"I Could've Been A Contender" 10/29/06

[Pete70s]

In honor of Halloween I have a special contender for you:



The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

One of the strangest and most enigmatic figures of the late 60's, Arthur Brown was almost the King Diamond of his day. So how, in the era of The Cowsills and the 1910 Fruitgum Company, did Arthur Brown score a top 5 hit with a song about HELL?

Born Arthur Wilton in Whitby, Yorkshire in 1942, he studied Law and Philosophy at London University while also pursuing a singing career. Dubbing his band "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" and adopting a bizarre stage act that consisted of face paint and a burning helmet, they caught the attention of Pete Townshend. He signed them to Track Records and produced their debut album.

The album spawned a massive hit with the evil "Fire", which, many could argue, was one of the first true "Metal" records (in attitude and in subject matter). Known for it's bellowing intro "I am the God of Hellfire, and I bring you.... FIRE!", and Brown's bizarre witch-cackling laugh in the middle of the song, "Fire" was Browns only hit. In 1968, he was probably looked at as a novelty act (and, quite frankly, it's a wonder the record even got played at ALL.. It must have been banned SOMEWHERE..)

Arthur Brown went on to form the band Kingdom Come (no relation to the Zeppelin-soundalike band from the late 80's), who released several albums in the 70's.

He may never see the Hall, but he couldn't be more overlooked as an influence on the shock rock/metal genre.

[Ken]

I've always liked this track very much, although I have to admit that the intro used to scare the crap out of me when I was little ;D

I've also been kind of curious about what the rest of the album is like - I don't think i've ever seen a copy!


I can see where some would think of Arthur as a "novelty" act, but I do agree that he was indeed innovative with stage theatrics. I've often wondered if Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley at some point ever saw Arthur live?

[H2IZCOOL]

Great choice, Pete! I guess you could say that Arthur was ahead of his time. Maybe "Fire" was banned somewhere, but I remember it being HUGE in stodgy old Maine (where songs like My Ding-A-Ling and The Ballad of John and Yoko WERE banned - at least on one station.)

Now the song came out in September of '68 and likely peaked (#2) right at Halloween, so that certainly didn't hurt it's popularity. Of course, the true god of hell-fire, Richard Nixon, got elected president about a week later.

Arthur followed "Fire" with a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You", but it didn't go anywhere. Arthur might have picked up some of his stage antics from Screamin' Jay, who began his act by climbing out of a coffin.

Arthur's influence on Alice Cooper is obvious, and since Alice achieved popularity not that long after Arthur, it seems that there would have been a place for Arthur going into the '70s.

[55dodger]

Only know the "Fire" track from Arthur and I've always liked it. Would like to find his take on "I Put a Spell on You," another song I really like. Good choice for a "contender" though.

[Dawn]

Fire was definitely an unusual track, especially for its time. It's hard to picture it now being played alongside the softer hits in '68, but that was the great thing about top 40 radio then. I've always especially liked the organ on this track, and have the 45.

I'm not familiar with anything else by Arthur, but like Ken, would be curious to hear the rest of the album.