'A Wizard, A True Star' - my all-time favourite record

I love this record. For me, it's the greatest album ever made.

I bought Todd Rundgren's 'A Wizard, A True Star' in 1974 - it was the record that awakened my sense of musical wonder. Although it is now 45 years old, it still sounds, as the author Barney Hoskyns put it: "more bravely futuristic than any ostensibly cutting-edge electro-pop being made in the 21st Century." 

A Wizard, A True Star was a single album that had more musical ideas on it than many artists could muster in a whole career. It ranges across a variety of styles, reflecting a precocious talent channelling everything from The Beatles and Laura Nyro to glam rock, classic soul and Jimi Hendrix.

I came to know Todd Rundgren via the single I Saw The Light, which was a radio play hit in the UK, with its catchy piano melody and George Harrison-like guitar solo.

I decided I wanted to investigate further. I remember being in a record shop in the West End of London, looking up at the albums on display. I don't remember what the price difference was (probably only about 50p) but I couldn’t afford Something / Anything, the album that contained I Saw The Light,  because it was a double. Todd's follow-up album was also on sale and I was attracted to its kaleidoscopic cover.

Having gained an audience for his singer/songwriter-style songs
like 'Hello It's Me', Todd got weird on their asses

So I bought that instead. It’s fair to say the record blew my mind.

From the opening fuzz tones of ‘International Feel’, it was clear that 'A Wizard, A True Star' wasn't going to sound anything like 'I Saw The Light'.  This was exciting though; I had something none of my friends had. My musical universe was about to expand.

I was 15 at the time, a suburban kid eager for just this kind of adventure. If a record can be life changing, this was it.

That first side has 12 tracks on it; it's like watching a fast action cartoon. Todd's influences are all over the shop but if you can keep up with the stylistic shifts and the slightly crazed delivery, it's a wild ride.

The mood and style of side two is in marked contrast; Todd takes a more measured approach, with the middle of the side devoted to his soul medley.

Rolling Stone magazine's review considered the soul medley to be "the highlight of the record, in which Todd plays tribute to the Impressions, the Miracles, the Delphonics and the Capitols. 

"The first three selections, 'I'm So Proud', 'Ooh Baby Baby' and 'La La Means I Love You', feature Rundgren's plaintive singing that conveys a feeling of a kid vocalizing along with the originals late at night, fantasising about crooning to his dream girl," said the review. "The lovely synthesizer and harpsichord arrangements reveal Todd's respect for Stevie Wonder's recent recordings."

Unlike side one, where the tracks come thick and fast, on side two each track is a given the chance to soar. The songs still seque into each other, but do so beautifully, particularly towards the end, as the fuzz guitar of ‘Hungry for Love’ tails off to the solo piano of ‘I Don’t Want To Tie You Down’ which in turn echoes away into the guitar frenzy of ‘Is It My Name’.

The album ends with the majestic ‘Just One Victory’, the national anthem of Utopia as Todd called it.

It's a trip - in less than an hour you've heard a whole world of music. 

John Siomos, Ralph Shuckett, John Siegler & Moogy Klingman
the core band members, at Secret Sound recording AWATS

Rundgren has always made it clear this album was not a solo performance, like much of Something/Anything, where he played all the instruments on three sides of that album.

'Wizard' was recorded at Secret Sound, a small  studio created in a loft apartment in New York that was rented by Todd's keyboard playing friend Mark 'Moogy' Klingman.

Secret Sound was really Todd's creation, said Moogy. He did all the wiring and the equipment installation himself. "That studio was really put together with band aids and bubble gum. It just barely held together.”

A Wizard, A True Star was one of the very first things they recorded at Secret Sound. In Paul Myers' book about Todd's recording sessions in the 1970s, Moogy recalls, "One day Todd said ‘Okay I’m gonna start recording'. He was in the room by himself and he laid down the bass part to “International Feel” and then he started adding on to it. I said wow he’s making some really weird noisy sounds. 

Todd at Sunset Sound

"Then he was overdubbing and it started to sound like something and he said 'OK Moogy, I want you to bring your band in and we're gonna do the track. One of the first tracks we did was 'Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye' but he’d changed it to 'Da Da Dali'.

