Immediate Records was started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog-Oldham and promoter Tony Calder; the two men had met two years previously when both were working drumming up press and publicity for The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein. Both men had an affinity for the blues and soul music and decided to branch out from their normal standard duties working for the big record labels around London and start their own for a better artistic and financial control over their artist roster. The label was modestly successful and managed to sign a number of the hotter acts working the capital city music scene at the time.
Immediate Records first signing was Loog-Oldham's biggest client, The Rolling Stones, who were then followed by a succession of artists including Small Faces, Nico, Les Fleur-de-Lys, Billy Nicholls, Chris Farlowe, The
Mockingbirds, P.P. Arnold, The Poets, The McCoys, Amen Corner, The Nice,
Humble Pie, Rod Stewart, Mike D’Abo, Twice As Much, John Mayall’s
Bluesbreakers, The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Golden Apples of the
Sun, Masterminds, Barbara Lynn, The Australian Playboys, The
Strangeloves, Fleetwood Mac, Nicky Scott, Tony Rivers and the Castaways,
Duncan Browne, London Waits, and Mark Murphy.
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| Andrew Loog-Oldham and Mick Jagger |
The label had a modest level of success in the singles charts with songs like P.P. Arnold's "The First Cut is the Deepest" and Chris Farlowe's "Out of Time", but for the most part encountered a level of difficulty in competing with their larger and more entrenched counterparts like Decca and EMI. One of the hallmarks of Immediate was the use of in-house hired talent to produce, scout and write for their roster of artists including The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, as well as future Led Zeppelin bandmates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.
Jimmy Page was hired by Oldham as an A&R man for his label as well as a producer but in reality he did much much more. Page produced sessions for future member of the Velvet Underground, Nico, Chris Farlowe and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. In addition Jimmy Page's one and only completely solo single prior to his years after Led Zeppelin, a number titled "She Just Satisfies" was released on Immediate. Jimmy would later run into a bit of hot water with his friend Jeff Beck when Immediate heard that the duo had recorded a series of jams together. The label pointed out that Page was a salaried employee and thus any recordings he made under his name were the property of the company. Page dutifully handed over the tapes and to the consternation of both Page and Beck they were later released on a compilation disc under the title Blues Anytime in 1968
Ultimately, Immediate Records folded up and called it quits in 1970 leaving quite a financial mess, nearly £1,000,000 of debt, not only for the management but also for their artist roster. One of their most successful acts, The Small Faces didn't receive any form of payment for their work on the label despite their being released and re-released numerous times through the years until they finally decided to take legal action in the early 2000's. Though Immediate Records might not have attained the success that they had set out to achieve their legacy is surely intact as a breeding ground for the next generation of artists who would take the music industry by storm in the upcoming years.
It is also important to note that Immediate Records was the place where Jimmy Page was first able to stretch his wings in the studio and assume of level of artistic control that he had never before experienced. There were many lessons that Page would learn at Immediate that he would take with him to his next venture, a group called The Yardbirds, then ultimately of course to Led Zeppelin.
If you would like to read and learn more about Immediate Records you should check out the book, Immediate Records: Labels Unlimited
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