The Jimi Hendrix thread brought the organist and pianist Vincent Crane to mind, since Jimi suggested forming a group with Arthur Brown and Vincent, then both of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. In 1969, Vincent left that group along with its new drummer, Carl Palmer, and (and this is why I'm not completely OT) they were due to meet with Brian Jones to discuss a collaboration. But Brian died a day or two before the meeting was to take place and Vincent and Carl went on to form Atomic Rooster. Carl left after the first album to become the Palmer in Emerson, Lake and Palmer (who, it's said, might have been Hendrix, Emerson, Lake and Palmer if Jimi hadn't died). Okay.
Their first couple of albums are something like a more nervous, less brutal, Hammond organ-led Black Sabbath and they had hits with
Tomorrow Night and
The Devil's Answer but Vincent's love of James Brown, soul music and the blues became increasingly evident on their later albums, alienating many of their fans. They broke up, reformed and broke up. Vincent, who was the only member present in all forms of the the group, later recorded with Peter Green, Ray Dorset and others on Katmandu's
A Case for the Blues and joined Dexy's Midnight Runners. After long difficulties with bipolar disorder, he killed himself in 1989.
I must admit to having some reservations about Atomic Rooster (not least the name and cover of the fifth album) and they're not the sort of group I usually like. But Vincent Crane was a very talented songwriter and I've found myself quite fascinated by him and his career, as well as with the idea of what a Crane/Jones/Palmer group might have been like.
So have a listen to these, if you have a moment and, since this is a Stones board, maybe wonder what they would have sounded like with Brian's slide guitar or recorder.
If you want to know more, this [
website.lineone.net] is a site by his widow and this [
www.godofhellfire.co.uk] is a site about Arthur Brown. Also, although it pains me to link to anything called Classic Rock, this is a good article about the band: [
www.classicrockmagazine.com]
And, to finish, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's
Fire, co-written (like most of the Arthur Brown songs) by Vincent:
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-29 23:51 by Squiggle.