January Blues Festival: P.P. ARNOLD

January Blues Festival presents

P.P. ARNOLD

+ special guests

P.P. Arnold is affectionately known as London's First Lady of Soul. Born Patricia Ann Cole in Los Angeles, California, she grew up singing gospel before joining Ike & Tina Turner's Ikettes in the mid-1960s. Arriving in Britain in 1966, she attracted the attention of Mick Jagger, who helped secure her a recording contract with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records. Her acclaimed albums The First Lady of Immediate (1967) and Kafunta (1968) established her as a major figure in the Swinging Sixties, producing timeless classics including The First Cut Is the Deepest, (If You Think You're) Groovy and Angel of the Morning, now favourites among mod, soul and Northern Soul enthusiasts.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, Arnold became closely associated with the Small Faces, contributing memorable backing vocals to Tin Soldier and Itchycoo Park, while collaborating with artists including Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Barry Gibb, Humble Pie and Nick Drake. Her extraordinary career continued through the following decades, with notable appearances on Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer, The Beatmasters' 1988 dance hit Burn It Up, and recordings by The KLF, Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene.

In later years, P.P. Arnold enjoyed a remarkable resurgence, collaborating with Dr. Robert of The Blow Monkeys on the 2007 album Five in the Afternoon and releasing The Turning Tide (2017), a collection of previously unreleased recordings produced by Barry Gibb and Eric Clapton during 1968-70. Her acclaimed 2019 album The New Adventures of... P.P. Arnold featured contributions from Paul Weller, Steve Cradock and The Specials.