Today’s classic early ’70s song of the day is “Yellow River” by Christie. This one was released in April of 1970 and peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did considerably better in the group’s native England, where it went all the way to #1 on the UK Singles Chart.
Christie was the name of the group fronted by Jeff Christie, who also wrote the song, “Yellow River.” As noted, the group formed at the end of the ’60s and had only a single hit in the U.S., making them a one-hit wonder here on these shores. Back home in the UK, however, they had a second hit later in 1970 with the (misspelled) “San Bernadino,” which went to #7 on the Brit charts. The group continued on through 1982, when they broke up; they got back together in 1990 and continue to tour today.
Jeff Christie first offered the song “Yellow River” to fellow Brits the Tremeloes, who’d had several previous hits, most notably 1967’s “Silence is Golden.” That group recorded the song but decided not to release it as a single. This left Christie’s group, Christie, to record it and make it a hit.
Here’s what Mr. Christie remembers about the song:
“I wrote ‘Yellow River’ around March/April 1969 in a couple of hours on the piano when I was still living at my parents’ house in Scott Hall Road, Leeds…
“The song was loosely about a shell-shocked Confederate soldier’s return home at the end of the war. Although I was thinking about the Civil War, it was soon adopted as a Vietnam song in the U.S. It then became a massive hit there as well as number one here and twenty-six other countries. I never found out exactly how many millions it sold around the world, I’d heard industry figures talk of it shifting globally north of thirty million, but it just became a number to me eventually…
“Looking back, I realize the song was unlike anything else at the time and the major/minor chord progression and top line produced a tension that would roll into an upbeat chorus with a great hook seemed to hit the spot for millions of people around the world and that was and still is a freaky, awesome and wonderful feeling to have.”
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, the official promo film for “Yellow River.” That’s how they did it 50 years ago.
