Loading AI tools
Musical artist (born 1940) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
 |
Chris Farlowe | |
|---|---|
Farlowe in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Henry Deighton |
| Also known as | Little Joe Cook |
| Born | 13 October 1940 Islington, North London, England |
| Origin | Finchley, North London, England |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Labels | Columbia, Immediate, Stateside; Sue (pseudonymously) |
| Member of | Colosseum |
| Formerly of | The Thunderbirds, Atomic Rooster |
Farlowe was born in Islington, North London. His mother sang and played piano at clubs.[4] He is the nephew of Len Deighton.[5] 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.[4]
His musical career began with a skiffle group, the John Henry Skiffle Group, in 1957,[6] before he joined the Johnny Burns Rhythm and Blues Quartet in 1958. The John Henry Skiffle Group won a local talent show.[4] 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.[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.[2] He recorded four more singles, the best known of which are Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags",[6] and "My Way of Giving", a cover of a Small Faces album track written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane.
Farlowe was performing at a club in 1966, when Otis Redding approached him, and asked him to join him on an episode of Ready Steady Go! with Eric Burdon.[8]
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.[6] In February 1972 he joined Atomic Rooster,[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]
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).[6] 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.[12][13]
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.[14] 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.[15]
Farlowe also collects war memorabilia, and once had a shop that sold Nazi uniforms, which had caused controversy at the time.[5] An interest for his hobby first started when in Hamburg, he noticed and bought an Iron Cross on for sale in a Junk shop.[5]
Farlowe has never been married or had children, but nearly got married twice.[8]
Singles (1962–65)
Singles and EPs on Immediate Records (1965–70)
Singles and EPs on Island and its Sue subsidiary
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
