Olivia | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 11 August 1972 | |||
Studio | Abbey Road, Studio 2, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:38 | |||
Label | Festival | |||
Producer | Bruce Welch, John Farrar | |||
Olivia Newton-John chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Olivia | ||||
|
Olivia is the second studio album by the British-Australian singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John, released in 1972. Two of its songs were released as singles ("What Is Life" and "Just a Little Too Much"). In its initial release, it was not issued in the United States, though it was sold there as an import. A digitally remastered version was released in 1995.
She covers two songs from George Harrison on this album, "Behind That Locked Door" and "What Is Life", both originated from Harrison's first solo album All Things Must Pass published in 1970.
The first single "What Is Life" reached number 18 in Ireland [1] and number 16 in the UK, [2] but the album itself was a commercial failure when released in the UK on Pye International in 1972.
The cover art, done in blue tint, was later used (in a blueish-green tint) as the cover of the US release of Let Me Be There on MCA Records in 1973, following the success of the hit single penned by John Rostill.
Dame Olivia Newton-John was a British and Australian singer and actress. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included fifteen top-ten singles, including five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200: If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975). Eleven of her singles and fourteen of her albums have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Long Live Love is the fourth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released in June 1974 by EMI Records.
John Clifford Farrar is an Australian music producer, songwriter, arranger, singer, and guitarist. As a musician, Farrar is a former member of several rock and roll groups including The Mustangs (1963–64), The Strangers (1964–70), Marvin, Welch & Farrar (1970–73), and The Shadows (1973–76). In 1980, he released a solo eponymous album. As a songwriter and producer, he worked with Olivia Newton-John from 1971 to 1989. He wrote her U.S. number-one hit singles: "Have You Never Been Mellow" (1975), "You're the One That I Want", "Hopelessly Devoted to You" (1978), and "Magic" (1980). He also produced the majority of her recorded material during that time, including her number-one albums, If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974), Have You Never Been Mellow (1975), and Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982). He was a co-producer of the soundtrack for the film Grease (1978).
If You Love Me, Let Me Know is a United States and Canada-only album by singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 28 May 1974. Other than the title track, all the material was from her previous three albums, Olivia (1972), Music Makes My Day (1973) and Long Live Love (1974). It is her first album to top the Billboard 200 pop albums chart.
"What Is Life" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. In many countries, it was issued as the second single from the album, in February 1971, becoming a top-ten hit in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, and topping singles charts in Australia and Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, "What Is Life" appeared as the B-side to "My Sweet Lord", which was the best-selling single there of 1971. Harrison's backing musicians on the song include Eric Clapton and the entire Delaney & Bonnie and Friends band, with whom he had toured during the final months of the Beatles. Harrison co-produced the recording with Phil Spector, whose Wall of Sound production also employed a prominent string arrangement by John Barham and multiple acoustic rhythm guitars, played by Harrison's fellow Apple Records signings Badfinger.
Physical is the eleventh studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released through MCA Records on 13 October 1981. The album was produced and partly written by her long-time record producer John Farrar. Recorded and mixed at Ocean Way and David J. Holman's studio in Los Angeles, Physical became one of Newton-John's most controversial and sexual records, and her most successful studio album. Musically, the album features considerable use of synthesizers, and it explores lyrical themes such as love and relationships, sex, and environmental protection. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews from music critics, many of them considering it to be Newton-John's best effort. The album charted high in several countries, including the United States, Japan and Newton-John's native Australia, becoming one of the most successful albums of the early 1980s. It also ranks among the best-selling albums by Australian solo artists, selling more than ten million copies worldwide.
Come On Over is the seventh studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released in March 1976. The album peaked at number two on the US Top Country Albums chart and number 13 on the US Billboard 200.
Totally Hot is the tenth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 21 November 1978. Commercially, it became her first top-ten album on the Billboard 200 chart since Have You Never Been Mellow (1975). Dressed on the album cover all in leather, Newton-John's transformation was seen to mirror her character Sandy's transformation in Grease. At the time, Totally Hot was her most successful album, and became her first album to receive a Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Making a Good Thing Better is the ninth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on June 1977.
Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by Olivia Newton-John released in 1977. In some regions, this followed the 1974 compilation, First Impressions and therefore titled as Greatest Hits Vol. 2.
Let Me Be There is the third studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John. It was originally released in November 1973 as Music Makes My Day in the United Kingdom, by Pye International Records, and shortly after in Australia as Let Me Be There, which became its most recognisable name. In the United States and Canada, Let Me Be There was released with an alternative tracklist, combining songs from the original release with other tracks from Newton-John's previous albums If Not for You and Olivia.
"If Not for You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his October 1970 album New Morning. It was issued as the A-side of a single in Europe in early 1971. The song is a love song to Dylan's first wife, Sara Dylan. He recorded it several times in 1970; the session for the released version took place in New York in August. He also recorded the song with George Harrison on May 1, soon after the break-up of the Beatles, a session that attracted much speculation in the music press. The May recording remained unreleased until its inclusion on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 in 1991.
If Not for You is the debut studio album by British-Australian singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John, released in November 1971 by Festival Records. The album was released on the Pye International label in the UK as Olivia Newton-John, with a slightly different cover. As a covers album, If Not for You features mostly songs previously recorded from contemporary artists of the 1960s and early 1970s. She made several performances to promote If Not for You and her follow-up album, Olivia, including an international tour with British singer Cliff Richard. It was her first album released by Festival Records, which would release all her albums in Australia until its dissolution in 2005. It also has Newton-John's first works with her long-time musical partner, John Farrar.
"Make a Move on Me" is a song recorded by singer Olivia Newton-John for her eleventh studio album. Physical (1981). It was written by John Farrar and Tom Snow, and produced by the former. The follow-up single to the number-one hit "Physical", it was released in January 1982 and peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 that April. It also became her twelfth and final single to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"Suddenly" is a duet performed by Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard from the soundtrack Xanadu, and is the love theme from the 1980 film of the same name. It was written and produced by John Farrar.
"Behind That Locked Door" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison wrote the song in August 1969 as a message of encouragement to Bob Dylan, who was making a highly publicised comeback to the concert stage, accompanied by the Band, with a headlining performance at the Isle of Wight Festival. "Behind That Locked Door" is a rare Harrison composition in the country music genre and the second song dealing with the friendship between himself and Dylan, after their 1968 collaboration "I'd Have You Anytime". Its lyrics address Dylan's elusive nature, and reflect the high regard in which Harrison held the American singer's work. The same reluctance on Dylan's part to re-engage with a concert audience led to him retreating again from live performance until August 1971, when he responded to Harrison's request to play at the Concert for Bangladesh.
Early Takes: Volume 1 is a compilation album of outtakes and demo recordings by English rock musician George Harrison, released posthumously on 1 May 2012. The recordings appeared in Martin Scorsese's 2011 documentary film George Harrison: Living in the Material World and were originally issued as part of the deluxe version of the DVD release. Producer Giles Martin compiled the album, working with engineer Paul Hicks. The majority of the tracks date from the sessions for Harrison's 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass.
Songs from Heathcliff is a studio album by English singer Cliff Richard, released in October 1995. It features ten songs from Richard's self-conceived musical Heathcliff, in which Richard played the title character. The musical is based on the Emily Brontë novel Wuthering Heights. The music was composed by John Farrar with lyrics written by Tim Rice. Olivia Newton-John is a guest on the album, featuring in five duets with Richard. The style of the music ranges from pop/rock to mock-period music, featuring instruments such as the harpsichord and violin.
Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield. It was released on April 13, 2018, by American Laundromat Records. It's a tribute album to Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, in which Hatfield covers thirteen songs sung by Newton-John, most of them originally released as singles. From every sale of the album, one dollar will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, Newton-John's own cancer treatment organization. The following year, Hatfield released Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police and Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO followed in 2023.