Steve Shark Shakes Hands With A Meal In The Dark Dept.

Mal Dean was to Brown what Cal Schenkel was to Zappa - integral

Poet and lyricist [declaims Steve Shark - Ed.] Pete Brown is known mainly for his work with Cream, but his story begins earlier than that and extends all the way to the present. However, it's the early days that are featured here.

Although he started off as a poet, Pete became an active member of the London jazz scene in the early 1960s and soon began to move into music, forming The First Real Poetry Band, which included John McLaughlin. The band was very successful on the London club circuit and it recorded a series of demos, although none have been released so far.

Brown soon attracted the attention of Ginger Baker of Cream, who was looking for a lyricist, although he got on better with Jack Bruce. The pair went on to write "Wrapping Paper", "I Feel Free", "Sunshine of Your Love" (with Clapton), "Politician", "White Room", and several others. They would also collaborate on Bruce's solo material, including the magnificent "Songs for a Tailor" album.

Brown had since broken up The First Real Poetry Band, as he thought his singing was the weak link in it, and decided to form a new band, with less competent members than the Poetry Band. He thought that such musicians might be more amenable to his style of singing. This didn't pan out, so he decided to seek out more experienced players.

So it was, that in 1968, Brown formed Pete Brown and His Battered Ornaments, which included Chris Spedding, Dick Heckstall Smith and George Khan. Things went very well indeed with a signing to the prestigious Blackhill Management, and then a recording deal with the new Harvest label.

What could possibly go wrong?

Their first album together was called "A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark" (what a great title!) and it's one of my favourite records of that or any other era. The band is top notch and the songs are all memorable, with Brown's superb lyrics and his voice - never the sweetest of sounds - effective enough to these ears when delivering them. There's jazz, there's blues, there's psychedelia, there's Latin and there's even a bit of a nod to folk.

"Dark Lady" kicks off the album with a continuous modal vamp which changes key to kick it up a notch and then the soloing begins with organ, sax and Chris Spedding playing funk rhythm guitar, as well as fills on slide. More key changes maintain interest and Spedding ends the song with a short solo. There's a lot of free and jazzy blowing here, although it's always anchored by the rock bass and drums.

Another cracking track is "The Politician" - a distant cousin of the Cream song. It starts with a hilarious monolgue from Brown which gives way to some stertorious sax, a brief belch and then it takes off, with lots of slide guitar from Spedding. Brown then tells the story of the Politician in what is esentially a 12 bar blues taken at speed. There's a strange echoing sax solo and more singing from Brown, one more sax solo that skitters about, an organ solo and then (almost) a bass solo. Throughout, Brown portrays the lecherous and corrupt politician of the title - what a good job things have changed, eh?

"Sandcastles" has some great flute playing from Khan and wah-wah slide from Spedding, all laid over a hypnotic Latin rhythm, driven by some terrific bass playing from Butch Potter. Brown's lyrics reveal his more lyrical side, compared to the broad humour of "The Politician".

Almost everyone in those days had to play a blues and the Ornaments were no exception. "Travelling Blues or the New Used Jew's Dues Blues" is a total pisstake. Everyone piles in with blues cliches, and Brown is very funny throughout, with lines like: Yeah, we're rolling across the country, and the colours of the cows are cool.

Anyway, the album did well, the gigs rolled in, a second album was cut and ready for release, and the band was lined up to play at Hyde Park supporting the Stones.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, the day before the Hyde Park gig - the day before - the band sacked Brown as they thought his singing wasn't really up to scratch.

Ouch...

So, the Battered Ornaments played Hyde Park without Pete, Chris Spedding replaced all Brown's vocals on the new album with his own, the band faded into oblivion, and Brown went off to form Piblokto, which pretty much followed the career trajectory of his former band. Although Spedding was a better singer (just barely) than Brown, his wasn't an interesting voice and lacked conviction. The Battered Ornaments were simply a more engaging band with Pete Brown than without him, and the punters agreed.

The story doesn't end there, as I said above, but for now it does. Many of the chief players are still alive and still making music, so that's perhaps a good note on which to conclude. Oh, and Pete's singing has improved greatly.

So, what goodies are there to download?

Both Battered Ornaments albums are included - with and without Pete. There are two additional tracks on the second album - an unofficial release in this case - which were the A sides of a brace of singles. One was with the BOs and Pete - also recorded as a demo by Pete's first band with John McLaughlin - and the other with Pete's next band Piblokto. Odd choices for a non-Brown album release, but interesting if you want to try and imagine what Pete might have sounded like with McLaughlin.