Arthur Brown

Metal master Number of posts : 896 Age : 50

Don't laugh, but I just found out about this guy 10 minutes ago!

I was listening to More's Warhead album and heard the song "Fire." I recognized it immediately as a song Cirith Ungol did. I decided to look it up to see who originally did the song and learned about the "Crazy World" of Arthur Brown who was an influence on many of my favorite music acts including KISS, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Dickinson, King Diamond, etc. He was, obviously when watching this video, a big influence for Alice Cooper. I can imagine his act was quite bizarre, if not a bit shocking, for 1968. I'm assuming there are fans of his music here.

Metal graduate Number of posts : 254 Age : 49

Never heard of him. Interesting fella.

Metal master Number of posts : 866 Age : 56

Wow Never Heard of him either.

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 4009 Age : 47

I have heard of him but never went out of my way to hear any of his music - I may have to change that in the future.

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 2546 Age : 34

He's pretty well known here in Britain and I think you're definitely right about the influence he had on Alice. Last time I saw Cooper here in London, Arthur Brown even joined him on stage to do 'Fire', complete with burning head gear. Quite the character.

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Arthur Brown MnoAeeo

Metal is my Life Number of posts : 39505 Age : 55

I've heard of him but only through the song Fire. It never really made me want to seek out anything by him though.

Metal is my Life Number of posts : 12811 Age : 54

I don't have any of his albums, but I know of him because of how much he influenced Bruce Dickinson's vocal style.

Bukkake Tsunami Number of posts : 25557 Age : 52

I knew of him through my father's old record collection. He had the song 'Fire' on an old 45. Of course, without the crazy visuals to go along, the song isn't quite the same. Still catchy though. I believe "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" still performs live, mostly in England. Not sure how the music holds up, but I'm sure the stage show is a sight to see.

Cathedral also did a cover of that song. I believe it was on an ep. Can't remember which one at the moment.

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I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too.

Bukkake Tsunami Number of posts : 25557 Age : 52

Smindas wrote:: He's pretty well known here in Britain and I think you're definitely right about the influence he had on Alice. Last time I saw Cooper here in London, Arthur Brown even joined him on stage to do 'Fire', complete with burning head gear. Quite the character.

Here ya go...

And here's something a little more current from Mr. Brown & company. Puts me in a retro kinda mood.

Kooky!!

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I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too.

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 4201 Age : 38

Mr. Brown was also very recognizable and influential in the UK prog rock explosion.

Bukkake Tsunami Number of posts : 25557 Age : 52

Doing a little digging around and it would appear that after the demise of the original "Crazy World of Arthur Brown" band in 1970, his next band was Kingdom Come, some 15 or so years before the "other" Kingdom Come of the 80's.

Here he is sans the make-up and theatrics and just fronting the Hamburg Blues Band in 2011. Guy has a killer voice for a dude in his 70's.

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I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too.

Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 3361 Age : 50

My favorite episode of Metal Evolution. Authur Brown is great in this. Fun episode.
http://www.vh1.com/video/metal-evolution/full-episodes/shock-rock/1677704/playlist.jhtml

I found an Authur Brown disc used once. It was a little pricey and giving it a listen in store I decided it wasn't something I could take a full album plus bonus tracks of. From the samples it sounded like a few cool songs scattered amongst stuff I'd probably never revisit. Couldn't justify buying it. I wouldn't mind seeing the guy do his thing live though.

Metal Wanker Number of posts : 6039 Age : 56

I knew because of the Alice connection but wasn't inclined to get his music. Quite an influence he wielded though.

Bukkake Tsunami Number of posts : 25557 Age : 52

jstate wrote:: I found an Authur Brown disc used once. It was a little pricey and giving it a listen in store I decided it wasn't something I could take a full album plus bonus tracks of. From the samples it sounded like a few cool songs scattered amongst stuff I'd probably never revisit. Couldn't justify buying it. I wouldn't mind seeing the guy do his thing live though.

Seems to be the general consensus amongst the internet community. He's put out alot of music, but you gotta slog through a lot of weird, avant-garde stuff to find the gems, which are few and far between. Probably more interesting live than on record.

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I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too.

Metal is Forever Number of posts : 7234 Age : 52

I've never listened to an album even though I have always loved Fire. The other song posted makes me want to hear more though.

Administrator Number of posts : 19452 Age : 57

I have the 7" single of The Crazy World of Authur Brown song "Fire".

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Metal, Movies, Beer Number of posts : 37639 Age : 53

I forget if it was in Sam Dunn's "Metal Evolution" series or in "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey," but in one of them, Bruce Dickinson goes on at great length about Arthur Brown's influence on him.

If I'm not mistaken, that's Arthur reciting the spoken word/poetry bits on Bruce's The Chemical Wedding album.

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Administrator Number of posts : 19452 Age : 57

Trogdawn is a huge fan of Authur Brown.

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Metal is in my blood Number of posts : 2546 Age : 34

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Smindas wrote:: He's pretty well known here in Britain and I think you're definitely right about the influence he had on Alice. Last time I saw Cooper here in London, Arthur Brown even joined him on stage to do 'Fire', complete with burning head gear. Quite the character.

Here ya go...

That's the very gig, thanks for digging that out mate - great gig!

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Arthur Brown MnoAeeo

Metal novice Number of posts : 90 Age : 34

I've heard about him but never listened to him, and now that I've seen that video... well, that's just not what I expected at all. Very interesting.

Metal is Forever Number of posts : 5014 Age : 55

I've heard of him and the "Fire" song, but nothing else. I do know Carl Palmer of ELP was in his band and I think Vincent Crane who formed Atomic Rooster was as well.

mini boss Number of posts : 21101 Age : 53

Arthur Brown is cool and his albums are very dated but still a fun listen to. A favorite of Alice and Dennis Dunaway.

Guest

Worth noting that both Carl Palmer and Vincent Crane were in The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown. Vincent Crane was fired during a US tour, Palmer was so furious he quit the band in protest. They went back to England and formed Atomic Rooster. After their debut album Palmer quit the band to become the "P" in ELP.

The lost Ramone Number of posts : 6557 Age : 34

His version of 'I put a spell on you' is great.

» Kill Devil Hill (new band w/ Vinny Appice and Rex Brown)
» Rex Brown's new band.
» Bobbie Brown?
» RIP Kim Simmonds (Savoy Brown)
» Cool story from Jimmy P. Brown (Deliverance).