Jimi Hendrix Experience – "Fire" (1967)

I have only one itching desire

Let me stand next to your fire

Verses one and three of “Fire” end with this rhyming couplet:

I have only one burning desire

Let me stand next to your fire

Verse two changes “burning” to “itching.”  You might disagree, but I think “itching” is much hotter than “burning.”

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Each of the five Jimi Hendrix LPs that were released before he died in 1970 were top ten albums.

But “All Along the Watchtower” – which peaked at #20 on the Billboard “Hot 100” – was the closest he came to having a hit single.  None of his other singles made it into the top 50.  (By the way, “All Along the Watchtower” blows!)

“Fire” didn’t even crack the top 100 in the U.S. or the UK, which surprises me.  I hear it on the radio all the time now, and I feel like I heard it a lot when it was new.

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These lines from the bridge of “Fire” may be my favorite rock lyrics of all time:

Move over, Rover

And let Jimi take over!

The story goes that Hendrix was once invited by bassist Noel Redding to spend a frigid New Year’s Eve at his mother’s home in Folkestone, England.  When he came in from the cold, Hendrix wanted to stand close to the fireplace and get warm, but his wish was frustrated because Mrs. Redding's Great Dane was standing in his way.  Maybe that experience inspired those lines.

However, there does exist a recording of Hendrix reciting this naughty nursery rhyme, which I’m guessing was the actual inspiration for the lyric quoted above:

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard

To find her poor dog a bone

But when she bent over, Rover took over

‘Cause Rover had a bone of his own! 

Click here to see Andrew Dice Clay's version of that nursery rhyme.

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Click here to listen to “Fire,” the newest member of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME.   (Hendrix is great on “Fire,” but drummer Mitch Mitchell really steals the show on that recording.)

Click here to buy “Fire” from Amazon.

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: