Two ex Ikettes in two nights - Gloria Scott and P P Arnold

This week I've seen two ex members of the Ikettes in separate venues on successive evenings - Gloria Scott and P P Arnold. Both shows have been highly enjoyable and it's clear that both are still in top form.

Gloria Scott's appearance at the 100 Club was her first in London, so far as I know, and attracted a fair number of Northern soul fans to what turned out to be an enjoyable show, slightly spoilt by the PA man apparently turning up the bass towards the end. Gloria recorded a song called 'I Taught Him' with her group the Tonettes, produced by Sly Stone, in the sixties, after which she joined the Ikettes alongside Pat (P P) Arnold and Maxine Smith.She recorded a well regarded album called 'What Am I Gonna Do' in 1974 which was produced by Barry White and released on the fledgeling Casablanca label. However, a follow up album produced by H B Barnum went unreleased and that appeared to be the end of Gloria's recording career. But now she's back with a new album coming out soon.
Her set at the 100 Club featured songs from all these solo periods beginning with a couple of numbers from her 1974 album, including the title track and her biggest hit of the time, 'Just As Long As We're Together'. Next came a couple of numbers from her forthcoming album - ' Real' and 'Show Me', a song she said she had co-written with Pat Arnold. Backed by a six piece band, which I thought was a little heavy on the drums (band leader Andrew McGuinness is the drummer) and a girl singer, Gloria came across strongly and showed that she has a strong voice, a confident approach and some good songs in her locker. Other numbers included 'I Got To Have All Of You', 'Come Back Baby', 'Help Me Get Off This Merry Go Round', 'That's What You Say',  and 'Love Me Love Me Love Me or Leave Me Leave Me Leave Me', the last three of which were on her 1974 LP. 'All Of The Time You're On My Mind' and 'So Wonderful', both excellent songs, followed, but the encore '(A Case Of) Too Much Lovemaking', was the one that the crowd had been waiting for. Clearly a Northern soul favourite, as indeed is Gloria.

By coincidence, the following night I saw another singer who was in the Ikettes as the same time as Gloria but whose life since then has been very different: P P Arnold. She came to London with the Ikettes in 1966 and stayed, becoming friendly with Mick Jagger and others in the UK music scene. She made several successful records for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label including Cat Stevens' 'First Cut Is The Deepest' and Chip Taylor's 'Angel Of The Morning'. She released two albums but tracks produced by Barry Gibb and Eric Clapton went unreleased at the time. Returning to the US her abusive relationship broke up and her daughter died and eventually she came back to the UK where she has been active in the music business, but with only sporadic recording opportunities.

Her latest tour, promoting 'The New Adventures of P P Arnold', has put her back in the spotlight. Backed by a good band led by Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene I caught her show at the Arlington Arts Centre near Newbury, Berkshire, a venue new to me and one with excellent sound quality (especially compared with the 100 Club). Pat looks far younger than her age and her voice remains pure and emotional. She began with 'Though It Hurts Me Badly', from her Immediate years (and also on her new album) and followed with what I think is probably the best song on the new album, 'Baby Blue', which has a feel of Ronnie Spector about it. The Northern soul favourite 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright' followed, along with nineties recording 'Different Drum' and 'I Believe', a song written by her son Kodzo and recorded in her own studio at a time when she couldn't get a recording deal. Both are included on the 'New Adventures' album.
Other songs included the Small Faces-penned 'If You Think Your Groovy' (an Immediate release) and Traffic's 'Medicated Goo', along with some other rather pop orientated numbers including 'Eleanor Rigby', which was a track of her Immediate 'Kafunta' LP, Sandy Denny's 'I'm A Dreamer' and Paul Weller's 'Shoot The Dove'. Her two big Immediate hits went down well, as did the entire set, and although there was fairly little in the way of real soul on offer it's clear that P P Arnold is enjoying a new and successful phase of her career. I'm tempted to think that her appearance at one of the Tales From The Woods shows in 2016 played a part in that. In any event, it's good to see her prospering.