I switched to “Epitaph”. Greeting from Chihuahua, Northern Mexico.
Agree. Can't go past "Epitaph".
I listened to this album when it came out in the fall of 1969. We were living in Nashville and Scott Shannon featured it often on his Power Hour from 11 till midnight on WMAK. Loved it, I was a freshman at Hillwood High School so this came out during my formative years. It’s left a life-long impression on my musical journey.
The man who gave you that collection knew what he did.This could well be the best story telling about classic rock. I never felt prog was difficult. In the 70's I listened to nothing else.But never dove deep lile you do. Just loved the melodies and voices and smoked a lot. Thathelps.
I adore your analysis..many thanks!
Dope. Vinyl Monday. I’m lovin. I’m from that era. I’m 74.
Thank you, Abigail. 🙂
I was hanging out with my friend down by the bridge that leads to Ohio ..It was summertime and it was the early seventies. We were going to visit his brother. Everybody was drinking and smoking funny stuff down there. King Crimson was playing ..confusion will be my epitaph. I said "what the hell is this?". I was impressed as hell. I went out and bought all of the Crimson albums that i could find. All good except that live album with Boz..I turned my friend on to them and he loved them till the day he died and they influenced us very much as far as making music..When we bought the Fripp/ Eno albums they were a big reason for Jimson and Hollingsworth and the whole end of the world trilogy that we did..Unfortunately,that stuff is sitting in a box rotting away somewhere and will probably never be heard until after I am long gone because Kevin has passed now and his sister and her husband have it in Texas. Anyway,you heard it here first. Take care!
I'm old - so I lived thru that era. I still listen to KC almost daily. My fav after thousands of listens over the years in Epitaph. It seeems to really be more relevant today.
I bought this record as a middle-school student in '69. Each of the band members seemed to have his own voice. Fripp was dark and ponderous, Lake was heroic, McDonald was tender but jazzy and Giles sounded vaguely militaristic. There was some beautiful music on subsequent albums, but the balance was lost. Imagine such a long-standing group doing its best work in the first year!
WOW! APPLAUSE! It really is the greatest debut album of all time - a true force of the cosmos.
Always impressed with the barely contained tension on the opening track. Like you say, a soundtrack for the apocalypse.
It occurred to me later that there was another strand of thinking in the 1960s which the young uns might not be so aware of. This was the notion, popularized by figures such as RD Laing, that the normal society getting ready for nuclear war was in fact mad, while people like schizophrenics and so on were the sane ones.
Lake was an old friend of Fripp from when they both shared the same guitar teacher.
When I found this with 16 (93) in my stepfathers collection, I was blown away by the first song and every following was as I was searching for that music a long time ago...
I am still a great fan of KC and this album is the no 1 still and ever!!!
Hi Abby. Thanks for this, and well done. I first heard this at a party in the mid-70's; the album cover was propped on a mantle piece with a homemade "Now Playing" sign next to it. (I haven't seen that before or since, except here.) It made an impression on me. I was more a fan of Red and Starless and Bible Black, what I think of as the Bill Bruford years. Did try a few others too, like Larks' Tongues in Aspic. Thanks again for bringing it all back.
I'm thrilled by how competent and serious your reviews are! And I love your text and you're beautiful too! Great channel, glad it came to me!
Take it from a moon child: "The noodling is worth it" :D Well-spoken.
Literally never owned a copy of this until I saw this video. Great album, great review!
still the greatest album cover ever. I could spend the whole 35 minutes of this video just watching you hold it up to the camera.
as you should have, it’s a damn good cover!
Just finished my viewing of Vinyl Monday 1969 mini series part II ( a title so long it's prog). An amazing richly articulate episode.
Page, Hendrix, Clapton et al weren't the only game in town in 1969 enter R.Fripp my fav. If you want to hear him let rip on Schizoid Man I'd recommend the BBC session version on epitaph.
An answer to where the original band might have gone musically can be found on the eponymous Macdonald and Giles album where things get, I think, Beatley indeed. They had everything in that first lineup to pick up that thread.
You've truly picked a challenge for yourself with this mini series Abby and the last couple of weeks has been sooo goood.
Abigail, you did very comprehensive research on this album. You know more about the album than me... and I was there at the time, and very into the "prog" scene. Always enjoy you Mondays. Thanks.
I was never familiar with King Crimson other than occasionally hearing the title track on the radio. Shame on me. As a kid growing up in the 70's I was heavily into Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Yes, Alice Cooper, and Uriah Heep to name a few. Some bands you might be familiar with are UFO, Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Captain Beyond, Lou Reed, Kraftwerk, Return To Forever are bands that as being the youngest of six boys were a big influence on me. I definitely got to hit up Amazon for King Crimson. If your familiar with Uriah Heep I recommend profiling their album "Demons and Wizards" on vinyl Monday. Love your videos Abby!
man, did I binge-watch this channel today?! That's my favourite band and one of my favourite albums... Let's finish with this one!
One of(?) their mellotrons ended up being sold to Genesis and can be heard on "Watcher of the Skies" and others, I'm pretty sure.
oh i love hearing stories of traveling mellotrons! john's from the sgt. pepper's era was the one the zombies used on odyssey and oracle
@@abigaildevoe Another connection: when Phil Collins joined Genesis they supposedly sat him down with ITCOTKC and Giles and said 'play like that'. And that was his style for a couple albums. I imagine a few early prog bands did that.
Nice review ! The Giles and Giles and Fripp tapes you mention are a revelation for me, if you don’t mind CDs they are available in the 1969 recordings box ! I had no idea they were rare, I put them on and was blown away.
I don’t think I was ever 24 yrs old. I’m now closing in on 72. Yikes! I digress. You did a very impeccably creative in depth episode. You go girl. 🖖🚀
Truly a GREAT album!!! I will never forget the experience of hearing "21st Century" for the first time after putting this record on, and I remember being floored by the onrushing waves of sound! It was equal parts amazing, ass-kicking, and truly frightening!
Your point is well taken. This album is truly timeless, and still sounds fresh today!!!
Nice review Abby!
Your thorough, thoughtful and extensive analysis is so impressive. You really did your homework on this album and hit all the relevant points. It's sad to me that the brilliant line up from this debut album didn't last. Later versions of King Crimson, though, have made up for it. Again, your dive into this classic is so appreciated.
What gets me about this album is everyone has praised it for so long and all the time I hear of it's genius, I would put it on and I am like "I just don't get it!". Then one day i tried again and I got it.
OMG thanks again, Abby!! Much appreciated!
Well next week is going to be so much fun. Really enjoyed this and once more, thanks for the enormous research you do.
Aw yeah hot gas balloon
OMG I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!! I was just getting into KC again, what an amazing video
Love this album.Fripp is a genuine musical pioneer. well researched review of an amazing album.Thanks Abby.
You should do a review of the three Crimson albums from the 80's. They are my favorites!