"Yellow River" is a popular song recorded by the British band Christie. Written by band leader Jeff Christie, the song was offered to The Tremeloes, who recorded it with the intention of releasing it as a single early in 1970. However, after the success of their then most recent single, "Call Me Number One", and after considering it too pop-orientated for their future direction, they decided to follow it up with another of their own compositions, "By The Way", which was only a minor Top 40 success.
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Producer Mike Smith therefore took their vocals off the recording and added those of Jeff Christie. Released on 23 April 1970, it became an international hit, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart for one week in June 1970. In the US, it reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The actual location of Yellow River in this song is not specified, although the author, Jeff Christie, is on record as saying that it was inspired by the idea of a soldier going home at the end of the American Civil War. As the song was released during the Viet Nam War, it has been interpreted as being about a soldier leaving the US Military at the end of his period of conscription.
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Naci escuchando este tema ,mortal nunca uno se aburre de escucharlo
ReplyDeleteI was 13 when this come out. Now this is what I call music.
ReplyDeleteGreat song will always be the best 70's song for me. Jeff Christie is still going strong, and such a nice guy besides. Talent is his middle name.
ReplyDeleteC'est magnifique.
ReplyDeleteFormer Acid Gallery menber, Jeff Christie, wrote "Yellow River" for The Tremeloes and in hindsight must have been delighted when they rejected it. It gave Jeff the opportunity to put it out himself as a single and have a number one hit with it.
ReplyDeleteMike Blakely's brother, Howard, who was rhythm guitarist with The Tremeloes, suggested that Mike should form a band. He brought in guitarist Vic Elmes and called themselves The Epics. He then recruited lead singer and bass player Jeff Christie and renamed themselves Christie.
The Tremeloes first recorded "Yellow River" as a demo with drummer Dave Munden on lead vocals. They weren't too keen on the song and passed it back to Jeff. As Vic Elmes recalled, "The Tremeloes had a change of heart, but they gave us their version fully recorded, to release under the name of a new band, hence Christie. All Jeff and I had to do was record our vocals to their backing track, and a new band was born." Because both groups were signed to CBS records, they were happy to let new vocals be added to the existing backing track.
The Tremeloes' producer Mike Smith saw the potential of the song and felt rather guilty when his group turned it down, so he agreed to produce Christie's version. It gave Mike his sixth and final chart topper as a producer.