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

Sorry about that. I´ll send you a message if I see it on eBay or elsewhere.

 

The B-side of "BIG SHIP" was "SHE´S LEAVING YOU", written by Brian Bennett. The arrangement is very typical of the late 60s, and there´s a melancholy air to the whole production. Whether the song is strong enough to carry all that weight is another question. Still, I don´t mind this song. Pleasant.

Robert Porter:
"May 23, 1969: Cliff's 46th single Big Ship/She's Leaving You, is released..."
Mike Read, Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (1995 - The Complete Chronicle)
"From 1968 and 1969 come Occasional Rain and She's Leaving You, released on the other side of Good Times (Better Times) and Big Ship singles."
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: 3:28
Record Date: April 30, 1969
Record Location: Abbey Road, London
Written By: Brian Bennett
Arranged By: Brian Bennett
Produced By: Norrie Paramor
Engineered By: Peter Vince & Richard Langham
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Brian Bennett (orchestra conductor), Brian Bennett Orchestra (orchestra and all other instruments)

 

Hi, @Alan1074 !

If you´re OK with the 1992 twofer version, here´s a link to a reasonably priced copy:
Cliff Richard Silver/The Rock Connection 2CD 1992 EMI The CD Collection | eBay

 

I feel that BIG SHIP could well be the lowest low point of Cliff's singles. Well, it's possibly in a tie with MORE TO LIFE. GOOD TIMES is only marginally better. I'm glad you find it catchy, and I suppose it is, but so's chicken pox...

 

I´ll round up the 1960s with the last 1969 single, the almost morose "WITH THE EYES OF A CHILD". Written by Guy Fletcher and Douglas Flett, who would pen some of Cliff´s poppier material, like "POWER TO ALL OUR FRIENDS", "DON´T TURN THE LIGHT OUT", "BABY, YOU´RE DYNAMITE" and the lovely "SING A SONG OF FREEDOM", this one is definitely closer in tone to the latter song. It isn´t often mentioned when you count Cliff´s Christmas hits, but it almost is one. It has the sentiments usually associated with Christmas, and it was released quite close to Christmas. Calling it a hit might be construed as an exaggeration by some - it reached No. 20 in the UK charts, No. 16 in the Irish charts and No. 74 in the Australian charts. Not a global smash, then.

I feel differently about this song each time I hear it. Sometimes I feel there is no momentum to this song, that it just sort of sits there. Unlike most of these composers songs, it isn´t upbeat or uptempo. The lyrics are serious - this is a "message song". At other times, I feel this song is "deep", and I love the way Cliff sings it. I do understand why it wasn´t a huge hit, and I am in two minds about this song. Still, I would miss it if it had been removed from the running order on "BEST OF CLIFF, VOL. 2".

Robert Porter:

"November 15, 1969: Cliff's 48th single, With The Eyes Of A Child/So Long is released. The critics comment: '...an enchanting ballad with a philisophical lyric pleading for universal brotherhood...' '...a tender quasi-protest song with Cliff pleading for a more beautiful world in which kids can grow up.'"
Mike Read, Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (1995 - The Complete Chronicle)

Running Time: 2:55
Record Date: July 29, 1969
Record Location: Abbey Road, London
Written By: Guy Fletcher & Doug Flett
Arranged By: Mike Vickers
Produced By: (A Norrie Paramor production by) Peter Vince
Engineered By: Unknown
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Mike Vickers (orchestra conductor), The Mike Vickers Orchestra (orchestra and all other instruments)

 

Thanks. Annoying that there's duplicate tracks when they clearly booted tracks off Silver!

 

The B-side for "WITH THE EYES OF A CHILD" was Chris Arnold, Geoff Morrow and David Martin´s "SO LONG". It´s not that different from the A-side when it comes to mood and general musical qualities. The lyrics are back on solid ground: love is the theme. Again, the B-side also lacks momentum and leaves you feeling that it is running on empty. Just a little bit. Not a terrible song, just not one of his best. IMO.

