Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and blue-eyed soul singer. He is best known for his

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

" Out of Time" written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

, which rose to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966, and his association with bands Atomic Rooster, the Thunderbirds, and

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

. Outside his music career, Farlowe collects war memorabilia.

Early life

Farlowe was born in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. His mother sang and played piano at clubs. He is the nephew of

Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton ( ; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books and works on history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Force, D ...

. Farlowe was an apprentice carpenter in

Holloway, London Holloway is an area of North London in the London Borough of Islington, borough of Islington, north of Charing Cross, which follows the line of the Holloway Road (A1 road (Great Britain), A1). At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head, London, ...

before he was a professional singer. John Henry Deighton became Chris Farlowe, after taking the surname from American guitarist Tal Farlow.

Career

His musical career began with a

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

group, the John Henry Skiffle Group, in 1957, 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 A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

. On

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

'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. Farlowe moved to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label and recorded eleven singles, five of which were

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

s: " Paint It Black", " Think", " Ride On, Baby", "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff is w ...

", 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 Michael David d'Abo (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of Manfred Mann from 1966 to their dissolution in 1969, and as the composer of the songs " Handbags and Gladrags" and " Build Me Up Bu ...

's " Handbags and Gladrags", and " My Way of Giving", a cover of a

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...

album track written by

Steve Marriott Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English actor, musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and appeared in the West End, before taking a r ...

and

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

. Farlowe was performing at a club in 1966, when

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

approached him, and asked him to join him on an episode of

Ready Steady Go! ''Ready Steady Go!'' (or ''RSG!'') was a British rock/pop music television programme broadcast every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan wanted a light ente ...

with

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

. He began an association with the

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

group

in September 1970, recording a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

and two

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

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, and is featured on the albums '' Made in England'' (1972) and '' Nice 'n' Greasy'' (1973). In 1978 Farlowe collaborated on two

BBC Birmingham BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham. It was the first region outside London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio (in 1922) and television (in 1949) transmissions, the latter from t ...

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''. The production was first shown on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

and shot in its entirety on video at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

campus, with

Magnus Magnusson Magnus Magnusson (born Magnús Sigursteinsson; 12 October 1929 – 7 January 2007) was an Icelandic-born British-based journalist, translator, writer and television presenter. Born in Reykjavík, he lived in Scotland for almost all his life, al ...

as the narrator. Farlowe sang on two tracks from

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

's ''

Death Wish II ''Death Wish II'' is a 1982 American vigilante action-thriller film directed and co-edited by Michael Winner. It is the sequel to the 1974 film '' Death Wish''. It is the second installment in the ''Death Wish'' film series. In the story, ar ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

(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 Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

. In 2009, Farlowe toured as a featured artist with

Maggie Bell Margaret Bell (born 12 January 1945) is a Scottish vocalist. She came to fame as co-lead vocalist of the blues rock group Stone the Crows, and was described as the UK's closest counterpart to American singer Janis Joplin. Bell was also promine ...

and Bobby Tench as part of the "Maximum Rhythm and Blues" tour of 32 UK theatres. On 30 July 2016, Farlowe appeared at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

, 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.

Personal life

Farlowe also collects war memorabilia, and once had a shop that sold

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

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 The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

on for sale in a

Junk shop A junk shop is a retail outlet similar to a thrift store which sells mostly used goods at cheap prices. A low-quality antique shop may border on being a junk shop. Shoppers who frequent junk shops are often referred to as "junkers", "pickers", ...

. Farlowe has never been married or had children, but nearly got married twice.

Discography

Albums

* ''Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds'' (February 1966) * ''14 Things to Think About'' (June 1966) ( UK #19) * '' The Art of Chris Farlowe'' (November 1966) (UK #37) * '' Tonite Lets All Make Love in London'' (Soundtrack) (July 1968) * ''The Last Goodbye'' (compilation, May 1969) * '' From Here to Mama Rosa'' (September 1970) * ''Chris Farlowe Band Live'' (November 1975) * Greatest Hits (1977) * ''Out of the Blue'' (July 1985) * ''The Live EP: Live in Hamburg'' (March 1986) * ''Born Again'' (June 1986) * ''Chris Farlowe & Roy Herrington Live in Berlin'' (17/18 October 1991) * '' Superblues'' (Recorded live 1991, released 1994) * ''Waiting in the Wings'' (May 1992) * '' Swinging Hollywood'' (1994) * ''Lonesome Road'' (September 1995) * ''BBC in Concert'' (January 1996) * ''As Time Go By'' (October 1996) * ''The Voice'' (April 1998) * ''Glory Bound'' (March 2001) * ''Farlowe That!'' (May 2003) * '' Hungary for the Blues'' (November 2005) * ''At Rockpalast'' (October 2006) * ''Hotel Eingang'' (2008) * ''Bursting over Bremen/Live 1985'' (2014)

DVDs

* ''At Rockpalast'' (October 2006) * ''At Rockpalast 2'' (November 2008) * ''At Rockpalast 3'' (December 2012)

Singles

Singles (1962–65) * "Air Travel" / "Why Did You Break My Heart?" (Decca F.11536) (1962) * "Girl Trouble" / "Itty Bitty Pieces" (Columbia DB 7237) (1964) * "Blue Beat" (as "The Beazers") / "I Wanna Shout" (as "The Beazers") (Decca F.11827) (1964) * " Just a Dream" (Columbia DB 7311) (1964) * "Buzz with the Fuzz" / "You're the One" (Columbia DB 7614) (1965) Singles and EPs on

Immediate Records Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder, and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene. History Immediate Records was started in 1965. Signe ...

(1965–70) * IM016 " The Fool" / "Treat Her Good" (1965) * IM023 " Think" / "Don't Just Look at Me" ( UK #37) (1966) * IM035 " Out of Time" / "Baby Make It Soon" (UK #1) (1966) * IM038 " Ride On Baby" / "Headlines" (UK #31) (1966) * IM041 " My Way of Giving" / "You're So Good to Me" (UK #48) (1967) * IM049 " Yesterday's Papers" / "Life is But Nothing" (1967) * IM056 "Moanin'" / "What Have I Been Doing" (UK #46) (1967) * IM065 " Handbags and Gladrags" / "Everyone Makes a Mistake" (UK #33) (1967) * IM066 "The Last Goodbye" / "Paperman Fly in the Sky" (

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

with the Thunderbirds) (1968) * IM071 " Paint It Black" / "I Just Need Your Loving" (1968) * IM074 "Dawn" / "April was the Month" (with the Thunderbirds) (1968) * IM078 "Out of Time" / "Ride On Baby" (1969) * IMS101 "Out of Time" / "My Way of Giving" (UK #44) (1975) * IMEP001 "Farlowe in the Midnight Hour" ( EP) (1965) * IMEP004 "Chris Farlowe Hits" (EP) (1966) Singles and EPs on

and its Sue subsidiary * " Stormy Monday Blues" (Part One/Part Two) (as ''Little Joe Cook'', Island Sue WI 385) * ''Stormy Monday'' (EP: "Stormy Monday" / "She's Alright" / "Voodoo") (as Chris Farlowe, Island IEP 709, ca. 1966)

References

External links

Official website
archived in 2010

Record Collector article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farlowe, Chris 1940 births Living people English pop singers English rock singers English soul singers English rhythm and blues singers Military personnel from the London Borough of Islington People from Islington (district) English male singers British rhythm and blues boom musicians Island Records artists Immediate Records artists Stateside Records artists Atomic Rooster members Colosseum (band) members Singers from the London Borough of Islington