Arthur Brown (musician)
Encyclopedia
Arthur Brown is an English
rock and roll
musician
best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper
, Peter Gabriel
, Marilyn Manson
, George Clinton
, Kiss
, King Diamond
, and Bruce Dickinson
, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart
and Canada, "Fire
" in 1968.
in Leeds, Brown attended the University of London
and the University of Reading
and studied philosophy
and law
, but he gravitated to music instead, forming his first band Blues and Brown while at Reading. After a spell fronting a number of bands in London, Brown then moved to Paris in 1966, where he worked on his theatrical skills. During this period he recorded two songs for the Roger Vadim
film of the Emile Zola
novel La Curee
. Returning to London around the turn of late 1966 to early 1967 he was a temporary member of a London
-based R&B/Soul
/Ska
group The Ramong Sound
that would soon become the hit making soul group The Foundations
.
Brown had left the group to form his own band, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
. The band included Vincent Crane
(Hammond organ
and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass).
Brown quickly earned a reputation for outlandish performances, which included the use of a burning metal helmet that led to occasional mishaps, such as during an early appearance at the Windsor Festival in 1967, where he wore a colander
on his head soaked in methanol. The fuel poured over his head by accident and caught fire; two bystanders doused the flames by pouring beer on Brown’s head, preventing any serious injury. The flaming head then became an Arthur Brown signature. On occasion he also stripped naked while performing, most notably in Italy, where, after setting his hair on fire as usual, he was arrested and thrown out of the country. He was also notable for the extreme make-up he wore onstage, which would later be reflected in the stage acts of the aforementioned Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson and Kiss.
By 1968, the debut album, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown became a surprise hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Produced by The Who
's manager Kit Lambert
, and executive-produced by Pete Townshend
on Track Records, the label begun by Lambert and Chris Stamp
, it spun off an equally surprising hit single, "Fire
", and contained a version of "I Put a Spell on You
" by Screaming Jay Hawkins, a similarly bizarre showman. "Fire" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. The song has since seen its infamous opening line "I am the God of Hellfire" sampled in numerous other places, most notably in The Prodigy
's 1992 rave anthem "Fire
".
Brown's incendiary stage act sometimes caused trouble, even getting him kicked off a tour with Jimi Hendrix
. On one tour, Brown waited until sunset when his band was playing, and then he had a winch lower him onto the middle of the stage from above, wearing a suit and helmet welded from sheet metal. Parts of the suit were completely lit in lighter fluid and sparklers. In due course, Brown created a perception that he was always on the verge of setting fire to the stage, leading some concert organizers to demand he post a bond with them if he could not show he was adequately insured against uncontrollable fire and fire damages.
Theaker was replaced by Carl Palmer
, later of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
, during the band's second American tour, on which Vincent Crane also left - although he soon returned. However, Crane and Palmer eventually left in 1969 to form Atomic Rooster
, spelling the end for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
and demented theatrics, and the accompanying live shows caused some controversy over Brown's simulated crucifixion and accompanying hypodermic syringe motifs. The third and final Kingdom Come album, Journey, is noteworthy for being one of the first (if not the first) rock albums to feature a drum machine
, especially on the track "Time Captives".
-based concept album
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
by The Alan Parsons Project
. In 1975 he had a small but meaningful part in The Who
's rock opera movie Tommy
as "The Priest". During 1977 he toured with ex-Tangerine Dream
synthesiser player Klaus Schulze
, (as can be heard on the live-album ...Live...
), while in 1979 Brown provided the vocals for on Schulze's album Dune
.
In the 1980s, Brown moved to Austin, Texas
, and obtained a master's degree in counseling. Together with former Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black, he also became a painter and carpenter for some years, and released an album with him, Brown Black And Blue, in 1988.
During the mid-1990s Brown and fellow counselor Jim Maxwell co-founded Healing Songs Therapy, a unique service that culminates in Brown creating a song for each client about their emotional issues.
Brown returned to England in 1996. In 1997, he re-recorded "Fire" with German band Die Krupps
, while in 1998, he provided a spoken-word performance on Bruce Dickinson
's The Chemical Wedding
album, reading a portion of three poems by William Blake
, and appeared as Satan in Dickinson's music video for "Killing Floor". He also appeared on TV, guesting on Kula Shaker
track 'Mystical Machine Gun' several times during 1999.
A further change of musical direction occurred when he formed an acoustic band, initially with Rick Patten on guitar and Stuart ? on guitar, and went on tour with Tim Rose
in 1999. This band then added Stan Adler (cello and bass) and Malcolm Mortimer (percussion) and produced the Tantric Lover album. However, the lineup did not last, and Patten and Brown put a new band together with multi-instrumentalist Nick Pynn
. Straightaway they started doing festivals and international tours, and in 2002 Brown was asked to support Robert Plant
on his Dreamland Tour. By now Patten had been replaced by Chris Bryant.
