Olivia was thrilled when the couple decided to get married. And now that John Farrar was planning to base himself in England with his new wife, it meant Olivia would be seeing a lot more of her great friend Pat - but not as a regular singing partner. Pat had no alternative but to cheerfully accept that Olivia had forged ahead with her solo career and there was to be no real opportunity to team up again as a singing duo.
Chapter 5
If Not For You
‘We just looked at each other and there was this lightning flash’
LEE KRAMER ON MEETING OLIVIA FOR THE FIRST TIME ON A BEACH IN MONTE CARLO
ONCE OLIVIA was released from her Toomorrow contract, her manager Peter Gormley saw the importance of rapidly distancing her from the doomed project. He wanted any lingering whiff of Toomorrow’s failure to be dispelled as quickly as possible. Gormley personally had seen nothing in Toomorrow to shake his firm belief in Olivia’s talent, and he and Bruce Welch realised that the best way of drawing a line under the whole Toomorrow disaster was to find Olivia suitable songs to record for a debut LP that would give her the chance of a hit and put her on the map.
Together with John Farrar, they picked out a handful of outstanding American country songs for the album, including Kris Kristofferson’s ‘Me And Bobby McGee’ and ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’, Tom Rush’s ‘No Regrets’ as well as Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot’s classic ‘If You Could Read My Mind’.
Among other numbers that came up for consideration was Bob Dylan’s ‘If Not For You’, one of the strongest tracks on Dylan’s New Morning album released in 1970. George Harrison had also recognised ‘If Not For You’ as the pick of the bunch on Dylan’s new LP, and the Beatle had recorded his own version with a distinctive slide guitar backing for a track issued on his solo album All Things Must Pass .
Peter Gormley heard Harrison’s rendering of ‘If Not For You’ and suggested Olivia might like to record it. Olivia was far from convinced it would suit her, but John Farrar and Bruce Welch won her round. They would take care of everything in the studio, they assured her. John, by now showing a remarkable ear for harmonies and musical arranging, would take on the responsibility of the song’s arrangement and Bruce would mastermind Olivia’s vocal performance. Surrounded by experienced professionals who were also friends who loved her and believed in her, Olivia was hardly in the mood to turn down their choice of ‘If Not For You’.
During the studio recording, John Farrar seized on George Harrison’s slide guitar sound as the dominant force in the backing and took a similar approach to cushion Olivia’s soft vocal. John had always enjoyed music with a country tinge and there was undeniably a touch of Nashville about the finished recording.
By the end of the studio session everyone was happy with the outcome, even Olivia. ‘I didn’t think it was my type of song at all,’ she admitted, ‘and I had a little bit of trouble being convincing in putting it over. But everyone else was so enthusiastic that I came round to liking it eventually.’
‘If Not For You’ was chosen as Olivia’s first single from the album. It was released early in 1971, and by the middle of March it had reached the Top Ten in the UK charts, eventually peaking at number seven. After the false dawns with Decca and Toomorrow, Olivia had finally achieved some tangible success. Bruce, Peter and John were all delighted for her.
Olivia’s personal delight was tempered by the fact she knew this success would now turn her life upside down. And so it proved. Her chart hit heralded a sudden non-stop whirlwind of activity. Soon Olivia was given a part in a fifty-minute film caper with Cliff Richard for BBC TV called Getaway With Cliff , and in October she was added to the bill for Cliff’s three-week run at the London Palladium. Conveniently the run
Chapter 5
If Not For You
‘We just looked at each other and there was this lightning flash’
LEE KRAMER ON MEETING OLIVIA FOR THE FIRST TIME ON A BEACH IN MONTE CARLO
ONCE OLIVIA was released from her Toomorrow contract, her manager Peter Gormley saw the importance of rapidly distancing her from the doomed project. He wanted any lingering whiff of Toomorrow’s failure to be dispelled as quickly as possible. Gormley personally had seen nothing in Toomorrow to shake his firm belief in Olivia’s talent, and he and Bruce Welch realised that the best way of drawing a line under the whole Toomorrow disaster was to find Olivia suitable songs to record for a debut LP that would give her the chance of a hit and put her on the map.
Together with John Farrar, they picked out a handful of outstanding American country songs for the album, including Kris Kristofferson’s ‘Me And Bobby McGee’ and ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’, Tom Rush’s ‘No Regrets’ as well as Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot’s classic ‘If You Could Read My Mind’.
Among other numbers that came up for consideration was Bob Dylan’s ‘If Not For You’, one of the strongest tracks on Dylan’s New Morning album released in 1970. George Harrison had also recognised ‘If Not For You’ as the pick of the bunch on Dylan’s new LP, and the Beatle had recorded his own version with a distinctive slide guitar backing for a track issued on his solo album All Things Must Pass .
Peter Gormley heard Harrison’s rendering of ‘If Not For You’ and suggested Olivia might like to record it. Olivia was far from convinced it would suit her, but John Farrar and Bruce Welch won her round. They would take care of everything in the studio, they assured her. John, by now showing a remarkable ear for harmonies and musical arranging, would take on the responsibility of the song’s arrangement and Bruce would mastermind Olivia’s vocal performance. Surrounded by experienced professionals who were also friends who loved her and believed in her, Olivia was hardly in the mood to turn down their choice of ‘If Not For You’.
During the studio recording, John Farrar seized on George Harrison’s slide guitar sound as the dominant force in the backing and took a similar approach to cushion Olivia’s soft vocal. John had always enjoyed music with a country tinge and there was undeniably a touch of Nashville about the finished recording.
By the end of the studio session everyone was happy with the outcome, even Olivia. ‘I didn’t think it was my type of song at all,’ she admitted, ‘and I had a little bit of trouble being convincing in putting it over. But everyone else was so enthusiastic that I came round to liking it eventually.’
‘If Not For You’ was chosen as Olivia’s first single from the album. It was released early in 1971, and by the middle of March it had reached the Top Ten in the UK charts, eventually peaking at number seven. After the false dawns with Decca and Toomorrow, Olivia had finally achieved some tangible success. Bruce, Peter and John were all delighted for her.
Olivia’s personal delight was tempered by the fact she knew this success would now turn her life upside down. And so it proved. Her chart hit heralded a sudden non-stop whirlwind of activity. Soon Olivia was given a part in a fifty-minute film caper with Cliff Richard for BBC TV called Getaway With Cliff , and in October she was added to the bill for Cliff’s three-week run at the London Palladium. Conveniently the run
Similar Books
