Pete Brown
Encyclopedia
Peter Ronald Brown is an English
performance poet and lyricist
.
Best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce
, Brown also worked with The Battered Ornaments, formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!
, and worked with Graham Bond
and Phil Ryan
. Brown also writes film scores and formed a film production company. Comedian and actor Marty Feldman
was Brown's cousin.
when he was 14. He then became part of the poetry scene in Liverpool during the 1960s and in 1964 was the first poet to perform at Morden Tower
in Newcastle
.
He formed The First Real Poetry Band with John McLaughlin
(guitar), Binky McKenzie (bass), Laurie Allan
(drums) and Pete Bailey (percussion)
. Originally, he was seen as a writing partner for drummer Ginger Baker
, but the group quickly discovered that he worked better with bassist Jack Bruce. Of the situation, Bruce later remarked "Ginger and Pete were at my flat trying to work on a song but it wasn't happening. My wife Janet then got with Ginger and they wrote 'Sweet Wine' while I started working with Pete."
Together, Brown and Bruce wrote a significant number of Cream's songs, including the hits "I Feel Free
", "White Room
" and (with Clapton
) "Sunshine of Your Love
".
After the breakup of Cream, Bruce and Brown continued to write songs together for Bruce's solo career. Brown wrote the lyrics for Bruce's albums Songs for a Tailor
, Harmony Row
and Out of the Storm
.
(guitar) and Rob Tait (drums). Brown then suffered the ignominy of being thrown out of his own band, the day before they were due to support The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park
. His vocals were then removed from Mantlepiece and re-recorded by Chris Spedding, and the band was renamed The Battered Ornaments.
, with input from Jack Bruce and Bond's wife, Diane Stewart. In 1972 they recorded one album, Two Heads Are Better Than One, a single, "Lost Tribe", and much of the soundtrack to the film Maltamour before Bond left to form Magus in 1973.
Brown then formed Brown and Friends, and Flying Tigers but neither group got beyond producing demos. He recorded an album of his early poems, The Not Forgotten Association, in 1973 before recording with members of Back to Front, including an album, Party in The Rain, which was recorded in 1976, but not released until 1982.
A new Brown/Ryan album Road of Cobras, including Maggie Bell
, Arthur Brown
, Mick Taylor
and Jim Mullen
, was released in 2010.
film production company, with Mark A.J.Waters and Miran Hawke.
Albums
Albums
Compilation
Albums
Compilation
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...
performance poet and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
.
Best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
, Brown also worked with The Battered Ornaments, formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!
Pete Brown & Piblokto!
Pete Brown & Piblokto! were a British progressive rock band, active between 1969 and 1971, and formed by the former Cream lyricist Pete Brown, after he had been thrown out of his own band, Pete Brown and his Battered Ornaments, the day before they were due to support The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park...
, and worked with Graham Bond
Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
and Phil Ryan
Phil Ryan (musician)
Phil Ryan is a Welsh keyboardist and composer, best known for his work with Man and Pete Brown-Early career:...
. Brown also writes film scores and formed a film production company. Comedian and actor Marty Feldman
Marty Feldman
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...
was Brown's cousin.
Poetry
Before his involvement with music, Brown was a poet, having his first poem published in the US magazine Evergreen ReviewEvergreen Review
Evergreen Review is a U.S.-based literary magazine founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 through 1973, and was re-launched online in 1998...
when he was 14. He then became part of the poetry scene in Liverpool during the 1960s and in 1964 was the first poet to perform at Morden Tower
Morden Tower
The Morden Tower in Back Stowell Street on the West Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade 1 listed building. For the last 45 years Connie Pickard has been custodian of Morden Tower, and has made it a key fixture of Newcastle's alternative cultural life...
in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
.
He formed The First Real Poetry Band with John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
(guitar), Binky McKenzie (bass), Laurie Allan
Laurie Allan
Laurie Allan is an English drummer, best known for stints in Delivery and Gong. He has also played with Robert Wyatt, for example on his albums Rock Bottom and Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard....