Brown was getting much more media exposure now as well as playing many gigs all over the world, mostly with his 'Giant Pocket Orchestra' but also with new band Instant Flight, who perform in the same style as the original band in the 1960s. In the middle of this, Brown released Vampire Suite, an album with Josh Philips and Mark Brzezicki
of the band Big Country
, released on Ian Grant's Track Records
. Also around this time, Brown's back catalogue was rereleased by Sanctuary Records
.
Brown reunited the surviving members of Kingdom Come (except Des Fisher) in 2005, for a one-off concert at The Astoria in London
, performing material from Kingdom Come's album Galactic Zoo Dossier, with an encore of "Spirit Of Joy." This show won Brown the 'Showman Of The Year' award from Classic Rock
magazine
.
In 2007, Brown and Pynn released Voice Of Love on the Côte Basque record label
, featuring a number of original recordings.
In August 2007, during a concert in Lewes
, Sussex
, Brown once again set fire to his own hair. While trying to extinguish the flames, Phil Rhodes, a member of the band also caught fire. Brown carried on after the fire was put out; he had however lost a few chunks of hair.
He appeared as a priest in the video
for The Darkness song, "Is It Just Me?".
In 2010 Arthur Brown played a set at the Glastonbury Festival
in the Glade, and he also played at Lounge On The Farm
(with Lucie Rejchrtova on keyboards). On 10 June 2011, days before his 69th birthday, he played a nearly 2-hour set at the Ray Davies
Meltdown Festival
at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
, London where he invited UK singer-songwriter Z-Star
to duet with him.
's album Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
, together with a number of other Hawkwind members.
In 2001 and 2002, Brown made several guest appearances at live Hawkwind concerts, subsequently touring with them as a 'guest vocalist.' On their December 2002 tour, Hawkwind played several songs by Brown from the Kingdom Come era, along with "Song Of The Gremlin" which Brown had sung on Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters; this was documented on the Hawkwind DVD
Out Of The Shadows.
Brown also provided vocals on two of the tracks on Hawkwind's studio album Take Me to Your Leader, released in 2005. One is the spoken-word "A Letter To Robert," where Brown recalls a conversation with Robert Calvert. Arthur continues his association with Hawkwind, touring with a support set for them on their 40th anniversary tour in the UK in 2009.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
, George Clinton
George Clinton (musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, King Diamond
King Diamond
Kim Bendix Petersen , better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Grammy Award nominated Danish heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond...
, and Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and Canada, "Fire
Fire (Arthur Brown song)
"Fire" is a 1968 song by Arthur Brown, Vincent Crane, Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker. Performed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, it was released as a single and on the band's debut album, also called The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The single made #1 in the UK and Canada. In October, it made #2...
" in 1968.
History
After attending Roundhay Grammar SchoolRoundhay School
Roundhay School is a specialist Technology College and Language College in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-Admissions:...
in Leeds, Brown attended the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
and the University of Reading
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...
and studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, but he gravitated to music instead, forming his first band Blues and Brown while at Reading. After a spell fronting a number of bands in London, Brown then moved to Paris in 1966, where he worked on his theatrical skills. During this period he recorded two songs for the Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim
Roger Vadim was a French screenwriter, director, and producer as well as a journalist, author and actor, who launched Brigitte Bardot's career in the film And God Created Woman.-Early life:...
film of the Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
novel La Curee
La Curée
La Curée is the second novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart. It deals with property speculation and the lives of the extremely wealthy Nouveau riche of the Second French Empire, against the backdrop of Baron Haussmann's reconstruction of Paris in the 1850s and...
. Returning to London around the turn of late 1966 to early 1967 he was a temporary member of a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based R&B/Soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/Ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
group The Ramong Sound
The Ramong Sound
The Ramong Sound was a British R&B, soul and ska band, active from 1965 to 1966.-History:The Ramong Sound was a London based outfit, that featured two black lead singers doing Sam & Dave styled duets, one of them being former professional boxer Clem Curtis, and the other being Raymond Morrison aka...
that would soon become the hit making soul group The Foundations
The Foundations
The Foundations were a British soul band, active from 1967 to 1970. The group, made up of West Indians, White British, and a Sri Lankan, are best known for their two biggest hits, "Baby Now That I've Found You" , written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod; and "Build Me Up Buttercup" The Foundations...
.
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
By the time the Foundations had been signed to Pye RecordsPye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
Brown had left the group to form his own band, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is a psychedelic rock album by Arthur Brown and his band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, released in 1968. Considered a classic of the late-1960s psychedelic scene and a significant influence on progressive rock, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown includes covers of...
. The band included Vincent Crane
Vincent Crane
Vincent Crane was a self-taught pianist, who studied theory and composition at Trinity College of Music, and graduated in 1964...
(Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass).
Brown quickly earned a reputation for outlandish performances, which included the use of a burning metal helmet that led to occasional mishaps, such as during an early appearance at the Windsor Festival in 1967, where he wore a colander
Colander
A colander is a bowl-shaped kitchen utensil with holes in it used for draining food such as pasta or rice.The perforated nature of the colander allows liquid to drain through while retaining the solids inside...
on his head soaked in methanol. The fuel poured over his head by accident and caught fire; two bystanders doused the flames by pouring beer on Brown’s head, preventing any serious injury. The flaming head then became an Arthur Brown signature. On occasion he also stripped naked while performing, most notably in Italy, where, after setting his hair on fire as usual, he was arrested and thrown out of the country. He was also notable for the extreme make-up he wore onstage, which would later be reflected in the stage acts of the aforementioned Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson and Kiss.
By 1968, the debut album, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown became a surprise hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Produced by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's manager Kit Lambert
Kit Lambert
Christopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert was a record producer and the manager for The Who.-Early life:Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant Lambert...
, and executive-produced by Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
on Track Records, the label begun by Lambert and Chris Stamp
Chris Stamp
Christopher Stamp is a British psychodrama therapist based in the state of New York. Stamp is also known for co-founding the now defunct Track Records and for co-managing and producing such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s.-Childhood:Born into a working-class family,...
, it spun off an equally surprising hit single, "Fire
Fire (Arthur Brown song)
"Fire" is a 1968 song by Arthur Brown, Vincent Crane, Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker. Performed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, it was released as a single and on the band's debut album, also called The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The single made #1 in the UK and Canada. In October, it made #2...
", and contained a version of "I Put a Spell on You
I Put a Spell on You
"I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song written by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, whose recording was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was also ranked #320 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Although Hawkins'...
" by Screaming Jay Hawkins, a similarly bizarre showman. "Fire" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. The song has since seen its infamous opening line "I am the God of Hellfire" sampled in numerous other places, most notably in The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
's 1992 rave anthem "Fire
Fire/Jericho
"Fire" and "Jericho" are two songs recorded by English electronica/rave act The Prodigy . It peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart....
".
Brown's incendiary stage act sometimes caused trouble, even getting him kicked off a tour with Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
. On one tour, Brown waited until sunset when his band was playing, and then he had a winch lower him onto the middle of the stage from above, wearing a suit and helmet welded from sheet metal. Parts of the suit were completely lit in lighter fluid and sparklers. In due course, Brown created a perception that he was always on the verge of setting fire to the stage, leading some concert organizers to demand he post a bond with them if he could not show he was adequately insured against uncontrollable fire and fire damages.
Theaker was replaced by Carl Palmer
Carl Palmer
Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer is an English drummer and percussionist. He is credited as one of the most respected rock drummers to emerge from the 1960s...
, later of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, during the band's second American tour, on which Vincent Crane also left - although he soon returned. However, Crane and Palmer eventually left in 1969 to form Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
, spelling the end for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come
Though Brown never released another recording as commercially successful as "Fire," he did release three albums with his new band Kingdom Come in the early 1970s. The Kingdom Come albums featured a wild mix of progressive rockProgressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and demented theatrics, and the accompanying live shows caused some controversy over Brown's simulated crucifixion and accompanying hypodermic syringe motifs. The third and final Kingdom Come album, Journey, is noteworthy for being one of the first (if not the first) rock albums to feature a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, especially on the track "Time Captives".
Later career
In later years, Brown released several solo albums and also contributed vocals to the song "The Tell-Tale Heart" on the PoeEdgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
-based concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Tales of Mystery and Imagination is the debut album by the progressive rock group The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1976. The album's avant-garde soundscapes kept it from being a blockbuster, but the interesting lyrical and musical themes — retellings of horror stories and poetry by...
by The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
. In 1975 he had a small but meaningful part in The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's rock opera movie Tommy
Tommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
as "The Priest". During 1977 he toured with ex-Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
synthesiser player Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
, (as can be heard on the live-album ...Live...
...Live...
...Live... is the twelfth album by Klaus Schulze. It was originally released in 1980, and in 2007 was the twenty-sixth Schulze album reissued by Revisited Records. The album contains recordings from concerts in Berlin in 1976, and Amsterdam and Paris in 1979...
