The legendary "God of Hellfire" has given himself and his worldwide fan community a perfect musical surprise for his 80th birthday with "Long Long Road". Reason enough to arrange a Zoom meeting with the tireless rock legend.
eclipsed: Mr. Brown, you've been in the music business for almost 60 years. How and where did you start?
Arthur Brown: My immersion in music began when I went to Reading University. There I became a bass player in a trad band. Pretty soon I realized that people wanted to hear me sing. So I took classical voice lessons. Then I sang with Acker Bilk, at a time when I was very into modern jazz and blues. Later I joined a mod band from Fulham, which promptly changed its name to Arthur Brown Union. We played opening for John Mayall, had a residency at a club in Tottenham. in 1966 I took my band to Paris, where we became really famous for just under a year. The Crazy World story began one night in Paris when the saxophonist and I fantasized about the future.
eclipsed: In 1968, you were the first person to sing about the devil in rock music. That was very unusual at a time when hippie culture set the tone, wasn't it?
Brown: The creation of "Fire" happened by chance. We were in the studio with producers Kit Lambert and Pete Townshend looking for an additional song for our debut album. It was about the concept of having different characters appear in different songs. One of them was the "God of Hellfire." We had no idea that it would become so famous. We were interested in pushing the possibilities of the long-playing record to the limit. This interest was also shared by Pete Townshend, who was planning a concept album with his band The Who. This then became the rock opera "Tommy" ..
eclipsed: In your long career you have experienced the ups and downs of the rock business. If we see you on stage today, the years since the "Fire" premiere seem to have passed you by without a trace!?
Brown: After "Fire" had this big success in the U.S. and Europe, there was really a lot to do. We were on stage next to Bob Dylan, Soft Machine and Pink Floyd. After Crazy World broke up, I had success with my band Kingdom Come. The 80s and early 90s were difficult. But then interest in the culture of the '60s and '70s picked up again. With the possibilities of modern technology, today's youth have opportunities to bring back the old magic. That's where I like to be. The work keeps me young. Of course, at my age, I have to take care of myself. I dance and meditate regularly to keep my body and mind fresh.
