The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (album)

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The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
ArthurBrownTheCrazyWorldofArthurBrown.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 1968 [1]
Recorded1968
Genre
Length38:08
Label
Producer Kit Lambert
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown chronology
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
(1968)
Strangelands
(1988)
Arthur Brown chronology
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
(1968)
Galactic Zoo Dossier
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [13]
Classic Rock Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]

The album was released in June 1968 on Track in the UK, and by Atlantic in the United States that September [15] . The album peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart, No. 2 on the UK charts, and No. 6 in Canada. [16] The album's first single, "Fire," was a global success, reaching No. 1 in the UK in August 1968, No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in October 1968, No. 1 in Canada also in October, [17] and No. 19 in Australia again in October. "Fire" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. [18] It was sampled by the band Marilyn Manson, who were influenced by Arthur Brown, on their 1995 single "Lunchbox". [19] [20] Other artists influenced by the album's sound and Brown's stage performance included David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, [2] Alice Cooper [3] and George Clinton. [4] Due to the album's international success, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown received a £650,000 advance to record a follow-up album. However, the band subsequently broke up after the recording, and their second album, Strangelands, was not released until 1988, almost 20 years after it had been recorded. [5]

Richie Unterberger, writing for AllMusic, called the album "an exhilaratingly reckless slice of psychedelia" in a retrospective review. [13] Of the less favorable retrospective reviews, the staff of Classic Rock gave the album a score of 5.65 out of 10 (rounded to 2.5/5), based on 99 votes from staff writers, [5] and The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album 1 star, deeming it to be "English eccentricity at its most daft." [14]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Prelude/Nightmare" Arthur Brown 3:28
2."Fanfare/Fire Poem"1:51
3."Fire"
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Mike Finesilver
  • Peter Ker
2:54
4."Come and Buy"
  • Brown
  • Crane
5:40
5."Time/Confusion"
  • Brown
  • Crane
5:15
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."I Put a Spell on You" Screamin' Jay Hawkins 3:41
7."Spontaneous Apple Creation"
  • Brown
  • Crane
2:54
8."Rest Cure"
  • Brown
  • Crane
2:44
9."I've Got Money" James Brown 3:09
10."Child of My Kingdom"
  • Brown
  • Crane
6:11
Total length:38:08

Finesilver and Ker are not credited as authors of "Fire" on original pressings of the album or attending single.

"Child of My Kingdom" is 7:03 on the compact disc reissues.

"Time" and "Confusion" are indexed as two tracks on the 50th anniversary edition.

2010 Esoteric Recordings reissue disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Devil's Grip"Brown3:22
2."Give Him A Flower"
  • Brown
  • Crane
3:02
3."Music Man" (2009 stereo mix)
  • Brown
  • Crane
3:57
4."Fire" (first version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Finesilver
  • Ker
3:05
5."Prelude/Nightmare" (alternative mono version)Brown3:49
6."Fanfare/Fire Poem" (alternative mono version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
2:01
7."Fire" (alternative mono version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Finesilver
  • Ker
3:01
8."Come and Buy" (alternative mono version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
4:25
9."Time/Confusion" (alternative mono version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
5:39
10."Interview with Brian Matthew" 1:16
11."Fire Poem / Fire" (BBC Radio 1 session)
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Finesilver
  • Ker
4:01
12."Come and Buy" (BBC Radio 1 session)
  • Brown
  • Crane
2:38
13."Nightmare" (soundtrack recording from the film The Committee )Brown3:28
50th anniversary edition (2018) disc one (stereo mix) bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Devil's Grip" (mono A-side)Brown 
13."Give Him A Flower" (mono B-side)
  • Brown
  • Crane
 
14."Fire" (mono A-side)
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Finesilver
  • Ker
 
15."Rest Cure" (mono B-side)
  • Brown
  • Crane
 
16."Nightmare" (German mono A-side, single-track vocal edit)Brown 
17."What's Happening (alias Music Man)" (mono B-side)
  • Brown
  • Crane
 
18."Fire" (stereo single edit)
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Finesilver
  • Ker
 
50th anniversary edition (2018) disc two (mono mix) bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Fire" (first version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Finesilver
  • Ker
 
13."What's Happening (alias Music Man)" (stereo mix)
  • Brown
  • Crane
 
14."Prelude/Nightmare" (alternative mono version)Brown 
15."Fanfare/Fire Poem" (alternative mono version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
 
16."Fire" (alternative mono version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
  • Finesilver
  • Ker
 
17."Come and Buy" (alternative mono version)
  • Brown
  • Crane
 
18."Time" (alternative mono version)Brown 
19."Confusion" (alternative mono version)Crane 
20."Nightmare" (from the film The Committee)Brown 
50th anniversary edition (2018) disc three (rarities and radio sessions)
No.TitleLength
1."I Put A Spell On You" (BBC session recorded 8/4/68, broadcast 28/4/68) 
2."Fire Poem/Fire" (BBC session recorded 8/4/68, broadcast 28/4/68) 
3."Child Of My Kingdom" (BBC session recorded 8/4/68, broadcast 28/4/68) 
4."Come And Buy" (BBC session recorded 8/4/68, broadcast 28/4/68) 
5."Arthur Brown Interview With Brian Matthew" (recorded 8/4/68, broadcast 31/7/68) 
6."Spontaneous Apple Creation" (recorded 30/6/68, broadcast 03/8/68) 
7."Nightmare" (radio session) 
8."I Put A Spell On You" (radio session) 
9."Fire" (radio session) 
10."Spontaneous Apple Creation" (radio session) 
11."Baby You Know What You're Doing" (pre-track recording) 
12."Don't Tell Me" (pre-track recording) 
13."The Green Ball" (pre-track recording) 
14."You Don't Know" (pre-track recording) 

Personnel

Additional personnel

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References

Citations
  1. "Album Reviews" (PDF). Melody Maker. 29 June 1968. p. 17. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 Marshall 2005, p. 175.
  3. 1 2 Marshall 2005, pp. 85 and 153.
  4. 1 2 Marshall 2005, p. 172.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: Album of the Week Club Review". Classic Rock. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  6. 1 2 Unterberger 2000, p. 45.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Unterberger 2000, p. 44-45.
  8. "Show 81". Ronnie Wood Radio. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  9. 1 2 Polly Marshall, The God of Hellfire, the Crazy Life and Times of Arthur Brown, ISBN   0-946719-77-2, SAF Publishing, 2005, page 64
  10. Unterberger 2000, p. 44.
  11. Unterberger 2000, p. 46.
  12. "10 Actually Great One-Hit Wonders". NME . Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  13. 1 2 "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – Arthur Brown". AllMusic . Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  14. 1 2 The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 166.
  15. Original U.S. releases of the album were distributed by Atlantic using the Track Records imprint, while subsequent pressings were issued on the Atlantic label proper. Both the Track and Atlantic releases of the album used the same catalogue number, SD 8198.
  16. "RPM Top 50 Albums - November 2, 1968" (PDF).
  17. "RPM Top 100 singles - October 21, 1968" (PDF).
  18. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p.  236. ISBN   0-214-20512-6.
  19. Lunchbox (CD liner notes). Various. Interscope Records. 1995. INTDM–95806.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. "The God of Hellfire Speaks: 73 Years Inside the Crazy World of Arthur Brown" Archived December 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine . Vice . Retrieved December 29, 2017
Sources