PP Arnold: London's First Lady of Soul
- PP Arnold: London's First Lady of Soul Sandy Kaye 52:00
Pat Arnold (born Patrica Ann Cole in 1946 in Los Angeles), professionally known as P.P. Arnold, is a soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 60s and beyond.
Born into a family of gospel singers, PP married early, had two children, worked a series of menial jobs until the early 60s, when her friends contacted her with an offer she couldn’t refuse. The girls had managed to arrange an audition for them to replace the original Ikettes, the vocal and dancer/singer troupe behind the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. One of the girls didn’t show up and PP was asked to fill in.
The three girls were offered the job on the spot. PP defied her husband, placed her children in the care of her parents and joined Ike & Tina Turner.
She came to England in 1966 on tour in support of The Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger was impressed by her soulful voice and convinced Stones manager Andrew Oldham to sign PP to record with his newly founded record label. PP quit the Turner band to establish a solo career. She also had a fling with Jagger.
PP enjoyed several major British hits, including songs written for her by Steve Marriott of The Small Faces. She also sung backing vocals on the their hit “Tin Soldier” and toured with them in 68.
PP toured with Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Kinks, Blind Faith, David Bowie and others, and scored several hits including a cover version of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” and “Angel of the Morning”.
After the collapse of record label in the late 60s, PP released two singles produced by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees, but a planned album with Gibb was never completed.
In 1970 she moved to the musical stage, and contributed session musician backing vocals to many notable UK sessions. During these sessions she met bassist Fuzzy Samuels of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. They married and had a son.
The couple returned to Los Angeles. PP”s marriage to Samuels ended and two weeks after the split, her daughter Debbie was killed in a car accident.
She withdrew from public life, re-emerging in 1978 when she was reunited with Barry Gibb and teamed up with Andy Gibb for a duet recording of the Carole King song “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”.
She returned to England in 1982 to raise her son there.
In 1984 she joined the cast of the musical Starlight Express.
She appeared on Roger Waters‘ album in 1992, providing vocals on the song “Perfect Sense”.
In 1994 she joined the cast of the award-winning musical Once On This Island. While the production was playing in Birmingham she met leading UK band Ocean Colour Scene, one of the new wave of latter-day mod groups who (like their mentor Paul Weller), idolised The Small Faces.
Her friendship with OCS led to her singing the lead vocal, backed by Primal Scream, on a cover of The Small Faces’ “Understanding”, which was included on a successful Small Faces tribute album. She also worked extensively with Ocean Colour Scene on their 1997 album.
This success led to plans for her to record her first solo album in decades, but once again it was not completed. Deciding to put together a new band to promote her material, Arnold joined forces with Chaz Jankel, former pianist with Ian Dury and The Blockheads. This was followed by an invitation to tour widely with Roger Waters. She was a backup vocalist on his 1999–2000 tour as well as the 2006–2008 tour, Dark Side of the Moon Live.
In mid 2007 she released her first recorded work for several years. The album is a duet with The Blow Monkeys frontman Dr. Robert and has been met with critical acclaim, as have their live performances at several venues.
