Cliff Richard - Back from the Wilderness Singles and Albums 1975 - 1995

Yet another example of a Cliff B-Side being much better than the A-Side and, in this case, a million times better at that!

 

I agree that the B side is far better than the A side, but I do think I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER TODAY has a certain charm, and I think it was the last time Cliff had an A side writing credit (possibly for good reason!)

The album 'Two A Penny' is now the only one I've not managed to get hold of on CD. Sadly the non-album tracks never made it to CD when the soundtrack songs were tagged onto the last round of re-issues with 'Take Me High'. Luckily I do have the LP, so can enjoy tracks like Paul Simon's CLOUDY. Last time I checked, most of the tracks were not on youtube. I will have to get the '2 for 1' reissue some time I suppose.

 

The non-soundtrack songs are, generally, pretty good I have to say and it is a shame they haven't been released on CD since 1992.

 

I agree, but - as you know - I also like the B-side. Glad you chimed in - the thread´s been rather quiet for a while. I haven´t even been busy, just preoccupied.

 

Nothing wrong with those twofers they started releasing in 1992. Some have complained about muffled sound on them, but I think they are better than most new CDs released in 2017. Too bad.

It´s not Cliff´s strongest album, but I find much to like on it. I rarely play it, but I always enjoy it. "QUESTIONS" is a good song, and many of the others make up my daily "Cliff fix" on off days.

 

The reason may be that these are among the least commercial Cliff songs as seen from the vantage point of 2017. I like them, but you can´t deny that these are among the "squarer" tracks by Cliff. I suppose only serious "Cliffhangers" will want to buy them. That´s no reason not to release them, of course, but you can see the record campany´s point of view.

 

I would have preferred to get 'Two A Penny' as it's own CD release though as part of the series. I'd have thought it'd have been no more or less commercial than others of that period, which did get a CD release, like 'Sincerely'. Off to search a reasonably priced 'twofer...'

 

Or at least added the homeless tracks a place as bonus tracks on 'Sincerely'.

 

As both "THE OLD ACCORDION" and "COME BACK BILLIE JO" have been dealt with before, I move on to the next track from the "RARE B-SIDES" CD in the box set.

"CONSTANTLY" was a huge hit in 1964, reaching No. 4 in the UK charts. (As already mentioned in the posts about the "40 GOLDEN GREATS" compilation.) It was the English version of the Italian song "L´Edera". The B-side in the UK was Bruce Welch´s rocky "TRUE TRUE LOVIN´". Italy got the B-side "I ONLY KNOW I LOVE YOU", written by Al Stillman, Carlo Alberto Rossi and Ugo Calise. No, me neither.

"I ONLY KNOW I LOVE YOU" is a ballad, very typical of the songs Cliff recorded during the mid-60s. Pleasant and fairly forgettable. Well, that´s my opinion. Still, nice to have this previously unreleased - apart from Italy - song. It certainly doesn´t ruin the flow of the CD.

Robert Porter:
The mono and stereo recordings are the same take and edit, but different mixes.
There was an Italian language version of I Only Know I Love You recorded during the When In Rome sessions, using the Italian title of Na Voce, 'Na Chitarra, E'o Poco 'E Luna, however it remains unreleased. The Italian Constantly single, for which I Only Know I Love You was the B-side, labeled the song with its Italian title of Na Voce, 'Na Chitarra, E'o Poco 'E Luna, however, it should be noted that despite the title confusion, the version on the Italian single is the English language version, not the unreleased Italian language version.

"I Only Know I Love You is a rare track and the first of the four bonus songs to appear on this [Rare B-Sides 1963 - 1989] CD. It was issued in Italy in 1963 as the B-side to Constantly and was not available in any other territories."
Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (2008 - liner notes for Rare B-Sides 1963 - 1989 album in the ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last! {My 50 Years In Music} set)

Running Time: 2:33
Record Date: November 17, 1963
Record Location: Abbey Road, London
Written By: Al Stillman, Carlo Alberto Rossi & Ugo Calise
Produced By: Norrie Paramor
Engineered By: Malcolm Addey
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Brian Bennett (drums), The Norrie Paramor Orchestra (orchestra and all other instruments)

 

Oh, I don´t disagree with you. I prefer the stand-alone versions of the album. Seems more tidy to me, and I like to have one album in the focus, not two. (Dont mind bonus tracks, though.) "SINCERELY" was not his finest hour, though it had a few good songs. More or less just like "TWO A PENNY".

Does anyone know whether the film "TWO A PENNY" was a "hit" within the Christian community? Not necessarily commercially, but in terms of how it was viewed?

 

Some of the 'lesser' albums that were not remastered recently (I say recently thats probably a decade ago now!) Aladdin, Cinderella, When in Rome, Two a Penny have turned up on iTunes and Amazon to download. I know that's a dirty word to some but well, it may tide one over till the CD turns up cheap on eBay or whatever. They do appear to be the 1992 remasters...

 

The most muffliest was 'Cliff Sings' for my money in that series. Thankfully it has been remastered since...

 

... and they are perfectly OK, at least according to my taste. I remember when those 1992 remasters came. I was superthrilled - imagine, all Cliff albums handily available as twofers! I loved them, and it´s now 25 years ago! I remember where I was when I learned the twofers were to be released. Memories, light the corners... Ehum...

You say the remasters were released a decade ago. Some of the songs were remastered around 1998, and the first remasters I remember were released in 2002, I think. So that makes a decade and a half ago.

