Tape machines running at different speeds occasionally resulted in albums being a couple of seconds shorter/longer". These tapes were then sent out to licensee countries who had no adequate measure of comparison & trusted the source material from the record company office. Fripp speculated that the problem was caused by incompetent mastering engineers or "some tapes were mastered in different countries on machines that were not very well maintained or from copies made in the source country (normally US or UK in the case of rock music) where the second machine was inadequately maintained/monitored. While supervising a mastering cut, Ian McDonald discovered that the copy master had a problem on the right track, and because the first generation master tapes were missing since 1969, this problem was compensated for by EQ until 2002.
In some cases, the band went through 5 tape generations to attain deeply layered, segued tracks. In order to achieve the characteristic lush, orchestral sounds on the album, Ian McDonald spent many hours overdubbing layers of Mellotron and various woodwind and reed instruments. The album was recorded on a 1" 8-channel 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 the album 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 opened for the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park, London in July 1969, before an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people, which brought them positive attention. The Speakeasy Club concert, which Sinfield describes as their second, was smashed up by members of The Pink Fairies Drinking Club.
Multiple sources state that King Crimson made their live debut on 9 April 1969 at The Speakeasy Club in London, but Sinfield claims they did an earlier show in Newcastle, stepping in for a cancelled King Curtis. " The Court of the Crimson King" was written by keyboardist/woodwinds player Ian McDonald and Sinfield for their earlier group The Creation, and started as a country and western song before its final progressive rock configuration. According to lyricist Peter Sinfield, the song was influenced by Joni Mitchell in a 1997 interview he said it is still his favorite lyric that he ever wrote. The song " I Talk to the Wind" was written for King Crimson predecessor group Giles, Giles and Fripp (the only song on the album for which this was the case), but was retained by King Crimson in order to show the group's soft side. In 2019 there was a 50th Anniversary 3CD/1BD box set, which contained remasters, remixes, instrumentals and expansions of the original album. A 40th anniversary edition of the album was released in 2009 with new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes by Steven Wilson. After the original masters were discovered in the Virgin archives in 2002, the album was remastered again by Simon Heyworth and reissued in 2004. It was reissued several times in the 1980s and 1990s using inferior copies of the master tapes.
The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 28 on the US Billboard 200, where it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album is one of the first and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band combined the musical influences that rock music was founded upon with elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music. In the Court of the Crimson King (subtitled An Observation by King Crimson) is the debut studio album by English rock band King Crimson, released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records.