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.
In 1966, Newton-John released her debut single, a cover of Jackie DeShannon's "Till You Say You'll Be Mine" (with "For Ever" as B-side), by Decca Records.[2] Later, she integrated the band Toomorrow, which released a film and its soundtrack in 1970. After these failed attempts to launch her career, she signed with Festival Records to release an album. If Not for You was titled after its successful lead single of the same name and was recorded in London, where Newton-John resided at the time. She later stated that she didn't like the song, but praised its production.[3] The majority of musicians who played on If Not for You were linked with the music group Marvin, Welch & Farrar. The group members John Farrar and Bruce Welch produced the album.[4] Welch was her boyfriend at the time and Farrar is the husband of Australian singer Pat Carroll, a personal friend of Newton-John's, and toured with her in England at clubs and bars as "Pat and Olivia" in 1966. Farrar would establish a partnership with Newton-John, producing all her studio albums from If Not for You until Soul Kiss, released in 1985. He also composed, played and did background vocals on several Newton-John songs.[5] Three additional songs were recorded by Newton-John, but were discarded during the album creation process: "The Biggest Clown", "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" and "Would You Follow Me". The first was released on "If Not for You" single, the second was released on the "Love Song" promo single and later on the 48 Original Tracks compilation album and the third was released on some pressings of "Banks of the Ohio" single and also on 48 Original Tracks.[6][7][8]
Newton-John made several appearances on television programs across Europe and her homeland Australia between 1971 and 1972. She also made an appearance on The Dean Martin Show, singing "If" and a medley featuring "Just a Little Lovin'" / "True Love" with Dean Martin, which became her first performance in the United States.[3][9] In 1972, she embarked on a tour across Europe and Japan with Cliff Richard to promote If Not for You and Olivia, known as The Cliff Richard Show / If Not for You Tour. Olivia performed some songs and also sang backing vocals on Cliff's songs with Pat Carroll.[10] Richard performances were released on the Cliff Richard Live! album.[11] She also made performances on Richard's program It's Cliff Richard and starred with him in the special Getaway with Cliff and the film The Case, all broadcast on BBC.[12]
Singles
"If Not for You", the title track, was released as the lead single. The song peaked at number six on the UK Singles Charts and number fourteen on Australia's Go-Set singles chart.[13][14] It was also an unexpected hit in North America, peaking at number twenty-five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number eighteen on Canada's RPM top singles chart.[15] The single was Newton-John's first number one on the US Top Easy Listening chart (now Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks).[16] The second and last single, "Banks of the Ohio", was another success in the United Kingdom (peaking at number six)[13] and Australia (Newton-John's first number one hit in the country),[17] but failed to reach the top forty in Canada and United States, peaking at number sixty-six and ninety-four, respectively.[16][18]
To promote the album and Newton-John's image, the promotional singles "If You Could Read My Mind" (with "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" as the B-side)[19] and "Love Song" (with "If" as the B-side)[7] were released in selected European countries. A German language version of "Banks of the Ohio", titled "Unten Am Fluss, Der Ohio Heisst", was also released.[20]
Joe Viglione from AllMusic gave a positive review from the album, giving it four out five stars. He commented that "it would be a mistake to think these [songs] are all mere 'covers.' The production and arrangements by Bruce Welch and John Farrar are innovative and worthwhile." Viglione also praised Newton-John's performance, stating: "After all her own hit records, hearing this superstar sing so many familiar tunes, and performing them so well, is utterly charming."[16]
Commercial performance
In Australia, the album debuted at number sixteen in the week of 22 January 1972.[21]If Not for You peaked at number fourteen the next week, staying four weeks on the chart and earning a platinum certification.[22][23] Despite the lack of promotion in the country the album made a minor impact in the United States, peaking at number one hundred and fifty-eight on the Billboard 200.[16] In the United Kingdom, where the album hit two singles in the top ten, If Not for You failed to chart.
