PP ARNOLD

PP ARNOLD - A Soul Survivor

PP Arnold is not a new kid on the block - she has been wowing audiences since she first came to the UK as an Ikette with Ike and Tina Turner, back in those heady days of the 60's. Her unique talent did not go unnoticed, and Mick Jagger and Andrew Oldham convinced her to stay in the UK and sign to the Immediate Record label which she did, and the rest is history.

When you come to a PP Arnold concert, you will not be disappointed. This seasoned artist has sung alongside the greats like Ike and Tina Turner, The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces, Jimmy Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton with her own band 'The Nice' and so many others.

PP Arnold never fails to put on a high energy faultless performance where she takes you back through the years singing her classic hits that have stood the test of time. Her voice and her amazing energy is stronger than ever and her live band of amazing musicians keep her fireburning strong while she woos you with breathtaking renditions of her classic hits; The First Cut Is The Deepest and Angel Of the Morning.

Her soulful rendition of the Bee Gees To Love Somebody will have you singing along with joy. This Soul Survivor lives up to her name.

She's been up, down and all around and she's still singing for you. She'll have you up on your feet keeping the faith with her Northern Soul/Mod classic 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright' Her versions of Medicated Goo, You Can't Always Get What You Want produced by Eric Clapton for her and her Immediate classic 'If You Think You're Groovy' Written and produced by her label mates Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane are as exciting, funky and groovy as ever.

Her New Adventures are fresh and soulful. Produced by Steve Cradock of O.C.S. The wonderful Baby Blue, Though It Hurts Me Badly originally produced by Mick Jagger and given a new lease of life by Steve. Contributions by Paul Weller bring a very cool Mod vibe to the set and old school jams like Different Drum are given a new lease of life.

You'll experience an hour and a half of great music and great stories that she has to tell about an amazing musical journey that is still going strong. So don't miss the opportunity to come out and experience PP Arnold.

A true Soul Survivor still going strong!

This is probably the smallest most intimate venue she has ever done - You gotta grab a ticket for this its a One off

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PP Arnold, Islington Assembly Hall review

"I had my first inter-racial relationship." Moments after walking on stage and before the first song, PP Arnold is reminiscing about when she first arrived in Britain in 1966.

The America she knew had barriers, ones she found weren't apparent in "Swinging London." Later in this show she says, "Mick Jagger invited me for a walk in the park." That year, Ike & Tina Turner were billed on The Rolling Stones' UK tour and she was an Ikette, one of the backing singers and dancers.

Although she confessed "I know, I'm a bit long-winded tonight" during the encore, this appearance was about her voice; her singing voice. From the opening seconds of set opener "Though It Hurts Me Badly", it was plain she is still the PP Arnold who attracted Jagger and prompted Andrew Loog Oldham to sign her to Immediate Records, where she recorded solo and with Small Faces.

After "Though It Hurts Me Badly", a nuanced arrangement of "Baby Blue" the yearning opening track of her recent The New Adventures of… album set the evening up as a balancing act between the force of her voice and the musicians on stage. Extraordinarily, as she retains an innate vocal power, the mesh was seamless. Trumpet and trombone, two backing vocalists – they could have taken precedence, but didn't.

"Baby Blue" was co-written by Steve Cradock, also a main driver behind The New Adventures of… and the earlier collection of archive material The Turning Tide. For the show, he was billed as the "musical director". When Arnold inadvertently switched "Hold on to Your Dreams" and "(If You Think You're) Groovy" in the running order, she apologised to him.

The 15-song set ranged through what is held dear by her Sixties-inclined fans and cherry-pickings from what sits well alongside it. Even so the house-pop of "Hold on to Your Dreams" jarred, as it did on the new album. Her work with Roger Waters wasn't on the agenda. A ripping "Everything's Gonna be Alright" was introduced as for "the Northern Soul fans. Did you come on your Vespas?" Indeed, there was a fair sprinkling of mods in the crowd but not as many as anticipated. Paul Weller, who played on and wrote for The New Adventures of… was absent.

But what this engaging, joy-filled show stressed was that Arnold is for more than those keeping the faith. The astonishingly powerful set closer "Angel of the Morning" and the encore version of "The First Cut is the Deepest" were predestined as sing-alongs and confirmed she is integral to the fabric of British pop.

Maybe, though, Arnold doesn't see it quite this way. Before her affecting adaptation of Sandy Denny's "I'm a Dreamer" she confessed that when she first sang it, "I didn't know how to sing folk, I know how to sing soul."

Also disclosed was Cradock's playing style when disconnected from Ocean Colour Scene and Weller, whose band he's fundamental to. At the end of "Though It Hurts Me Badly", he injected some gentle Curtis Mayfield-styled wah-wah guitar. But he really let rip towards the end of "Eleanor Rigby" with a visceral solo which was part Hendrix, part Sly & the Family Stone yet still clipped and to the point. Thereafter, for the set's remaining three songs, he was on fire.

Nonetheless, this show was about PP Arnold and a consummate new musical setting which restores her to how Britain first heard her over 1967 to 1969. Her dalliances with Beat masters and KLF weren't even footnotes. Maybe this is nostalgia. But the crispness, the energy – she never stopped fizzing, this was now not then. Arnold is promoted as "London's first lady of soul" and there's no reason to disagree.