Been spinning this fab double deluxe cd of this "68 psych classic which was released by Esoteric Records a few years back.Man the actual album "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" is bloody trriffic and so hard hitting it pounds your ears from the speakers,a great album with a mix of strings,brass and that excellent organ playing by Vincent Crane,a real heavy organ grinder is this album,i must add that Vincent Crane also arranged the strings on this album too.But WOW!!!The vocals of Arthur Brown are bloody brilliant too,everything just fits into place.I must add this cd is the one to get as to my ears the difference in sound between this and the old polydor cd cant compare,its so much better sounding!!.I really cant pick out faves as it has to be heard as one piece.CD2 is a hotpotch of single sides,mono versions of tracks from the album,BBC Sessions and other bits and bobs.

BEWARE the follow up album "Strangelands"as this is a very tough listen and a very different beast to the debut.I didnt enjoy it to be honest!!!These recordings were recorded in the end of 69 and early 1970 and lay unreleased till 1988.ESoteric have also released this on cd too,those recordings dont feature Vincent Crane on the organ and tracks 12-19 feature a spin off group Rustic Hinge which dont feature Arthur Brown.

Also tonight i played Atomic Roosters debut album,man this is good too and again great organ playing from Vincent Crane(RIP),the cd i have is the deluxe single cd with an excellent booklet telling the beginning of what leads up to a sad story which continues onto the following cds.The extras on this expanded cd are BBC Sessions and 3 tracks that vary from the US version of the album as they feature John Cann on them,its a long convuloted story of constant change in band members.But the music to my ears is very good too,its got that proto prog feel to it,good stuff.

stuart. the first 3 atomic rooster are indeed very good. I agree strangelands is hard going.

"Chilsom in my Bosom" '77

I was reading recently that the track Banstead was named after the mental institution that Vincent Crane spent four months in after Crazy World's first tour of the U.S. in 1969.
Arthur Brown's band must have been an interesting one, as besides Vincent Crane, Brown himself and Drachen Theaker were not your average, stable musicians.
Apparently Atomic Rooster were named after Crane and Carl Palmer heard about the bass player from the U.S. band Rhinoceros who had been taking a lot of chemical substances and started calling himself the Atomic Rooster.

Just seen Arthur bouncing around in a 60s film called 'The Committee", incidental music by Pink Floyd