Immediate Records: Labels Unlimited

by Simon A. Spence

Spence, Simon

191 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2008

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Loog Oldham is one of the most fascinating figures that came out of London 60's pop music culture. He pretty much discovered what is today the Rolling Stones. He was there manager by the age of 19, so he was at least a year younger then the rest of the band. A hustler (and I am using that word in a positive sense) who saw the Stones as a bigger canvas. He knew there was no future for a band unless they wrote their own songs - so basically he locked up Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the kitchen and forced them into song writing sessions. What came out of those sessions became a landmark in pop music aesthetics and history - but this book is not about that, it's about Oldham's independent record label - Immediate.

Even the name of the label had a sense of urgency and intensity, and Oldham for a little while was the king of the hill with both this label and managing the Stones. Like all good things there is a beginning and an ending. And this book covers the both sides of the coin.

The images in the book are great, but not first-rate. I imagine it must have been a headache to collect all the photos, posters, etc. from that era. I am presuming that Oldham nor the people around him saved such stuff. Nevertheless it's a nice collection of images from the label and it tells an amazing story.

So one should get the two Oldham memoirs and this book. Any man who wore eye make-up, based his work on gangster films, and basically had 'that vision thing down' is ok with me. Essential book.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of madcap raconteur oddball Andrew Loog Oldham and his record company. Immediate Records had a lot of excellent acts, and a few not so much, but a majority of them were terrific. The Small Faces, The Nice, P.P. Arnold, Chris Farlowe, Humble Pie, and others recorded for Oldham. Profuse with photos and news clips, with text nicely integrated, it is very well done. Unfortunately, there are quite a few typos, and the binding is quite flimsy - the book itself separated from the cover almost immediately after purchase. For someone interested in the British music scene in the sixties, this is almost required reading.

[Gregarious cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject matter of this book is for ANYONE interested in 60's pop culture/music. Andrew Loog Oldham is one of a kind. Up there with Salvador Dali, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and P.T. Barnum where hustler/pimp transcends into an artist unto themselves. I love how everyone interviewed makes a point of saying how fucking hard Oldham and his team worked to make it happen for the bands on their label. The fact that he told Small Faces to 'take their time, no pressure, just put out a great record...' (yielding Ogden Nut Gone Flake) and also warned Humble Pie to sign with other label to protect themselves when Immediate was about to go under is insanely impressive in the days of slimeball managers and record business people like Clive Davis, Allen Klein and Stanley Herbert Polley.
My only reluctance to give the 5th star is, 1st this book is poorly constructed. The badly glued cover fell off pretty quickly. Secondly plenty of typos and bad editing. Easy flaws to overlook in order to be able to read about one of the all time great architects of the 60's.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised Andrew Loog Oldham is alive and able to carry on these days.