We´re all getting older, my friend. And hopefully wiser. (Though I doubt that´s the case with me...)

Edit: You reminded us of the"lesser" Cliff albums. That certainly applies to some of them, but all had good and great tracks. I particularly think "CINDERELLA" was underrated - lots of deep cuts of high quality on that one.

 

Yes, some of them were bad. Others were good. Agree with you about "CLIFF SINGS".

 

The next tracks on the "RARE B-SIDES" CD were the aforementioned "BACK IN VAUDEVILLE" - too bad there isn´t a full clip available on YouTube. We have written about this song before, so I won´t say much about it here, other than that it was an alternate B-side for the "BABY YOU´RE DYNAMITE" single in some Scandinavian and continental countries in 1984. Great little song - the perfect B-side.

"STRONGER THAN THAT", the final single from the "STRONGER" album, was awarded a remix and an extended mix in early 1990, and reached No. 14. Not bad for a fourth single. The song is one of Cliff´s forgotten greats, I think, though the extended version should have remained unreleased. Well, perhaps it´s good that you can find it, but I mostly choose not to play it. With Alan Tarney´s hands all over it, the song itself is - to me - a classic. The extended version? Meh...

As far as I can judge, only two extended mixes of Cliff´s songs are really essential - "NEVER SAY DIE (GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE)" adds a lot to the feel of the song, and the extended version of "BORN TO ROCK´N´ROLL" is one of my favourite Cliff tracks. The extended version of "SOME PEOPLE" is also better than the shorter single and album version. (And it is available on CD, on a Canadian compilation of 80s tracks called "Hi-NRG Classics" CD album (1997 — Canada — SPG Music Ltd. SPG 6001) Sounds good, too. The other two extended classics remain unreleased on CD, unfortunately.

 

The final track on the "RARE B-SIDES" CD is a Dave Ford remix of the Stock/Aitken/Waterman song "I JUST DON´T HAVE THE HEART", which was a No. 3 hit for Cliff in 1989. The strange thing is, there was a pan-European airplay-based chart that was aired in most of Europe in the 80s, and this version of the song actually charted quite high on it. I remember listening to the countdown, and I think this 12" version of the song was well within the Top Ten. I may be delusional about how high it was on the chart, but it was definitely in there. I prefer the original mix, but I guess it´s nice to have an alternative to the ordinary single and album version. And the extended version. And the instrumental mix.

Enjoy.

 

When in Rome is one of my faves, no kidding! I regard them as lesser albums only as they were totally disregarded on the 2 on 1 series but I have plenty of time for them...
As for getting wiser. The more I find out, the less I really know...

 

Agree with that last sentence! Yes, I have grown older and somewhat wiser, but the most basic thing you learn is how very little you actually do know. Great minds think alike... He, he.

Now I see what you meant by "lesser albums". Then we agree about those, too. It´s strange, but the actual quality of a given album or single wasn´t always the reason something failed. Take the album "SMALL CORNERS" - one of my favourite Cliff albums, and yet it underperformed... Well, flopped in the charts. On the other hand, a relatively boring album like "THE ALBUM" goes to No. 1. (And no, I´m not saying "THE ALBUM" is a bad album - it just has too many dull songs on it. A good ten-tracker could have been made from the recorded songs, but 14 tracks was a bit too much.)

 

Agree with you here.
"Small Corners" is on of my favourite albums, just never tire of it and played it a lot. Where as for "The Album", I probably played it once on its release, and that was it. It just did nothing for me at all.
Nice to see this thread up and running again.

 

Small Corners is a great album, even for a non-religious person as myself as I believe I have said before. Up In Canada, Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music, I Love and Why Me, Lord are all up there with the very best of Cliff's recorded output.

The Album is, I believe, the first one where a slight deterioration in Cliffs voice can be heard. But, having said that, there are some very good songs on it. I love Brother To Brother, Love's Salvation, Healing Love, I Still Believe In You, Never Let Go (yes, even this Jarleboy ) and Little Mistreater. The rest of it, though, merely filler I am afraid.

 

A bit of sad news. The co-star from his film with one of his best tracks of the 70s as it's theme song has passed away.

Doctor Who assistant Deborah Watling has died aged 69

 

For me, "SMALL CORNERS" is a classic and one of Cliff´s very best albums. It´s one of the ten albums I listen to the most, as far as Cliff´s releases go. I have nothing specific against "THE ALBUM" - it just has too many indifferent/boring tracks. We may bicker about which ones are the boring ones - Let´s have a fight, Stephen! - but it doesn´t hold up as an album you listen in one sitting all that often. I have played it more than Tim seems to have, but I tend to skip a few of the tracks.

Yep, we´re off again. I was a bit exhausted after the end of term, so I took a few weeks off. Not that it´s hard work - I just needed to do other things.

But now I´m back with a vengeance.

 

That´s sad. 69 is too young. She was a breath of fresh air in a film not plagued by too many solid performances. I loved the music, loved seeing Cliff having a ball, but few of the performances were even O.K. Debbie seemed like she was having fun, and in a fim like "TAKE ME HIGH", that´s about all you can expect.

R.I.P. Her smile will be remembered.

 

Can't beat that end of term feeling! Just got there today, six weeks off stretching ahead

 

Wouldn´t that be loverly? I´ve had three weeks off already. I´m quickly - no, make that slowly! - turning into a sloth.