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Chris Farlowe - 24 Things to Think About (1968)

Track listing:
  1. Out of Time 3:15
  2. Baby Make It Soon 2:18
  3. The Fool 3:04
  4. Treat Her Good 1:58
  5. In the Midnight Hour 2:19
  6. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 2:29
  7. Think 3:38
  8. Don't Just Look at Me 2:44
  9. Ride on Baby 2:56
  10. Headlines 3:25
  11. My Way of Giving 2:34
  12. You're so Good for Me 2:15
  13. Yesterday's Papers 2:38
  14. Life Is but Nothing 4:06
  15. Moanin' 2:33
  16. What Have I Been Doing 3:54
  17. Handbags and Gladrags 4:00
  18. Everyone Makes a Mistake 2:03
  19. The Last Goodbye 2:51
  20. Paperman Fly in the Sky 2:47
  21. Dawn 3:49
  22. April Was the Month 3:54
  23. I Just Need Your Lovin' 3:13
  24. Paint It Black 3:00

Notes

Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Chris Farlowe's debut LP for Immediate Records actually offers one a lot to think about and even more to enjoy, while pondering how this white Englishman could pour forth such convincing gutbucket soul. One of the finest soul albums to come out of England (or anywhere else) that year, 14 Things to Think About, was spawned by Farlowe's successful U.K. charting — albeit at a low level — with his version of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Think."

The latter opens the LP about as strongly as any record issued in England that year, the horns and the beat and Farlowe all giving us a very vivid idea of how Otis Redding might've handled the song in Memphis. The other material here is a decidedly mixed bag, ranging from the Kander & Ebb "My Colouring Book," Ira and George Gershwin's "Summertime," and the Bacharach/David "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" to Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" — every track here is worth hearing, though the Kander & Ebb number comes close to not working; and on the Bacharach and Dylan songs, and "Lipstick Traces," "Don't Play That Song," "Looking for You," "Why Don't You Change Your Ways," and "My Girl Josephine," it's very easy to forget that one is listening to a white vocalist working out of England. It was to be Farlowe's most consistent and — apart from a cover of the Beatles' "Yesterday" — his most exciting album, and his purest soul album.

Farlowe's musical career began with a skiffle group, The John Henry Skiffle Group in 1957, then The Johnny Burns Rhythm and Blues Quartet in 1958. He met lead guitarist Bob Taylor (born Robert Taylor, 6 June 1942, London) in 1959 and he joined the band Taylor was in (The Thunderbirds), recording five singles for the Columbia label, without much success. He then moved to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label and recorded another eleven singles, five of them cover versions of Rolling Stones songs; ("Paint It, Black", "Think", "Ride On, Baby", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Out of Time"). His most successful was "Out of Time" which was number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966. His next four singles were also well received. The most famous was "Handbags and Gladrags" (which was written by Mike d'Abo), later covered by Rod Stewart and more recently by the Stereophonics).

As an English R&B star of the early 1960s, Farlowe released one single, "Stormy Monday Blues", under the pseudonym, 'Little Joe Cook', which helped perpetrate the myth that he was black.

01.OUT OF TIME (1966)
02.BABY MAKE IT SOON (1966)
03.THE FOOL (1965)
04.TREAT HER GOOD (1965)
05.IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR (1966)
06.(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION (1966)
07.THINK (1966)
08.DON'T JUST LOOK AT ME (1966)
09.RIDE ON BABY (1966)
10.HEADLINES (1966)
11.MY WAY OF GIVING (1966)
12.YOU'RE SO GOOD FOR ME (1967)
13.YESTERDAY'S PAPER (1967)
14.LIFE IS BUT NOTHING (1967)
15.MOANIN' (1967)
16.WHAT HAVE I BEING DOING (1967)
17.HANDBAGS AND GLADRAGS (1967)
18.EVERYONE MAKES A MISTAKE (1967)
19.THE LAST GOODBYE (1968)
20.PAPERMAN FLY IN THE SKY (1968)
21.DAWN (1969)
22.APRIL WAS THE MONTH (1969)
23.I JUST NEED YOUR LOVIN' (1968)
24.PAINT IT BLACK (1967)