Britain says "Happy Birthday" to Chris Farlowe

Chris Farlowe the singer who made his name in the 1960's is 70 years old today.

Some things you possibly didn't know about Chris, that he :

* was born John Henry Deighton, in Islington, North London.

* was inspired by Lonnie Donegan and started 'The John Henry Skiffle Group' in 1957.

* joined 'The Thunderbirds', who went onto record five singles for the Columbia label.

* released a cover version of 'Stormy Monday Blues' under the pseudonym of 'Little Joe Cooke' which perpetuated the myth that he was a black singer.

* moved to Andrew Loog Oldham's 'Immediate' label, recorded 11 singles, 5 of which were cover versions of Rolling Stones songs and it was his 'Out of Time' which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNyAzuB1-rE

* recorded four more singles, the best known of which is Mike d'Abo's 'Handbags and Gladrags'

The have been a number of recordings of this song but for me, this 1967 version, featuring Dave Greenslade's trademark piano blues-scale riff and Chris' voice, was the best. He was, at 27, convincing as the Grandfather of an errant Granddaughter.

Ever seen a blind man cross the road,
Trying to make the other side?
Ever seen a young girl growing old,
Trying to make herself a bride?

So what becomes of you my love,
When they have finally stripped you of,
The handbags and the glad rags,
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy you.

Once I was a young man,
And all I thought I had to do was smile.
Well you are still a young girl,
And you've bought everything in style.

So once you think you're in you're out,
'Cause you don't mean a single thing without,
The handbags and the glad rags,
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy you.

Sing a song of six-pence for your sake,
And drink a bottle full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds in a cake,
And bake 'em all in a pie.

They told me you missed school today,
So what I suggest you just throw them all away,
The handbags and the glad rags,
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy.

They told me you missed school today,
So what I suggest you just throw them all away,
The handbags and the glad rags,
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSh1iR7SDHc

Judge for yourself, whether the old Chris, now no doubt, a genuine grandfather, still has the voice, he has however changed 'Grandad' to 'Daddy'. I prefer the concept of Grandad :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqPnYJRUbgo

P.S.
His version of Solomon Burke's 'This is a Man's World' :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yZjIVNPKA