On this day, the recently-formed progressive rock band, King Crimson, released their iconic first-ever studio album “In the Court of the Crimson King” on the Island Records label. The band, formed by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield, first became known to the general public when they were asked to open for the Rolling Stones free concert in Hyde Park, London in July 1969. The album was King Crimson’s most commercially successful album, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest progressive rock albums ever released. The band drew inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, blues, industrial, electronic, and experimental music. King Crimson also exerted a strong influence on the early 1970s progressive rock movement, including on contemporaries such as Yes and Genesis, and continues to inspire subsequent generations of artists across multiple genres.
