Author |
|
dr prog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 25 2010
Location: Melbourne
Status: Offline
Points: 2449
|
Topic: Arthur Brown Posted: March 12 2015 at 03:05 |
Picked up Zoo Dossier and Faster than the speed of light. Love them. His voice is brilliant in Faster than the speed of light with the great Vincent Crane. Ordered the other 2 Kingdom albums. What you think of him?
|
All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock.
|
|
dr prog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 25 2010
Location: Melbourne
Status: Offline
Points: 2449
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 03:54 |
Thread moved from prog lounge to top 10 lists
|
All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock.
|
|
Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 04:28 |
Man, you're the only other person in the world I know that has Speed Of Light . Clifford Venner on the drums really works !! What a really, really, great album. Nothing We Can Do is just top-notch. Don't have Dossier, wish I did.... I have Kingdom Come s/t and Journey - both just fantastic, eccentric albums. Crazy World is just another late-60's classic, full of creativity and colour. You can't go wrong (oh, maybe some of his albums.....Dance, for one).
|
|
dr prog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 25 2010
Location: Melbourne
Status: Offline
Points: 2449
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 05:53 |
I'll be getting his other two 70s solos next. Wish Brown joined Atomic rooster in 72. Him and Crane were a great mix
|
All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock.
|
|
Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 06:12 |
^ Oh yes, but that would be another Crazy World Arthur B got around a bit - he also 'sang' with Klaus Schulze, HAWKWIND, and even guested on an Alan Parson's Project album. Man, you got Speed Of Light.......... ............quirky, dynamic and fully Prog !!
|
|
ExittheLemming
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 19 2007
Location: Penal Colony
Status: Offline
Points: 11415
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 08:41 |
I've never forgotten the unnerving spectacle of watching this wonderful mental b*****d performing Fire on Top of the Pops in 1968 (been smitten ever since) He should sue both Alice Cooper and Peter Gabriel and live a well earned comfortable retirement somewhere in the Cotswolds.
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown debut album from 1968 is maybe my favourite psychedelia related album of all time Galactic Zoo Dossier from 1971 is brilliant, bizarre, surreally deranged and and makes we wonder why we bother with square-bashing squaddies like Beefheart round these parts y'all? Kingdom Come from 1972 is excellent but perhaps a tad patchy Journey from 1973 is excellent but I've never felt comfortable with one of the first recorded instances of a drum machine in Rock (the Bentley Rhythm Ace just sounds like it's playing with a marked deck) Vampire Suite from 2003 is brilliant and is maybe the last instance of the unfettered genius of Mr B available to we lesser mortals
Arthur's solo discography veers from the unimpeachable to the downright lazily atrocious: Dance from 1975 mostly sucks but has sufficient redeeming tracks to make it worthwhile Ditto Chisholm in my Bosom from 1977 (both of these were recorded with personnel that became Ian Dury's Blockheads) Faster than the Speed of Light from 1979 with the late Vincent Crane is excellent and testimony to one of the greatest composers and arrangers we have tragically lost to mental illness in the 20th Century The merit of what remains (and there's a lot of it) I'll leave you to judge but for me the low fi, even lower budget and shoddy workmanship of Arthur's erstwhile employers should be sufficient cause for everyone involved to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
The godfather of Prog who forgave all his ungrateful offspring for their subsequent war crimes against silence
Edited by ExittheLemming - March 12 2015 at 08:48
|
|
HolyMoly
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin
Joined: April 01 2009
Location: Atlanta
Status: Offline
Points: 26133
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 09:10 |
I like Arthur Brown a lot. I was never nuts over the Crazy World album (meaning, I like it, but it was never a favorite of mine), and I really only started to get interested in him after picking up a Kingdom Come album (the second, self-titled one) which really impressed me. Turns out it was the weakest of the three albums they did, too, so the remaining two Kingdom Come albums really knocked me out.
From there, I took an odd trajectory into the early 1980s, with a twofer CD containing two synth-based albums, Speak No Tech and Requiem. They're very early, probably antiquated by now, attempts to create rock/pop music entirely with early 80s synthesizers, and I find them kind of charming in their dated yet sincere (though not too serious) delivery. "Requiem" is easily the better of the two - it's a post-apocalyptic concept album with good and memorable songs on it, not just noodling about with machines. Whether or not you like the sound of those machines will heavily determine your tolerance for this stuff. It's not really "synth pop", it definitely aims more in the "synthesized art rock" direction.
Faster Than the Speed of Light and Dance are two fairly recent acquisitions which I haven't had time to fully digest yet. I will say that "Dance", despite its title and its release date of 1975, has nothing to do with disco, so rest assured there.
One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Strangelands, a shelved/rejected Crazy World album from 1968-9 that's pretty bizarre. So much so, in fact, that it's sorely lacking in cohesion. It was finally released in the 1990s, I believe, and you can find it on CD now. It's definitely worth getting if you're a fan, but don't expect a masterpiece. It's certainly very interesting, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me yet.