Releases
The album was originally released on cassette and LP.[24] The American edition, released by Uni Records prior to its merger with the Decca and Kapp labels to form MCA Records, went out of print following the release of Newton-John's 1973 album, Let Me Be There, and became a rare collector's item. However, the original American edition of Let Me Be There features six tracks from If Not for You.[25] The album was first released on CD in Japan in 1990 as part of the EMI Pastmasters series (Cat.# CP21-6074). The album was simply called Olivia Newton-John, which was the full title of the original vinyl / cassette release in England in 1971. (It was initially released as Olivia Newton-John in England, and If Not for You in foreign territories, including the US and Australia.) This EMI 1990 CD release did not feature any of the original album artwork. Instead, the front cover photo is a "live" picture of Olivia from a 1977 appearance in Japan. The packaging included a Japanese-language obi, and a folded white paper insert, containing all the song lyrics in English on one side, and in Japanese on the other. In Australia, Festival Records re-released the album on CD in 1993 and also in a digitally remastered edition along with other albums of Newton-John's discography in 1998. In this latter case, at least the first run of the remastered CD release (Festival Cat.# D34320 / D19809) was seriously botched. The first track on the album, "Me and Bobby McGee", was missing entirely from the CD; thus the CD started with the Bread cover, "If", and contained only 11 of the 12 songs. Further, three of the latter songs on this release were mis-sequenced. However, the CD labeling lists all 12 original songs in their original sequence. However, the overall sonic quality of the 1998 remastered edition was praised.[24]
^ abcIf Not for You (Liner notes). Olivia Newton-John. Festival Records. 1971. SITFL-934,320.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ ab"Discogs: If Not for You – Olivia Newton-John". Discogs.
^"OliviaNewton-John.com: Let Me Be There (1973)". Discogs.
^"Olivia Newton-John - if Not for You (Deluxe Edition)". Discogs.
^"Cash Box Top Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
External links
Newton-John's official site > Discography > If Not for You
February 20, 2023
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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 If Not for YouUS vinyl variant of standard artworkStudio album by Olivia Newton JohnReleased1 November 1971Recorded1971StudioAbbey Road Studio 2 London 1 GenreCountrycountry popLength35 54LabelFestivalProducerJohn FarrarBruce WelchOlivia Newton John chronologyIf Not for You 1971 Olivia 1972 Singles from If Not for You If Not for You Released March 1971 Banks of the Ohio Released September 1971 Contents 1 Background and development 2 Promotion 2 1 Singles 3 Critical reception 4 Commercial performance 5 Releases 6 Track listing 7 Personnel 8 Charts 9 References 10 External linksBackground and development EditIn 1966 Newton John released her debut single a cover of Jackie DeShannon s Till You Say You ll Be Mine with For Ever as B side by Decca Records 2 Later she integrated the band Toomorrow which released a film and its soundtrack in 1970 After these failed attempts to launch her career she signed with Festival Records to release an album If Not for You was titled after its successful lead single of the same name and was recorded in London where Newton John resided at the time She later stated that she didn t like the song but praised its production 3 The majority of musicians who played on If Not for You were linked with the music group Marvin Welch amp Farrar The group members John Farrar and Bruce Welch produced the album 4 Welch was her boyfriend at the time and Farrar is the husband of Australian singer Pat Carroll a personal friend of Newton John s and toured with her in England at clubs and bars as Pat and Olivia in 1966 Farrar would establish a partnership with Newton John producing all her studio albums from If Not for You until Soul Kiss released in 1985 He also composed played and did background vocals on several Newton John songs 5 Three additional songs were recorded by Newton John but were discarded during the album creation process The Biggest Clown It s So Hard to Say Goodbye and Would You Follow Me The first was released on If Not for You single the second was released on the Love Song promo single and later on the 48 Original Tracks compilation album and the third was released on some pressings of Banks of the Ohio single and also on 48 Original Tracks 6 7 8 The album features covers of Kris Kristofferson Me and Bobby McGee and Help Me Make It Through the Night Bread If The Band In a Station Lesley Duncan Love Song and Lullaby George Harrison