Chris Farlowe Explained

Chris Farlowe
Birth Name:John Henry Deighton
Alias:Little Joe Cook
Birth Date:13 October 1940
Birth Place:Islington, North London, England
Origin:Finchley, North London, England
Years Active:1957–present
Instrument:Vocals
Label:Columbia, Immediate, Stateside; Sue (pseudonymously)
Current Member Of:Colosseum
Past Member Of:The Thunderbirds, Atomic Rooster
Associated Acts:The Rolling Stones, The Hill, Colosseum, Atomic Rooster

Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940)[1] is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which rose to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966,[2] and his association with bands Atomic Rooster, the Thunderbirds and Colosseum. Outside his music career, Farlowe collects war memorabilia.[3]

Career

Farlowe was born in Islington, North London. His mother sang and played piano at clubs. He is the nephew of Len Deighton.[4] His musical career began with a skiffle group, the John Henry Skiffle Group, in 1957,[5] before he joined the Johnny Burns Rhythm and Blues Quartet in 1958. The John Henry Skiffle Group won a local talent show. He met guitarist Bob Taylor in 1959 and, through Taylor, joined the Thunderbirds, who went on to record five singles for the Columbia label. On Island's Sue label, he released a version of "Stormy Monday Blues" under the pseudonym Little Joe Cook (a name also used by an American singer), which perpetuated the myth that he was a black singer.[6]

Farlowe was an apprentice carpenter in Holloway, London before he was a professional singer. John Henry Deighton became Chris Farlowe, after taking the surname from American guitarist Tal Farlow.[7] Farlowe moved to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label and recorded eleven singles, five of which were cover versions of Rolling Stones songs: "Paint It Black", "Think", "Ride On, Baby", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", and "Out of Time", which reached No. 1 (1966) in the UK Singles Chart. He recorded four more singles, the best known of which are Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags", and "My Way of Giving", a cover of a Small Faces album track written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane.

He began an association with the jazz rock group Colosseum in September 1970, recording a live album and two studio albums including Daughter of Time (1970). Farlowe left a year later, but since Colosseum's reunion in 1994 he appeared on all their albums and tours with them to the present. In February 1972 he joined Atomic Rooster,[8] and is featured on the albums Made in England (1972) and Nice 'n' Greasy (1973).

In 1978 Farlowe collaborated on two BBC Birmingham productions for which his former Colosseum bandmate Dave Greenslade wrote the theme music. First, in the second series of Gangsters, Farlowe sang the theme song. Farlowe and Greenslade then provided the music and Farlowe played the part of Benny opposite Sonja Kristina in the rock opera Curriculee Curricula.[9] The production was first shown on BBC Two and shot in its entirety on video at the University of Birmingham campus, with Magnus Magnusson as the narrator.[10]

Farlowe sang on two tracks from Jimmy Page's Death Wish II soundtrack (1982), as well as the tracks "Hummingbird", "Prison Blues" and "Blues Anthem" on Page's album Outrider (1988). He toured for a long time with Hamburg Blues Band, mainly in Germany. Since 1999, Farlowe has appeared on stage a number of times alongside Van Morrison.[11] [12] In 2009, Farlowe toured as a featured artist with Maggie Bell and Bobby Tench as part of the "Maximum Rhythm and Blues" tour of 32 UK theatres.[13] On 30 July 2016, Farlowe appeared at Wembley Arena, performing his 1966 hit "Out of Time" as part of a show marking the 50th anniversary of the England football team's victory in the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final.[14]

Farlowe also collects war memorabilia, and once had a shop that sold Nazi uniforms, which had caused controversy at the time. An interest for his hobby first started when in Hamburg, he noticed and bought an Iron Cross on for sale in a Junk shop.

Discography

Albums

DVDs

Singles

Singles (1962–65)

Singles and EPs on Immediate Records (1965–70)

Singles and EPs on Island and its Sue subsidiary

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Adrian and Pamela Griffiths. . Biography . Chrisfarlowe.co.uk . 1940-10-13 . 2017-07-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171013215405/http://www.chrisfarlowe.co.uk/biography.html . 13 October 2017 . dead .
  2. Book: Roberts , David . 2006. British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th. Guinness World Records Limited. London. 1-904994-10-5. 195.
  3. Web site: 30 years on – and chart topper Chris Farlowe is still surrounded by. . 23 October 2011.
  4. Web site: Sixties City - Bill Harry's Sixties - articles from the creator of iconic 60s music paper Mersey Beat . 2024-07-09 . sixtiescity.net.
  5. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p4231/biography|pure_url=yes}} Chris Farlowe]. Eder, Bruce. AllMusic. 2010-07-01.
  6. Web site: Chris Farlowe Biography. NME. 10 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090227021153/http://www.nme.com/artists/chris-farlowe. 27 February 2009. dead.
  7. Web site: Chris Farlowe . 2024-07-09 . Barbara Thompson & Jon Hiseman Official Site . en-US.
  8. Book: Tobler , John . 1992. NME Rock 'N' Roll Years. 1st. Reed International Books Ltd. London. 235. CN 5585.
  9. Web site: Curriculee Curricula. IMDb. 22 May 1978. 2017-07-22.
  10. Web site: Curriculee Curricula. IMDb. 22 May 1978. 2021-10-14.
  11. Web site: Chris Farlowe joins Van on stage to sing Born to Sing, Van Morrison – Up on Cyprus Avenue – BBC One. 4 September 2015 . BBC. 23 September 2017.
  12. Web site: BBC iPlayer – Watch BBC Two live. 23 September 2017.
  13. Web site: Maximum Rhythm and Blues Tour 2009 . Flyingmusic.com . 19 November 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091118055300/http://www.flyingmusic.com/Maximum-Rhythm-n-Blues-Live-at-the-Flamingo-Autumn-2009/ . 18 November 2009 .
  14. Web site: 1966 World Cup: Special event marks 50 years since England's football win . BBC News . 30 July 2016 . 5 April 2023.
  15. Web site: Vinylnet Record Label Discographies. Vinylnet.co.uk. 2017-07-22.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chris Farlowe".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.