Atomic Rooster

Organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer were first paired in The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. They split off during a US tour in 1969, and returned to England and formed Atomic Rooster (1969 was the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac). According to legend, it was during a psychedelic experience that Crane first envisioned the "rooster," and after which his subsequent psychiatric problems began to surface. Crane was a huge fan of James Brown, while Palmer was into Buddy Rich; bringing both influences to Atomic Rooster imbued the band with its unique character. Multi-instrumentalist Nick Graham was recruited after a short list of names failed to pan out. Graham was a versatile musician-playing bass, guitar and flute, as well as providing vocals often reminiscent of The Who's Roger Daltrey. Propelled by Palmer's driving foundation, Crane's hard-rocking songs swell with progressive arrangements (check out the horn section of "Broken Wings") and his virtuoso keyboard skills. But it's on "Banstead," an epithet to the mental hospital where he had been admitted in 1969, where Crane turns the frenzy down a notch that his talent shines through. The elegiac "Winter" is similar, its sparse arrangement enhanced by a beautiful solo cello and flute from Graham. Unfortunately, lineup changes would plague the Rooster; shortly before the album's release, Graham quit the band. The album reached No. 49 in the UK, but by the end of the year, Palmer too had left, off to join Messrs. Emerson and Lake in ELP. Crane, undeterred, forged on.