Days of Pearly Spencer

"Days of Pearly Spencer" (or in later releases "The Days of Pearly Spencer") is a 1967 song written and originally performed by Northern Irish singer-songwriter David McWilliams,[1][2] and included on his second album David McWilliams.[3] Although it charted in several countries in continental Europe and in Australia, the original version was not a chart success in either the United Kingdom or Ireland. The song was rerecorded by McWilliams with a new arrangement in his album Working for the Government (1987). In 1992, a cover version by English pop singer Marc Almond reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and also made number 8 in Ireland.

"Days of Pearly Spencer"
Single by David McWilliams
from the album David McWilliams
A-side"Harlem Lady"
Released6 October 1967
Genre
LabelMajor Minor
MM533
Songwriter(s)David McWilliams
Producer(s)Mike Leander
David McWilliams singles chronology
"God and My Country"
(1967)		 "Days of Pearly Spencer"
(1967)		 "This Side of Heaven"
(1968)

Background

Having his first single, "God and My Country", flop, McWilliams entered a Belfast recording studio to record some demos. Around that time, Mervyn Solomon overheard his tapes, and was impressed enough to telephone his brother Phil Solomon. Because McWilliams was already signed to CBS, who manufactured Major Minor's recordings, Phil Solomon offered to take McWilliams off their hands. The offer was accepted, and Solomon took McWilliams with him to London to record the song. Originally, the song was a poignant ballad.[3]

The song had, according to Stuart Bailie of Radio Ulster, a "flickering, almost documentary style" in which it took listeners to the more run-down parts of Ballymena where people walked through rubble bare-foot looking old beyond their years. Due to the title of the song, many listeners believed that the song pertained to an individual harrowed by a poor lifestyle and poor-quality alcohol; McWilliams said he had written the song about a homeless man encountered in Ballymena. Some of those close to McWilliams, however, claimed he was writing about two ladies from his hometown.[4]

Recording and release

The recording was produced by Mike Leander who formed a sweeping orchestral arrangement for the song. Leander had previously provided arrangements for such records as "She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles and Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By."[4]

Some of McWilliams' vocals were recorded using a telephone line from a phone box near the studio, generating a low-tech effect, and giving the song a 'strange "phoned-in" chorus'.[3] The record was originally released in October 1967 as the B-side of "Harlem Lady",[5] but "Days of Pearly Spencer" received considerable exposure on Radio Caroline, of which Solomon was an executive, and in adverts in the UK music press. Double-page adverts were taken out in all the major music newspapers and the New Musical Express front page featured it, calling it "the single that will blow your mind"[6] and the accompanying album, David McWilliams, "the album that will change the course of music".[3] Adverts for it were plastered everywhere, and in 2012 Stuart Bailie of Radio Ulster remarked that "there was no getting away from David McWilliams". Advertisements for the song even appeared on double-decker buses, yet McWilliams "was walking around London without the pocket money to get on one of those buses",[4] and one publication put the total cost of promotion at close to £20,000 (equivalent to £370,000 in 2019).[7][4]

The BBC refused to play the record, however, because of Solomon's involvement in the offshore radio station Radio Caroline, and thus the record failed to chart in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland.[3] In continental Europe, the song topped the French Singles Chart, reached number two on the Belgian Singles Chart, and reached number eight on the Dutch Singles Chart.[4] In Australia, the song spent two weeks at number 32 on Go-Set's national top 40,[8] reaching number 10 in Brisbane.[9] The song was rereleased on three separate occasions and remains a staple of "oldies" radio stations.[3]

Critical reception

Richie Unterberger described the song as "[McWilliams's] best song, with a dark edge, swirling violins, and an effective dab of psychedelia in the megaphone-distorted vocals on the song's chorus."[10] In 2002 The Independent called the song "dreamy".[3] In 2012 Stuart Bailie of Radio Ulster called "Harlem Lady", the A-side, a "quality tune" and "Pearly Spencer" a "remarkable record".[4]

