The legendary singer, songwriter and guitarist of The Animals is celebrated for his gritty blues-rock sound. Farlowe had a long musical career but did not have a hit record until 1964 with “Out Of Time.”

Chris Farlowe was a British singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his work with the Animals from 1964 to 1969. His career spanned five decades.

Chris Farlowe Biography, Songs, & Albums |

Chris Farlowe looked destined for greatness as a vocalist from the beginning, and based on the company he kept onstage and the individuals he worked with in the mid-’60s, he did succeed, at least on that level. Born John Henry Deighton in Islington, North London, in 1940, he was inspired to pursue music by Lonnie Donegan while he was in his early teens, just as the English skiffle boom was kicking off. His first band was his own John Henry Skiffle Group, in which he sang and played guitar, but he stopped playing to focus on his vocals when he switched to rock & roll. He ultimately changed his name to Chris Farlowe, after American jazz musician Tal Farlow, and fronted a band named the Thunderbirds as Chris Farlowe & the Thunderbirds. They gained a reputation as a live act in England and Germany, gradually transitioning from rock & roll to R&B in the early 1960s. Although their debut single, “Air Travel,” failed to chart, Chris Farlowe & the Thunderbirds (which included future star guitarist Albert Lee) were signed to EMI’s Columbia imprint the following year, and released a series of five singles between 1962 and 1966, all of which received positive critical reviews but poor sales.

Aftermath Andrew Oldham, who had signed the Rolling Stones three years earlier and knew a thing or two about white Britons who could sing R&B, scooped Farlowe up when his EMI contract expired in 1966 and signed him to his new Immediate Records company. With most unestablished artists, Immediate’s history is one of nurturing potential for future success, but with Farlowe, it was different: he became a star on the label, via the label. Early on, his fortunes started to turn when he received a Top 40 chart spot for his introduction of the Jagger/Richards song “Think,” which the Rolling Stones subsequently released as an album track on Aftermath. That summer, he scored his greatest success with a gloomy and dramatic version of the Stones’ “Out of Time,” arranged by Arthur Greenslade, which went to number one on the British charts. Farlowe’s credibility as a soul singer had grown to the point where he was invited to appear on the Ready, Steady, Go broadcast of September 16, 1966, a special program featuring visiting American soul legend Otis Redding — he’d covered Redding’s “Mr. Pitiful” on an Immediate EP, and now Farlowe was on stage with Otis (and Eric Burdon) and got featured in two numbers.

Outrider However, it was to be his best year. The next Immediate songs, notably his cover of the Stones’ “Ride on Baby,” failed to equal the popularity of the first two, and he last charted for the label with “Handbags and Gladrags,” written for him by Manfred Mann’s Mike d’Abo. The label, which was constantly in financial trouble, attempted repackaging his songs on LP in a variety of ways, but after 1967, his recording career was effectively halted until the label’s collapse in 1970. Following that, Farlowe’s career became a series of uncomfortable collaborations with various bands, including three albums with the original Colosseum and three albums with Atomic Rooster (post-Carl Palmer). Following a two-year hiatus due to a vehicle accident, he attempted to resurrect the Thunderbirds in the mid-’70s, and “Out of Time” continued reappearing in different reissues, but he had no fresh success. Farlowe was rescued from obscurity by his more well-known contemporary (and fellow Immediate Records alumnus) Jimmy Page in the 1980s, when he appeared on the latter’s Outrider album, which ushered in a BBC appearance that catapulted him back into the public consciousness for the first time in two decades. Farlowe followed up with new albums and tours with various reconstituted ’60s and ’70s groups, and while he never had another hit single, his reputation as a live performer was enough to sustain a career — and the release of his Ready, Steady, Go appearance with Otis Redding on videotape and laser disc didn’t exactly hurt his reputation; indeed, that was the first time many Americans heard of him. His most recent albums, notably The Voice, have received positive reviews, and his Immediate Records legacy was now being properly honored in the twenty-first century. Farlowe, like Mike d’Abo and Paul Jones from Manfred Mann’s Mike d’Abo, is one of those voices from 1960s England that hasn’t faded and just won’t go.

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Chris Farlowe was a British blues and R&B singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is most famous for his song “Spoonful”. His songs have been covered by artists such as The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and John Mayall. Reference: chris farlowe spina bifida.

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