Pete Brown

One of the key eccentrics of the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Harvest%22">Harvest</a> stable and a successful collaborative lyricist for <a href="spotify:artist:74oJ4qxwOZvX6oSsu1DGnw">Cream</a> ("I Feel Free," "Sunshine of Your Love"), poet/percussionist/vocalist/trumpet player Pete Brown was one of the many artists to arise from the British beat movement in the mid- to late '60s. Like a lot of his peers, Brown's spin on progressive rock came from backgrounds in folk, jazz, and blues.

He was kicking around the scene as a poet until being approached by <a href="spotify:artist:74oJ4qxwOZvX6oSsu1DGnw">Cream</a> to assist in songwriting. Upon achieving chart success with the trio, Brown decided to go the musician route. <a href="spotify:artist:1im4Wcx1u8qxzbRtlRDbnC">Graham Bond</a> asked Brown to help out with some songs for <a href="spotify:artist:2YHcSCb5tMbCoovS962pff">the Graham Bond Organisation</a>, and he was eventually invited to sing with the group on-stage. Once they broke up, Brown helped form <a href="spotify:artist:6udmz2X0n9cTtVsqjKjPev">the Battered Ornaments</a>, hoping to work with musicians whose skills didn't dwarf his own. The group fell in with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Harvest%22">Harvest</a>, the progressive subsidiary of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a> that housed the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6Lt3HS8R2v8Q4G7ZkUWa8R">Syd Barrett</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:568ZhdwyaiCyOGJRtNYhWf">Deep Purple</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:424ZDRAZzCKKUXvzvv52ox">Roy Harper</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:6udmz2X0n9cTtVsqjKjPev">The Battered Ornaments</a>' only record with Brown, A Meal You Can Shake Hands with in the Dark, was released in 1969.

<a href="spotify:artist:6udmz2X0n9cTtVsqjKjPev">The Battered Ornaments</a> booted Brown from the band on the night prior to a supporting gig for <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> at Hyde Park; his vocals on the recording of the group's second record were eventually wiped off. The sacked singer immediately set about forming <a href="spotify:artist:53ZqIgtbkPHvH5Bl2N8cmV">Piblokto!</a>, a group that, for 1970's Things May Come and Things May Go But the Art School Dance Goes on Forever, comprised bassist <a href="spotify:artist:39wKTtostbmp1Q9wCcSHts">Roger Bunn</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2Z5GlupSvKDfgQ8SSqWaPW">Jim Mullen</a>, organist Dave Thompson, and <a href="spotify:artist:6udmz2X0n9cTtVsqjKjPev">Battered Ornaments</a> drummer Rob Tait. <a href="spotify:artist:39wKTtostbmp1Q9wCcSHts">Bunn</a> was replaced by Steve Glover for Thousands on a Raft, which was released six months after their debut. Another shift in the lineup pre-dated the final <a href="spotify:artist:53ZqIgtbkPHvH5Bl2N8cmV">Piblokto!</a> release, the single "Flying Hero Sandwich."

Brown teamed up again with <a href="spotify:artist:1im4Wcx1u8qxzbRtlRDbnC">Graham Bond</a> for 1972's one-off Two Heads Are Better Than One, which featured contributions from several of Brown's former bandmates. With keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:0tgLpCvovrYmJpEJ004je5">Ian Lynn</a>, who played on Thousands on a Raft, he formed Back to the Front, a group that performed but never recorded in their original form. They lasted until 1977; Brown faded away from music, at least in a performance sense, until 1983's Party in the Rain, which featured most of Back to the Front behind him.

The '90s saw Brown working again with <a href="spotify:artist:5lmqxc1q8JkIquEwWZFKYm">Phil Ryan</a>, a keyboardist who played with <a href="spotify:artist:6XNNAZyTxhw3IRa0xyRBeo">Man</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:119FTy9OZwMW9S7J0N5fIF">the Eyes of Blue</a>, and the final lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:53ZqIgtbkPHvH5Bl2N8cmV">Piblokto!</a> They made two records together, Ardours of the Lost Rake and Coals to Jerusalem. Toward the end of the decade, he formed <a href="spotify:artist:064DjMTOcPnsWtiglrOE1b">the Interoceters</a>, a group that performed songs from his lengthy career. Brown also maintained a working relationship with <a href="spotify:artist:73ndLgs6jSrpZzjyzU9TJV">Jack Bruce</a> and participated in the making of several records by other artists. Pete Brown died on May 19, 2023, while in treatment for cancer; he was 82 years of age. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi