Arthur Brown

[Michael R Godwin]

On Thu, 5 Dec 2002, William Duffy wrote:
> And he made a guest appearance on Robert Calvert, Captain Lockhead & The
> Starfighters, doing vocals on The Gremlin.
> Incidentally, Other great tracks to look out for with him on vocals include
> The Tell-Tale Heart on Alan Parsons' Mystery & Imagination, as well as on
> Klause Schultz' Dune.

The first and best Crazy World of Arthur Brown gig I ever saw was at
Alexandra Palace in July(?) 1967. Absolutely sensational costumes,
including an insect cloak as well as the "Fire" outfit already described.
Vincent Crane working extremely hard playing organ, bass-pedals (no
bass-player) and backing vocals ("You're gonna burn, Brown! He-he-he!").

Something always went wrong at subsequent gigs. The Savile Theatre show
supporting Hendrix was cancelled when the owner, Brian Epstein, died (I
asked Arthur what he died of, and received the uninformative response "He
died of death"). The famous Sunbury Festival appearance went wrong when
the pyrotechnics didn't work ("I am the god of hellfire and I bring you -
oh shit!"). At Bath Pavilion he'd broken his leg and couldn't do his
awe-inspriring hop from side to side while rolling his head all around
dance. By that time original drummer Drachen Theaker had joined Arthur Lee
in Love and been replaced by Carl Palmer. Whatever happened to him? :)

Arthur Brown appears with his next band, Kingdom Come, in the film of the
1971 Glastonbury Fayre, doing a very odd burning cross routine.

The last thing I saw him credited on was a Peter Green tribute CD, on
which he sang "The green manalishi (with the two-prong crown)". Glad to
hear that he's back performing.

- Mike Godwin