Best of Chris Farlowe: Ride on Baby

Photographer: Rex Features.
Chris Farlowe began his career with the John Henry Skiffle Group in 1957, began to find his voice as a blue-eyed soul singer with the Johnny Burns Rhythm & Blues Quartet, joined the Thunderbirds for five singles on the Columbia label, released a wonderful version of "Stormy Monday Blues" under the pseudonym of Little Joe Cook, and finally signed with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records imprint. Oldham, then the manager of the Rolling Stones, understood how to expand an opportunity when he could, and his label released five singles with Farlowe bringing his dramatic and soulful singing to bear on various Rolling Stones songs, "Paint It, Black," "Think," "Ride on Baby," "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," and "Out of Time," which topped the U.K. singles chart in 1966. Farlowe also released ten other non-Stones related singles, most notably a version of Mike D'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags," and it is from this Immediate Records period that this set is drawn. Farlowe was a fine singer, and if he didn't grow to be an international star, he certainly deserved it. The heart of his legacy is here. ~ Steve Leggett