P. P. Arnold "Though It Hurts Me Badly"

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Xenu
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P. P. Arnold "Though It Hurts Me Badly"

Postby Xenu » Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:07 am

A few years ago, I made an impulsive boxed-set purchase of "Happy To Be Part of the Industry of Human Happiness - The Immediate Singles Collection," a six-disc set of every single released (and some NOT released) on the main "Immediate" label throughout its existence. It was, presumably, intended to replace and supplant the various hodgepodge Immediate singles discs released throughout the years, which tended to be weird mixtures of mono and stereo. While I'm sure the mastering on this set isn't up to the Hoffmanite standard, it's pretty spiffy, and everything seems to be in its correct mono mix. The accompanying booklet is fantastic as well, and really gives a great picture of exactly how many baskets Jimmy Page had his fingers in throughout the 1960s.

In any case, I've been listening to it again recently, and it's still one of the most fantastically odd sets around, showcasing just how eclectic Immediate was in its era. While reviewing the set, I have been re-struck by a song that stood out on the first go-round: P. P. Arnold's "Though It Hurts Me Badly," the B-side (!!!) to the Small-Faces-penned (and performed, IIRC) "If You Think You're Groovy." Like most of you, if I knew Ms. Arnold at all it was from the Small Faces connection, and the small number of her tracks that tended to show up on other Immediate collections: "Angel of the Morning," "The First Cut is the Deepest," and so on. From those songs, it would appear as if Arnold stuck close to a general idea of 60s-soul-queenyness, albeit filtered through the prism of Immediate.

"Though It Hurts Me Badly," however, is totally out of that character. Sounding like a particularly dark "Between the Buttons" outtake instrumentally (and, IIRC, Mick may have played a part in its production), it's marked by an intriguing, repeating guitar-figure and a variation on general verse-chorus structure. Additionally, the arrangement of the backing vocals is quite unconventional, mostly in a good way.

But above all, it's really good to hear Ms. Arnold moving outside of the sort of 60s British soul cliches typified by "The First Cut is the Deepest." Her performance on this track is stellar, in my opinion.

Anyway, in case you guys have never heard of, I've prepared a small mono ogg at:

http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/badly.ogg

Tell me what you think.

-D

PS: I've actually since downloaded the stereo version from the actual album...this one has a longer, and far cooler fadeout.
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J_Partyka
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Postby J_Partyka » Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:36 am

This is really cool. I like the generally dark atmosphere, and its haunting quality overall. I also like Arnold's voice a lot (I have to say, I'd never heard of her before).

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Beatlesfan03
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Postby Beatlesfan03 » Wed Dec 28, 2005 2:35 pm

If I'm not mistaken, I think she sang backup for Roger Waters during his "In The Flesh" tour.
Craig

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Postby krabapple » Wed Dec 28, 2005 4:56 pm

And Keith Emerson used to be in her backup band.
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Xenu
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Postby Xenu » Wed Dec 28, 2005 7:22 pm

IIRC, The Nice were her backing band...?
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Postby lukpac » Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:36 pm

Well, they were on Immediate.
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Postby krabapple » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:17 am

Yup. The Nice began life as PP Arnold's backing band.
Strange but true.
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