If Not for You Brotherhood of Man Where Are You Going to My Love Gordon Lightfoot If You Could Read My Mind and Tom Rush No Regrets Banks of the Ohio is a traditional song that had an arrangement made by Farrar and Welch 4 Promotion EditNewton John made several appearances on television programs across Europe and her homeland Australia between 1971 and 1972 She also made an appearance on The Dean Martin Show singing If and a medley featuring Just a Little Lovin True Love with Dean Martin which became her first performance in the United States 3 9 In 1972 she embarked on a tour across Europe and Japan with Cliff Richard to promote If Not for You and Olivia known as The Cliff Richard Show If Not for You Tour Olivia performed some songs and also sang backing vocals on Cliff s songs with Pat Carroll 10 Richard performances were released on the Cliff Richard Live album 11 She also made performances on Richard s program It s Cliff Richard and starred with him in the special Getaway with Cliff and the film The Case all broadcast on BBC 12 Singles Edit If Not for You the title track was released as the lead single The song peaked at number six on the UK Singles Charts and number fourteen on Australia s Go Set singles chart 13 14 It was also an unexpected hit in North America peaking at number twenty five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number eighteen on Canada s RPM top singles chart 15 The single was Newton John s first number one on the US Top Easy Listening chart now Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 16 The second and last single Banks of the Ohio was another success in the United Kingdom peaking at number six 13 and Australia Newton John s first number one hit in the country 17 but failed to reach the top forty in Canada and United States peaking at number sixty six and ninety four respectively 16 18 To promote the album and Newton John s image the promotional singles If You Could Read My Mind with It s So Hard to Say Goodbye as the B side 19 and Love Song with If as the B side 7 were released in selected European countries A German language version of Banks of the Ohio titled Unten Am Fluss Der Ohio Heisst was also released 20 Critical reception EditProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic 16 Joe Viglione from AllMusic gave a positive review from the album giving it four out five stars He commented that it would be a mistake to think these songs are all mere covers The production and arrangements by Bruce Welch and John Farrar are innovative and worthwhile Viglione also praised Newton John s performance stating After all her own hit records hearing this superstar sing so many familiar tunes and performing them so well is utterly charming 16 Commercial performance EditIn Australia the album debuted at number sixteen in the week of 22 January 1972 21 If Not for You peaked at number fourteen the next week staying four weeks on the chart and earning a platinum certification 22 23 Despite the lack of promotion in the country the album made a minor impact in the United States peaking at number one hundred and fifty eight on the Billboard 200 16 In the United Kingdom where the album hit two singles in the top ten If Not for You failed to chart Releases EditThe album was originally released on cassette and LP 24 The American edition released by Uni Records prior to its merger with the Decca and Kapp labels to form MCA Records went out of print following the release of Newton John s 1973 album Let Me Be There and became a rare collector s item However the original American edition of Let Me Be There features six tracks from If Not for You 25 The album was first released on CD in Japan in 1990 as part of the EMI Pastmasters series Cat CP21 6074 The album was simply called Olivia Newton John which was the full title of the original vinyl cassette release in England in 1971 It was initially released as Olivia Newton John in England and If Not for You in foreign territories including the US and Australia This EMI 1990 CD release did not feature any of the original album artwork Instead the front cover photo is a live picture of Olivia from a 1977 appearance in Japan The packaging included a Japanese language obi and a folded white paper insert containing all the song lyrics in English on one side and in Japanese on the other In Australia Festival Records re released the album on CD in 1993 and also in a digitally remastered edition along with other albums of Newton John s discography in 1998 In this latter case at least the first run of the remastered CD release Festival Cat D34320 D19809 was seriously botched The first track on the album Me and Bobby McGee was missing entirely from the CD thus the CD started with the Bread cover If and contained only 11 of the 12 songs Further three of the latter songs on