Robert Porter:
"November 15, 1969: Cliff's 48th single, With The Eyes Of A Child/So Long is released."
Mike Read, Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (1995 - The Complete Chronicle)
"So Long became the flip side of Cliff's last single released in the 1960s, With The Eyes Of A Child."
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: 2:38
Record Date: April 18, 1969
Record Location: Abbey Road, London
Written By: Chris Arnold, Geoff Morrow & David Martin
Arranged By: Alan Hawkshaw
Produced By: Norrie Paramor
Engineered By: Peter Vince
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Alan Hawkshaw (orchestra conductor), other artists and instruments unknown

 

Yep. We´re talking two very flawed albums on CD. "SILVER" even drops one song - "FRONT PAGE" - to accommodate the "ROCK´N´SILVER" tracks, and then only offers a tiny selection. And there was room for all of them! The remastered version of "THE ROCK CONNECTION" put this right - including all the "ROCK´N´ROLL" silver tracks plus the extra Phil Everly duet from his 1983 album. (And "SILVER" adds two B-sides.)

 

Now, that´s funny! I still think I prefer all those songs - even "MORE TO LIFE" - to chicken pox.

For me, I think it´s essential for my rating of them that these songs were used on the "BEST OF CLIFF, VOL. 2" album. As I have said many times, I grew up listening to that album and three singles, "CONGRATULATIONS/HIGH´N´DRY", "SUNNY HONEY GIRL/DONT MOVE AWAY/I WAS ONLY FOOLING MYSELF" and "POWER TO ALL OUR FRIENDS/COME BACK BILLIE JO". They were also the background music for many an incident that took place in those "difficult" years, so I do love them for nostalgic reasons, as well.

But yes, I do find them catchy. Whether they should have been single A-sides is another story, but I do like them.

 

I can't really think of anything too positive, or too negative about WITH THE EYES OF A CHILD. It's, well, just sort of there - in an almost forgotten way. I can't argue with the sentiment, but it's not Christmassy enough to be a Christmas song, and not poppy enough to be a pop hit. Like you, I'd miss it if it wasn't there on Best of Cliff Vol.2.

 

I'm listening with headphones now...getting ready for a Sgt Pepper festival...LOL. Anyhow, it's the first time I've done so with these songs. I was surprised how good "Good Times" sounds this way. "Big Ship" isn't redeemable, I'm afraid. My first exposure to "Goodbye Sam" was the German version "Das Ist Die Liebe". Took awhile to get an English version (remember this was in the days pre-internet). I always preferred "Occasional Rain", but now it's kind of a toss-up.

 

I know what you mean - "it´s just there". It seems underwritten, if that´s a word. There is something about it - they do manage to build a mood that I am sometimes appreciative of. It never goes anywhere, though. I think it works better as an album track than as a single.

 

Funny that you say "With the Eyes of a Child" isn't Christmasy...look at this sleeve (which is also one I have):

 

It´s a difficult period of Cliff´s career to appreciate. The singles are very different in some ways, still none of them stray too far from the safe arrangements.

 

Nice. Cliff began chasing those Christmas No. 1s sooner than I thought. (I´m not counting "I LOVE YOU".) An unexpected cover shot!

 

Sorry to veer us off topic once again but the other day on the (UK) Radio 2 news I heard the last part of something that seemed to suggest some early TV footage of Cliff (as well as other pop music TV discoveries) had been rediscovered in some unusual location? I tried to google more information but came up with nothing. Sooooo, I wondered if anyone here heard anything and could point me in the right direction...

 

Intriguing... Let´s hope it´s not those erased early 70s shows...

 

That Christmas bauble has made all the difference! And the trees in the background have no leaves, so it's clearly Christmas!!

 

I caught something mentioned on BBC Breakfast News, that there had been a discovery of previously lost material, which included a 1958 episode of OH BOY! which included Cliff, making it the earliest surviving footage of Cliff. A short clip was shown, and the quality seemed quite good. There's a TV programme due based on the findings soon, I recall.

 

Monumental!
Cliff Richard thread, over 200 pages!
It says something about thread quality.

 

He almost looks like Hank on that picture and he appears to be holding onto the worlds largest pencil, ever...

 

Thank you! I shall keep my eyes peeled for that...

 

For me, Cliff's worst ever single and song is I'll Love You Forever Today. I would happily listen to Good Times, Big Ship and Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha every day for a year on loop than I'll Love You Forever Today ever again!

 

Thank you, John-Adam. Always positive! I do, however, believe that it has got a lot more to do with loyal contributors.

 

Is this where I should get embarrassed? I like all the singles mentioned.

But no, I´m not embarrassed. I don´t think that "I´LL LOVE YOU FOREVER TODAY" should have been an A-side, though. It´s reflective, rather deep, actually - but not smash hit material. Like "WITH THE EYES OF A CHILD", there´s no momentum; it never goes anywhere. But I do love it.