Songs

Christie
Songs
 
san bernadino/here i am
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Bernadino (J Christie)

Yellow River was such commercial perfection that no-one believed Jeff Christie could come up with another song of such finesse — yet he did just that with San Bernadino (and indeed, he would come up with many more in the months to come). San Bernadino is a pop tune that rocks and pleases with a melodious refrain, without stooping to a sickly saccharine hook. In some ways I prefer this song to Yellow River. San Bernadino is notable for Vic Elmes' twangy in-your-face introduction, which would eventually become a signature riff for many Christie songs.
   In fact, the correct spelling of the town is San Bernardino (with an extra "r") .. initial pressings of the record misspelled the name. Although the error was picked up eventually, it was too expensive a process to recall the early singles and issue new versions with the corrected spelling. So all subsequent pressings and associated material (such as sheet music) carried the "wrong" name. Nevertheless, this song has been registered with the relevant music publishers under the two different spellings.

San Bernadino 1980s versions (J Christie)

Jeff recorded two new versions of San Bernadino in the 80s with a studio band and it was released on special compilation albums as well as a single. One version comes to a clean finish, unlike the original, which faded out at the end.

Here I Am (J Christie)

This is a fast-paced downright rocker, with tremendous lead guitar work by Vic, both in the introduction and in the instrumental bridge. Jeff provides great echoey vocals and Jerry Lee Lewis-type keyboards. Interestingly, most of Jeff's songs did not focus on love relationships, as most writers tend to do — this song is one of the few exceptions ("Here I am, baby, waiting for you to come home"). This is a great selection for a B-side.

New York City (V Elmes)

In Malaysia/Singapore only, the flipside was New York City. The song received much airplay and was very popular among the locals, so much so that they protested when Christie did not perform the song when they played in those countries.

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