P P Arnold

By the time the album was released, P. P. Arnold, then known as Pat Arnold, left the Ikettes after beginning a friendship with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and signed to Immediate Records, a record label owned by the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham.

By the time the album was released, P. P. Arnold, then known as Pat Arnold, left the Ikettes after beginning a friendship with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and signed to Immediate Records, a record label owned by the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham.

By the time the album was released, P. P. Arnold, then known as Pat Arnold, left the Ikettes after beginning a friendship with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and signed to Immediate Records, a record label owned by the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham.

Five decades after she became a ’60s icon with the timeless pop hits ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ and ‘Angel Of The Morning’ on Rolling Stones manager Andrew Oldham’s ultra-hip Immediate label, soul singer P.P. Arnold is set to release a double-album of stunning new material featuring contributions from, among others, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Cradock, The Specials and P.P’s songwriter son, Kodzo.

When P.P. Arnold arrived in London in 1966 to support The Rolling Stones as one of Ike & Tina Turner's backing singers, The Ikettes, little did she know that her world was about to be turned upside down. The 19-year-old caught the eye of Mick Jagger, who would persuade her to stay in London and record as a solo artist – ultimately leading to a five-decade career working with everyone from Jagger, the Small Faces, Rod Stewart, Barry Gibb and Eric Clapton, to Nick Drake, Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, the KLF, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene and Primal Scream, to name a few.

This extravagant six-CD set documents the astonishing life span of the first pop independent label in the U.K., Immediate Records. Founded in 1965, Immediate flipped, flopped, and staggered its own way, competing against unhip American labels like EMI and Decca until late 1969. The label, and the documentary CD set, showcases in particular the Small Faces, who enjoyed a brief U.K. number one hit, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake. More familiar to American listeners will no doubt be the three-chord sock-hop favorite "Hang on Sloopy" by the McCoys, and a number of covers of familiar American folk-rock hits are present as well. The esoteric collector will appreciate inclusions by such café balladeers as the Poets and Les Fleurs-de-Lis, also signed by Immediate before the advent of the swinging London sound, marked by the Rolling Stones revolution and other mod developers influencing the pants off the tiniest studio cover bands. Immediate also helped sculpt the success of anguished bellower Chris Farlowe, soon to be joined by the similarly throaty vibrato of PP Arnold and, of course, manager/producer Andrew Oldham's best toss of the dice, the Small Faces, whom he ripped away from Decca. By the fourth disc, you are, in fact, in the throes of swinging London, featuring Farlowe's heart-stopping "Yesterday's Papers" and Arnold's "The First Cut Is the Deepest," written by the much-in-demand Cat Stevens. Most of the music is minimal and often out of tune, production at an early-time low, replete with tinny echoes and accidental outtake moments.

The 60s was the decade of peace and love, and while Bob Dylan, John Lennon and many others would fly the flag for peace, artists like PP Arnold, The Searchers, Petula Clark, The Foundataions, The Overlanders (all featured here) sang about love. In the 60s, the accent was on the younger generation having fun. It was time to let your hair down and have a good time, and this superb 2CD collection brings you the love-seeking ladies and the romantic guys who sang from their heart.