Blackberry Way

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"Blackberry Way"
Blackberry Way.jpg
German picture sleeve
Single by the Move
B-side "Something"
Released28 November 1968 (UK)
Recorded1968
Studio Olympic Studios, London
Genre Baroque pop [1]
Length3:38
Label Regal Zonophone (UK)
A&M (US)
Songwriter(s) Roy Wood
Producer(s) Jimmy Miller
The Move singles chronology
"Wild Tiger Woman"
(1968)		"Blackberry Way"
(1968)		"Curly"
(1969)
Performance video
"Blackberry Way" (on Beat Club) on YouTube

"Blackberry Way" is a 1968 single by British band the Move. Written by the band's guitarist/vocalist Roy Wood and produced by Jimmy Miller, "Blackberry Way" was a bleak counterpoint to the sunny psychedelia of earlier recordings. It nevertheless became the band's most successful single, reaching number 1 on the UK singles chart in February 1969. [2]

Contents

The Move vocalist Carl Wayne refused to sing on the song, so Wood handled the lead vocal. [3] Richard Tandy, who later played keyboards with Wood's next band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), played harpsichord on "Blackberry Way". Despite the success of the single, the style of psychedelia-tinged pop sat uneasily with guitarist Trevor Burton. He left the group shortly after. The B-side, "Something", was specially written for the band by David Scott-Morgan and was produced by Denny Cordell and Tony Visconti. The song had previously been released as the B-side to the United States and Australia exclusive single "Yellow Rainbow", released for their debut studio album, Move.

Wood said in a 1994 interview that "Blackberry Way" is his favourite Move song of all time, commenting that it could have been performed in any era and still worked. [3] As for album releases of "Blackberry Way", although it did not appear on the band's second studio album, Shazam, it did appear on the album's 2007 reissue, after also appearing on the 1998 reissue of the band's third studio album, Looking On.

Personnel

The Move
Additional musicians

Charts

Chart (1968–1969)Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set) [5] 14
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [6] 14
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [7] 13
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [8] 20
Denmark (Salgshitlisterne Top 20) [9] 17
Denmark (Tipparaden) [10] 5
Finland (Soumen Virallinen) [11] 23
Ireland (IRMA) [12] 2
Italy ( Musica e dischi ) [13] 15
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [14] 15
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [15] 14
New Zealand (Listener) [16] 10
Norway (VG-lista) [17] 3
Rhodesia ( Lyons Maid ) [18] 4
Sweden (Kvällstoppen) [19] 7
Sweden ( Tio i Topp ) [20] 5
UK Singles (OCC) [21] 1
West Germany (GfK) [22] 7

Cover versions

References

  1. ↑ Horning, Rob (15 February 2007). "Electric Light Orchestra: Too Much at Once Can Blow the Fuse". PopMatters . Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 228. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  3. 1 2 Sharp, Ken (30 September 1994). "Roy Wood: The Wizzard of Rock". The Move Online. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008.
  4. ↑ "Planet Mellotron Album Reviews: M14".
  5. ↑ "Go-Set Australian charts - 23 April 1969". www.poparchives.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007.
  6. ↑ "The Move – Blackberry Way" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  7. ↑ "The Move – Blackberry Way" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ↑ "The Move – Blackberry Way" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  9. ↑ "Salgshitlisterne Top 20 - Uge 8". Danske Hitlister. 10 February 1969. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Salgshitlisterne Top 20 - Uge 8". Danske Hitlister. 24 February 1969. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 178. ISBN   951-31-2503-3.
  12. ↑ "Irish Singles charts 1967-1969". 26 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Move".
  14. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 15, 1969" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  15. ↑ "The Move – Blackberry Way" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. ↑ "Listener - The Move". Flavour of New Zealand. New Zealand Listener. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  17. ↑ "The Move – Blackberry Way". VG-lista.
  18. ↑ Kimberley, C (2000). Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. p. 32.
  19. ↑ Hallberg, Eric (193). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 – 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. ISBN   9163021404.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  20. ↑ Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74. Premium Publishing. ISBN   919727125X.
  21. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Move – Blackberry Way" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON The Move"
  23. ↑ "Discografia Nazionale della canzone italiana". Discografia.dds.it. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  24. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: E". Hitparadeitalia.it. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
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