Marc Almond version
"The Days of Pearly Spencer"
Single by Marc Almond
from the album Tenement Symphony
B-side"Bruises"
ReleasedApril 1992
Recorded1991
Length4:23
LabelWEA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Trevor Horn
Marc Almond singles chronology
"My Hand Over My Heart"
(1992)		 "The Days of Pearly Spencer"
(1992)		 "What Makes a Man (Live)"
(1993)

A recording by Marc Almond titled "The Days of Pearly Spencer", with an additional verse written by Almond giving the song a more optimistic tone,[11] reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 8 in Ireland in 1992. In a review from the parent album Tenement Symphony, Ned Raggett of Allmusic called it 'the surprise U.K. hit single of the bunch, the gentle and (for Trevor Horn) understated "The Days of Pearly Spencer", another '60s cover given the Almond treatment to good effect'.[12]

Charts
Chart (1992) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] 16
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] 32
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[15] 14
Germany (Official German Charts)[16] 21
Ireland (IRMA)[17] 8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[18] 44
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 31
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[20] 8

Other cover versions

New Zealand band The Avengers scored a No.4 hit in that country in December 1968 with a cover version of the song;[21] in Italy, the song was also covered in 1968 by Caterina Caselli as "Il Volto Della Vita". In the U.S., the Grass Roots covered the song on their 1969 album Lovin' Things. A Spanish version called "Vuelo blanco de gaviota" was recorded in 1979 by Ana Belén. Successful later versions of the song included a disco version which reached number 1 in Belgium in the 1980s,[6] and a cover version in 1988 by the French psychedelic band The Vietnam Veterans and their album The Days of Pearly Spencer.[22] A version by French singer Rodolfe Burger was used in the 2012 French film "Louise Wimmer" and a French duo consisting of brothers Gorges and Michel Costa as 'Trade Mark' in 1978 released a disco version (including a 12" extended mix). [23]

Finnish rock musician Hector made in 2014 a Finnish language version Jos lehmät osais lentää (If Cows Could Only Fly), contemplating the impossibility of resolving the problems of world.

gollark: Read better.
gollark: Then we'll just have to use our abstract concept derealizer hyperspheres.
gollark: The US military is composed of matter held together using chemical bonds, so you're actually wrong.
gollark: Orbital laser countermeasures activated.
gollark: This should be stopped.

References
  1. "DISK Days of Pearly Spencer PARLOPHONE.jpg (697x684)". Davidmcwilliams.com. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  2. "A tribute to Irish singer/songwriter David McWilliams". Davidmcwilliams.com. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  3. "David McWilliams – Obituaries, News – The Independent". Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  4. Stuart Bailie. "Stuart Bailie: The Great Northern Songbook – 3. The Days of Pearly Spencer". BBC. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  5. "Harlem Lady"/"Days of Pearly Spencer" at 45cat.com. Retrieved 22 June 2014
  6. "biography". Davidmcwilliams.com. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  7. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  8. "Go Set National - Top 40". 31 July 1968.
  9. "David McWilliams - Harlem Lady".
  10. Richie Unterberger, Biography of David McWilliams, Allmusic.com. Retrieved 24 June 2014
  11. Tenement Symphony (Media notes). Marc Almond. WEA. 4 October 1991.CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. Ned Raggett (29 October 1991). "Tenement Symphony – Marc Almond". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  13. "Austriancharts.at – Marc Almond – The Days of Pearly Spencer" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  14. "Ultratop.be – Marc Almond – The Days of Pearly Spencer" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  15. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9 no. 20. 16 May 1992. p. 27. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Marc Almond – The Days of Pearly Spencer". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  17. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Days of Pearly Spencer". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Marc Almond – The Days of Pearly Spencer" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  19. "Swedishcharts.com – Marc Almond – The Days of Pearly Spencer". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  20. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  21. "Avengers". www.sergent.com.au.
  22. The Days of Pearly Spencer (inlay). The Vietnam Veterans. Music Maniac Records. 1988.CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. "Left and to the Back: Trade Mark - The Days of Pearly Spencer/ Baby, You Make It Real, Retrieved 26 Oct 2018". www.blogspot.com.
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