{"id":23777,"date":"2026-11-05T10:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=23777"},"modified":"2026-11-05T10:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:15:12","slug":"the-god-of-hell-fire-the-mighty-arthur-brown-unleashes-the-kind-of-hush-you-have-never-heard-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=23777","title":{"rendered":"THE GOD OF HELL FIRE, THE MIGHTY ARTHUR BROWN UNLEASHES THE KIND OF HUSH YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD BEFORE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Los Angeles, California<\/strong>: Robert Plant<\/strong>, Ian Gillan<\/strong>, Rob Halford<\/strong>\u2026 rock\u2019n\u2019roll has unleashed a lot of screamers over the years.\u00a0 Alice Cooper<\/strong>, David Bowie<\/strong>, KISS<\/strong>\u2026 and a lot of showman as well.\u00a0 But every one of them, whether they admit it or not, owes a singular debt to just one man – Arthur Brown.\u00a0 Even his band – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – remains one of the most perfectly named groups that any performer has ever conceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s close to 60 years since Brown and his Crazies burst onto the scene, when \u201cFire\u201d not only became one of the biggest hits of 1968, it also gave the singer the nickname that he has proudly won ever since. He truly was the God of Hell Fire and, so many decades later\u2026 he still is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, releasing today on all digital platforms, his new single \u201cHush\u201d proves that Brown still boasts one of the most dynamic voices around.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Joe South<\/strong> and a 1967 hit for Billy Joe Royal<\/strong>, \u201cHush\u201d is best remembered in many quarters as the first ever single by Deep Purple<\/strong> in 1968, at a time when the band was still finding its way across three early albums featuring future Captain Beyond<\/strong> vocalist Rod Evans<\/strong> and Johnny Kidd<\/strong> and Warhorse<\/strong> bassist Nick Simper<\/strong> alongside the expected Ritchie Blackmore<\/strong>, Jon Lord<\/strong> and Ian Paice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number 4 American hit (48 places higher than Billy Joe\u2019s original), \u201cHush\u201d might not be regarded as highly as some of the later Purple\u2019s own compositions.  It remains a stone-cold classic, however, and as Cleopatra Records\u2019s upcoming Purple Storm<\/em> tribute to Deep Purple came together, nobody doubted that it should be included.  Nor that Brown was the person to voice it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t make the record alone, of course.  Behind Brown storms a dream team backing band featuring Joel Hoekstra<\/strong> (Whitesnake<\/strong>, Trans-Siberian Orchestra<\/strong>), Alan Davey<\/strong> (Hawkwind<\/strong>), J\u00fcrgen Engler<\/strong> and Chris Lietz<\/strong>  (Die Krupps<\/strong>), Carmine Appice<\/strong> (Vanilla Fudge<\/strong>, Cactus<\/strong>, Rod Stewart<\/strong>), each of them determined to transform what was originally a fairly innocuous little song into a head banging hurricane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown\u2019s vocal sounds as though it could have been recorded way back when; Hoekstra\u2019s guitar slashes as though the future\u2019s on fire, and Appice\u2019s drums have seldom received such punishment in the past.  And then there\u2019s that organ solo which comes straight out of the Jon Lord school of key-crunching virtuosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHush\u201d has never sounded so heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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