), while in 1979 Brown provided the vocals for on Schulze's album Dune
Dune (Klaus Schulze album)
-Personnel:* Klaus Schuze – electronics* Arthur Brown – vocals * Wolfgang Tiepold – cello-External links:* at the official site of Klaus Schulze...
.
In the 1980s, Brown moved to Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, and obtained a master's degree in counseling. Together with former Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black, he also became a painter and carpenter for some years, and released an album with him, Brown Black And Blue, in 1988.
During the mid-1990s Brown and fellow counselor Jim Maxwell co-founded Healing Songs Therapy, a unique service that culminates in Brown creating a song for each client about their emotional issues.
Brown returned to England in 1996. In 1997, he re-recorded "Fire" with German band Die Krupps
Die Krupps
Die Krupps is a German industrial rock/EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf.-History:Their initial sound throughout the 1980s combined synthesizers with metallic percussion...
, while in 1998, he provided a spoken-word performance on Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
's The Chemical Wedding
The Chemical Wedding (Bruce Dickinson album)
The Chemical Wedding is the fifth solo album by English heavy metal singer Bruce Dickinson, released on 14 July 1998 through Sanctuary Records...
album, reading a portion of three poems by William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
, and appeared as Satan in Dickinson's music video for "Killing Floor". He also appeared on TV, guesting on Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits on the UK Singles...
track 'Mystical Machine Gun' several times during 1999.
A further change of musical direction occurred when he formed an acoustic band, initially with Rick Patten on guitar and Stuart ? on guitar, and went on tour with Tim Rose
Tim Rose
Timothy Alan Patrick Rose , best known professionally as Tim Rose, was an American singer-songwriter, who spent much of his life in London, England and had more success in Europe than in his native country...
in 1999. This band then added Stan Adler (cello and bass) and Malcolm Mortimer (percussion) and produced the Tantric Lover album. However, the lineup did not last, and Patten and Brown put a new band together with multi-instrumentalist Nick Pynn
Nick Pynn
Nick Pynn is a British musician and composer noted for his use of bass pedals and live looping with electroacoustic stringed instruments...
. Straightaway they started doing festivals and international tours, and in 2002 Brown was asked to support Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
on his Dreamland Tour. By now Patten had been replaced by Chris Bryant.
Brown was getting much more media exposure now as well as playing many gigs all over the world, mostly with his 'Giant Pocket Orchestra' but also with new band Instant Flight, who perform in the same style as the original band in the 1960s. In the middle of this, Brown released Vampire Suite, an album with Josh Philips and Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders and many others...
of the band Big Country
Big Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife in 1981. They were most popular in the early to mid-1980s, but they still release material for a cult following...
, released on Ian Grant's Track Records
Track Records
Track Records is an English record label founded in London in 1966 by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of hard rock band The Who. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap...
. Also around this time, Brown's back catalogue was rereleased by Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
.
Brown reunited the surviving members of Kingdom Come (except Des Fisher) in 2005, for a one-off concert at The Astoria in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, performing material from Kingdom Come's album Galactic Zoo Dossier, with an encore of "Spirit Of Joy." This show won Brown the 'Showman Of The Year' award from Classic Rock
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
.
In 2007, Brown and Pynn released Voice Of Love on the Côte Basque record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, featuring a number of original recordings.
In August 2007, during a concert in Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, Brown once again set fire to his own hair. While trying to extinguish the flames, Phil Rhodes, a member of the band also caught fire. Brown carried on after the fire was put out; he had however lost a few chunks of hair.
He appeared as a priest in the video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for The Darkness song, "Is It Just Me?".
In 2010 Arthur Brown played a set at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
in the Glade, and he also played at Lounge On The Farm
Lounge On The Farm
Lounge On The Farm is a music festival held annually at Merton Farm, Canterbury, Kent, which attracts thousands of visitors each year. Although there has been a vast increase in the capacity of the event, as well as the amount and quality of the performing acts, organizers insist that they keep the...
(with Lucie Rejchrtova on keyboards). On 10 June 2011, days before his 69th birthday, he played a nearly 2-hour set at the Ray Davies
Ray Davies
Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
Meltdown Festival
Meltdown (festival)
Meltdown is an annual, English festival, held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Hayward...
at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
, London where he invited UK singer-songwriter Z-Star
Z-Star
Z-Star is a British/Trinidadian singer, songwriter, musician and producer, currently based in Brighton, UK.-Early life:Z* was born in Hackney, East London to Trinidadian parents. Her mother, Lisa Yeates was a celebrated international model and local entrepreneur in the B&B and catering business...
to duet with him.
