Baby's on Fire
Encyclopedia
"Baby's on Fire" is the third track on English
musician
Brian Eno
's 1973 debut album, Here Come the Warm Jets
. It is an example of the predominantly glam
/art rock
style Eno employed at the time, praised for its guitar
solo by King Crimson
founder Robert Fripp
.
, where he had previously recorded the majority of his earlier material. The track was produced by Eno, who handled production and mixing duties on the bulk of the album's recording, and was created with musicians Simon King, Marty Simon, Robert Fripp
, Paul Rudolph
, and John Wetton
. The song is a bizarre fantasy about a photography session involving a burning infant and unthinking, laughing onlookers.
Live recordings of the song have appeared on various Eno recordings, the first being June 1, 1974
, performed with Kevin Ayers
, John Cale
, Ollie Halsall
and Eddie Sparrow. Eno spoke positively about this performance, saying, "The instruments were incredibly out of tune, so out of tune you wouldn’t believe it. But it sounds fantastic. There’s one little bit in it where there’s a riff between the guitar and one of the bassists, and they’re so out of tune it sounds like cellos. Amazing! I mean if you tried to make that sound in the studio it would have taken you ages. You wouldn’t have thought of making it, in fact, it’s such a bizarre sound. And the piano and guitar are quite well out of tune as well. Ha!"
with shifting drum beats as backing; the soloing continues through with the return of Eno's vocals as the song ends.
described the song as "a two-note wonder built around an all-hell-breaks-loose guitar meltdown by King Crimson’s Robert Fripp", while Chris Ott of Pitchfork Media
called the track "earth-shattering".
"Baby's on Fire" was featured prominently in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine
., with vocals provided by the film's star, Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
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...
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....
Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
's 1973 debut album, Here Come the Warm Jets
Here Come the Warm Jets
Here Come the Warm Jets is the debut solo album by Brian Eno. Produced by Eno, it was released on Island Records in 1974. The musical style of Here Come the Warm Jets is a hybrid of glam rock and art rock, similar to Eno's previous album work with Roxy Music but with songs that are more quirky and...
. It is an example of the predominantly glam
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
/art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
style Eno employed at the time, praised for its guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
solo by King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
founder Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
.
Writing and recording
Eno recorded "Baby's on Fire" during the Here Come the Warm Jets sessions in September 1973 at Majestic Studios, LondonLondon
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...
, where he had previously recorded the majority of his earlier material. The track was produced by Eno, who handled production and mixing duties on the bulk of the album's recording, and was created with musicians Simon King, Marty Simon, Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
, Paul Rudolph
Paul Rudolph (musician)
Paul Fraser Rudolph is a guitarist,bassist, singer, and cyclist. He made his mark in the UK underground music scene, and then as a session musician, before returning to Canada to indulge his passion for cycling...
, and John Wetton
John Wetton
John Kenneth Wetton is an English bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He has been a professional musician since the late 1960s...
. The song is a bizarre fantasy about a photography session involving a burning infant and unthinking, laughing onlookers.
Live recordings of the song have appeared on various Eno recordings, the first being June 1, 1974
June 1, 1974
June 1, 1974 is a live album of songs performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London on the titular date. The album is officially attributed to Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico, although other well-known musicians, including Mike Oldfield and Robert Wyatt, also contributed to the concert. It...
, performed with Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
, John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
, Ollie Halsall
Ollie Halsall
Peter John 'Ollie' Halsall was a left-handed guitarist and is best known for his role in The Rutles, the bands Patto, Timebox and Boxer, and for his contribution to the music of Kevin Ayers. He is also notable as one of the few players of the vibraphone in rock music...
and Eddie Sparrow. Eno spoke positively about this performance, saying, "The instruments were incredibly out of tune, so out of tune you wouldn’t believe it. But it sounds fantastic. There’s one little bit in it where there’s a riff between the guitar and one of the bassists, and they’re so out of tune it sounds like cellos. Amazing! I mean if you tried to make that sound in the studio it would have taken you ages. You wouldn’t have thought of making it, in fact, it’s such a bizarre sound. And the piano and guitar are quite well out of tune as well. Ha!"
Musical composition
The album version of "Baby's on Fire" is 5 minutes 19 seconds long. The song begins with a tense high-hat and bass line, along several different kinds of electronic sounds. Eno's vocals enter after this, being described as "nasal" and "slightly snotty". Following this first section of lyrics there is a guitar solo by Robert FrippRobert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
with shifting drum beats as backing; the soloing continues through with the return of Eno's vocals as the song ends.
Release and reception
"Baby's on Fire" has received positive reviews from critics, mainly noting the guitar solo. Douglas Wolk of BlenderBlender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
described the song as "a two-note wonder built around an all-hell-breaks-loose guitar meltdown by King Crimson’s Robert Fripp", while Chris Ott of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
called the track "earth-shattering".
"Baby's on Fire" was featured prominently in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine
Velvet Goldmine
Velvet Goldmine is a 1998 British/American drama film directed and co-written by Todd Haynes. The film tells the story of a pop star based mainly on David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' character and is set in Britain during the days of glam rock in the early 1970s.Sandy Powell received another Academy...
., with vocals provided by the film's star, Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Personnel
- Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, guitar, keyboards, treatments, instrumentation - Robert FrippRobert FrippRobert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
– guitar - Simon King – percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- Paul RudolphPaul Rudolph (musician)Paul Fraser Rudolph is a guitarist,bassist, singer, and cyclist. He made his mark in the UK underground music scene, and then as a session musician, before returning to Canada to indulge his passion for cycling...
– guitar, bass guitar - Marty Simon – percussion
- John WettonJohn WettonJohn Kenneth Wetton is an English bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Willington, Derbyshire, and grew up in Bournemouth. He has been a professional musician since the late 1960s...
– bass guitar
Technical personnel
- Brian Eno – producer, mixer
- Chris ThomasChris Thomas (record producer)Chris Thomas is an English record producer who has worked extensively with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp and The Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for The Sex Pistols and INXS.Thomas is quoted as saying -Early life:Thomas was...
– mixer - Derek Chandler – recording engineer
- Denny Bridges, Phil Chapman, Paul HardimanPaul HardimanPaul Hardiman is a British record producer noted for his work with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions , and Lloyd Cole solo. More famously he also produced the worldwide hit "Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh and the critically acclaimed Soul Mining by The The.- External links :...
– mixing engineers - Arun Chakraverty – mastering
External links
- [ "Baby's on Fire"] at Allmusic
- "Baby's on Fire" at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....