Soul Survivor by P.P. Arnold

Author:P.P. Arnold
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blink Publishing

26

1967 (London)

With Kevin and Debbie

My new flat – our new flat – was in a high-rise apartment building in Clifton Road, Maida Vale, near Little Venice and the canal. It was a bit dark and not ideal for Kevin and Debbie with no outside area for them to play in, but I was determined to make it work. The weather was cold and rainy most of the time and they were accustomed to playing outside with the neighbourhood children. Our nanny Elena was from Czechoslovakia and didn’t speak English well, but I bought them lots of toys and when the weather permitted we took them to Regents Park.

Mick came to meet Kevin and Debbie. He would visit from time to time, but we couldn’t hang out like we used to. The kids were adjusting and, if I wasn’t working, I wanted to spend every minute I could with them.

My new driver was Kenny Pickett, one-time singer and songwriter for the Creation. He’d split from the band following a dispute and now worked for Andrew. While I was away, Andrew had quietly stolen the Nice away from me and signed them to Immediate. I had always known they would go their own way. They would be missed, but I was happy for them.

I was recording new tracks and Kenny was driving me to and from the studio in a nice Jaguar. Through him I met the young British blues and soul singer Rod Stewart, who was not yet established as a solo artist. He’d worked with Steampacket and Long John Baldry and was co-lead vocalist with Beryl Marsden in Shotgun Express, with Mick Fleetwood and Peter Bardens. His Sam Cooke imitation was spot on and I loved his voice. His one single, Mike d’Abo’s ‘Little Mis Understood’, had been a flop, but Mick thought it might work to put Rod and I together to record an Otis Redding/Carla Thomas-type duet.

Mick was now very tied up with Marianne, whose vibe towards me was very changeable. I was still infatuated with Mick, but I recognised that she was his main consort. We’d enjoyed threesomes from time to time, but I was never into her on a purely sexual level. Sometimes she could be cruel and I think she knew I was only doing it to satisfy Mick.

Jimi, meanwhile, was back in the States promoting Are You Experienced. He had taken off big time over there. Steve was with Jenny, who worked at the fashionable boutique Quorum selling op art textiles. He and I were still close. We fancied each other but sexually we weren’t really suited. Rod had lived for a few years with Jenny before she and Steve got together. Now Rod started spending more time with me. It was such an incestuous scene.

Rod and I would hang out with the Small Faces from time to time. One evening, high and happy, we decided to pay Mick a surprise visit and maybe persuade him to jam with us, so we trooped over without calling ahead.

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