Edited by HolyMoly - March 12 2015 at 09:11
|
My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.
-Kehlog Albran
|
|
ExittheLemming
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 19 2007
Location: Penal Colony
Status: Offline
Points: 11415
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 09:28 |
HolyMoly wrote:
I like Arthur Brown a lot. I was never nuts over the Crazy World album (meaning, I like it, but it was never a favorite of mine), and I really only started to get interested in him after picking up a Kingdom Come album (the second, self-titled one) which really impressed me. Turns out it was the weakest of the three albums they did, too, so the remaining two Kingdom Come albums really knocked me out.
From there, I took an odd trajectory into the early 1980s, with a twofer CD containing two synth-based albums, Speak No Tech and Requiem. They're very early, probably antiquated by now, attempts to create rock/pop music entirely with early 80s synthesizers, and I find them kind of charming in their dated yet sincere (though not too serious) delivery. "Requiem" is easily the better of the two - it's a post-apocalyptic concept album with good and memorable songs on it, not just noodling about with machines. Whether or not you like the sound of those machines will heavily determine your tolerance for this stuff. It's not really "synth pop", it definitely aims more in the "synthesized art rock" direction.
Faster Than the Speed of Light and Dance are two fairly recent acquisitions which I haven't had time to fully digest yet. I will say that "Dance", despite its title and its release date of 1975, has nothing to do with disco, so rest assured there.
One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Strangelands, a shelved/rejected Crazy World album from 1968-9 that's pretty bizarre. So much so, in fact, that it's sorely lacking in cohesion. It was finally released in the 1990s, I believe, and you can find it on CD now. It's definitely worth getting if you're a fan, but don't expect a masterpiece. It's certainly very interesting, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me yet.
|
It's definitely worth jettisoning if you're a fan . Strangelands was purportedly the unreleased (until the 90's) 2nd Crazy World of Arthur Brown album. How gutted would you be to learn that most discerning Arthur Brown aficionados consider it a pile of cosmiche w.a.n.k non pareil? (I can hear some incorrigible hippy shredder c.u.n.t.s. salivating already) For those of you who equate unboiling an egg with profundity and artistic integrity, step right up.
|
|
HolyMoly
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin
Joined: April 01 2009
Location: Atlanta
Status: Offline
Points: 26133
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 09:48 |
ExittheLemming wrote:
HolyMoly wrote:
I like Arthur Brown a lot. I was never nuts over the Crazy World album (meaning, I like it, but it was never a favorite of mine), and I really only started to get interested in him after picking up a Kingdom Come album (the second, self-titled one) which really impressed me. Turns out it was the weakest of the three albums they did, too, so the remaining two Kingdom Come albums really knocked me out.
From there, I took an odd trajectory into the early 1980s, with a twofer CD containing two synth-based albums, Speak No Tech and Requiem. They're very early, probably antiquated by now, attempts to create rock/pop music entirely with early 80s synthesizers, and I find them kind of charming in their dated yet sincere (though not too serious) delivery. "Requiem" is easily the better of the two - it's a post-apocalyptic concept album with good and memorable songs on it, not just noodling about with machines. Whether or not you like the sound of those machines will heavily determine your tolerance for this stuff. It's not really "synth pop", it definitely aims more in the "synthesized art rock" direction.
Faster Than the Speed of Light and Dance are two fairly recent acquisitions which I haven't had time to fully digest yet. I will say that "Dance", despite its title and its release date of 1975, has nothing to do with disco, so rest assured there.
One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Strangelands, a shelved/rejected Crazy World album from 1968-9 that's pretty bizarre. So much so, in fact, that it's sorely lacking in cohesion. It was finally released in the 1990s, I believe, and you can find it on CD now. It's definitely worth getting if you're a fan, but don't expect a masterpiece. It's certainly very interesting, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me yet.
|
It's definitely worth jettisoning if you're a fan. Strangelands was purportedly the unreleased (until the 90's) 2nd Crazy World of Arthur Brown album. How gutted would you be to learn that most discerning Arthur Brown aficionados consider it a pile of cosmiche w.a.n.k non pareil? (I can hear some incorrigible hippy shredder c.u.n.t.s. salivating already) For those of you who equate unboiling an egg with profundity and artistic integrity, step right up.
|
You have such a way with words. Maybe it'll be a long, long time (if ever) before I truly enjoy it. But either way, I'm glad to have it. Some things are just interesting without being all that great. Maybe if I become one of a select few who don't think it's crap, I'll attain some extra hipster credibility, who knows. Wait, am I a hippy shredder c.u.n.t.?
|
My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.
