Robert Palmer: Singer, 1949-2003

Publié le par olivier

Robert Palmer: Singer, 1949-2003

To his irritation, Robert Palmer became as famous for his suits and matinée idol image as his music. But his sense of style shouldn't disguise the fact that he possessed  one of the finest blue-eyed soul voices, deployed to brilliant effect early in his solo career when, backed by members of The Meters and Little Feat, he recorded some of he most joyously rhythmic white funk any British artist has ever essayed.

Yorkshire-born, he spent his childhood on a Naval base in Malta, where he heard the 'race' records requested by American servicemen on Forces radio. After such early exposure to Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole, when the family returned to England in the late '50s, Cliff and the Shadows held no attraction. But the arrival of Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Wilson Pickett in the mid '60s revived his musical interest. After a spell in local band The Mandrakes, in 1969 he moved to London to join first The Alan Bown Set, then jazz-rockers Dada and finally Vinegar Joe, with whom he recorded three albums of blues-rock notable for his powerful vocal duets with Elkie Brooks. But when record sales failed to match their live popularity, both singers embarked on solo careers.

Palmer's superb debut, Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley, appeared in 1974, and he probably never bettered it. Recorded in New Orleans with The Meters and Lowell George, it was a record that put him up there with Steve Winwood as an authentic articulator of white R&B. The follow-up, 1975's Pressure Drop, added the reggae of Toots-written title track to the white-hot soul that again found him backed by Little Feat, while Barry White's arranger, Gene Page, added glorious strings to tracks such as Give Me An Inch.

Further albums Some People Can Do What They Like and Double Fun followed in similar vein, as Every Kinda People and Bad Case Of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) gave him his first solo hit singles.

Then came the '80s, a decade that unnereved Palmer as it did so many of his vintage. Clues teamed him with Gary Numan in pursuit of a more contemporary electro-pop edge. Then his soul and R&B roots were submerged further in the bombastic rock of Power Station, formed with Duran Duran's John and Andy Taylor and Chic drummer Tony Thompson.

He resumed his solo career with 1985's Riptide, his biggest-selling album, propelled by the single Addicted To Love and its Terence Donovan-directed video, which depicted Palmer as a suave ladykiller, surrounded by a band of scantily-clad models.

Into the '90s Palmer recorded a decent cover of Dylan's I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, made an album of big band standards long before Rod Stewart and Robbie Williams stole the idea, and most recently released Drive, a tribute to the blues music that originally inspired him. He had just finished filming a TV documentary called My Kinda People when he suffered a heart-attack in Paris.

Nigel Williamson (nc - 2003)

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