Great Obscure U.K. 60's R&B Sides: Chris Farlowe Goes Ska

THE BEAZERS-The Blue Beat/I Wanna Shout U.K. Decca F.11827 1964

 

In 1964 ska was the "in" thing in Britain. The Beatles ("I Call Your Name") and The Hollies "("A Taste Of Honey") both employed ska rhythms on a track each, the horrendous Migil Five were issuing records with a ska beat, Mickey Finn and the Blue Men cut a ska version of Bo Diddley's "Pills" , Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames had been employing ska for awhile and cut an E.P. of ska tracks called "Blue Beat". Ahead of them all was Fame's fellow London r&b specialist Chris Farlowe who, on the sly (he was signed to Columbia at the time) cut a single on Decca as "The Beazers" to join the ska craze in January 1964 (this would not be the last time Farlowe cut a 45 on the sly as you can read here).

"The Blue Beat" starts with a strong horn section playing a ska rhythm (sounding impeccably "big band", no surprise as it was produced by top arranger/band leader Cyril Stapleton who co wrote it as well and it's his band doing the instrumental backing here) and Farlowe utilizing his r&b belter tones with no fake West Indian patois necessary here.

"I Wanna Shout" is nothing remotely connected to ska.  It's an awful early 60's American style pop number that straddles doo wop that is dreadfully reminiscent of The Diamonds/Maurice Williams abomination "Little Darlin'".

Both sides were collected on RPM's excellent Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds compilation "Dig The Buzz: First Recordings '62-'65". "The Blue Beat" was also featured on Deram/Decca's compilation "The R&B Scene".

Hear "The Blue Beat":

https://youtu.be/xHQEQZr_E9o

Farlowe Freak Out!

CHRIS FARLOWE-Moanin'/What Have I Been Doing GERMANY Columbia C 23 562 1967

Back in the late 90's when Radio Free Europe went under the Princeton Record Exchange became the recipient of all it's 45's which were offered to the public (after a few select collector's had picked through them, missing among them, a 45 of "Crawdaddy Simone" by The Syndicats, more on that some other day). My pal Haim Kenig and I spent a day and a half on our hands and knees picking through literally several hundred white cardboard 45 boxes pouring over the singles. It's fair to say that 75% of them were pressings from the European continent, mostly Germany. I came upon this German Chris Farlowe picture sleeve 45 among them. I paid it little mind and hung the sleeve on my wall amongst my mosaic of 60's U.K./Euro p.s's. My jazz aficionado pal Jennie Wasserman brought it to my attention and asked if I liked it. I told her I didn't know, she assured me I'd love it. I pulled it down and played it, she was right (she hasn't steered me wrong yet).

The A-side of a full on 1967 version of the Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers/Lambert, Hendricks and Ross number. Like most Immediate sessions it featured a host of top notch players, among them Jimmy Page, who adds the heavy fuzz guitar and possibly the sitar noodlings. Farlowe uses his skill at jazzy vocals to easily sing this in a way that works (which sadly was not always the case with a great deal of his covers on Immediate, especially some of the soul sides) and the back end is brought up by some nice brass.

"What Have I Been Doing" is a tepid ballad with some nifty little sitars and acoustic guitar in the back ground that make it interesting and brings Donovan's "Ferris Wheel" to mind but the tune itself sadly falls flat .

Both sides are available on Farlowe's CD set "Out Of Time:The Immediate Anthology".

Hear "Moanin':

https://youtu.be/pu_Ae83bIW4

Hear "What Have I Been Doing":

https://youtu.be/j2Yj4fZFwZc