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Yesterday Man

"Yesterday Man" is a song written by Chris Andrews and was his first single as a solo singer, released in September 1965. It climbed to No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart,[1] and No. 1 in Ireland, New Zealand, Germany and Austria.[2] In England it sold 20,000 copies in its first day.[3] After a visit to England in September 1965, Jerry Wexler made a deal for Atco Records to release the single in the United States.[4] In the US, it reached No. 94 in 1966. The Cash Box trade paper reported in its 5 February 1966 issue that it had passed 300,000 sales in Germany alone, and later over 800,000 as a final tally in that country (28 May 1966).

"Yesterday Man"
Single by Chris Andrews
B-side"Too Bad You Don't Want Me"
ReleasedSeptember 1965
Genre
Length2'20"
LabelDecca F11536
Songwriter(s)Chris Andrews
Producer(s)Ken Woodman
Chris Andrews singles chronology
"Someone's Taken Maria Away"
(6.1965) 		"Yesterday Man"
(1965) 		"To Whom It Concerns"
(11.1965)
Performance video
"Yesterday Man" on Beat Club on YouTube

In a contemporary review of the song, the Evening Sentinel wrote how: "Why write hits for Adam and Sandie all the time? says Andrews and sounds quite good on his own", further deeming it to be "Blue-beatish and good."[5] In 2014, Spin included the song in their list of "25 Major Moments in White Reggae History"; in the accompanying write-up, writer Chris Martins deemed it "the birth of White Reggae" and highlighted how the song "made [Andrews'] heart pitter and patter to an island riddim".[6] Mario Villanueva of The Greenville News included the song in a list of twelve exemplary "cod-reggae" songs.[7]

Reggae Mint of UDiscover Music wrote that the "ska-styled solo hit" was a musical predecessor to the Beatles' song "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (1968).[8] Andrews' brass-heavy hit was also a partial inspiration for the oom-pah arrangement written by Johnny Marr for the Smiths' song "Frankly Mr. Shankly" (1986).[9]

A German-language version was also recorded.[10] Named "Alles tu Ich Fuer Dich", it was released on the label Deutsche Vogue.[3]

Robert Wyatt version

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In 1974, the song was covered by Robert Wyatt (with production by Nick Mason) as the follow-up to his hit with Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer" (released on Virgin Records).[11] However, it was never officially released, due to Virgin head Richard Branson deeming the version "a bit too gloomy".[12] In 1992, Wyatt recalled: "I did 'Yesterday Man', a major-key, upbeat, jolly pseudo-reggae thing. I bent all the chords out of shape and did the whole thing kind of sideways. And I was so happy with that. They said, 'We're not putting this out. It's too lugubrious.' I thought, 'That must be good,' but I got a dictionary, and it's not."[13][14]

According to Wyatt in an interview with Uncut, "We never pretended to be reggae but it was obviously influenced by that feel, which was very much the heartbeat of London around that time."[15] Richard Cook of Mojo deemed the Wyatt version to be "heartbreakingly desolate and a complete antithesis to Chris Andrew's original".[16] Charles Shaar Murray of NME wrote: "Where Andrews' original was aggressively petulant, Wyatt's is wistfully surreal", noting that the musician performs the song "on assorted bits of percussion (including a bass-drum whomped by hand) and what sounds like a harmonium, but plays around the beat while the main rhythmic push comes from Windo and Feza."[17]

Chart history

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Chart (1965–66) Peak
position
Australia 12
Austria 1
Canada RPM Top Singles[18] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[19] 1
Germany 1
New Zealand 1
South Africa (Springbok)[20] 1
UK (OCC)[1] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 94
US Cash Box Top 100[22] 85

References

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  1. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 24. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ^ Steffen Hung. "Chris Andrews - Yesterday Man". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  3. ^ a b Andreson, Omer (11 December 1965). "Music Capitals of the World". Billboard. Vol. 77, no. 50. p. 28. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Atl. to Release Andrews' Hit". Billboard. Vol. 77, no. 44. 30 October 1965. p. 6. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  5. ^ Farmer, Bob (2 October 1965). "The Groove". Evening Sentinel: 4. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  6. ^ Martins, Chris (19 December 2014). "Rude Awakening: 25 Major Moments in White Reggae History". Spin. p. 2. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2022. Behold, the birth of White Reggae. This young, kempt Caucasian was writing songs for the likes of future Moz fave Sandie Shaw and American upstarts the Mamas & the Papas when he composed this number that made his English heart pitter and patter to an island riddim. "Yesterday Man" hit No. 3 in the U.K., despite the confusion written on the faces of all those pale folks above, and their general lack of groove.
  7. ^ Villanueva, Mario (17 April 2007). "Mix of the Week". The Greenville News: 75. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  8. ^ Mint, Reggae (July 2022). "One Love: How Reggae Music Inspired The World". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved 1 December 2022. ...in terms of musical style, "Oh-Bla-Di, Oh-Bla-Da" was similar to "Yesterday Man," the 1965 ska-styled solo hit by Chris Andrews, the musical brains behind Sandie Shaw's career.
  9. ^ Rogan, Johnny (2012). "The Queen Is Dead". Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857127822. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  10. ^ Hutchins, Chris (30 October 1965). "Music Capitals of the World". Billboard. Vol. 77, no. 44. p. 24. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Robert Wyatt - Solo". Disco-robertwyatt.com. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  12. ^ Aston, Martin (October 1991). "Robert Wyatt". Q. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  13. ^ Randall, Mac (August 1992). "Robert Wyatt & Bill Nelson: Tough Guys Don't Dance". Musician.
  14. ^ Yesterday Man on YouTube
  15. ^ Pinnock, Tom (27 January 2017). "Robert Wyatt and Nick Mason on 'I'm A Believer': "We made our own rules and did what we liked"". Uncut. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  16. ^ Cook, Richard (August 1994). "Robert Wyatt: Going Back A Bit – A Little History of Robert Wyatt (Virgin)". Mojo. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  17. ^ Murray, Charles Shaar (26 October 1974). "I Played Robert Wyatt At 78rpm And Saw God". NME. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1966-01-31. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  19. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Yesterday Man". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  20. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  21. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  22. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, January 22, 1966
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