The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – "Fire" (1968)

I am the god of hellfire

And I bring you . . . FIRE!

[NOTE: Last but certainly not least in this year’s group of 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME inductees is “Fire,” by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.  Here’s a slightly edited version of my February 2011 post about Arthur Brown and “Fire.”]

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Arthur Brown is responsible for perhaps the most electrifying song of the 1960s, “Fire,” which is a stick of dynamite if I ever did see one.

Unlike most songs of this era, Brown's version of “Fire” does not utilize any guitars.  Instead, the instrument that dominates the record is our old friend, the Hammond B-3 organ.  The last chorus features some horns, which turns an already very frenzied record into a very VERY frenzied record.

“Fire” came out of nowhere to hit #1 on the British charts in August 1968, and made it all the way to #2 in the United States a couple of months later.  

Brown's live performances were just a bit over the top.  He sometimes performed wearing a complicated helmet-like contraption on his head that was filled with fuel and set on fire:

This helmet was not terribly high-tech, and sometime things went wrong.  Once his head caught on fire, and the flames had to be extinguished with beer by a couple of audience members.

Brown released several albums in the seventies and had a part in the Ken Russell movie of the Who's Tommy.  (He sings a verse of “Eyesight to the Blind” in that movie.)

Later, he moved from the UK to Austin, Texas, and got a master's degree in counseling.  He and another counselor co-founded Healing Songs Therapy.  (Brown wrote a song about each of his client's emotional issues, presumably for therapeutic purposes – or perhaps because it was a good way to attract clients.)

G. I. Gurdjieff

Brown is currently a proponent of the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff, a mystic and guru whose approach to self-awareness is known as the “Fourth Way.”  Click here to read what one skeptic has to say about Gurdjieff and his teachings. 

And click here to learn more about a biography of Brown titled The God of Hellfire.

“Fire” was on Brown's The Crazy World of Arthur Brown album, which also featured a pretty convincing cover of “I Put A Spell On You”:

 Click here to listen to “Fire” and watch a video of Brown performing the song live.

And click on the link below to order the song from Amazon: