Chris Farlowe - Career

Career

Inspired by Lonnie Donegan, Farlowe's musical career began with a skiffle group, the John Henry Skiffle Group, in 1957, before he joined the Johnny Burns Rhythm and Blues Quartet, in 1958. He met guitarist Bob Taylor in 1959 and, through Taylor, joined the Thunderbirds, who went on to record five singles for the Columbia label. He released a cover version of "Stormy Monday Blues" under the pseudonym of "Little Joe Cook", which perpetuated the myth that he was a black singer.

Farlowe moved to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label and recorded eleven singles, five of which were cover versions of Rolling Stones songs including "Paint It, Black", "Think", "Ride On, Baby", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Out of Time"). Farlowe's single "Out of Time" reached no. 1 (1966) in the UK Singles Chart. He recorded four more singles, the best known of which is Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags".

He sang vocals for the theme music written by Greenslade for the BBC Television series Gangsters. In 1978 he had a part in a play produced by BBC Birmingham, Curriculee Curricula, first shown on BBC Two and shot in its entirety on video at the University of Birmingham campus, with Magnus Magnusson as the narrator. Farlowe and Greenslade provided the music. He began an association with the jazz rock group Colosseum in the 1970s, recording a live album and three studio albums including, Daughter of Time (1970). Later in the next millennium he would appear on two more Colosseum albums. In February 1972 he joined Atomic Rooster, and is featured on the albums Made in England (1972) and Nice 'n' Greasy (1973). He also sang on three 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).

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.