Of course Brown made The Cape an integral part of his show, having it placed on him like a boxer who’s run out of gas, only to shrug it off and heroically answer the bell for the final round.
Was there ever a proto-Vampire Rock Garage Cape movement? I expected to find some band member in The Seeds or Sam Sham and the Pharoahs in a cape, but no dice. Am I forgetting someone obvious? Man, wouldn’t Jim Morrison would have looked great in a Count Rockula cape?
The recently deceased Solomon Burke was known to don a long monarch’s velvet cape, or robe, for photoshoots, but did he ever perform in The Cape? (BTW, is there a length at which a cape is known as a robe or by some other name? I was never into King Arthur and all that jazz as a kid.)
Speaking of King Arthur, capes rarely pop up in still photos of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. In fact, until prog-rock came along, I find much less capes in UK psych bands than I would have expected. I seem to recall the appearance of a cape or two in The Rolling Stones‘ Rock & Roll Circus movie, but other than the cape-like rain gear worn in Help!, am I forgetting a cape in any of the thousands of iconic photos of The Beatles?
Speaking of rock royalty, The King, Elvis Presley, would not be denied ecstatic onstage performances in The Cape!
How about the Count Five? I don’t know if they wore them on stage but they had them in the promo pictures.
THAT must be the obvious garage rock band I had in mind! Thank you.
An answered prayer? Did I actually just see a teaser of My Morning Jacket on Letterman with the singer hopping around stage in a cape?