Search - Chris Farlowe :: Handbags & Gladrags: Immediate Collection

Solid Brit 60's blue-eyed soul

Philip Bradshaw | toronto canada | 04/14/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's funny, classic soul music has always appealed to a wider audience in the UK than in its native America. Long after once-famous soul stars found an audience hard too find at home they had no difficulty in attracting fans to live shows in England, Scotland and Ireland. Accordingly, it is no surprise to find a bevy of English singers either covering American classics or recording songs in a similar style.



Chris Farlowe, while never finding any acceptance in North America, was more or less a household name in the UK during the mid sixties. This collection gathers together the best of his best years - with Immediate during the years 1965 to 1969. At times Farlowe sings in a similar vein to The Walker Brothers - dramatic "blue-eyed soul". At other times he becomes a little edgier as he tackles Pickett and Redding. The Jagger-Richards penned Out of Time is the definitive version of a great song. He is less successful with Yesterday's Papers and an odd Paint it Black.



This a cd that I can recommend only to Farlowe fans and to lovers of British blue-eyed soul. Although he certainly has a strong, distictive and interesting voice and although the material is varied and the musicianship professional, as it usually is with Britsoul, Farlowe is unlikely to appeal to many who are not already well-aquainted with his music.



For me three stars is a mild thumbs up."