"We spent the next month or so recording A Wizard, A True Star with Todd as the sole engineer. We didn’t even have an assistant to just watch the levels and bring things down a bit. But that’s how he liked to work. He was a solo guy, he was a hermit nerd.”

Todd's new girlfriend Bebe Buell is sitting on the sofa at the back

The list of session musicians on AWATS includes the Brecker Brothers, Rick Derringer and David Sanborn. Moogy was responsible for bringing in all the musicians, using second keyboard player Ralph Shuckett, bassist John Siegler and drummer John Siomos as the core band. The contribution of Siomos (who later played on Frampton Comes Alive) is notable as he provides the solid groove and highly distinctive snare and tom-tom fills for much of the album’s more soulful and rocked-out moments.

Because he had crammed so much on the record, Todd urged the listener to crank up their stereo to get the full effect. In fact he suggested people tape the record and then crank it up, to avoid having the stylus jump off the vinyl.

The inside gatefold

First issues of the vinyl LP in the US were die-cut, giving the record sleeve an odd shape, and psychedelic images on both sides of the gatefold cover. I have an early US pressing and I have to say the sound is superior to my UK copy. There's more detail audible and you really get a sense of how amazing the mix is, considering the amount of instrumentation and studio effects.

The original album package also included a ‘band aid’ poem written by Todd’s friend Patti Smith, as well as a postcard encouraging purchasers to send their name to be included on a poster, which was given away with Todd's next album.

Patti Smith's beat prose inspired review of 'A Wizard, A True Star' for Creem Magazine in April 1973, described the album as "Rock and roll for the skull. A very noble concept. Past present and tomorrow in one glance. Understanding through musical sensation. Todd Rundgren is preparing us for a generation of frenzied children who will dream in animation."

inner sleeve side one

inner sleeve side two

By the time he came to record 'A Wizard, A True Star', Todd had tasted success with the hit singles Hello It's Me and I Saw The Light. But he set the template for the rest of his career, by not giving the fans or the record company more of the same.  

A Wizard, A True Star was his take on psychedelia, with a dash of rock and soul. And despite all the indulgence, it worked.

That wasn't always the case with Todd; he went on to make some other really good records, but he confounded expectations at every turn, which his fans learned to tolerate, or not.

Glam'd up in '73, playing Clapton's SG

Even in those early days, just before he made AWATS, an appearance on the US music show Midnight Special playing Hello It's Me had his PR advisers tearing their hair out. Todd appeared in full Glam Rock style, with elaborate face make-up and multi-coloured hair. You don't have to camp around, indeed. Commercial suicide, it was the first indication that Todd wouldn't be playing the game the way they wanted. 

On this swing to the left, Todd said: "I threw out all the rules of record making and decided I would try to imprint the chaos in my head onto a record without trying to clean it up for everyone else's benefit. The result was a complete loss of about half of my audience. This became the model for my life after that."

If he'd stuck to releasing just the pretty love songs, he would have been a superstar, no doubt about it. But after AWATS, for every A Dream Goes On Forever, there was a piece of self-indulgent primitive synth bollocks. I still enjoy listening to his 70s albums, skipping the odd track that, even then, was annoyingly indulgent on his part. There have been times when he has unfuriated me in a live situation - ignoring his considerable body of work to play an extended version of Peter Gunn on the 'Liars' tour, for example. It's never been easy being a TR fan, and he is unapologetic about that.  

A Wizard, A True Star, though, is the high point of a prolific musical journey.

The following links include some rare footage from the 1970s and some more recent clips, including some good quality film of the performance of AWATS 10 years ago.

1974 low-fi film of Todd and the AWATS band, playing material from the album including Just One Victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8gpABtL7sk&fbclid=IwAR26QUOjPxSzryBZTl8vp2-UWuWySGey7aOIljBDUmSSSRVyCNZpCs2-DbY

Here's video of Todd appearing on the Daryl's House show, singing Sometimes I Don't Know What To Feel

And here, as part of the 2009 AWATS shows, he performs I Don't Want To Tie You Down

 

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - The God of Hell Fire!