this release were mis sequenced However the CD labeling lists all 12 original songs in their original sequence However the overall sonic quality of the 1998 remastered edition was praised 24 Track listing EditAll songs produced by John Farrar and Bruce Welch Side oneNo TitleWriter s Length1 Me and Bobby McGee Kris KristoffersonFred Foster3 462 If David Gates2 403 Banks of the Ohio Traditional arranged by Bruce Welch and John Farrar3 154 In a Station Richard Manuel3 075 Love Song Lesley Duncan3 446 Help Me Make It Through the Night Kris Kristofferson2 19 Side twoNo TitleWriter s Length7 If Not for You Bob Dylan2 508 Where Are You Going to My Love Billy DayJohn GoodisonMike LeslieTony Hiller3 279 Lullaby Lesley Duncan3 0110 If You Could Read My Mind Gordon Lightfoot3 4111 If I Gotta Leave Tony HillerPaul Curtis2 4012 No Regrets Tom Rush3 24Total length 35 54 2022 deluxe edition Disc two 26 No TitleWriter s Length1 Till You Say You ll Be Mine Jackie DeShannon 2 For Ever Allen amp Bailey 3 The Biggest Clown John Rostill 4 It s So Hard To Say Goodbye Alan HawkshawRay Cameron 5 Would You Follow Me John Kongos 6 Walkin On Air Toomorrow Ritchie AdamsMark Barkan 7 Goin Back Toomorrow Ritchie AdamsMark Barkan 8 I Could Never Live Without Your Love Toomorrow Roger CookRoger GreenawayJohn Goodison 9 Roll Like The River Toomorrow Robert LovettBrian PeacockIan Clyne 10 Don t Move Away duet with Cliff Richard Harold SpiroValerie Avon 11 Would You Follow Me edit John Kongos 12 Round and Round John Farrar 13 The Biggest Clown alternate version John Rostill 14 Game Of Love Petrina Lordan 15 Would You Follow Me edit John Kongos 16 Unten Am FluB Der Ohio HeiBt German version of Banks of the Ohio traditional 17 Unten Am FluB Der Ohio HeiBt instrumental traditional Personnel EditCredits adapted from the album s liner notes 4 Olivia Newton John vocals John Farrar guitar Dave Richmond bass guitar Brian Bennett drums percussion Alan Hawkshaw keyboards Peter Vince engineering Bruce Welch arranger composerProduction John Farrar arranger producer Alan Hawkshaw string arrangements Bruce Welch arranger producer Design David Steen photography Doug McKenzie photographyRecord company Festival Records record label Australia copyright owner 1971 Pye International Records record label UK copyright owner 1971 Uni Records record label US copyright owner 1971 Universal Music Group international distributor record label international copyright owner 1996 Charts EditChart performance for If Not for You Chart 1971 1972 PeakpositionAustralian Albums Go Set 22 14US Billboard 200 16 158US Cash Box Top Albums 27 142References Edit If Not for You Olivia Newton John Discogs Till You Say You ll Be Mine Olivia Newton John Discogs a b Olivia Newton John interview August 30 1994 a b c If Not for You Liner notes Olivia Newton John Festival Records 1971 SITFL 934 320 a href Template Cite AV media notes html title Template Cite AV media notes cite AV media notes a CS1 maint others in cite AV media notes link Allmusic John Farrar biography AllMusic Discogs If Not for You Olivia Newton John Discogs a b Discogs Love Song Olivia Newton John Discogs Discogs Banks of the Ohio Olivia Newton John Discogs Youtube Dean Martin amp Olivia Newton John on The Dean Martin Show YouTube Only Olivia Cliff Richard Japanese Tour Archived from the original on 27 September 2009 Retrieved 9 January 2013 Discogs Cliff Richard Live Cliff Richard Discogs IMDB Olivia Newton John IMDb a b The Official Charts Company Olivia Newton John UK chart history OfficialCharts com Pop Archives Go Set National Top 40 November 13 1971 Archived from the original on 12 May 2013 Retrieved 9 January 2013 Collections Canada RPM Top 100 Singles September 11 1971 a b c d e f Viglione Joe Olivia Newton John If Not for You AllMusic Retrieved 22 December 2012 Pop Archives Go Set National Top 60 June 12 1971 Archived from the original on 29 March 2015 Retrieved 9 January 2013 Collections Canada RPM Top 100 Singles November 20 1971 Discogs If You Could Read My Mind Olivia Newton John Discogs Discogs Unten Am Fluss Der Ohio Heisst Olivia Newton John Discogs Pop Archives Go Set Top 20 Albums January 22 1972 a b Pop Archives Go Set Top 20 Albums January 29 1972 Archived from the original on 19 March 2007 Kent David 1993 Australian Chart Book 1970 1992 doc Australian Chart Book St Ives N S W ISBN 0 646 11917 6 a b Discogs If Not for You Olivia Newton John Discogs OliviaNewton John com Let Me Be There 1973 Discogs Olivia Newton John if Not for You Deluxe Edition Discogs Cash Box Top Albums PDF Cash Box Retrieved 15 August 2022 External links EditNewton John s official site gt Discography gt If Not for You Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title If Not for You album amp oldid 1134318193, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
