Career
Born Vincent Rodney Cheesman in Reading, Berkshire, he was influenced by Graham Bond, and in 1967 teamed up with Arthur Brown in The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Their eponymous debut album, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1968) contained the song "Fire", a chart-topping hit single in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, with Crane's organ on the leads.
During the tour of the USA, the band began to splinter, when Crane and drummer Carl Palmer (later of Emerson, Lake & Palmer) left to form Atomic Rooster in late 1969. Atomic Rooster enjoyed success in 1971 with two hit singles, "Tomorrow Night", and "Devil's Answer".
Crane was plagued by bipolar disorder, resulting in numerous outpatient and inpatient mental health treatment facilities and hospital admissions. Crane is associated with the Hammond Organ which was central to The Crazy World of Arthur Brown album, as well as to Atomic Rooster's music.
He collaborated with other musicians on a number of albums, including Rory Gallagher (Rory Gallagher, 1971), Arthur Brown (Faster Than The Speed Of Light, 1979), Peter Green, Richard Wahnfried and Dexys Midnight Runners (Don't Stand Me Down, 1985). In 1983 he was part of the one-off blues outfit, Katmandu, with Ray Dorset and Green, who recorded the album A Case for the Blues.
Crane died of an overdose of painkillers after a lifetime of struggling with mania-depression, in 1989, at the age of 45.
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