(drums) and Pete Bailey (percussion)
Cream
The First Real Poetry Band brought Brown to the attention of CreamCream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
. Originally, he was seen as a writing partner for drummer Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...
, but the group quickly discovered that he worked better with bassist Jack Bruce. Of the situation, Bruce later remarked "Ginger and Pete were at my flat trying to work on a song but it wasn't happening. My wife Janet then got with Ginger and they wrote 'Sweet Wine' while I started working with Pete."
Together, Brown and Bruce wrote a significant number of Cream's songs, including the hits "I Feel Free
I Feel Free
"I Feel Free" is a song first recorded by British rock group Cream. The song's lyrics were written by Pete Brown, its music by Jack Bruce. It was the first track on the US issue of their debut album, Fresh Cream , and the band's second hit single...
", "White Room
White Room
"White Room" is a song by British "supergroup" Cream. The song was a psychedelic rock number written by bassist Jack Bruce and poet Pete Brown. It originally appeared on the US release of their double album, Wheels of Fire, by Atco Records in July 1968 and was released as a single in September 1968...
" and (with Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
) "Sunshine of Your Love
Sunshine of Your Love
"Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British supergroup Cream. The song was originally released on the album Disraeli Gears in November 1967, and was later released as a single in January 1968. It is Cream's only gold-selling single in the United States. It features a distinctive...
".
After the breakup of Cream, Bruce and Brown continued to write songs together for Bruce's solo career. Brown wrote the lyrics for Bruce's albums Songs for a Tailor
Songs for a Tailor
Songs for a Tailor is the 1969 solo studio album debut of musician, composer and singer Jack Bruce, who was already famous at the time of its release for his work with the supergroup Cream...
, Harmony Row
Harmony Row
Harmony Row is Jack Bruce's third album, originally released in July 1971.The album takes its title from a tenement street in Glasgow, near where Bruce grew up. The street, since demolished, was famous as the largest unbroken houserow in Europe, stretching for over a mile...
and Out of the Storm
Out of the Storm (album)
Out of the Storm is the fourth studio album by British bassist Jack Bruce. The album, Bruce's first solo effort in over three years, was recorded and released in 1974, following the dissolution of Bruce's power trio West, Bruce and Laing....
.
Pete Brown and his Battered Ornaments
Brown formed Pete Brown and His Battered Ornaments in 1968, and in 1969 the band recorded two albums; A Meal You Can Shake Hands With In The Dark and Mantlepiece, with a line-up including Pete Bailey (percussion), Charlie Hart (keyboards), Dick Heckstall Smith (sax), George Kahn (sax), Roger Potter (bass), Chris SpeddingChris Spedding
Chris Spedding is an English rock and roll and jazz guitarist, best known for his session work. Allmusic states - "Spedding is one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, and has had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock and roll, as well as...
(guitar) and Rob Tait (drums). Brown then suffered the ignominy of being thrown out of his own band, the day before they were due to support The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
. His vocals were then removed from Mantlepiece and re-recorded by Chris Spedding, and the band was renamed The Battered Ornaments.
Piblokto!
After the Battered Ornaments, Brown formed Pete Brown & Piblokto!, which had several line ups and issued two albums and three singles before disbanding in 1971.Brown & Graham Bond
After Piblokto!, Brown started to work with Graham BondGraham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
, with input from Jack Bruce and Bond's wife, Diane Stewart. In 1972 they recorded one album, Two Heads Are Better Than One, a single, "Lost Tribe", and much of the soundtrack to the film Maltamour before Bond left to form Magus in 1973.
Brown then formed Brown and Friends, and Flying Tigers but neither group got beyond producing demos. He recorded an album of his early poems, The Not Forgotten Association, in 1973 before recording with members of Back to Front, including an album, Party in The Rain, which was recorded in 1976, but not released until 1982.
