The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra

The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra was created in the early days of Immediate Records, Andrew Loog Oldham's upstart 1960s independent label. Faced with a need for publicity and not yet having any artists capable of generating a media splash on their own, Oldham decided to use what he did have: easy access to the Rolling Stones' songbag, through his management of the group, and a favor or two that he could call in from the quintet. The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra, which had previously cut some modestly successful instrumental versions of pop hits, was rechristened the Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra and Keith Richards was announced as directing the orchestra. In fact, Richards' participation probably went no further than being present at the press event announcing the project. If there were any specific pop/rock personalities or projects that influenced the new project, they were likely Joshua Rifkin and his Baroque Beatles Book album and, possibly, the Jan & Dean Pop Symphony No. 1 album. The idea was to generate publicity for the new label, which the record did, and maybe some sales and income, which it didn't. The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra went out of existence as soon as its one and only album was released, the latter sank with barely a trace and was a 500 dollar collector's item by the late '80s. It began showing up on CD in the early '90s as a piece of Rolling Stones-related ersatz.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo