Arthur Brown Is Crazy With F I R E !!!!!

I am the god of hell fire and I bring you

Fire
I'll take you to burn
Fire
I'll take you to learn
I'll see you burn!
You fought hard and you saved and learned

but all of it's going to burn
And your mind
Your tiny mind
You know you've really been so blind
Now's your time burn your mind
You're falling far too far behind
Oh no
Oh no
Oh no
You gonna burn!

Fire
To destroy all you've done
Fire
To end all you've become
I'll feel your burn!

You've been living like a little girl
In the middle of your little world
And your mind
Your tiny mind
You know you've really been so blind
Now's your time burn your mind
You're falling far too far behind

Fire
I'll take you to burn
Fire
I'll take you to learn
You gonna burn, burn, burn 
Fire

I'll take you to burn 

Imagine a thirteen  year old teenager hearing these odd lyrics and trying to figure out what the singer/author were talking about.  Not only are the words tripping over you, but the music is eerie and kinda scary.  I heard this song by Crazy World of Arthur Brown and was in shock, but also loved the song with the lyrics being not sunshine, happy or positive thoughts or actions, but words that gave me chills and forecasted dark clouds and ominous tones.  It was still a killer tune and wanted to hear it all the time. Nowadays when the song is played on the radio I laugh at how the song that once scared me is a song that not only do I know the lyrics to it, but how dated in a good way this song represents the music of the 1960's.  

On it's own the song "Fire" packs a punch, but adding the poem to the song that sets the stage makes it more powerful and more foreboding.  

And I was lying in the grass

By a river
And as I lay, the grass turned to sand
And the river turned to a sea
And suddenly the sea burst into flames
And the sand was burning
And I breathed in
And there was smoke in my lungs
And there was fire in my brain
And I looked around me
And there were all these shapes being sucked into the flames
And they were writhing and trying to escape
And I knew that I had to get out
And I looked above me and I saw a shape
That was smiling down at me and beckoning, saying
Come on home
And I raised myself and I tried to
Get out of the flames and I was getting
Higher and higher and higher and higher
And I reached out, I reached out towards the shape
But as I reached out
The shape shattered
And my hands were empty
And I was falling, I was falling, falling, falling
I was falling into the flames
And I knew that I was gonna burn, I was gonna burn
Oh, it's so hot in here
Let me out
Please

If I did not hear that prelude, then I would have never understood what Arthur Brown was thinking.  It was like he was suffocating or trying to keep his head above water.  What makes it more exciting is the music behind it makes it like a soundtrack to a horror film.  It's chaotic and beautiful all rolled into one.  I'm not sure what attracted me to the song, but as I said above, the excitement when I heard it on the radio made me turn it to maximum volume.  It was only after the fourth listen, that my dad took me to the store to find a copy of the '45 so I can play it all the time.  About a few months later going back to the same record store I bought the whole album.  An album I still own and play as often as I can.  

When I did play the album it was amazing to hear this weirdness still continue. It made sense and made me understand not only Arthur Brown, but what he was thinking.  He was a product of the 1960's and with the album Crazy World of Arthur Brown he made a Psychedelic Rock classic. The single was great, but the album was more exciting to listen to.  Even the Screaming Jay Hawkins cover fits with the world that Arthur Brown was doing.  He even covered James Brown's "I've Got Money" has a unique feel to it.  Arthur Brown's powerful voice really makes the album sound great.  When I played the album I loved it so much I would play it again and again.   

After playing the record so many times I picked up the CD.  I stumbled upon it while I was in High School.  I was confused why there was more music on it then the CD.  When I looked closer they added side one in Mono.  Talk about an interesting sound.  Some of the music changed, and their was even a narration that was added before the poem began.  It gave a unique view.  I wondered why was this not included in the stereo version.  Since American versions of the album were only Stereo, I guess we weren't missing much, but I think we were, there no horns like in the stereo.  Songs were full of echo and even some of the songs were longer and other times the instrumentation was different. It sounds more weird and you hear more of the crazy vocals of Arthur Brown.  

In 2010 they did the next best thing on this classic, they made a new version of the album with cleaned up sound and put a few outtakes and added the mono mix back.  This not only was a treat to his fans, but it was a treat to me because it never sounded better.  Even the liner notes made me better understand the madness of Arthur Brown.

Fast forward to the February of 2017. I got a call from a friend in NYC. He knew I wanted to go, but was not sure if I could make it because of my job. He made a deal, if I can get up to the city he will drive me back to where I live. He told me he had two tickets to see Arthur Brown in person, in concert and in all these cool psychedelic colors. I dropped everything to do this and I don't regret it. The photo above is from that show and I will faithfully admit how great this show was.  What I was more amazed on how much of an American fanbase he had.  Like a cult figure from the past he could do no wrong that night.  It was amazing.  The music from the album felt fresh and new with the musicians that were so young their parents more then likely saw him the first go around.  

So if you are looking for an album that is a total product of the 1960's and also an album that encapsulates the psychedelic era then look no further,  The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is fun, crazy and just a great album.  It may be a bit "over the top" but it's an album that truly puts an audio soundtrack to what the late 1960's is all about. This is the album you need.  It has the great voice of Arthur Brown and it has the cool organ of Vincent Crane who went on to be in another band I will talk about soon called Atomic Rooster.  This may be how we remember Arthur Brown, by his voice and his image of his hard hat on fire and song "Fire"  will forever be stamped in my musical tattoo of some of my favorite music of the 1960's. Play it Loud!!!!