I had assumed lots of people were already familiar with Chris Farlowe‘s kicking mod soul version of Jagger and Richards‘ “Think” from 1966 — but viewership numbers on YouTube tell otherwise:
“Think” wisely enjoyed release in India, Finland, France, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden, as well as its native UK, where it went to #37 on the back of Andrew Loog Oldham‘s Immediate label. “Think” is also the kick-off track on Farlowe’s 1966 LP, 14 Things to Think About. Incredibly, “Think” appears not to have given a single release in the US, if 45Cat is to be believed.
Cash Box‘s “Great Britain – 1966 in Review” piece for their December 24, 1966 issue included this tidbit —
The newly formed Immediate Record company had first British hit with “Think” by Chris Farlowe penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richard of The Rolling Stones. More British record executives and music publishers visited the San Remo Song Festival than ever before.
Cash Box’s World Directory published in July of that same year would be a little more forthcoming in their analysis of Immediate’s strong marketplace performance for a piece entitled, “England – The Past Twelve Months“:
For Immediate Records, the independent label set up in September last by Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder, it had been a year of unprecedented success. They had an immediate hit with their first release “Hang On Sloopy” by The McCoys and after making the Top 50 with several more records their first British chart entry came six months later with Chris Farlowe’s “Think” followed by the Farlowe In The Midnight Hour EP which stayed in the charts for several weeks. They are currently hovering on the brink of chart success with a new group Twice As Much with a Mick Jagger-Keith Richard title “Sitting On A Fence“. Immediate is distributed by Philips Records in the United Kingdom.
14 Things – And Yet Only 10 Faces
What Gives?
