He has described the featured visage as “the Schizoid Man”, the protagonist of In The Court Of The Crimson King‘s single 21st Century Schizoid Man (sung by lead vocalist Greg Lake, later of Emerson, Lake & Palmer). “They kept it exposed to bright light, at the risk of ruining it,” he said in 1995. The original painting is now owned by King Crimson lead guitarist Robert Fripp, who was horrified to find it languishing in the band’s label HQ in the mid-‘90s. Tragically, Godber’s first ever album cover artwork would never spell a change in career fortunes for the blossoming watercolour artist he died in 1970 at the age of just 24, reportedly from a heart attack. Their debut’s cover features a painting by computer programmer Barry Godber, who was a friend of King Crimson lyricist Pete Sinfield. With their debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King, English progrock group King Crimson were quickly recognised as one of the most radical – and later influential – bands in the genre’s history their irreverent adoption of jazz and symphonic flairs over the blues-based patterns that defined rock music before them was unprecedented. This month: King Crimson’s In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969).
We have a look back at the fascinating tales behind some of our favourite album covers.
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