Hawkwind association
Arthur Brown has had a number of associations with Hawkwind. In 1973, he was one of the performers on sometimes Hawkwind vocalist Robert CalvertRobert Calvert
Robert Calvert was a writer, poet, and musician.-Biography:Born Robert Newton Calvert in Pretoria, South Africa, Calvert's parents moved to England when he was two years of age and later attended school in London and Margate. He began his career by writing poetry and in 1967 formed a Street...
's album Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters was a 1974 satirical concept album by Robert Calvert, the former frontman of British space-rock band Hawkwind. It consists of a mixture of songs and comic spoken interludes....
, together with a number of other Hawkwind members.
In 2001 and 2002, Brown made several guest appearances at live Hawkwind concerts, subsequently touring with them as a 'guest vocalist.' On their December 2002 tour, Hawkwind played several songs by Brown from the Kingdom Come era, along with "Song Of The Gremlin" which Brown had sung on Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters; this was documented on the Hawkwind DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
Out Of The Shadows.
Brown also provided vocals on two of the tracks on Hawkwind's studio album Take Me to Your Leader, released in 2005. One is the spoken-word "A Letter To Robert," where Brown recalls a conversation with Robert Calvert. Arthur continues his association with Hawkwind, touring with a support set for them on their 40th anniversary tour in the UK in 2009.
Crazy World of Arthur Brown
- 1968 – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
- 1989 - Strangelands (recorded in 1969)
- 1993 - Order From Chaos
- 2000 - Tantric Lover
- 2003 - Vampire Suite
Kingdom Come
- 1971 – Galactic Zoo Dossier
- 1972 – Kingdom Come
- 1973 – Journey
- 1994 - Jam (recorded in 1970)
Solo
- 1975 – Dance
- 1977 – Chisholm in My Bosom
- 1982 – Requiem
- 1983 – Speak No Tech
- 2002 - The Legboot Album - Arthur Brown on Tour
- 2007 - Voice of Love
Collaborations
- 1976 - Tales of Mystery and ImaginationTales of Mystery and ImaginationTales of Mystery and Imagination is the debut album by the progressive rock group The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1976. The album's avant-garde soundscapes kept it from being a blockbuster, but the interesting lyrical and musical themes — retellings of horror stories and poetry by...
(with the Alan Parsons ProjectThe Alan Parsons ProjectThe Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
) - 1979 - DuneDune (Klaus Schulze album)-Personnel:* Klaus Schuze – electronics* Arthur Brown – vocals * Wolfgang Tiepold – cello-External links:* at the official site of Klaus Schulze...
(with Klaus SchulzeKlaus SchulzeKlaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
) - 1979 - Time ActorTime ActorTime Actor is the first album by Klaus Schulze released under the name of Richard Wahnfried. It was originally released in 1979, and was not reissued by Revisited Records as part of the overall reissue program of Schulze albums...
(with Richard Wahnfried) - 1980 – Faster Than the Speed of Light (with Vincent CraneVincent CraneVincent Crane was a self-taught pianist, who studied theory and composition at Trinity College of Music, and graduated in 1964...
) - 1980 - Klaus Schulze Live (with Klaus Schulze)
- 1984 – The Complete Tapes of Atoya (with Craig LeonCraig LeonCraig Leon is an American born record producer, composer and arranger currently living in England. Leon was instrumental in launching the careers of many recording artists including The Ramones and Blondie...
) - 1988 - Brown Black And Blue (with Jimmy Carl BlackJimmy Carl BlackJimmy Carl Black , born James Inkanish, Jr., was a drummer and vocalist for The Mothers of Invention.-Career: 1960s-1990s:Born in El Paso, Texas, Black was of Cheyenne heritage...
) - 2000 - Curly's AirshipsCurly's AirshipsCurly's Airships is a double CD by Judge Smith, released in October 2000. Smith regards the album as a new form of narrative rock music, which he calls "songstory". Curly's Airships tells about the R101 airship, crashing in France during its maiden overseas voyage in 1930...
(with Judge SmithJudge SmithChristopher John Judge Smith , is a songwriter, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been known simply as Judge Smith since 1994.- Early years :In 1967, with Peter Hammill, Judge...
) - 2007 - Fifteen Years After (with All Living FearAll Living FearAll Living Fear are an alternative rock band from the South West of England. The band was formed in 1992 by Matthew North and the core of the band was sealed in 1994 with the arrival of vocalist Andrew Racher....
)
Compilation albums
- 1976 – Lost Ears (Kingdom Come)
- 2003 - Fire - The Story Of (Arthur Brown)