"Evie" | |
---|---|
Single by Stevie Wright | |
from the album Hard Road | |
A-side | "Evie" (part 1) |
B-side | "Evie" (part 2 and 3) |
Released | 1974 |
Recorded | 1973 |
Genre | Rock [1] |
Length | 11:11 |
Label | Albert |
Songwriter(s) | Harry Vanda, George Young |
Producer(s) | Harry Vanda, George Young |
"Evie" is a rock song performed by Australian singer and former frontman of the Easybeats, Stevie Wright. It was written by Harry Vanda and George Young and released as a single in 1974. It has been suggested that it is the first 11-minute song to chart at #1 anywhere in the world. [2] According to author Mark Juddery, the song was "the longest Australian single ever to make the charts." [3]
The song features three parts—Part 1, "Let your hair hang down"; Part 2, "Evie"; and Part 3, "I'm losing you" [4] —and some critics consider it as one of the most perfect rock n' roll songs ever. [5]
Part One (when they meet) is a guitar driven, hard rocking and bluesy, swaggering and swayful song. Part Two (the marriage) is more piano and string based, a much softer emotional ballad style. Part Three (the death of Evie in childbirth) is more of a disco-rock style, being quicker, relatively urgent and guitar driven track with a strong vocal.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Evie" was ranked number 17. [6]
In 1973, Vanda & Young returned to Australia from the UK. Stevie Wright had found life difficult since the Easybeats disbanded and had developed a heroin addiction. [7]
"Stevie was still a great performer, still a great singer," George Young says. "So Harry and I got to work to see if we could come up with something that could put him back in the charts." [8]
Vanda and Young signed Stevie Wright and began working on the Hard Road album together. [9]
The song features Malcolm Young of AC/DC on guitar. Young plays the guitar solo in Part One, while the solo in Part Three is played by Harry Vanda. [2]
The song was released in April 1974. The single version was divided across the A and B sides and peaked nationally during July. [9] It remained in the charts for 26 weeks, the biggest Australian single of the year and the only pop song over six minutes to reach No 1. [8]
In June 1974, Stevie Wright performed the song at Sydney Opera House in front of 2,500 people, with over 10,000 having been turned away. [8] For this performance Wright's band included Harry Vanda, George Young and Malcolm Young. This was the first time that Wright, Vanda and George Young had appeared together after the breakup of the Easybeats five years previously. [9]
On 4 November 1979, Wright took part in the "Concert of the Decade". He performed the song on the steps of the Opera House in front of 100,000 people. [7]
Wright also performed the song during the 2002 Long Way to the Top tour.[ citation needed ]
Chart (1974) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [10] | 1 |
Chart (1974) | Position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [11] | 3 |
"Evie" | |
---|---|
Single by the Wrights | |
Released | 28 February 2005 |
Length | 11:18 |
Label | Flashpoint, EMI |
Songwriter(s) | Harry Vanda, George Young |
Producer(s) | Harry Vanda, Glenn Goldsmith |
Australian supergroup the Wrights recorded a cover version of the song and released it as a single on 28 February 2005. [12] It debuted at its peak of number two on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in March 2005 and spent 14 weeks in the top 50. [13] It was certified gold by the ARIA and was Australia's 47th-most-successful song of 2005. [14]
CD single
Chart (2005) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [15] | 2 |
Chart (2005) | Position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [16] | 47 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [17] | Gold | 35,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Suzi Quatro recorded a cover version of part one that appeared on the European version of her album If You Knew Suzi... in 1978.[ citation needed ]
The Easybeats were an Australian rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success; Rolling Stone described it as "the first international victory for Oz rock". One of the most popular and successful bands in the country, they were one of the few Australian bands of their time to foreground their original material; their first album Easy (1965) was one of the earliest Australian rock albums featuring all original songs.
Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg, better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is an Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easybeats who with fellow member George Young formed the 1970s and 1980s songwriting and record production duo Vanda & Young.
The Wrights were a one-off Australian rock supergroup consisting of Nic Cester, Bernard Fanning, Phil Jamieson, Kram, Chris Cheney, Davey Lane, and Pat Bourke. They are named after former Easybeats frontman Stevie Wright, the original performer of the song-trilogy "Evie", which was the group's feature song.
George Redburn Young was an Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands The Easybeats and Flash and the Pan, and was one-half of the songwriting and production duo Vanda & Young with his long-time musical collaborator Harry Vanda, with whom he co-wrote the international hits "Friday on My Mind" and "Love Is in the Air", the latter recorded by John Paul Young.
