Every Face Tells a Story (song) explained

"Every Face Tells a Story" is a song originally written by Michael Allison and Peter Sills for British singer Cliff Richard, whom Olivia Newton-John was a backing singer for in the early 1970s. Richard originally attempted a recording of the song in December 1975 studio sessions for his 1976 studio album I'm Nearly Famous, but it remained unreleased. He recorded the song again for his 1977 studio album Every Face Tells a Story, for which it became the title track.[1]

Richard's version uses the same music, but the lyrics are about Jesus and are Gospel-themed. Although a pop star, Richard is a Christian and sometimes includes Gospel tracks on his albums. Don Black rewrote the lyrics but kept the title, removing the Gospel theme.

Olivia Newton-John version

Every Face Tells a Story
Type:single
Artist:Olivia Newton-John
Album:Don't Stop Believin'
B-Side:Love You Hold the Key
Released:November 1976
Genre:Country, pop
Length:3:38
Label:EMI
Producer:John Farrar
Prev Title:Don't Stop Believin'
Prev Year:1976
Next Title:Sam
Next Year:1977

In 1976, Australian pop and country singer Olivia Newton-John recorded a version for her eighth studio album, Don't Stop Believin'. It was released as a single in November 1976 and peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; #21 on the Hot Country Songs chart; and #6 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. She produced an MTV style promotional clip for the song, which aired on ABC in November 1976. The song was not released in Australia.

Charts

Chart (1976–77)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles [2] 21
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[3] 6
U.S. Billboard Hot 10055
Canadian RPM Country Tracks1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks5
Canadian RPM Top Singles58
South Africa (Springbok)[4] 5
U.S. Cash Box Top Singles [5] 71

Other versions

Notes and References

  1. Book: Peter . Lewry . Nigel . Goodall . 1991 . Cliff Richard The Complete Recording Sessions 1958-1990 . Blandford . London. 0-7137-2242-8. 108, 110, 111.
  2. Book: Whitburn, Joel . The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 249.
  3. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 181.
  4. Web site: SA Charts 1965–March 1989. Rock.co.za. 5 September 2018.
  5. Web site: Cash Box. PDF. 11 December 1976. Worldradiohistory.com. 22 May 2023.
  6. http://smdb.kb.se/catalog/id/001886135 Information