-Kehlog Albran
|
|
ExittheLemming
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 19 2007
Location: Penal Colony
Status: Offline
Points: 11415
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 09:57 |
^ things most avowedly discerning and educated people agree suck hugely = contrarian hip/interesting (never understood the math )
|
|
KingCrInuYasha
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 26 2010
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Points: 1281
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 10:45 |
I remember picking up The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown around the time of its 40th anniversary. At the time, it was on back order in both of my local music stores and decided to just go with a bootleg BBC sessions CD. Then I popped it in and it turned out it was not bootlegged sessions, but the 1997 edition of the album, which had the original album, the mono Side A and the singles "Devil's Grip", "Give Him A Flower" and "What's Happening?".
I need to get more of his Kingdom Come stuff. I really liked Journey.
|
He looks at this world and wants it all... so he strikes, like Thunderball!
|
|
Rednight
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 18 2014
Location: Mar Vista, CA
Status: Offline
Points: 4807
|
Posted: March 12 2015 at 10:56 |
I remember a mid-'80s Rolling Stone issue (a what-ever-happened-to one) where Brown was said to be at the time a handy-man installing patio decks and the like for a living, I believe. So sad, although he was broadly beaming in the accompanying picture. And Richard Sinclair was remodeling kitchens and bathrooms for awhile there also.
Edited by Rednight - March 12 2015 at 10:56
|
|
Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
|
Posted: March 13 2015 at 01:41 |
Crazy World (and Roooooooster's debut album) were 'our group's' religious listening back in the day (the late-80's ........early 90's) for us, at the time, stoner mugs. The guy is BRILLIANT. His contribution to music and art is priceless. Lap it all up, I say.
|
|
ExittheLemming
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 19 2007
Location: Penal Colony
Status: Offline
Points: 11415
|
Posted: March 13 2015 at 02:09 |
Tom Ozric wrote:
Crazy World (and Roooooooster's debut album) were 'our group's' religious listening back in the day (the late-80's ........early 90's) for us, at the time, stoner mugs. The guy is BRILLIANT. His contribution to music and art is priceless. Lap it all up, I say. |
Agreed on both points (Crane's was a talent we lost far too soon and Death Walks Behind You is my personal Rooster fave) It's a shame that Arthur will be inextricably linked in the popular consciousness to only Fire (a damn fine song certainly, but so much more of his output was grander, more daring, prescient and erm...original - he and Crane lost half their royalties for being deemed guilty of lifting heavily from an existing published song) Had Kingdom Come not dug themselves into a hole of drug fueled dissaray and Arthur had found a record label that would have let him pursue his own instincts and agenda, he may very well have ended up as famous and successful as Alice Cooper and Peter Gabriel. Ifs, buts and maybe's I know, but Arthur Brown was doing whatever everyone else got the credit for doing, ten years previously.
|
|
dr prog
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 25 2010
Location: Melbourne
Status: Offline
Points: 2449
|
Posted: March 13 2015 at 04:20 |
Imagine brown and crane working together through the 70s. Would have made some gems
|
All I like is prog related bands beginning late 60's/early 70's. Their music from 1968 - 83 has the composition and sound which will never be beaten. Perfect blend of jazz, classical, folk and rock.
|
|
Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
|
Posted: March 13 2015 at 18:00 |
Spontaneous Apple Creation
|
|
poeghost
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 13 2013
Location: U.S.A.
Status: Offline
Points: 175
|
Posted: March 13 2015 at 20:26 |
I love Arthur's fantastic voice and creativity!
My favorite albums are: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown Galactic Zoo Dossier Kingdom Come Journey Tantric Lover (2nd edition) Chisholm in my Bosom
Also love the 45s with: Devil's Grip Give Him A Flower What's Happening (Music Man)
|
|
Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
|
Posted: March 14 2015 at 01:40 |
I love Crane's Hammond tone on Crazy World's Time track, it just has this eerie quality to it, kind of 'whistly' and 'rickety' (if you get what I mean ).
|
|
defectinggrey
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 14 2015
Location: Spain
Status: Offline
Points: 104
|
Posted: March 14 2015 at 06:06 |
He appeared at Festival Hall narrating the short story from S.F.Sorrow when the Pretty Things supposedly played the entire album live for the first time (they actually performed it a few weeks earlier at Ronnie Scotts where he also performed and narrated). David Gilmour was also at Festival Hall.
Performed Fire wearing the flaming head dress. Jumped into the audience and ran over back of seats. Unfortunately he lost his footing and a few people had to scatter from the flames as his head dress fell off!
Received a long round of applause from those of us who weren't affected.
The original Atomic Rooster performed at my school dance and Vincent Crane became a long time favourite. Love Death Walks Behind You and, also the Hard Stuff albums.
|
|
mithrandir
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 25 2006
Location: New Mexico
Status: Offline
Points: 933
|
Posted: March 15 2015 at 04:11 |
I have the 3 Kingdom Come albums, and Crazy World, love them all, his pipes are powerful and also a good prototype for early Heavy Metal....
I found this on youtube a while ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfPf_0QfHUQ did they really wear stoplights on their heads and burning rings of flame? that would have been lunacy to see, I'd get acid damage just by those sights alone...
|
|