| "Yellow River" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Christie | ||||
| from the album Christie | ||||
| B-side | "Down the Mississippi Line" | |||
| Released | 23 April 1970 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 2:44 | |||
| Label | CBS (UK) Epic (US) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jeff Christie | |||
| Producer(s) | Mike Smith | |||
| Christie singles chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Yellow River" on YouTube | ||||
"Yellow River" is a song recorded by the British band Christie. It was released in 1970 and became a No. 1 hit song for the band in the UK. [1]
The song was written by the leader of Christie,Jeff Christie. It was first 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-oriented 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.[ citation needed ]
Producer Mike Smith therefore took their vocals off the recording and added Jeff Christie's. 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. [2]
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. [3] As the song was released during the Vietnam War,it has been interpreted as being about a soldier leaving the U.S. Military at the end of his period of conscription.
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"Yellow River" has spawned a host of cover versions by artists as diverse as R.E.M., Leapy Lee, Elton John, The Compton Brothers, Middle of the Road, Chris Rea, Bernd Spier, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Mayada, and Joe Dassin (his cover named "L'Amérique" reached No. 1 in France). [13]
In Australia, Christie's version of Yellow River gained only limited airplay due to the 1970 radio ban. Local bands Jigsaw from Melbourne and Autumn from Sydney both had success with cover versions. [14]
In the USSR, the band Singing Guitars (Поющие гитары) used the melody of "Yellow River" paired with the words to a Russian children's song called "Fat Karlsson" ("Толстый Карлсон"). [15]
Christie are an English soft rock band that formed at the end of the 1960s. They are best remembered for their UK chart-topping hit single "Yellow River", released in 1970, which hit number one in 26 countries that year.
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Alan David Blakley was a British musician and record producer. A member of the Tremeloes from 1958 to 1996. He was the father of actress Claudie Blakley. As a producer, he worked on the hit song She's Gonna Win for Bilbo, and nearly all the studio albums for glam rock sensations The Rubettes,
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