While P.P. Arnold was born in Los Angeles, her greatest success was found in the UK. On tour with the Ike & Tina Revue in 1966, P.P was singled out by Mick jagger as a potential solo star and was signed to then Stones-manager Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records.
This side, the flip to her big UK hit version of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" is an excellent summit meeting between US/UK soul.
from 1967...
P.P. ARNOLD - SPEAK TO ME
Now check out Claudia Lennear and Marsha Hunt!
ReplyDeleteGreat side. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be fair to say that PP made it in the UK to a large extent based on 3 factors:
ReplyDelete1. She was young, black and cute at a time when we had nobody else like that "of our own" (i.e. based here);
2. The Immediate label was cool and progressive;
3. Her material was usually decent.
As for PP I don't think she has a particularly good voice and would have remained a backing singer if she hadn't come over to this side of the Atlantic. In a similar vein look at the career of Rocky Roberts - huge in Italy and a nobody outside of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcYn_NQdzKg&feature=search