First, a bit of background. During the summer holidays in 1968, I would sit on the low front wall of the house across the road, with the neighbours’ kids, all of us around 10 years old, and we'd listen to the radio.

We would wait for our favourite songs to come on, like 'Itchycoo Park' by The Small Faces, 'Pictures of Matchstickmen' by The Status Quo, 'Green Tambourine' by The Lemon Pipers and 'Jesamine' by The Casuals.

But our very favourite that psychedelic summer was 'Fire' by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. A pretty freaky song for a 9 year old boy. It begins with Arthur bellowing "I am the God of Hell Fire!"

That was precisely why we all liked it, of course. It was slightly scary and it had this organ sound, like something out of a horror movie.

As 'Fire' entered the singles charts, The Crazy World... appeared on Top Of The Pops, so we could see that Arthur wore a crown of fire while singing and gyrating like some demented wizard.

Arthur Brown sings 'Fire' on Top Of The Pops

I hadn't started buying records at this point and in those days you couldn't just summon your favourite song out of the ether. You had to wait for BBC Radio One to play it. And if you missed it, you might have to wait several hours for them to play it again.

Thankfully, 'Fire' got a fair bit of airplay that late summer, as it captured everyone's attention when the Crazy World appeared on TOTP - Arthur with his crown of fire. The song jumped up the charts, hitting the number 1 spot (pop-pickers!) in August 1968.

Down at the local park, we decided to form a club, The Fire Appreciation Society, membership of which was confirmed by pledging allegiance to Arthur Brown - The God of Hellfire! I felt like this was proper rebellious behaviour for a young boy.

Arthur Brown in full voice was, and still is amazingly, a thing to behold. He had a terrific vocal range, with a natural deep speaking voice, but he was also capable of some blood-curdling screams. Deep Purple's singer Ian Gillan has said he was inspired by Arthur to incorporate screaming into his own style.

Here's a clip of Arthur performing the 'Fire Suite' song 'Nightmare' in a British film of 1968 called The Committee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KlQLJri-a4

And here's a live clip from the period, with a very rare sighting of original Crazy World drummer Carl Palmer, later of ELP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bBpWW3eizY

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, with Vincent Crane on Hammer Horror Hammond organ (Crane later formed Atomic Rooster with Carl Palmer)  - were a feature of London's psychedelic rock scene in 1967 and '68.

Review of Arthur at the Middle Earth club

They appeared with bands like The Soft Machine and The Pink Floyd at psychedelic underground clubs like UFO and Middle Earth. The band were signed to The Who's record label, Track, so would also have appeared at shows with The Who and Jimi Hendrix in this period.

Interviewed by Record Collector magazine in 2013, Arthur said, "UFO was quite short-lived. It was an old Irish club for most of the week. The psychedelic light shows that began there were run by Mark Boyle, who was an adventurer in all those oil wheel projections that you see in photographs.

"Middle Earth was a scene where poets, dancers, political extremists, hippie radicals - like Yoko Ono and her 'Bag-In' - all did their thing. It was really everybody influencing everybody else. Out of all that came a lot of the experimentation we did."

After The Crazy World came to an end, Arthur fronted the band Kingdom Come. His performance at Glastonbury in 1971 - a highlight of the film 'Glastonbury Fayre' - shows how much he put into each performance. It really is a wonderful snapshot of the period, full of long-haired hippies stoned out of their minds.

Arthur recalled, "There were only 2,000 people there. The Maharishi spoke from the first pyramid stage and taught us his spiritual path. David Bowie appeared at dawn but strangely didn't appear in the film."

The cameraman was probably asleep. Bowie told how he had been up all night smoking dope at the Worthy farmhouse in the company of Terry Reid and Linda Lewis. So getting to the stage at 5am, he would not have been in the best shape, but nonetheless he seems to have captivated those who were awake.

Audio of Bowie's Glastonbury appearance exists, in which he thanks the audience for appreciating him, at a time when he was considering giving up playing live altogether:

"I just want to say that you’ve given me more pleasure than I’ve had in a good few months of working. I don’t do gigs any more because I got so pissed off with working, and dying a death every time I worked, and it’s really nice to have somebody appreciate me for a change.”

