Later, after moving to Leeds, I enjoyed walking the hills and singing, feeling the energy. I was reading metaphysical poets like John Donne and one day I wrote The Poem of Fire. After we formed The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, I turned the poem into the song Fire with Vincent Crane, our organist. Eventually he ended up in a mental health hospital after a bad trip with acid, but before that it was a quagmire of endless choral melodic invention. I would just say to him, “This is what you just played!” We were creative types in surreal, folk, jazz and some classical. Drachen Theaker, the drummer, played an African rhythm and Vince played it as chords on the instrument. In the building where we rehearsed, two other children [Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker] rehearsed with an Indian singer, Elli. They had a song that I really liked [Baby, You’re a Long Way Behind], so we mixed it in Fire for the horn riff “Da da daaaa”. They are in the composition part now. Health and safety were not a big deal then Pete Townshend came to see us at [legendary psychedelic haunt] the UFO club and introduced us to the managers of Who, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. We did a demo in Pete’s studio, with him playing the guitar. Then Kit and Chris signed us to Track Records: Kit produced us. Ronnie Wood [from the Rolling Stones] says he played bass in Fire, but I think he confuses it with the version of John Peel, in which he actually played. I wore a flaming helmet to sing it, which proved to be popular in clubs, but since the song went to No. 1 there have been many episodes. The flames could have been 4 meters high: many clubs had been left with burn marks on the roof. At a concert my coat caught fire and I ran with a burning hand. Health and safety were not a big deal then.
Phill Brown, film operator
I was a 16-year-old cassette player at Olympic Studios in London, training under Keith Grant, Glyn Johns and Eddie Kramer. We did an amazing number of amazing sessions – Traffic, The Small Faces, the Move, Jimi Hendrix. I learned how to make records and I was lucky enough to make the film about Arthur. When we were making the equipment, this very tall figure came in, wearing robes. I never saw him in jeans or a T-shirt. Except for the makeup, it looked just like on stage. Before we started recording, he did not exactly chant, but did a lot of vocal exercises to warm up. He was such a character, but a wonderful guy, not selfish, but he was trying to push the boundaries. In Fire, there is a bass drum backwards, which is a long way off for 1968. We turned the tape over and played the drum, so that when you turned it the right way it would go “pfft, pfft…” There was no plug-in sound in effects then, so if you wanted a different sound, you had to go somewhere that was not the studio. The effect of “I am the god of hell and I bring you fire!” The introduction is a mix of these beautiful EMT echo plates [artificial reverb] and recording in the toilet, which gave a chamber-type sound. The fire broke out in a square piece, then bounced on another four-wheeler to give more pieces for recording. Vince was playing bass on his instrument. Kit Lambert – who had more musical knowledge than many managers at the time – decided he needed some extra stuff, so the brass parts were added. Working on a No. 1 record at the age of 16 was a fantastic feeling. Unfortunately, Arthur never saw rights to it, which was often the case then. Then I spent a lot of time working with my heroes [as producer] but I do not have autographs and obviously none of us had cell phones. I have a photo of me with Sly Stone. You do a job and sometimes you become partners. Only much later do you look back and think: “What week was that?” Arthur Brown’s new album, Long Long Road, will be released on Magnetic Eye Records on June 24, his 80th birthday. The band plays Bush Hall, London on June 25. Details thegodofhellfire.com
