Arthur Brown (musician) - Definition

For the Transatlantic aviator, see Arthur Whitten Brown.

Arthur Brown, born in Whitby, England, 1944. Brown is a British rock and roll singer known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on shock rockers like Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson. Arthur Brown has a large vocal range (several octaves).

First coming to public awareness in the late 1960s, Brown quickly became known for his outlandish performances, which included setting his head on fire (actually a burning helmet) and performances in the nude. His debut album, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1968) was a surprise hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The album included Pete Townshend as producer, and featured a major hit single entitled "Fire" (not to be confused with later songs of the same title by Jimi Hendrix and The Pointer Sisters). The Crazy World band included Carl Palmer, later of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, on drums and Vincent Crane (later of Atomic Rooster) on keyboards.

Though Brown never managed to release another recording as commercially successful as "Fire," he did release three noteworthy albums as Kingdom Come in the early 1970s. (Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come should not be confused with the hard rock/glam band of the same name from the 1980's.) The Kingdom Come albums featured a wild mix of progressive rock and demented theatrics. The third and final Kingdom Come album, "Journey," is noteworthy for being one of the first (if not the first) rock albums to feature a drum machine. In later years, Brown released several solo albums and also contributed vocals to the song "The Tell Tale Heart" on the Poe-based concept album "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by the Alan Parsons Project.