Black and Brown

Arthur moved to America for a few years in the 1970s and, among other things, had a decorating business with Jimmy Carl Black, the drummer from The Mothers of Invention.

He described Jimmy as "a fantastic character. His favourite line was  'God-dammit Arthur, why can't I make any money in music. I never got paid and I don't suppose I ever God-damned will!"

Frank Zappa meets Arthur Brown in London

He met Frank Zappa too and described him as "a visionary who worked harder than anybody I knew, in terms of recorded music and how to present it."

Through his connection with The Who, Arthur was invited by Ken Russell to play the role of The Preacher in Russell's film of 'Tommy'.

Arthur claims that Pete Townshend actually wrote 'Tommy' with him in mind to perform it, rather than Roger Daltrey, which would have been interesting. But in any case, The Who's co-manager Kit Lambert persuaded Pete that he needed to let The Who perform it.

Arthur as The Preacher in Ken Russell's 'Tommy'

In later years, Arthur would tell how he had burned himself so many times wearing the crown of fire. You can see in the TOTP clip, how he removes it in the middle of the song. That hasn't stopped him from wearing variations of the crown of fire in performances down the years. Well he is The God of Hellfire - his audience expects nothing less!

He says, "People still like to hear 'Fire'. We did it with a string section. We did it with a ska band, with Jerry Dammers, and with Johnny Clegg and 20 piece reggae orchestra at the 40th anniversary of Glastonbury."

In this clip, Arthur tells the story of how he wrote 'Fire' - drugs were not involved apparently - and he uncovers his old fire crowns in a shed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqeXoAk4PR4

Arthur's still doing his thing

And so, being a long-time member of the Fire Appreciation Society, I have always had a soft spot for Arthur. He's an eccentric for sure, but quite sane for all that and he has stayed true to his roots as a theatrical musical act. Except for him it's more than an act. He has pursued a lifestyle that conforms to many of the original hippy ideals of communal and sustainable living.

He's also a good storyteller and with a strong and committed spiritual side.

I met Arthur very briefly in Victoria Station about 20 years ago. He's very tall and thin, with a deep voice. I didn't get the chance to tell him about the Fire Appreciation Society, but maybe if he reads this...

Here are some examples of Arthur Brown playing live back in the day and right up to this year.

Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - live at Glastonbury, 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUjo7iZPkMA

Arthur talks about the Glastonbury Festival in 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAbZhmSqlDg

I Put A Spell On You - Live 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjw_ZLF8lhg

Fire Poem, Glastonbury, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSSWiMyxJps 

Arthur interviewed by Steve Jones, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75DT21Kb0w0

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - live in 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcMb363Rp-I
The Fire suite starts about 33 minutes into the set.

The back cover of my CWOAB album

Audio of the original album by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (Track Records) in 1968

See also on this blog:

There's a lot to like in the 'Zappa' movie
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2021/03/theres-lot-to-like-in-zappa-movie.html

Syd Barrett's last recordings with Pink Floyd
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2014/09/vegetable-man-musical-anarchy-of-syd.html

Neil Finn's triumphant return to NZ with Fleetwood Mac

Neil Finn is almost certainly New Zealand's greatest popular music export. For the sheer quality of his songwriting over a 40 year career, there's no one to touch him. Yet, despite all those years of touring and making records, nothing could have prepared him for suddenly being part of one of the biggest bands in the world. When he joined Fleetwood Mac last year, replacing Lindsey Buckingham, the stakes got much bigger.

Finn is New Zealand's Paul McCartney, the creator of many memorable tunes including 'I Got You' for Split Enz, 'Don't Dream It's Over' and 'Weather With You' and many others for Crowded House. In his solo career he has also collaborated with his brother Tim and others including Shawn Colvin, Jeff Tweedy and Wendy & Lisa. 

Me with Neil Finn messing about on the river in 2008

Comparisons with McCartney are not so far-fetched. Neil's melodies are clearly influenced in some ways by The Beatles and Neil is a big fan of Paul's. On my one meeting with Neil, on a boat cruise along the river Thames in 2008, he talked about McCartney and how much he loved the album 'Ram', one of Paul's early solo records.

