THE GOD OF HELLFIRE: The Crazy Life and Times of Arthur Brown

London: SAF Publishing, 2005. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. “Alice Cooper’s makeup kit is more famous, but British madman Arthur Brown wore the colors first. Done up in the familiar black-and-white facial schemata later borrowed not only by Cooper, but KISS, King Diamond, the Misfits, Marilyn Manson, and black metal’s entire ‘corpse paint’ brigade, he performed as the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and belted out wild, psychedelic caterwauls while gyrating outlandishly and wearing a metal helmet topped by an actual open flame” (Mike McPadden). If ever an artist merited rediscovery, its this pioneering shock rocker whose 1968 hit “Fire” burned up (truncated) the charts: “I am the god of hell-FIRE, and I give you … FIRE!” Foreword by Howard Marks. Octavo: 255, [1] pp. with textual photographs. Original black cloth binding, with gilt-stamped titles. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. (Inventory #: 78349)