Vincent Rodney Cheesman (21 May 194314 February 1989), known professionally as Vincent Crane, was an English keyboardist, best known as the organist for the Crazy World of Arthur Brown (he was a co-writer of that group's 1968 hit single "Fire") and subsequently for Atomic Rooster.
Biography
Born Vincent Rodney Cheesman in Reading, Berkshire, he taught himself boogie woogie piano as a teenager before attending Trinity College of Music between 1961 and 1964. Influenced by Graham Bond, he took up the Hammond organ. In late 1966 he formed the Vincent Crane Combo, which comprised bass player Binky McKenzie, sax player John Claydon and drummer Gordon Hadler. In 1967 he teamed up with Arthur Brown in the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Their debut album The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1968) contained the song "Fire", co-written by Crane, which was a chart-topping hit single in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, featuring Crane's organ and brass arrangements.
During their first tour of the United States in 1968, Crane had a nervous breakdown and returned to the United Kingdom where he spent some months in the mental hospital at Banstead. playing their first concert at the Lyceum in London on 29 August, headlining over Deep Purple.
Discography
Solo
- 1997: Taro Rota (recorded in the late 1970s, Arthur Brown erroneously credited on release)
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
- 1968: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
Atomic Rooster
- 1970: Atomic Roooster
- 1970: Death Walks Behind You
- 1971: In Hearing of Atomic Rooster
- 1972: Made in England
- 1973: Nice 'n' Greasy
- 1980: Atomic Rooster
- 1983: Headline News
Katmandu
- 1983: A Case for the Blues
Collaborations (incomplete)
- 1971: Rory Gallagher (with Rory Gallagher), piano on two tracks
- 1979: Faster Than the Speed of Light (with Arthur Brown)
- 1985: Don't Stand Me Down (with Dexys Midnight Runners)
References
External links
- Archive of an Atomic Rooster and Vincent Crane site, by his widow Jeannie Crane and dedicated to his memory