Stephen Carlton Wright was an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Called Australia's first international pop star, he is best known for being the lead singer of the Easybeats, who are widely regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s.
Flash and the Pan were an Australian new wave musical group. Also described as "a kind of post-disco, pre-house percussive dance music". It was formed in 1976 by Harry Vanda and George Young, both former members of the Easybeats, who formed a production and songwriting team known as Vanda & Young. The group's first chart success was their 1976 debut single, "Hey, St. Peter", which reached number five in the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The next single, "Down Among the Dead Men", peaked at number four in Australia in 1978. For international release, it was re-titled "And the Band Played On".
"Friday on My Mind" is a 1966 song by Australian rock group the Easybeats. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching No.16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, No.1 on the Dutch Top 40 chart, No.1 in Australia and No.6 in the UK, as well as charting in several other countries. In 2001, it was voted "Best Australian Song" of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as determined by a panel of 100 music industry personalities. In 2007, "Friday on My Mind" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry.
Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, whose family owned and operated the Sydney music publishing house J. Albert & Son.
It's 2 Easy is the second studio album by Australian rock band the Easybeats. Released on 24 March 1966, the album featured four hit singles; "Wedding Ring", "Sad and Lonely and Blue", "Women " and "Come And See Her".
Volume 3 is a studio album by the Australian rock band The Easybeats, released on 3 November 1966. It was the third and final album from the group recorded in Australia before relocating to England.
The Best of The Easybeats + Pretty Girl is the first compilation album by The Easybeats featuring a selection of songs recorded by the group between 1965 and 1966. The album was originally released in Australia and New Zealand under the Parlophone label under the then current licensing arrangement by the band's production company Albert Productions.
Friends is the sixth and final studio album by Australian rock band the Easybeats. It was released in early 1970 as part of the group's new recording contract with Polydor Records. It would be the only album Polydor released of the band as they broke up before its release.
Vanda & Young were an Australian songwriting and producing duo composed of Harry Vanda and George Young. They performed as members of 1960s Australian rock group the Easybeats where Vanda was their lead guitarist and backing singer and Young was their rhythm guitarist and backing singer. Vanda & Young co-wrote all of the Easybeats' later songs including their international hit "Friday on My Mind" and they produced themselves from 1967. Young was the older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young of the hard rock band AC/DC and younger brother of Alexander Young of the English band Grapefruit.
Hard Road is the debut solo album from Australian singer Stevie Wright. The album's first single, "Evie ", was hugely successful and the title track was later covered on Rod Stewart's 1974 album Smiler. The album itself reached #2 on the Australian album charts in 1974 and was the 16th-highest-selling album in Australia that year. The compact disc is currently out-of-print and has become quite rare. A digital edition was available on iTunes as of June, 2014.
"The Music Goes 'Round My Head" is a 1967 song and single by Australian rock group The Easybeats, which was written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda.
"For My Woman" is a song by Australian rock band the Easybeats, written by singer Stevie Wright and guitarist George Young. The Easybeats had formed in Sydney in 1964, with a sound inspired by the Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones. After signing with their manager Mike Vaughan, he introduced the band to producer and businessman Ted Albert, who liked them enough to sign with his company Albert Productions in December 1964. The song was recorded in January 1965 at the 2UW Theatre in Sydney as a demo together with three other songs.
"St. Louis" is a song by Australian rock group the Easybeats, which was released in June 1969. It was co-written by its members Harry Vanda and George Young and recorded as their first single after signing to Polydor Records.
"Come and See Her" is a song written by Stevie Wright and George Young. It was released as the sixth single for their Australian rock group the Easybeats in April 1966, which reached No. 3 on the Australian charts. It was the group's debut single in the United Kingdom, issued on the United Artists Records in July.
Easyfever by Australian rock and roll group the Easybeats was their fourth official extended play. It was issued to coincide with the band's departure for the United Kingdom. It appeared in August 1966 and reached number one on the Australian singles charts, something that had only been achieved once before by an EP. The songs on the EP did not appear on any of the Easybeats' official studio albums, however, they were included as bonus tracks on the 1992 CD reissue of their It's 2 Easy album.
"Sad and Lonely and Blue" is a song written by Stevie Wright and George Young, recorded by their band the Easybeats in 1965. The song was written in response to the group being labelled as "pop musicians" from their previous singles "She's So Fine" and Wedding Ring" along with their debut album Easy. The song is based around a 12-string guitar riff played by guitarist Harry Vanda and sees influences in both British rhythm and blues and jangle pop. Released as a single on 4 November 1965, it was a chart failure compared to their previous releases, only reaching number 21 on the Kent Music Report.
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