PP Arnold talks to Alexis Petridis
She fled an abusive husband to tour with Ike & Tina, was brought to swinging London by Mick Jagger, and ended up singing for the KLF. Now the soul great has dusted off a lost album produced by Eric Clapton and Barry Gibb
I meet PP Arnold in the top-floor restaurant of a hotel in London’s West End. The windows offer a panoramic view of central London, which turns out to be perfect for illustrating her conversation. You can see Regent’s Park, where Mick Jaggertook her for a walk after lunch in 1967 and convinced her to leave her job as a backing vocalist for Ike and Tina Turner and become a solo singer; she signed to Immediate, the record label founded by the Stones’ Svengali-like manager Andrew Loog Oldham...