Long John Baldry started his career as a blue-eyed soul singer, but he had his commercial breakthrough with this tearful ballad which sounds like it could have been the inspiration for Dr. Hook's style of singing.
Despite its great success in the UK (it got to number one here) it didn't do much in the USA, which is probably one of the reasons why you hadn't heard it before. I was only 5 when it was a hit in the UK and I remember Long John Baldry singing it on Top Of The Pops. For all the media hype about 1967 being the year of psychedelia and flower-power, the charts that year were full of schmaltzy, sentimental ballads ("Green Green Grass Of Home", "Release Me", "This Is My Song", "Edelweiss", "Something Stupid", "The Last Waltz", "I'm Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", "It Must Be Him", etc), with only occasional instances of hippy-style music like "All You Need Is Love" and "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)" breaking through. We used to have the radio on all the time in those days and every day I'd hear something by Tom Jones or Engelbert Humperdinck, but they never played anything by Jimi Hendrix or Pink Floyd. Why do you think that is, Nelly?
Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd went on to sell millions of albums, so there must have been some kinda marketing behind them. But whatever that was, it wasn't regular radio play. You are right, Nelly, there was so much more to be had in 1967 than what was played on the radio, but being only 5 at the time I only discovered what was on the radio. Lol:)
I'm 54 now and I still have no money or driver's licence. Lol:)
Lol:)