"Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot"
It's Bonfire Night and believe it or not, there's an album called 'Fireworks' by a group called 'Bonfire' released in 1987, but they are German, a bit obscure and I've got nothing by them.
Instead, let's go the obvious way and bring back everybody's pyrotechnical favourite, Arthur Brown. Perhaps best known for occasionally setting his head on fire, Arthur Brown was a bit of a legend in the 60's and this album is exactly what you would expect it to be. Psychedelic, weird, acid, everything that the 60's demanded from the fringes.
The album was produced by Kit Lambert, the Who's manager, with input from Pete Townsend, so it certainly had some weight behind it. Obviously 'Fire' was the track that helped to sell it, but surprisingly there are some other good to great tracks there, depending on your taste.
Common to many of the album cuts is the brilliant organ work of Vincent Crane and some great examples are on 'Come and Buy', 'Time/Confusion' and 'Spontaneous Apple Creation'. Arthur himself shouldn't be discounted as a novelty act either. He has what has been described as an 'operatic' voice and he spans four octaves, so the guy is no slouch - although he maybe doesn't use his voice to it's full advantage with some of this music he does have a talent to be reckoned with.
Most of the songs on the album are original compositions by either Arthur himself or in partnership with the other group members, particularly the aforementioned Vincent Crane. Along with the originals there are 2 covers. Screamin' Jay Hawkins did the definitive version of his own song 'I Put A Spell On You' but Arthur does a credible effort, adding a bit of his own flavour. The same can't really be said about the other cover song, 'I've Got Money' originally by James Brown. Both versions have their own brand of insanity, but there's not much more that Arthur could add to James' performance.
I keep using this phrase, and each time I do it's meant sincerely. This is a record of it's time. If you didn't live through it, you may find it harder to listen to than if you have personal memories of 'being there'.
I Am the God of Hellfire
Happy Bonfire Night.
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