Brown & Ryan
On the rise of punk, he left the music scene in 1977 and wrote film scripts. He then wrote a film score for a BBC TV film, with Phil Ryan, who had been in a late Piblokto! line-up. They collaborated for 12 years, and Brown formed his own label Interoceter, which issued two Pete Brown/Phil Ryan albums: Ardours of the Lost Rake and Coals to Jerusalem. They began touring in 1993, and a compilation of the two albums was issued on CD as The Land That Cream Forgot (Vintage VIN 8031-2). In the 1990s Brown also appeared with The Interoceters, performing his earlier material.A new Brown/Ryan album Road of Cobras, including Maggie Bell
Maggie Bell
Maggie Bell is a Scottish rock and blues-rock singer, regarded by some as Britain's answer to Janis Joplin.-Career:...
, Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown (musician)
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...
, Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
and Jim Mullen
Jim Mullen
Jim Mullen is a Glasgow-born jazz guitarist with a distinctive style, like Wes Montgomery before him, picking with the thumb rather than a plectrum.-Biography:...
, was released in 2010.
Film Company
In 2004 he formed Brown Waters, an award-winning BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film production company, with Mark A.J.Waters and Miran Hawke.
Poetry
- Few Poems (Migrant Press, Birmingham, 1966)
- Let 'Em Roll, Kafka (Fulcrum, London, ISBN 0852460147, 1969)
- The Old Pals' Act (Allison & Busby, London, ISBN 0850310164, 1972)
- The Not Forgotten Association (album of Brown reading his early poems, 1973)
Pete Brown and his Battered Ornaments
Singles- "The Week Looked Good On Paper"/"Morning Call" (Parlophone 1969)
Albums
- A Meal You Can Shake Hands With In The Dark (Harvest 1969)
Pete Brown & Piblokto!
Singles- "Living Life Backwards"/"High Flying Electric Bird" (Harvest, HAR 5008, 1969)
- "Can't Get Off The Planet"/"Broken Magic" (Harvest, HAR 5023, 1970)
- "Flying Hero Sandwich"/"My Last Band" (Harvest, HAR 5028, 1970)
Albums
- Things May Come and Things May Go but the Art School Dance Goes on Forever (Harvest, SHVL 768, 1970)
- Thousands On A Raft (Harvest, SHVL 782, 1970)
Compilation
- My Last Band (Harvest, SHSM 2017, 1977)
- Things May Come and Things May Go but the Art School Dance Goes on Forever and Thousands On A Raft (CD, BGOCD522, 2001)
Pete Brown & Graham Bond
Singles- "Lost Tribe"/"Milk is Turning Sour in My Shoes Macumba" (1972)
Albums
- Two Heads Are Better Than One (1972)
Pete Brown & Phil Ryan
Albums- Ardours of the Lost Rake (2003)
- Coals to Jerusalem (2003)
Compilation
- The Land That Cream Forgot (Vintage, VIN 8031-2, 1996)
See also
- Liverpool poetsLiverpool poetsThe Liverpool Poets are a number of influential 1960s poets from Liverpool, England, influenced by 1950s Beat poetry. They were involved in the 1960s Liverpool scene that gave rise to The Beatles, during a time when the city was termed by US beat poet Allen Ginsberg "the centre of the consciousness...
- Janet GodfreyJanet GodfreyJanet Godfrey was the second wife and some-time writing partner of bassist Jack Bruce. Together, Godfrey and Bruce had two sons, Jonas Bruce, who grew up to play keyboards in his father's band and formed a band AfroCelts, and Malcolm Bruce, who grew up to play the guitar with his father and played...
- Mike Taylor
- Morden TowerMorden TowerThe Morden Tower in Back Stowell Street on the West Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade 1 listed building. For the last 45 years Connie Pickard has been custodian of Morden Tower, and has made it a key fixture of Newcastle's alternative cultural life...
- Cold River LadyCold River LadyCold River Lady was a rock band that was formed in 1970 in Hereford in the Welsh Marches of England. Their music however drew on far wider influences...
External links
- http://www.mordentower.org/