The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (album)
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is the eponymous debut studio album by the English psychedelic rock band the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The album was produced by the Who's manager Kit Lambert with associate production by Pete Townshend. The album was released in June 1968 on Lambert's Track Records label in the UK, with North American distribution handled by Atlantic Records. The album was released in the US in September. (Early North American copies of the album, while distributed by Atlantic, bore the Track Records imprint; later pressings were  released on the Atlantic label proper.) It was the only album released by the band in its original incarnation; a follow-up was recorded in 1969 but went unreleased for two decades. The album peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart, No. 2 on the UK charts, and No. 6 in Canada. 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 USA in October 1968, No. 1 in Canada also in October, and No. 19 in Australia again  in October. Instrumentation and content. "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" was the only album released by the band during its active tenure, and features the band's core members Arthur Brown (vocals), Vincent Crane (organ, piano and vibes), and Drachen Theaker (drums). Bass guitar, where used, was provided by Nick Greenwood; session drummer John Marshall replaced Theaker on two selections. Horn and string overdubs were also employed on side one of the album. While the latter were done for tactical reasons, Brown's opinion is that the overdubs add to the album's overall presentation, replacing visuals and costume  changes he would have employed in live performance to achieve dramatic effect. Considered a classic of the late-1960s psychedelic scene and a significant influence on progressive rock, "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" included a full album side of original songs focused on the horrors of Hell, including Brown's signature song "Fire" which showcased Crane's organ and brass arrangement as well as Brown's powerful, wide-ranging operatic voice. The album's second side contained a mix of original songs and covers, the latter being Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" and James Brown's  I've Got Money. The album's format reflected a compromise between Brown and the band's producer/manager Kit Lambert; Brown's original intent was to produce an album-long rock opera incorporating the material included on side one, while Lambert wanted to produce a more overtly commercial record, including cover material from the band's stage act. In Ronnie Wood's radioshow of 14 November 2011, both Wood and Alice Cooper claim that the bass on the single "Fire" is performed by Ron Wood, but Polly Marshall's biography of Arthur Brown states that "According to the-faces.com, Ronnie  claims he played on the Track Records studio sessions recording Fire, but he must have confused it with the BBC session [of 8 April 1968]." There is no bass guitar on the recording, only bass pedals. Following the success of the single "Fire," the press would often refer to Brown as "The God of Hellfire" in reference to the opening shouted line of the song. Stereo vs. mono song mixes and overdubs. The album was released exclusively in stereo in North America, except for mono promotional-only copies, but both monophonic and stereo versions were available in the UK. However , the mono version was a fold down of the stereo mix, not a true mono mix. In 1991, the album was reissued on CD with previously unreleased alternate mono mixes of the songs from side A, which lack the overdubs of brass and strings added for the national release. In a 1999 interview, Brown explained that Lambert added brass and strings overdubs at Atlantic's request, to mask perceived deficiencies in the percussion tracks: Reception. AllMusic gave a positive retrospective review of the album, remarking that "Though a bit over the top, this album was still powerful and surprisingly melodic , and managed to be quite bluesy and soulful..." "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" deemed the album "English eccentricity at its most daft."