Every Face Tells a Story (song)

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"Every Face Tells a Story" is a song originally written by Michael Allison and Peter Sills for British singer Cliff Richard, whom Olivia Newton-John was a backing singer for in the early 1970s. Richard originally attempted a recording of the song in December 1975 studio sessions for his 1976 studio album I'm Nearly Famous , but it remained unreleased. He recorded the song again for his 1977 studio album Every Face Tells a Story , for which it became the title track. [1]

Contents

Richard's version uses the same music, but the lyrics are about Jesus and are Gospel-themed. Although a pop star, Richard is a Christian and sometimes includes Gospel tracks on his albums. Don Black rewrote the lyrics but kept the title, removing the Gospel theme.[ citation needed ]

Olivia Newton-John version

"Every Face Tells a Story"
Single by Olivia Newton-John
from the album Don't Stop Believin'
B-side "Love You Hold the Key"
ReleasedNovember 1976
Genre Country, pop
Length3:38
Label EMI
Songwriter(s) Peter Sills
Don Black
Michael Allison
Producer(s) John Farrar
Olivia Newton-John singles chronology
"Don't Stop Believin'"
(1976)
"Every Face Tells a Story"
(1976)
"Sam"
(1977)

In 1976, Australian pop and country singer Olivia Newton-John recorded a version for her eighth studio album, Don't Stop Believin' . It was released as a single in November 1976 and peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; #21 on the Hot Country Songs chart; and #6 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. She produced an MTV style promotional clip for the song, which aired on ABC in November 1976. The song was not released in Australia.[ citation needed ]

Charts

Chart (1976–77)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles [2] 21
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks [3] 6
U.S. Billboard Hot 10055
Canadian RPM Country Tracks1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks5
Canadian RPM Top Singles58
South Africa (Springbok) [4] 5
U.S. Cash Box Top Singles [5] 71

Other versions

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References

  1. Lewry, Peter; Goodall, Nigel (1991). Cliff Richard The Complete Recording Sessions 1958-1990. London: Blandford. pp. 108, 110, 111. ISBN   0-7137-2242-8.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 249.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 181.
  4. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  5. "Cash Box" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. 11 December 1976. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  6. Information at Svensk mediedatabas