FIRE ![]()
For Dead Hippie’s detractors on the Internet, it is Simon Smallwood’s singing that the various blogger types don’t like: “histrionics” come up a lot, “gallingly awful” is one description, and still another complained that he was trying to copy The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (remember “Fire”?) – like that’s a bad thing. (July 2012) * * * Even in the context of the late 1960’s, King Crimson’s debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King seemed to come out of nowhere, even after other bizarro albums had already come along (both of which are excellent by the way): the 1968 debut Gris-Gris by Dr. John the Night Tripper (the stage name of premier New Orleans pianist Mac Rebennack, and later shortened to Dr. John), which features voodoo rhythms and chants; and, in the same year, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, which spawned the hit single “Fire”. In the Court of the Crimson King featured powerful music and dense lyrics, particularly on the title song, “In the Court of the Crimson King” and “21st Century Schizoid Man”, interspersed with quieter songs like “I Talk to the Wind” and an extended free-form jazzy interlude on “Moonchild”. I have already discussed this album at length on an earlier post about another UARB, Trillion. (March 2013) * * * The NME ad about the Klubs – which included a photo of the band in face paint like the Crazy World of Arthur Brown was using (their hit single “Fire” had come out earlier in 1968) – was deemed worthy of inclusion in the magazine edition.
(July 2013)
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