I first saw Neil live in 2001, just a few weeks after my family and I had emigrated to New Zealand. He was promoting a new solo album, One Nil, which featured songs he had created with Prince's former associates Wendy & Lisa. It's a great album and you can hear the positive influence that Wendy & Lisa had on his music. I wish he had done more work with them.

The live shows in Auckland, at the St James Theatre, were billed as '7 Worlds Collide, Neil Finn & Friends', featuring Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Johnny Marr from The Smiths, with Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway from Radiohead. Neil was clearly very comfortable in this collaborative setting and the concept was extended in 2008 when he convened a second '7 Worlds Collide' project. 

This yielded the double CD 'And The Sun Came Out'. Singing and songwriting contributions were divided amongst the group, which featured Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche, John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco, Radiohead's Phil Selway, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall and New Zealand songwriters Don McGlashan and Bic Runga. 

I mentioned to Neil when I met him that I have enjoyed these collaborations, including the work with Wendy & Lisa, almost as much as his regular solo gig and the Crowded House albums. He said it was all part of keeping things fresh and interesting, for him as much as for the listener. 

When Crowded House reformed in 2007, I saw them play at Hyde Park in London. The show was notable for the fact that when they played 'Weather With You' Neil was rapping with the crowd about how the sun was shining in Hyde Park, while it was raining at Glastonbury. Soon enough, the dark clouds loomed overhead. A little later, after Neil had told the black clouds to go away (he didn't say it as politely as that..) the heavens opened.

I've seen him a few times since then, on the boat in London, playing with his wife and son Liam as the group 'Breakfast Club' - and back in Auckland with Tim when they had an album out together. 

Then he joined Fleetwood Mac last year, which came right out of the blue. He wouldn't have been on anyone's list of people likely to replace Lindsey Buckingham - except for the one person who mattered, Mick Fleetwood. 

Here's TVNZ's interview with Neil about how he got the gig.

When the live shows were announced for Auckland, I grabbed some tickets, mainly because I wanted to see Neil coming home to play in NZ. 

And it was emotional. On Thursday night, the first of four shows at Auckland's Spark Arena, Fleetwood Mac - with NZ boy Neil Finn fronting them - put on a great show. From the moment he first engaged the crowd with "Kia ora, Auckland!" and launched into a hearty version of 'Second Hand News' it was clear Neil was fired up for this show. 

He got a lovely reception from his home crowd and it really was emotional to see him fronting the Mac, belting out the Split Enz classic ‘I Got You’ and the wonderful ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ - watch this clip:

In their between-song chat, Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks showed the utmost respect for Neil, his songs and what they meant to audiences around the world. Referring to 'Don't Dream It's Over', Fleetwood said, "Many years ago, I heard the most beautiful song. I had no idea who was singing it ... or from whence they came ... but it stayed right in my heart and all these years later, we play it together, now with a dear, dear friend of mine, who came from these parts here."

What a proud moment.

Musically, the band sounded polished (after 75 gigs, I suppose you'd expect them to be) and the two new guys gave the music just the right amount of rock and roll bite. Tom Petty's guitar partner Mike Campbell took most of the responsibility for Lindsay's lead guitar parts and the band paid tribute to Petty with a version of Free Falling (Stevie singing) as part of their encore. They also paid tribute to Peter Green, the Mac's original lead guitarist in the 1960s - covering his songs Oh Well, Man Of The World and Black Magic Woman.

Check 'em out if you can while they're still in NZ. Two more shows in Auckland this week (16th and 19th) and one in Dunedin on the 21st.

Here are two different views of 'I Got You' in Auckland:
Part 1

and Part 2

Fleetwood Mac's Set list in Auckland:

The Chain / Little Lies / Dreams / Second Hand News / Say You Love Me/ Black Magic Woman /Everywhere / I Got You / Rhiannon / World Turning / Gypsy/ Oh Well/ Man of the World / Don't Dream It's Over/ Landslide / Hold Me / You Make Loving Fun / Gold Dust Woman / Go Your Own Way / Free Fallin' / Don't Stop